HISTOEY   OF   THE 
UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA 


HISTORY 


OF  THE 


UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


BY 
HENRY   WILLIAM    ELSON 

AUTHOR    OF    "SIDE    LIGHTS    ON    AMERICAN"    HISTORY."    ETC. 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 

1904 

All  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1904, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  April,  1904.     Reprinted 
July,  October,  1904. 


REPLACING 


NortoocU 

J.  S.  Gushing  &  Co.  — Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

FOR  many  years  I  have  contemplated  writing  a  history  of  the 
United  States  in  a  single  volume,  that  should  fall  between  the 
elaborate  works,  which  are  beyond  the  reach  of  most  busy  people, 
and  the  condensed  school  histories,  which  are  emasculated  of  all 
literary  style  through  the  necessity  of  crowding  so  many  facts  into 
small  space. 

In  writing  this  history  my  aim  has  been  to  present  an  accurate 
narrative  of  the  origin  and  growth  of  our  country  and  its  institu 
tions  in  such  a  form  as  to  interest  the  general  reader.  I  have  con 
stantly  borne  in  mind  the  great  importance  of  combining  the  science 
of  historical  research  with  the  art  of  historical  composition.  I  have 
aimed  also,  especially  when  treating  the  national  period,  to  balance 
the  narrative  and  critical  features  in  intelligent  proportion.  A 
mere  recital  of  facts,  without  historic  criticism,  without  reference 
to  the  undercurrents  that  move  society,  is  no  longer  acceptable  in 
this  age  of  thinking  readers. 

I  have  endeavored  to  write,  as  stated,  for  the  general  reader,  but 
not  with  a  patronizing  form  of  expression,  as  if  addressed  to  the 
uneducated,  or  to  children,  nor  with  a  burden  of  worthless  incident 
and  detail,  nor  yet  with  any  effort  to  please  those  who  delight  only 
in  the  spectacular.  At  the  same  time,  knowing  that  many  intelli 
gent  people  who  wish  to  know  something  of  their  country  are  not 
fond  of  reading  history,  I  have  given  careful  attention  to  style,  in 
the  hope  that  the  book  might  be  easy  and  pleasurable  to  read,  as 
well  as  instructive. 

I  have  devoted  much  space  to  the  life  of  the  people,  —  their 
habits,  modes  of  life,  occupations,  general  progress,  and  the  like, 
especially  in  the  earlier  period  when  they  differed  most  widely 
from  ourselves.  But  in  treating  the  national  period  I  have,  how- 


vi  PREFACE 


ever,  without  neglecting  the  industrial  and  social  features,  given 
greater  space  to  political  and  constitutional  development,  as  in  this 
the  life  of  a  people  who  govern  themselves  is  epitomized. 

In  my  treatment  of  wars  and  disputes  with  foreign  powers,  I  am 
aware  that,  with  all  my  effort  to  view  a  subject  from  a  neutral, 
judicial  standpoint,  an  unconscious  bias  may  be  discerned;  but 
should  the  book  find  any  foreign  readers,  I  beg  them  to  remember 
that  I  have  written  absolutely  sine  ira. 

In  treating  the  Civil  War  and  the  great  events  that  led  to  it,  I 
have  taken  the  utmost  care  to  be  fair  to  both  sides ;  though  as  a 
native  and  resident  of  the  North  I  no  doubt  partake  of  the  prejudice 
of  my  section,  if  such  prejudice  can  still  be  said  to  exist.  1  have 
refrained  from  using  the  terms  "rebel"  and  "traitor"  to  designate 
those  who  rose  against  the  government  in  the  sixties,  because  of  my 
profound  respect  for  their  sincerity. 

One  subject  —  American  literature  —  I  had  hoped  to  treat  with 
greater  fullness  ;  but  I  found  that  an  adequate  treatment  of  this  very 
important  subject  would  require  too  great  a  space  for  the  scope  of 
this  volume.  It  is  therefore  recommended  that  this  phase  of  our 
history  be  studied  in  separate  works  devoted  to  the  purpose.1 

The  notes  at  the  ends  of  the  chapters  are  intended  to  elucidate 
something  that  has  preceded  in  the  text,  to  give  personal  traits  of 
leading  characters,  to  mention  matters  of  too  meager  importance  for 
the  main  narrative,  or,  as  in  many  cases,  to  relate  some  event  of 
real  importance  which  did  not  exactly  fit  in  the  body  of  the  text. 

In  preparing  this  work  I  have  had  frequent  recourse  to  the 
original  sources,  but  make  no  pretense  that  the  work  is  based 
wholly,  or  even  chiefly,  on  original  research.  I  have  freely  used 
the  works  of  other  writers.  A  large  number  of  these  have  been 
cited  in  the  footnotes  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  reader  who 
desires  to  pursue  the  subject  further,  or  to  acknowledge  an  obliga 
tion  to  an  author  whose  thought  or  form  of  expression  has  been, 
in  some  measure,  adopted.  Much  information,  however,  has  been 
gathered  from  sources  not  herein  mentioned. 

1  Wendell's  "Literary  History  of  America"  is  an  excellent  work;  so  also  is 
Trent's  "  History  of  American  Literature." 


PKEFACE  vii 


That  the  work  may  be  accepted  as  authoritative  throughout,  I 
have  exercised  the  utmost  care  to  secure  historic  accuracy ;  but 
absolute  accuracy  is  not  always  attainable,  especially  where  points 
are  under  dispute,  and  where  such  a  great  number  of  subjects  are  to 
be  treated.  The  pointing  out  of  any  errors  by  the  reader  will  be 
deemed  a  kindness. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  many  kind  friends  for  suggestions ;  to 
various  librarians  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York  for  special  cour 
tesies  ;  to  Mr.  Stewart  Culin,  former  curator  and  Indian  specialist 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  who  kindly  read  and  criticised 
the  chapter  dealing  with  the  Indian  character.  Above  all,  I  am 
indebted  to  Professor  Herman  V.  Ames  of  the  University  of  Penn 
sylvania,  who  read  the  greater  portion  of  the  manuscript  and  made 
many  important  suggestions.  To  his  thorough  scholarship  and  ripe 
judgment  I  have  deferred  in  many  instances. 

H.  W.  E. 
PHILADELPHIA, 
February,  1904. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   I 
CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS 

PAGE 

Spirit  of  the  Age 1 

Theories  of  the  Earth  and  Geographical  Knowledge 3 

Early  Life  of  Columbus 7 

Columbus  and  the  Sovereigns       .........  9 

The  Voyage 11 

The  New  World 15 

Later  Career  of  Columbus 19 

John  Cabot 23 

The  Naming  of  America       ..........  25 

Other  Discoverers  and  Discoveries 26 

CHAPTER   II 
THE  INDIAN 

Indian  Religion 28 

Home  Life 29 

Indian  Occupations 32 

Civilization 35 

Nations  and  Tribes       .         .         .        .        .         .         .        .        .        .         .38 

CHAPTER   III 

EXPLORATIONS 

De  Soto 41 

Florida 42 

Wandering  in  the  Wilderness 44 

The  Indian  Queen 47 

The  Battle  of  Mavila 49 

Discovery  of  the  Great  River 51 

Other  Explorations       ...........  54 

ix 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   IV 

COLONIZATION — THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES 

0 

PAGE 

Virginia 60 

Maryland 75 

North  Carolina 83 

South  Carolina 88 

Georgia 93 

CHAPTER   V 

COLONIZ  A  TION NEW    ENGLAND 

The  Pilgrim  Fathers 99 

Massachusetts  Bay 103 

Connecticut  .............  Ill 

Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations    .......  115 

New  Hampshire    ............  117 

CHAPTER   VI 
NEW  ENGLAND  AFFAIRS 

The  New  England  Confederation  (1043-1684) 120 

King  Philip's  War 121 

Edmund  Andros  ............  123 

Puritan  Laws  and  Character 127 

CHAPTER   VII 
COLONIZATION  —  THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES 

New  Amsterdam  ............  133 

New  York .  138 

New  Jersey 146 

Delaware 149 

Pennsylvania        ............  151 

CHAPTER   VIII 
COLONIAL  WARS 

French  Explorers ............  160 

King  William's  War 162 

Queen  Anne's  War       ...........  165 

King  George's  War ......  168 


CONTENTS  xi 


CHAPTER   IX 
THE  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR 

PAGE 

A  View  of  the  Belligerents 174 

Duquesne  and  Acadia  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .178 

William  Pitt 186 

Fall  of  Quebec 188 

Conspiracy  of  Pontiac 194 

CHAPTER   X 

COLONIAL  LIFE 

Population  and  Social  Rank          .........  198 

Occupations  and  Customs 201 

Religion  ;  Education  ;  Medicine 206 

Means  of  Travel ;  Mails  ;  Newspapers 208 

Colonial  Government    ...........  210 

The  Navigation  Acts 216 

CHAPTER   XI 
THE  REVOLUTION  —  OPENING  EVENTS  AND  CAUSES 

Otis  and  Henry 222 

The  Stamp  Act  and  Other  Acts 224 

King  George  III 231 

The  Continental  Congress  ;  Lexington         .......  235 

CHAPTER   XII 
THE  REVOLUTION  —  WAR  AND  INDEPENDENCE 

Second  Continental  Congress 243 

Bunker  Hill 244 

Washington  and  the  Army  ..........  247 

The  Great  Declaration 250 

Fort  Moultrie  and  Long  Island 254 

New  Jersey  and  Trenton 258 

CHAPTER   XIII 
THE  REVOLUTION  —  FROM  SARATOGA  TO  MONMOUTH 

Struggle  for  the  Hudson  Valley 268 

Foreign  Aid  .............  275 

From  Morristown  to  Germantown 280 

Valley  Forge  and  Monmouth 283 


xii  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  REVOLUTION  —  THE  FRONTIER,  THE  OCEAN,  AND  THE  SOUTH 

PAGE 

Border  War  in  the  South  and  West 290 

The  Wyoming  Valley  and  Other  Valleys 292 

War  on  the  Sea 294 

The  Treason  of  Arnold 296 

War  in  the  South 301 

Yorktown 309 

Observations 313 

CHAPTER   XV 
THE  TEMPORARY  GOVERNMENT 

The  "  Articles  "  and  the  Land  Cessions 319 

Drifting  toward  Anarchy      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .321 

The  Annapolis  Convention  ..........  324 

CHAPTER   XVI 
THE  CONSTITUTION 

The  Men  that  made  it  . 327 

Business  of  the  Convention 328 

The  Constitution  before  the  People 334 

The  First  President 337 

CHAPTER   XVII 
TWELVE  YEARS  OF  FEDERAL  SUPREMACY 

The  First  Congress 342 

Rise  of  Political  Parties 348 

America  and  France     ...........  351 

America  and  England  ;  the  Jay  Treaty        .......  354 

Relations  with  France 360 

Fall  of  the  Federal  Party 367 

CHAPTER   XVIII 
JEFFERSON  AND  THE  DEMOCRACY 

A  View  of  the  People 376 

A  View  of  the  Leaders 380 

Louisiana                                                                                                  .        .  383 


CONTENTS  xiii 


Burr  and  Hamilton 

Impressment  of  Seamen 

French  Decrees  and  English  Orders  in  Council 398 

The  Embargo 400 

Character  of  Jefferson 403 

CHAPTER   XIX 
THE  WAR  OF  1812 

Drifting  toward  War 409 

Hostilities  on  the  Great  Lakes 415 

Victories  on  the  Sea 420 

Further  Operations  on  the  Lakes 426 

The  Washington  Campaign 434 

War  in  the  South 438 

National  Finances 443 

Observations 445 

CHAPTER   XX 
DAWN  OP  NATIONAL  CONSCIOUSNESS 

Recuperating        ............  452 

The  Missouri  Compromise    ...         .......         .  456 

Monroe's  Second  Term         ..........  462 

John  Quincy  Adams     ...........  469 

Means  of  Travel  and  Invention    ....  ....  472 

CHAPTER   XXI 
THE  REIGN  OF  JACKSON 

American  Life  in  1830 478 

The  People's  President 480 

The  Civil  Service 484 

Jackson  and  Calhoun 485 

Nullification  in  South  Carolina 487 

The  Reelection  and  the  Bank       .........  492 

Foreign  Relations  and  Indian  Wars     ........  496 

Character  of  Jackson    .........  498 

Martin  Van  Buren 501 

The  Panic  and  the  Independent  Treasury 503 

The  Harrison  Campaign 505 


xiv  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   XXII 
RISE  OF  THE  SLAVERY  QUESTION 

PAGE 

Harrison's  Brief  Tenure 513 

Tyler  and  the  Whigs 514 

The  Story  of  Texas 516 

Presidential  Election  of  1844 518 

CHAPTER  XXIII 
THE  MEXICAN  WAR  AND  THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850 

Oregon  and  California 525 

Zachary  Taylor  in  Mexico 527 

The  Conquest  of  California  ..........  529 

The  Great  March  upon  Mexico     .........  530 

Results  of  the  War 533 

Zachary  Taylor 538 

Eighteen  Hundred  and  Fifty 540 

The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  in  Operation  ........  548 

The  Underground  Railroad  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  553 

Slave  Life  in  the  South 556 

CHAPTER   XXIV 

THE  GREAT  POLITICAL  DUEL  BETWEEN  THE  NORTH  AND  THE  SOUTH 
PRECEDING  THE  ClVIL  WAR 

The  Presidential  Election  of  1852 563 

Death  of  Clay  and  Webster .        .        .        .        „ 566 

Fall  of  the  Whig  Party 569 

The  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill 571 

Founding  of  the  Republican  Party        ........  578 

Presidential  Election  of  1856 582 

The  Struggle  for  Kansas 586 

Dred  Scott  Decision 595 

The  Lincoln-Douglas  Debates       .                          598 

John  Brown  and  Harpers  Ferry  .........  604 

The  Presidenital  Election  of  1860 608 

CHAPTER   XXV 

AN  ANTE-BELLUM  VIEW 

Inventions  and  Discoveries  ..........  616 

Education  and  Literature      . 619 

Population  and  Immigration 621 


CONTENTS  xv 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

DRIFTING  TOWARD  HOSTILITIES 

PAGE 

Causes  and  Preliminaries 624 

Secession 628 

The  Winter  in  Washington 633 

The  New  Administration 639 

Fort  Sumter 641 

CHAPTER   XXVII 
BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  GREAT  WAR 

A  View  of  the  Belligerents 647 

Events  of  April 649 

Opening  of  Hostilities  in  Virginia  and  Missouri 653 

The  Extra  Session  of  Congress 659 

The  Trent  Affair 661 

CHAPTER   XXVIII 
THE  CIVIL  WAR  —  THE  FIRST  YEAR'S  CONFLICT 

The  First  Naval  Expeditions 670 

The  Duel  of  the  Ironclads 673 

Operations  in  the  Mississippi  Valley     ........  676 

Farragut  and  New  Orleans   ..........  688 

The  Peninsular  Campaign     ..........  691 

The  Seven  Days'  Fight  before  Richmond 697 

CHAPTER   XXIX 
THE  CIVIL  WAR  —  WAR  ON  A  GRAND  SCALE 

The  Confederate  Government 704 

Pope's  Campaign  in  Virginia        .........  706 

Antietam 708 

Emancipation        ............  712 

Buell,  Bragg,  and  Rosecrans 716 

Fredericksburg  and  Chancellorsville 721 

Democratic  Opposition — Vallandigham 725 

Doings  of  Congress 730 

Vicksburg 732 

Gettysburg 739 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   XXX 
THE  CIVIL  WAR  —  THE  GREAT  FINAL  DOUBLE  MOVEMENT 

PAGE 

Chickamauga  and  Chattanooga 748 

Grant  in  the  Wilderness 751 

The  Atlanta  Campaign  —  Mobile          .        .        .         .        .         .        .         .758 

The  Presidential  Election 761 

The  Final  Work  of  the  Armies .765 

Death  and  Character  of  Lincoln 773 

Foreign  Relations  —  The  Alabama       ........  776 

Observations  on  the  War      ..........  780 

CHAPTER   XXXI 

ANDREW  JOHNSON  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 

The  New  Problem 786 

The  New  President  and  the  Old  Plan 790 

Thirteenth  Amendment 793 

Congressional  Reconstruction       .........  795 

The  Carpetbaggers  —  The  Race  Question 799 

Impeachment  of  President  Johnson      ........  805 

The  Great  Trial 808 

CHAPTER   XXXII 
RECUPERATING  YEARS 

The  Election  of  1868 813 

Opening  of  a  New  Era 816 

The  Treaty  of  Washington 819 

The  Liberal  Republican  Movement 822 

Horace  Greeley     ............  824 

Executive  Demoralization     ..........  826 

Financial  Legislation 829 

Political  Reaction 832 

The  Centennial .834 

The  Disputed  Presidential  Election      ........  835 

CHAPTER   XXXIII 
INDUSTRIAL  PROGRESS 

New  Conditions 843 

The  Fisheries  Dispute 847 

The  Garfield  Tragedy 849 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Civil  Service  Reform 854 

A  Political  Revolution 857 

New  Conditions            861 

The  Tariff  Issue 865 

Important  Acts  of  1890 868 

Hie  Election  of  1892  873 


CHAPTER   XXXIV 
WAK  AND  EiPAXsiox 

Hawaii.  Silver,  and  the  Wilson  Tariff 878 

The  World's  Columbian  Exposition 881 

Two  Unusual  Occurrences 883 

The  Silver  Issue 885 

The  War  with  Spain 889 

Our  Island  Possessions 896 

Cuha     .  900 

The  Isthmian  Canal 906 

In  :-.x  .  913 


LIST   OF   MAPS 

FULL-PAGE   COLORED   MAPS 

PAGE 

GREAT  VOYAGES  ..........        facing  6 

INDIAN  RESERVATIONS  .........  38 

BEFORE  AND  AFTER  THE  FRENCH  WAR       .....             "  196 

SCENE  OF  WAR  IN  THE  NORTHERN  AND  MIDDLE  STATES  (THE  REVOLUTION) 

facing  270 

SCENE  OF  WAR  IN  THE  SOUTH "  306 

THE  UNITED  STATES  AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  REVOLUTION          .             "  313 

THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1830 "476 

TERRITORIAL  GROWTH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES          .         .         .  following  896 

MAPS   IN  THE   TEXT 

MELA'S  WORLD 5 

BUNKER  HILL  AND  BOSTON           .........  245 

LONG  ISLAND 257 

NEW  JERSEY  AND  TRENTON          .........  262 

CHAMPLAIN  AND  SARATOGA  ..........  273 

VALLEY  FORGE  AND  PHILADELPHIA    ........  281 

SIEGE  OF  CHARLESTON          ..........  303 

YORKTOWN    .............  311 

THE  LAKE  REGION 419 

WASHINGTON  AND  VICINITY          .........  435 

BATTLE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  441 

THE  ERIE  CANAL 473 

THE  MEXICAN  CAMPAIGN 531 

AFTER  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  BILL  .........  576 

ELECTION  CHART.,  1860 614 

xix 


LIST   OF   MAPS 


PAGE 

THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1861 678 

CAPTURE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS         .         .         .        .         .         .        .         .         .  689 

SCENE  OF  WAR  IN  VIRGINIA       .........  695 

VlCKSBURG    AND    VlCINITY 737 

BATTLEFIELD  OF  GETTYSBURG 742 

CHATTANOOGA  AND  ATLANTA        .........  759 

SHERMAN'S  MARCH       ...........  766 

ELECTION  CHART,  1868 814 

ELECTION  CHART,  1884 861 

ELECTION  CHART,  1900 898 

CENTER  OF  POPULATION 904 


AMERICAN   CHRONOLOGY 
DISCOVERY  AND  COLONIZATION 

1000.  Leif  Ericson  discovers  Vinland  (New  England). 

1492.  Oct.  12.     Columbus  discovers  the  New  World. 

1497.  The  Cabots  discover  the  continent  of  North  America. 

1498.  Columbus  on  third  voyage  discovers  South  America. 

1506.  Columbus  dies  at  Valladolid. 

1507.  New  World  named  after  Americus  Vespucius. 

1513.  Balboa  discovers  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  Ponce  de  Le6n  discovers  Florida. 
1519-1521.     Cortez  conquers  Mexico.     Magellan  sails  round  the  world. 

1524.  Verrazano  and  Gomez  explore  New  England  coast. 

1528.  Cabeza  de  Vaca  explores  southern  United  States. 

1533.  Pizarro  conquers  Peru. 

1534.  Cartier  sails  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 
1541.  De  Soto  discovers  the  Mississippi  River. 
1565.  Founding  of  St.  Augustine. 

1576.  Frobisher  discovers  northwest  passage,  Frobisher  Strait. 

1579.  Drake  explores  coast  of  California. 

1584.  Raleigh  sends  first  expedition  to  America. 

1588.  Defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada. 

1604.  Acadia  settled  by  the  French. 

1607.  May  13.     Founding  of  Jamestown,  Virginia. 

1608.  Founding  of  Quebec  by  Champlain. 

1609.  Hudson  discovers  the  Hudson  River. 

1619.  First  assembly  meets  at  Jamestown.     Slaves  first  sold  in  Virginia. 

1620.  Coming  of  the  Pilgrims  in  the  Mayflower. 

1623.  Settlements  at  New  Amsterdam.     First  settlements  in  New  Hampshire. 

1630.  The  great  emigration  to  Massachusetts.     The  founding  of  Boston. 

1634.  Maryland  first  settled  by  Calvert. 

1635.  Connecticut  settled  by  emigrants  from  Massachusetts. 

xxi 


xxii  AMERICAN   CHRONOLOGY 

1636.  Founding  of  Providence  by  Roger  Williams.     Harvard  College  founded. 

1637.  War  with  Pequot  Indians.     First  negro  slaves  in  New  England. 

1638.  Swedes  first  settle  in  Delaware. 

1639.  First  constitution  in  America  adopted  by  Connecticut. 
1643.  May  30.     New  England  Confederation  formed. 
1649.  Toleration  Act  in  Maryland. 

1655.  Stuyvesant  conquers  the  Swedes  in  Delaware. 

1656.  Quakers  expelled  from  Massachusetts. 

1662.  Connecticut  charter  granted. 

1663.  Charter  granted  to  Rhode  Island. 
Charter  for  the  Carolinas  granted. 

1664.  Sept.  8.     The  English  conquer  New  Amsterdam.     New  Jersey  given  by 

King  Charles  II  to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York. 
1667.     Fundamental  Constitutions  drawn  up  for  the  Carolinas. 
1673.     Marquette  explores  the  Mississippi. 
1676.     Bacon's  Rebellion  in  Virginia.     King  Philip's  War  in  New  England. 

1681.  Penn  receives  charter  for  Pennsylvania. 

1682.  Penn  founds  Philadelphia  and  makes  treaty  with  the  Indians.     La  Salle 

explores  Louisiana  and  takes  possession  for  France. 

1686.  Edmund  Andros  made  governor  of  all  New  England. 

1689.  Rebellion  against  Andros  ;  his  fall  and  arrest. 

1692.  Salem  witchcraft  delusion. 

1700.  Iberville  plants  colony  in  Louisiana. 

1713.  Treaty  of  Utrecht,  ending  Queen  Anne's  War*  which  began  in  1702. 

1733.  Georgia  settled  by  Oglethorpe. 

1748.  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,   ending  King  George's  War,   which  began 

in  1744. 

1754.  Colonial  Congress  at  Albany  ;  Franklin's  plan  of  union. 

1755.  Braddock's  defeat. 

1756.  French  and  Indian  War  formally  begun. 
1759.  Wolfe  captures  Quebec. 

1763.     Treaty  of  Paris  ;  end  of  the  war.     Conspiracy  of  Pontiac. 

PERIOD   OF   THE   REVOLUTION 

1765.  Stamp  Act.     Colonial  Congress  in  New  York. 

1770.  "  Boston  Massacre. " 

1773.  Destruction  of  tea  in  Boston  Harbor. 

1774.  Sept.  5.     Continental  Congress  meets  in  Philadelphia.     Boston  Port  Bill. 

1775.  April  19.     Fight  at  Lexington  and  Concord. 

May  10.     Capture   of   Ticonderoga.      Meeting  of   Second   Continental 
Congress  at  Philadelphia. 


AMERICAN   CHRONOLOGY 


1775.  June  17.     Battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 
December.     Daniel  Boone  settles  in  Kentucky. 

1776.  July  4.     Declaration  of  Independence. 
Aug.  27.     Battle  of  Long  Island. 

Dec.  26.     Washington  captures  Hessians  at  Trenton. 

1777.  June  14.     Flag  of  stars  and  stripes  adopted  by  Congress. 
Sept.  11.     Battle  of  Brandy  wine. 

Oct.  17.     Surrender  of  Burgoyne. 

Washington  encamps  at  Valley  Forge  and  Howe  occupies  Philadelphia. 

1778.  French-American  alliance. 
June  28.     Battle  of  Monmouth. 
Dec.  29.     British  take  Savannah. 

1779.  Sept.  23.     Naval  victory  of  John  Paul  Jones. 

1780.  May  12.     Charleston  taken  by  British. 
Aug.  16.     Battle  of  Camden. 

Oct.  7.     Battle  of  King's  Mountain. 

1781.  Adoption  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 

Oct.  19.     Surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown. 

1782.  Nov.  30.     Preliminary  treaty  of  peace. 

1783.  Sept.  3.     Final  treaty  of  peace  signed. 

Nov.  25.     British  army  evacuates  New  York. 
Dec.  4.     Washington's  farewell  to  his  officers. 

1786.  Shays' s  rebellion  in  Massachusetts. 

FROM   THE   MAKING   OF   THE   CONSTITUTION 
TO   THE   CIVIL   WAR, 

1787.  Ordinance  of  1787  adopted. 

May  14.     Constitutional  Convention  meets  at  Philadelphia. 
Sept.  17.     Constitution  finished  and  signed  by  the  delegates. 

1788.  Rufus  Putnam  plants  first  settlement  in  Ohio. 

June  21.     New  Hampshire  becomes  the  ninth  state  to  ratify  the  Consti 
tution,  securing  its  adoption. 

1789.  March  4.     New  government  goes  into  operation. 
April  30.     Washington  inaugurated  first  President. 

1790.  First  census.     Population  3,929,214. 

1791.  Vermont  admitted  to  the  Union.     St.  Clair  defeated  by  the  Indians. 

1792.  Kentucky  admitted  to  the  Union. 

1793.  Jefferson  founds  Republican  (Democratic)  party. 

1794.  Wayne  defeats  the  Indians  in  Battle  of  Fallen  Timbers. 

1795.  Jay's  treaty  ratified. 

1796.  Tennessee  admitted  to  the  Union. 


xxiv  AMERICAN  CHRONOLOGY 

1797.  John  Adams  inaugurated  President. 

1798.  Alien  and  sedition  laws  enacted.     Navy  department  established. 
1798-1799.     Kentucky  and  Virginia  resolutions. 

1798-1800.     Serious  trouble  with  France. 

1799.  Dec.  14.     Washington  dies  at  Mt.  Vernon. 

1800.  Overthrow  of  the  Federal  party. 
Capital  removed  to  Washington,  D.C. 

1801.  Jefferson  becomes  President. 

1802.  Ohio  joins  the  Union. 

1801-1805.     War  with  the  Barbary  States,  North  Africa. 

1803.  Purchase  of  Louisiana. 

1804.  Burr  kills  Hamilton  in  a  duel. 
1805-1807.     Lewis  and  Clarke  expedition. 
1806-1807.     Burr's  conspiracy,  trial,  and  acquittal. 

1807.  Fulton  succeeds  with  the  steamboat. 

June  22.    The  Leopard  fires  on  the  Chesapeake. 
December.     Jefferson's  embargo  enacted. 

1808.  Prohibition  of  the  foreign  slave  trade. 

1809.  James  Madison  inaugurated  President. 

1811.  Nov.  7.     Battle  of  Tippecanoe. 

1812.  June  18.     War  declared  against  England. 
Aug.  16.     Hull  surrenders  Detroit. 

Aug.  19.     The  Constitution  defeats  the  Guerriere. 
Oct.  13.     Battle  of  Queenstown  Heights. 

1813.  Sept.  10.     Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie. 
Oct.  5.     Battle  of  the  Thames. 

Nov.  9.     Battle  of  Talladega. 

1814.  July  25.     Battle  of  Lundy's  Lane. 

Aug.  25.     The  British  capture  Washington. 

Sept.  11.     Battle  at  Plattsburg   and  defeat  of  the   British   on   Lake 

Champlairi. 

December.     Hartford  Convention. 
Dec.  24.     Treaty  of  Ghent. 

1815.  Jan.  8.     Battle  of  New  Orleans. 

America  secures  indemnity  and  treaties  from  Algiers,  Tunis,  and  Tripoli. 

1816.  Indiana  admitted  to  the  Union.      Admission  of  Mississippi,  1817  ;   of 

Illinois,  1818  ;  of  Alabama,  1819  ;  of  Maine,  1820 ;  of  Missouri,  1821. 

1817.  James  Monroe  becomes  President. 

1818.  War  with  the  Seminole  Indians. 

1819.  Purchase  of  Florida  from  Spain. 

First  steamship,  the  Savannah,  crosses  the  Atlantic. 

1820.  The  Missouri  Compromise. 


AMERICAN   CHRONOLOGY 


1823.     Dec.  2.     Monroe  Doctrine  promulgated. 

1825.  Inauguration  of  John  Quincy  Adams.     Opening  of  the  Erie  Canal. 
June  17.     Lafayette  lays  corner  stone  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument. 

1826.  July  4.     Death  of  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson. 
Panama  Congress. 

1828.  Building  of  the  first  passenger  railway  begun  at  Baltimore. 

1829.  Andrew  Jackson  becomes  President. 

1830.  Fifth  census.     Population  12,866,020. 

1832.  Nov.  19.     Nullification  by  South  Carolina.     Jackson  vetoes  bank  charter. 

Black  Hawk  War. 

1833.  Jackson  removes  bank  deposits.     Compromise  tariff  adopted. 

1836.  April  21.     Battle  of  San  Jacinto. 
Wilkes's  Antarctic  expedition. 
Admission  of  Arkansas. 

1837.  Inauguration  of  Van  Buren. 
Patent  of  the  telegraph  by  Morse. 
Great  panic.     Admission  of  Michigan. 
Burning  of  the  Caroline. 

1841.     March  4.     William  Henry  Harrison  inaugurated  President ;  dies  April  4, 

and  John  Tyler  becomes  President. 
Howe  invents  the  sewing  machine. 

1844.  First  telegraph  line  in  America,  between  Baltimore  and  Washington. 

1845.  James  K.  Polk  becomes  President.     Florida  and  Texas  admitted  into 

the  Union.     Death  of  Andrew  Jackson. 

1846.  Beginning  of  the  Mexican  War.     Fight  at  Palo  Alto. 

Admission  of  Iowa.      Walker  tariff  enacted.      Wilmot  Proviso  intro 
duced  in  Congress. 

1847.  Feb.  23.     Battle  of  Buena  Vista. 

March  20.     Capture  of  Vera  Cruz  by  General  Scott. 

Conquest  of  California. 

September.     Fall  of  the  City  of  Mexico. 

1848.  February.     Treaty  of  Guaclalupe  Hidalgo. 
Discovery  of  gold  in  California. 
Wisconsin  enters  the  Union. 

1849.  Zachary  Taylor  inaugurated  President. 

1850.  Admission  of  California.     Death  of  Calhoun. 

July  9.     Death  of  President  Taylor.     Millard  Fillmore  President. 

Clay  Compromise  enacted. 

Census  shows  population  of  23,191,876. 

1852.  Death  of  Clay  and  Webster. 

1853.  Inauguration  of  Franklin  Pierce. 

1854.  May.     Kansas-Nebraska  bill  enacted. 


xxvi  AMERICAN   CHRONOLOGY 

1854.     Commercial  treaty  with  Japan. 

1857.  Inauguration  of  Buchanan. 
March  6.     Dred  Scott  decision. 

1858.  Admission  of  Minnesota. 
First  Atlantic  cable  laid. 
Lincoln-Douglas  debates. 

Sept.  18.     Mountain  Meadow  Massacre,  Utah. 

1859.  Admission  of  Oregon. 

John  Brown's  raid  on  Harper's  Ferry. 

1860.  Population  31,443,321. 

THE   CIVIL   WAR   AND   OUR   OWN   TIMES. 
Dec.  20.     Secession  of  South  Carolina. 

1861.  Secession  of  Mississippi  on  Jan.  9  ;  of  Florida,  Jan.  10  ;  Alabama,  Jan.  11  ; 

Georgia,  Jan.  19  ;  Louisiana,  Jan.  2f> ;  Texas,  Feb.  1  ;  Virginia,  April 
17  ;  Arkansas,  May  6  ;  North  Carolina,  May  20 ;  Tennessee,  June  8. 

Feb.  4.     Confederate  government  organized. 

March  4.     Lincoln  inaugurated  President  of  the  United  States. 

April  14.     Fall  of  Fort  Sumter. 

July  21.     Battle  of  Bull  Run. 

Nov.  8.     Capture  of  Mason  and  Slidell. 

Admission  of  Kansas. 

1862.  Feb.  16.     Surrender  of  Fort  Donelson. 

March  9.     Duel  between  the  Monitor  and  the  Merrimac. 

April  6-7.     Battle  of  Shiloh. 

April  16.     Slavery  abolished  in  District  of  Columbia. 

April  25.     Farragut  captures  New  Orleans. 

July  1.     Battle  of  Malvern  Hill ;  last  of  the  seven  days'  battle  before 

Richmond. 

Aug.  30.     Second  Battle  of  Bull  Run. 
Sept.  17.     Battle  of  Antietam. 
Dec.  1 3.     Battle  of  Fredericksburg. 

1863.  Jan.  1.     Lincoln  issues  Emancipation  Proclamation. 
Jan.  2.     Battle  of  Murfreesboro. 

Admission  of  West  Virginia. 

May  2.     Battle  of  Chancellorsville. 

July  1-3.     Battle  of  Gettysburg. 

July  4.     Surrender  of  Vicksburg. 

Sept.  19-20.     Battle  of  Chickamauga. 

Nov.  19.     Lincoln's  address  at  Gettysburg. 

Nov.  24-25.     Battle  of  Chattanooga. 

1864.  May  6.     Battle  of  the  Wilderness. 
May  11.     Battle  of  Spottsylvania. 


AMERICAN   CHRONOLOGY  xxvii 

1864.  June  19.     The  Rearsarge  sinks  the  Alabama. 
Aug.  5.     Battle  of  Mobile  Bay. 

Sept.  2.     Sherman  captures  Atlanta. 

Oct.  19.     Battle  of  Cedar  Creek. 

Nov.  15.     Sherman  begins  his  march  to  the  sea. 

Dec.  15-16.     Battle  of  Nashville. 

Admission  of  Nevada. 

1865.  April  1.     Battle  of  Five  Forks. 
April  3.     Evacuation  of  Richmond. 

April  9.  Surrender  of  Lee  at  Appomattox. 

April  14.     Assassination  of  Lincoln  ;  Andrew  Johnson  President. 

April  26.     Surrender  of  Johnston's  army. 

Dec.  18.  Thirteenth  Amendment  ratified. 

1866.  July  27.  Second  Atlantic  cable  completed. 

1867.  May  2.  Reconstruction  bill  passed  over  veto. 
Purchase  of  Alaska. 

Admission  of  Nebraska. 

1868.  Feb.  24.     President  Johnson  impeached  by  the  House. 
Trial  in  the  Senate  fails. 

July  21.     Fourteenth  Amendment  adopted. 

1869.  Inauguration  of  U.  S.  Grant. 

May  10.     Pacific  Railroad  completed. 

1870.  Population  38,558,371. 

March  30.     Fifteenth  Amendment  ratified. 

1871.  November.     Great  fire  in  Chicago. 
1873.     February.     Congress  demonetizes  silver. 

Financial  panic. 

1876.  Centennial  Exposition  at  Philadelphia. 
Admission  of  Colorado. 

Invention  of  the  telephone. 

Custer's  army  destroyed  by  the  Indians. 

1877.  Inauguration  of  R.  B.  Hayes. 
Great  railroad  strike. 

1878.  Electric  light  perfected. 

February.     Bland-Allison  silver  bill  passed. 

1879.  Jan.  1.     Resumption  of  specie  payments. 

1880.  Population  50,155,783. 

1881.  James  A.  Garfield  inaugurated  President. 

July  2.     Assassination  of  Garfield.      Dies  September  19.     Chester  A, 

Arthur  becomes  President. 
1883.     Letter  postage  reduced  to  two  cents. 

1885.  Grover  Cleveland  becomes  President. 

1886.  Oct.  6.     Statue  of  Liberty  unveiled,  New  York. 


xxx  INTRODUCTION 


however,  that  America  was  the  first  great  nation  in  history  to  solve 
the  greatest  of  all  governmental  problems,  —  to  blend  Nationality 
and  Democracy  in  perpetual  wedlock  under  one  government,  in 
such  proportion  as  to  secure  the  benefits  of  both ;  to  protect  local 
self-government  by  the  mighty  arm  of  a  great  nation,  which  is 
strong  enough  to  perpetuate  its  own  existence. 

Other  facts  that  render  the  study  of  our  history  important  are,  — 
that  our  manhood  suffrage  is  more  nearly  universal,  our  free  school 
system  more  extensive,  than  in  any  other  country;  that  our  land 
first  introduced  religious  liberty  to  the  world ;  that  in  the  past 
hundred  years  we  have  been  the  greatest  colonizer  of  all  countries, 
though  this  fact  has  been  disguised  by  the  further  fact  that  our 
colonies  have  become  coequal  states,  —  a  thing  unknown  before  in 
history;  and  that,  on  the  whole,  the  growth  and  development  of 
the  United  States  during  the  nineteenth  century  is  the  most  won 
derful  fact  in  modern  history.  There  are  other  items  also  (of  which 
we  are  too  prone  to  boast),  such  as  these,  —  our  iron  and  steel  prod 
ucts  are  greater  than  in  all  other  countries  combined ;  we  produce 
more  coal,  wheat,  maize,  and  cotton  than  any  other  country.  Our 
railroad  mileage  far  exceeds  that  of  any  other  nation,  so  also  our 
telegraph  lines,  our  newspaper  issue.  In  short,  our  nation,  though 
still  in  its  youth  and  in  its  most  rapid  period  of  growth,  is  already 
the  richest  nation  on  the  globe. 

The  New  World,  inhabited  only  in  modern  times  by  civilized 
man,  has  been  divided,  for  the  most  part,  into  a  dozen  or  more 
independent  republics,  and  it  is  very  remarkable  that  one  of  these 
republics  stands  without  a  rival  and  without  a  second  among  its 
fellows ;  that  this  one,  as  a  civilizing  force  and  as  a  military  power, 
surpasses  all  the  rest  combined. 

A  study  of  American  history  will  reveal  the  fact  that  many  of 
our  institutions,  customs,  and  characteristics  are  indigenous  to  our 
soil ;  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  most  of  the  best  things  in 
our  civilization  have  their  roots  in  the  far  past,  in  the  centuries 
that  made  their  record  in  the  world's  life  long  before  this  Western 
Hemisphere  was  known  to  the  white  man.  In  art,  in  sculpture,  we 
must  still  find  our  models  in  the  old  masters  of  other  lands ;  in 


INTRODUCTION  xxxi 


music  we  have  only  made  a  start,  and  are  still  dependent  on  the 
German  and  the  Italian ;  in  literature  we  have  made  a  noble  begin 
ning,  but  we  must  still  bow  to  the  mother  country,  whose  classic 
treasures  we  have  appropriated  as  our  rightful  inheritance.  But  in 
useful  inventions  we  surpass  all  peoples  of  all  ages.  That  this  one 
country  in  a  single  century  has  given  to  the  world  steam  naviga 
tion,  the  electric  telegraph,  the  cylinder  press,  the  sewing  machine, 
the  mower  and  reaper,  anaesthetics,  the  telephone,  the  electric  light, 
and  the  electric  railway  is  the  most  astonishing  fact  in  the  history 
of  modern  progress.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  history  of  our 
country  but  illustrates  the  truth  of  the  continuity  of  history,  the 
transplanting  of  Europeans  and  European  institutions  to  the  New 
World  and  their  development  under  new  conditions.  That  most  of 
our  institutions  have  grown  by  evolution  from  the  beginnings  made 
by  the  early  settlers  and  brought  by  them  from  their  homes  across 
the  sea  no  thoughtful  student  of  history  will  deny. 

At  first  glance  it  might  seem  that  the  history  of  the  United  States, 
from  its  mere  newness,  must  be  less  fascinating  than  that  of  the 
older  countries;  and  it  is  true  that  the  stories  of  royal  dynasties, 
of  orders  of  nobility,  of  ancient  castles,  are  wanting  in  American 
history.  But  we  have  much  to  compensate  for  all  this.  We  have 
not  only  the  story  of  the  marvelous  development,  the  unprecedented 
growth  of  a  vast  people  and  their  institutions ;  we  have  also  the 
personal  story  of  the  barefoot  boy,  born  among  the  lowly,  but 
untrammeled  by  the  iron  fetters  of  caste,  rising  by  the  force  of  his 
own  genius  to  the  highest  rank  in  the  political,  the  military,  or  the 
industrial  world.  Among  the  greatest  of  our  statesmen,  our  com 
manders  of  armies,  our  captains  of  industry,  the  great  majority 
have  risen  from  the  commonest  walks  of  life ;  and  who  can  write 
fiction  so  fascinating  as  to  compare  with  the  story  of  such  a  life  ? 

Again,  American  history  presents  one  absorbingly  interesting 
feature  that  is  wholly  unique  in  modern  annals,  —  the  removal  of 
an  ancient  race  that  another  race  might  be  transplanted  to  the  soil. 
Behold  first  the  wild  man  of  the  forest  in  his  native  haunts.  See 
him  chase  the  deer  and  the  buffalo  and  strive  with  his  enemy  in 
battle.  His  life  is  full  of  tragedy  and  romance,  of  rivalry,  of  hatred, 


xxxii  INTRODUCTION 


and  of  love.  See  him  in  the  vast  solitudes  of  nature  living  in 
apparent  contentment  with  his  family  and  kindred,  amid  the  crude 
surroundings  of  his  home ;  hear  his  rude  song  resound  from  hill  to 
hill.'  Now  behold  a  stronger  race  coming  from  afar,  and  the  long 
warfare  between  Civilization  and  Barbarism  begins.  The  wild  man 
at  length  must  yield,  or  flee  before  the  forces  of  modern  life,  or  he 
must  die.  It  is  the  decree  of  Providence,  for  he  is  a  cumberer  of 
the  ground. 

Now  comes  the  pioneer  with  his  ax,  his  cattle,  and  his  plow; 
the  development  of  a  continent  begins.  The  New  World  becomes 
the  home  of  the  oppressed  from  every  land.  Cities  rise  where  the 
forest  waved  over  the  wild  man's  home,  and  the  hills  and  valleys 
resound  with  the  teeming  life  of  an  industrious  and  ambitious 
people.  Nearly  two  hundred  years  pass,  when  they  rise  and  win 
their  freedom  from  political  bondage.  Now  are  laid  the  founda 
tions  of  a  mighty  nation,  and  the  people  grapple  with  the  greatest 
problem  of  all,  —  the  problem  of  self-government.  The  new  nation 
has  a  thorny  road  for  many  years,  but  it  toils  upward,  surmounts 
every  obstacle,  and  increases  more  and  more.  Three  quarters  of  a 
century  pass.  The  nation  has  grown  great.  But,  alas!  there  is 
internal  strife  that  now  breaks  forth  into  dreadful  war.  The 
nation's  life  trembles  in  the  balance,  —  but  it  is  saved,  and  the 
nation  is  born  again.  It  rises  from  the  civil  conflict  with  youth 
renewed  and  stronger  than  before ;  and  the  men  that  strove  to 
gether  become  friends  and  brethren.  Now  begins  the  latest  scene 
of  the  wonderful  panorama,  —  an  industrial  development  which  has 
no  parallel  in  the  world's  history.  In  the  space  of  forty  years  the 
youthful  nation  shoots  ahead  of  all  its  rivals  as  a  financial  and 
military  power,  in  commercial,  manufacturing,  and  agricultural 
industries,  and  is  second  to  none  in  its  standard  of  civilization. 
Such  is  the  United  States  of  America  at  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth 
century. 

Few  civilized  nations  have  less  in  common  with  the  United  States 
than  has  Italy  or  Spain ;  yet  the  history  of  our  country  must  begin 
with  the  story  of  a  Spaniard  who  was  first  an  Italian. 


HISTORY   OF   THE 
UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

CHAPTER   I 

CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS   AND   THE  AGE   OF   DISCOVERY 

IN  the  world  of  history  we  find  here  and  there  the  name  of  some 
commanding  genius  that  stands  out  as  a  landmark,  and  shines  with 
a  luster  that  time  has  no  power  to  dim.  Such  is  tne  name  of 
Christopher  Columbus. 

It  will  hardly  be  disputed,  that  among  rulers  and  statesmen  of  all 
time  Julius  Caesar  must  be  placed  at  the  head ;  that  among  military 
leaders  the  greatest  the  world  has  yet  known  was  Napoleon  Bona 
parte;  and  that  in  the  still  higher  domain  of  literature  William 
Shakespeare  holds  the  foremost  place.  And  it  is  no  less  true  that 
the  name  of  Columbus  stands  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  navigators 
and  discoverers. 

SPIRIT   OF   THE   AGE 

At  this  point  it  is  well  to  give  passing  notice  to  the  historic  set 
ting  of  the  career  of  Columbus.  For  immemorial  ages  Europe  had 
enjoyed  commercial  relations  with  Asia.  But  in  the  seventh  and 
eighth  centuries  the  Saracen  invaders  came  near  destroying  these 
relations.  The  Mohammedan  hordes  became  masters  of  North 
Africa  and  of  Spain,  and  Christian  Europe  was  cut  off  from  the 
East  as  never  before.  Of  all  the  European  cities  Constantinople 
alone  retained  a  flourishing  trade  with  the  East. 

At  length,  near  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  the  Seljukian  Turks, 
a  nomadic,  half-civilized  people  of  Central  Asia,  became  converted  to 
the  religion  of  Islam,  and  in  their  zeal  for  the  new  religion  and  for 
conquest  they  soon  began  to  encroach  upon  the  Byzantine  Empire. 
Early  in  the  eleventh  century  they  had  spread  their  blighting  power 
over  Armenia  and  Asia  Minor,  destroying  a  noble  civilization  and 

B  1 


HISTORY    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 


substituting  their  own  barbarous  mode  of  life.  The  menace  to  Chris 
tendom  was  appalling,  for  the  terrible  Turk  seemed  insatiable  in  his 
greed  of  conquest.  Then  it  was  that  Christian  Europe  awoke  to  the 
necessity  of  self-defense,  and  the  result  was  a  series  of  uprisings, 
known  in  history  as  the  Crusades.  These  Crusades,  seven  in  number, 
covering  nearly  two  centuries,  were  undertaken  for  the  purpose  of 
rescuing  the  Savior's  tomb  from  the  hands  of  the  infidel  and  of  re- 
Tne  storing  to  the  Christian  zealot  his  time-honored  privilege 

Crusades,  of  making  a  pilgrimage  to  the  holy  city  of  Jerusalem. 
1096-1270.  This  result  was  not  permanently  achieved,  but  the  com 
mercial  results  were  great  and  lasting.  The  Crusades  not  only 
checked  the  Mohammedan  invasion,  they  also  brought  about  a 
diffusion  in  Europe  of  a  wider  knowledge  of  Asiatic  lands  and 
peoples  and  created  a  greater  demand  for  their  products. 

Meantime  the  city  of  Venice  became  a  rival  of  Constantinople  in 
trading  with  the  Indies ;  and  at  length  Genoa  became  the  rival  of 
Venice  and  allied  itself  with  Constantinople.  The  southeastern  por 
tion  of  Asia,  with  the  numberless  adjacent  islands,  was  known  as 
the  Indies ;  and  the  term  had  also  a  general  use  which  included  the 
islands  of  Cipango,  or  Japan,  and  parts  of  China,  known  by  the 
poetic  name  of  Cathay.  There  were  two  important  routes  of  trade 
with  the  Indies.  The  favorite  route  of  the  Venetian  trade  was 
chiefly  by  water,  by  way  of  Cairo,  the  Eed  Sea,  and  the  Indian 
Ocean,  while  Genoa  took  the  northern  route  by  way 
the  Indies*1  °^  ^e  Bosphorus,  the  Black  Sea,  and  thence  overland 
by  various  routes  by  means  of  caravans.  The  goods 
sent  to  the  Orient  were  chiefly  linen,  light  woolen  goods,  coral,  glass 
vessels,  and  wine;  those  received  in  return  and  distributed  over 
Europe  from  Venice  and  Genoa  were  spices,  ivory  and  pearls,  silks, 
and  precious  stones.  The  routes  were  long  and  laborious  and  fraught 
with  many  perils.  The  goods  changed  hands  several  times  in  the 
long  journey,  and  the  Europeans  never  met  the  people  of  India. 
They  believed  Cathay  to  be  a  vast  empire  of  fabulous  wealth,  of 
gilded  cities,  and  of  mighty  rivers. 

The  rivalry  in  Eastern  trade  had  continued  for  a  long  period  be 
tween  these  two  Italian  cities,  when  one  of  the  routes  was  suddenly 
Fall  of  blocked  by  one  of  the  great  events  of  history  —  the  fall 

Constantino-  of  Constantinople.  For  more  than  a  thousand  years  the 
pie,  1453.  city  Of  Constantine,  beautiful  for  situation  above  all 
the  capital  cities  of  the  world,  had  been  one  of  the  chief  centers  of 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS  AND  THE  AGE  OF  DISCOVERY         3 

Christendom ;  but  the  detestable  Turk,  now  of  the  Ottoman  type, 
had  again,  since  the  last  Crusade,  been  extending  his  baleful  influ 
ence  over  the  eastern  Mediterranean  and  tightening  his  coils  about 
the  city  on  the  Bosphorus  —  and  at  last  it  fell  into  his  power  and  the 
crescent  supplanted  the  cross.  The  Moslem  now  made  hazardous 
the  use  of  the  Bosphorus  and  the  Black  Sea  to  the  Christian  trader, 
and  his  corsairs  plowed  the  eastern  Mediterranean  in  search  of  Chris 
tian  plunder.  Thus  an  important  route  to  the  Indies  was  closed. 

This  checking  of  the  Eastern  trade  at  a  moment  when  Asiatic 
products  had  become  a  necessity  to  Europe  caused  the  idea  to  take 
possession  slowly  of  men's  minds  that  some  other  route,  an  "outside 
route,"  to  the  far-off  "land  where  the  spices  grow"  might  be  found. 
But  first  we  must  glance  at  the 

THEORIES   OF   THE   EARTH  AND   GEOGRAPHICAL    KNOWLEDGE 

For  many  ages  before  the  time  of  Columbus  there  was  a  general 
belief  among  scholars  that  the  earth  is  a  sphere.  This  doctrine  was 
taught  by  Pythagoras,  nearly  six  hundred  years  before  Christ,  by 
Plato,  by  Aristotle,  and  later  by  nearly  all  the  leaders  of  thought 
down  through  the  Middle  Ages.1 

There  was  some  vague  notion  of  an  antipodal  world,  yet  how 
men  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  earth  could  walk  with  their  heads 
downward  was  a  question  that  puzzled  the  wisest;  for  no  Newton 
had  yet  risen  to  tell  the  world  of  the  law  of  gravitation,  and  no 
Copernicus  to  teach  that  the  earth  is  but  a  ball  swinging  in  space, 
and  that  "upward"  and  "downward"  are  but  relative  terms.2 

For  centuries  the  boldest  navigators  were  deterred  from  ventur 
ing  far  into  the  unknown  seas,  because  popular  fancy  had  filled  them 

1  Aristotle,  in  the  fourth  century  B.C.,  declared  that  those  who  connect  the 
region  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  with  that  toward  India,  and 
also  assert  in  this  way  that  the  sea  is  one,  do  not  assert  things  very  improbable. 
Eratosthenes,  in  the  third  century  B.C.,  said,  "  If  the  extent  of  the  Atlantic  was  not 
too  great,  one  might  easily  sail  from  Iberia  (Spain)  to  India."     Strabo,  in  the  first 
century  A.D.,  quoted  him  with  approval  and  added,  "  It  is  quite  possible  that  in  the 
temperate  zone  there  may  be  one  or  more  habitable  lands."     Seneca  prophesied 
that,  "In  tardy  years  the  epoch  will  come  in  which  the  ocean  will  unloose  the  bonds 
of  nature,  and  the  great  sea  will  stretch  out  and  the  sea  will  disclose  new  worlds." 

2  Copernicus  was  born  in  1473  — while  Columbus  was  at  Lisbon.    His  theory  of 
the  solar  system  is  now  universally  accepted. 

Newton  lived  nearly  two  centuries  later.  He  was  born  in  the  year  in  which 
Galileo,  the  greatest  pupil  of  Copernicus,  died  — the  year  that  marks  the  opening 
of  the  war  against  Charles  I  in  England  — 16-42. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


with  impassable  barriers.  It  was  believed  that  the  earth  was  belted 
in  the  center  with  a  fiery  zone  where  the  vertical  rays  of  the  sun 
were  unbearable,  where  the  seas  boiled  with  fury,  and  where  vege 
table  and  animal  life  could  not  endure.  It  was  also  believed  that 
Knrope  occupied  the  top  of  the  terrestrial  ball,  that  the  ocean  sloped 
downward  in  all  directions,  and  that  if  a  ship  passed  too  far  down, 
it  would  never  be  able  to  return.  Still  another  belief  was  that  the 
remote  region  of  the  outer  ocean,  the  Sea  of  Darkness, 

°f  as  tm'  Atlanti(>'  was  called>  was  inhabited  by  dreadful 
gorgons  and  sea  monsters,  while  above  the  waters  hovered 
a  gigantic  bird  so  large  that  it  could  seize  a  ship  in  its  talons  and 
fly  away  with  it  into  the  upper  air.1  No  theory  was  too  extravagant 
for  belief  during  this  period.  It  was  believed  by  many,  and  even 
taught  in  the  schools,  that  the  redness  of  the  sun  in  the  evening  was 
caused  by  his  looking  down  upon  hell.2 

Most  of  these  fantastic  theories,  however,  were  exploded  before 
the  active  career  of  Columbus  began.  In  1487  Bartholomew  Diaz 
of  Portugal  completed  a  voyage,  the  greatest  in  history  up  to  that 
time.  He  sailed  down  the  African  coast,  doubled  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  proceeded  some  hundreds  of  miles  into  the  Indian  Ocean,  and 
returned  to  Lisbon  by  the  same  route.  The  entire  voyage  had 
covered  thirteen  thousand  miles.  The  fiery  /one  had  been  passed, 
no  sea  monsters  had  been  encountered,  and  the  homeward  journey  had 
seemed  no  more  uphill  than  the  outward  trip.  Other  great  voyages 
were  made  with  like  results.  No  one  after  this  gave  credence  to  the 
wild  theories  that  had  so  long  controlled  the  popular  mind. 

Geographical  knowledge  during  the  Middle  Ages  was  meager. 
The  ancients  believed  that  the  outer  unknown  world  was  composed 
chiefly  of  water.  This  theory  was  also  maintained  by  Mela,  who 
flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
and  was  known  as  the  Oceanic  Theory.  But  Claudius  Ptolemy,  who 
wrote  a  hundred  years  later,  advocated  the  theory  that  Asia  extended 
interminably  to  the  north  and  east  in  vast  deserts  and  impenetrable 
Oceanic  and  swamps,  that  Africa  extended  indefinitely  southward, 
Continental  and  that  the  two  continents  met  somewhere  in  the  far 
theories.  Southeast  and  inclosed  the  Indian  Ocean.  This  theory 

gained  general  acceptance  and  was  known  as  the  Continental  Theory. 

This  Ptolemaic  view  held  sway  in  mediaeval   Europe   for  more 

1  Higginson's  "  History  of  the  United  States,"  p.  66. 

2  Adams's  "  Columbus,"  p.  28. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS   AND   THE   AGE   OF   DISCOVERY 


than  a  thousand  years.  But  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century  certain  travelers  to  the  far  East  reported  in  Europe  that 
Asia  was  not  a  terra  incognita  of  boundless  extent,  but  that  an  ocean 
lay  east  of  Cathay.  A  half  century  later  this  fact  was  confirmed  in 
the  remarkable  production  of  Marco  Polo. 

The  Polos  were  a  wealthy  family  of  Venice.     When  Marco  was  a 
boy  of   seventeen  his  father,  a  wealthy  merchant,  made  a  trading 


MELA'S  IDEA  OF  THE  WORLD,  A.D.  00. 

journey  to  the  far  East  and  took  the  boy  with  him.     For  four  years 
they  journeyed  over  mountains  and   through  deserts,    Marco  Polo 
trading  as   they  went,  until  they  reached  the  famous 
empire  of  Cathay.     Marco  was  taken  into  the  service  of  the  great 
emperor  known  as  Kublai  Khan,  was  made  a  high  official,  and  here 
he  remained  for  many  years.     At  length  he  returned  to  the  home  of 
his  childhood,  reaching  Venice  in  1295,  after  an  absence  of  twenty- 
four  years.     Soon  after  this  Venice  and  Genoa  were  at  war.     In  a 


6  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

sea  fight  the  Genoese  were  successful,  and  Marco  Polo  among  others 
was  taken  captive  and  was  cast  into  prison.  Here  he  became  intimate 
with  a  fellow-prisoner  to  whom  he  related  his  travels  in  the  East. 
His  friend  wrote  the  words  as  they  fell  from  Polo's  lips,  and  after 
ward  they  were  published  in  book  form  as  "  The  Book  of  Marco 
Polo  concerning  the  Kingdoms  and  Marvels  of  the  East."  It  de 
scribed  Tibet  and  Burmah,  and  Hindustan,  Siam,  and  China.  It 
told  of  the  gorgeous  landscapes,  the  towered  cities,  the  beautiful 
rivers.  It  confirmed  also  the  growing  belief  that  there  was  an  ocean 
east  of  Asia.  The  book  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  productions 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  and,  like  Raleigh's  "  History  of  the  World,"  and 
Buriyan's  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  owed  its  existence  to  a  prison  cell. 
No  other  book  had  ever  appeared  in  Europe  that  contributed  so 
much  to  the  knowledge  of  the  East  as  did  the  book  of  Polo.  In  the 
centuries  following  various  Europeans  sailed  into  China  seas,  so  that 
by  the  time  of  the  fall  of  Constantinople  it  was  a  well-known  fact 
that  an  ocean  washed  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia.  How  natural  then, 
since  the  earth  was  known  to  be  a  globe,  for  men  to  conclude  that 
the  ocean  west  of  Europe  might  be  the  same  as  that  east  of  Asia ; 
and  if  so,  a  western  voyage  must  bring  the  mariner  to  the  Indies 
of  the  East.  This  belief  rendered  it  certain  that  the  New  World 
would  have  been  discovered,  even  though  by  accident,  had  Christo 
pher  Columbus  never  lived. 

But  although  the  theory  of  the  fiery  zone  and  the  devouring  sea 
monsters  had  been  exploded,  and  the  mariner's  compass  had  come 
into  general  use,  no  navigator  was  jet  bold  enough  to  venture  to 
cross  the  Sea  of  Darkness.  It  was  believed  that  a  route  to  the 
Indies  could  be  found  by  sailing  around  Africa.  Portugal,  leaning 
to  the  Oceanic  Theory,  took  the  lead  in  this  great  enter- 
Henry  prise,  and  Portugal  was  led  by  Prince  Henry  the  Navi 
gator,  who  was  also  a  prince  in  fostering  education  and 
science.1  He  inspired  many  important  voyages  and  among  them  the 
famous  voyage  of  Diaz,  mentioned  above,  which  took  place  a  score  of 
years  after  the  death  of  Henry.2  But  the  distance  to  the  Indies  by  the 

1  Prince  Henry  was  a  cousin  of  King  Henry  V  of  England  and  an  uncle  of  King 
John  of  Portugal.    He  stood  among  the  leading  astronomers  and  mathematicians  of 
his  time.    He  died  in  1463. 

2  The  geographical  position  of  Italy  prevented  its  taking  the  lead  in  discovery, 
but  Italy  was  the  school  of  navigation  for  the  world,  and  the  greatest  of  the  dis 
coverers  of  this  period  —  Columbus,  Cabot,  Vespucius,  and  Verrazano  —  were  all 
Italians.     See  Payne's  "  History  of  America,"  Vol.  I,  p.  95. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS   AND   THE   AGE   OF  DISCOVERY      7 

African  route  was  very  great,  even  if  feasible,  and  thoughtful  men  of 
the  maritime  world  cast  their  eyes  longingly  toward  the  unknown 
West  —  and  here  we  must  introduce  the  great  discoverer,  Christopher 
Columbus. 

EARLY  LIFE   OF   COLUMBUS 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  Italian  cities  is  Genoa,  the  birth 
place  of  the  discoverer  of  America.  The  city  is  built  011  the  southern 
slope  of  the  Apennines,  between  the  summit  of  the  mountains  and 
the  northern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  as  one  approaches 
from  the  sea,  the  city  with  its  palaces  and  cathedrals,  rising  tier 
above  tier,  presents  a  sublime  and  impressive  appearance.  It  was 
here  that  Christopher  Columbus  was  born.1  The  exact  date  of  his 
birth  cannot  be  determined.  The  older  writers  placed  it  about  1436 ; 
but  recent  investigators  favor  a  later  date.  Tradition  informs  us 
that  his  father,  Dominico  Columbus,  was  a  wool  comber,  and  it  seems 
that  the  family  had  for  several  generations  followed  the  same  handi 
craft.  Christopher  had  two  brothers  younger  than  himself,  Bartholo 
mew  and  Diego,  and  a  sister  of  whom  nothing  is  known.  Not  much 
is  known  of  the  boyhood  of  Columbus.  It  is  certain  that  the  family 
were  respectable,  but  not  of  special  influence  nor  in  possession  of 
wealth.  The  education  of  Christopher  was  not  extensive  nor  pro 
found.  In  addition  to  the  common  studies  he  probably  learned 
Latin,  higher  mathematics,  and  astronomy;  and  in  nautical  science 
and  cosmography  he  was  a  life-long  student  and  acquired  all  the 
learning  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 

While  yet  a  child  the  attention  of  Columbus  was  turned  toward 
the  sea.  His  voyages  on  the  Mediterranean  began  when  he  was  a 
boy  of  fourteen,  and  by  the  time  he  reached  his  majority  he  was  a 
hardy  and  skillful  mariner.  Some  of  his  voyages  were  purely  in  the 
pursuit  of  commerce ;  in  others  he  was  engaged  in  naval  struggles 
between  the  warring  Italian  states.  On  one  occasion  he  commanded 
a  vessel  which  engaged  in  a  death  duel  with  a  huge  Venetian  galley. 
The  two  ships  grappled,  and  the  crews  fought  hand  to  hand  for 
several  hours,  many  being  slain,  when  at  length  both  vessels  took 
fire.  Most  of  those  remaining  perished.  Columbus  saved  his  life  by 
leaping  into  the  sea  and  swimming  to  shore,  six  miles  distant.2 

1  No  less  than  sixteen  Italian  towns  have  claimed  to  be  the  birthplace  of  the 
great  navigator.    Columbus,  however,  refers  in  his  writings  to  Genoa  as  the  place 
of  his  birth. 

2  This  story,  given  by  Columbus's  son  Fernando,  is  doubted  by  some  critics. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


About  1470  Columbus  abandoned  his  native  land  and  became  a 
resident  of  Lisbon.1  He  was  doubtless  attracted  to  that  city  by  its 
reputation  of  being  the  chief  center  in  Europe  for  nautical  science 
and  by  its  great  activity  in  promoting  discovery.  Here  for  many 
years  Columbus  made  his  home,  supporting  himself  by  making 
maps  and  charts,  taking  an  occasional  voyage  down  the  African 
coast  to  the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  the  Azores,  and  once  far  into  the 
North,  touching  the  coast  of  Iceland.2  He  was  a  man  of  striking 
appearance,  tall  and  muscular,  courtly  in  manner,  and  affable  in  con 
versation.  His  eyes  were  light  gray,  his  cheeks  ruddy  as  those  of 
a  boy,  while  his  hair  was  waving  and  as  white  as  snow.3  He  was 
received  in  the  upper  circles  of  society,  and  ere  he  had  been  many 
years  in  his  adopted  city  he  married  and  from  this  time  on  he  seems 
to  have  had  greater  opportunity  to  study  the  one  subject  nearest  his 
heart.4  At  this  period  also  he  conceived  that  greater  thought  which 
became  henceforth  the  guiding  star  of  his  life. 

The  belief  that  the  East  could  be  reached  by  sailing  westward 
was  held  by  many  learned  men,  and  was  not  original  with  Columbus ; 
but  he  was  the  first  and  the  only  man  of  his  times  who  was  ready  to 
risk  his  all  in  an  attempt  to  demonstrate  the  theory.  For  this  he 
deserves  a  place  among  the  greatest  characters  of  history. 

Columbus  had  been  in  correspondence  with  the  great  Florentine 
astronomer,  Toscanelli,5  who  had  sent  him  a  map  of  the  earth  showing 
that  there  was  but  one  ocean  between  Europe  and  Asia,  and  expressing 
his  belief  that  the  latter  could  be  reached  by  sailing  westward  from 
the  former.  Columbus  was  also  versed  in  the  writings  of  Ptolemy, 
of  Roger  Bacon,  and  of  Marco  Polo.  Polo's  book,  though  nearly  two 
hundred  years  old,  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  mind  of  Columbus 
and  had  much  to  do  in  shaping  his  life.  He  read  also  the  great  work 
of  Cardinal  d'Ailly,  "  Imago  Mundi," 6  and  all  these  things  he  pondered 

1  Vignaud  believes  that  Columbus  did  not  arrive  at  Lisbon  before  1476. 

2  The  voyage  to  Iceland  is  known  only  by  tradition. 

3  This  description  is  from  Las  Casas,  who  knew  Columbus.    Las  Casas  further 
says  that  Columbus  was  rough  in  character  and  passionate  when  irritated.    None 
of  the  well-known  portraits  of  Columbus  are  accepted  as  authentic. 

4  It  is  said  that  his  wife's  father,  now  dead,  had  been  a  noted  navigator  and  the 
maps  and  charts  he  left  now  came  into  the  possession  of  Columbus. 

5  Vignaud,  in  a  recent  work,  "  La  Lettre  et  La  Carte  de  Toscanelli,"  tr.  London, 
1902,  aims  to  prove  that  Columbus  had   no  communication  with  Toscanelli.    His 
argument  is  very  strong  and   leaves  the  matter  in  doubt.    Columbus  makes  no 
reference  to  the  astronomer  in  his  writings. 

6  A  copy  of  this  great  work,  with  marginal  notes  in  the  handwriting  of  Columbus, 
is  still  preserved  in  the  library  at  Seville. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS  AND  THE   AGE   OF   DISCOVERY      9 

in  his  heart.  The  result  was  he  reached  the  conclusion,  which  became 
the  settled  conviction  of  his  mind,  not  only  that  the  East  could  be 
reached  by  sailing  to  the  West,  but  also  that  God  had  raised  him  up 
to  accomplish  this  great  work  for  mankind  —  and  from  this  convic 
tion  he  never  wavered  to  the  last  day  of  his  life. 

COLUMBUS  AND  THE  SOVEREIGNS 

Henceforth  this  great  thought  was  the  dominant  force  in  the  career 
of  Columbus.  It  became  the  ruling  passion  of  his  life,  and  entered 
into  all  his  acts.  He  had  not  the  means  to  carry  out  his  great  project, 
nor  did  he  feel  that  it  came  within  the  province  of  private  enter 
prise.  The  work  was  too  important  and  too  vast  for  the  individual ; 
it  was  worthy  to  be  the  work  of  a  nation.  Columbus  therefore 
applied  to  John  II,  king  of  Portugal,  laid  open  his  plans,  and  re 
quested  that  he  be  sent  on  the  great  mission  of  discovery.  The  king 
was  inclined  to  hear ;  but  first  he  would  consult  with  the  wise  men 
of  his  kingdom.  He  called  them  together,  and  they  condemned  the 
scheme  as  visionary. 

King  John  now  did  a  thing  that  was  unworthy  of  him,  for  in  the 
main  he  was  a  man  of  probity  and  justice.  He  noted  the  plans  of 
Columbus  and  sent  out  a  secret  expedition  to  make  the 
proposed  discovery ;  but  it  resulted  in  nothing.  Colum-  K^  jolm. 
bus,  hearing  of  this  treachery,  left  Portugal  in  dudgeon 
and  repaired  to  Spain.  He  left  his  home,  his  wife,  and  his  children, 
taking  with  him  only  his  eldest  boy,  a  child  of  tender  years,  whom 
he  left  with  a  relative  in  Andalusia.  This  was  probably  in  1485,  and 
soon  afterward  he  was  at  Cordova  laying  his  plans  before  the  sover 
eigns  of  Spain,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  But  it  was  difficult  to  get  a 
hearing  from  these  at  this  time,  for  Spain  was  in  the  midst  of  a  long 
war  with  the  Moors.  As  the  sovereigns  moved  from  place  to  place 
in  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  Columbus  followed  —  to  Salamanca,  to  Malaga, 
and  again  to  Cordova  —  and  pressed  his  suit  with  unwearied  energy. 
The  sovereigns  at  length  referred  him  to  Talavera,  the  queen's  con 
fessor,  who  again  referred  the  matter  to  a  junto  of  Jearned  men. 
Some  of  them  believed  in  his  project,  but  the  majority  condemned 
it,  and  after  several  years  of  incessant  toil  Columbus 
had  done  nothing.  He  had  already  sent  his  brother 
Bartholomew  to  England  to  lay  the  matter  before 
Henry  VII,  and  was  now  about  to  quit  Spain  and  apply  to  the  court 


10  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

of  France  when  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Duke  Medina  Celi. 
The  duke  became  interested  in  his  plans  and  took  him  into  his  own 
home,  where  he  entertained  him  for  two  years.  He  sought  to  interest 
the  sovereigns  in  the  plans  of  his  new-formed  friend ;  they  offered 
to  consider  the  subject  seriously  as  soon  as  the  war  was  over ;  but 
Columbus  thought  this  only  a  courtly  way  of  getting  rid  of  him,  and 
at  last,  sick  at  heart,  he  again  determined  to  leave  Spain. 

For  six  or  seven  years  he  had  labored  in  season  and  out  of  sea 
son  ;  he  had  been  jeered  in  the  streets  and  pointed  out  as  a  dreamer 
and  a  fanatic.  But  his  lofty  soul  was  unmoved.  He  met  every  dis 
couragement  with  an  undaunted  spirit.  He  now  called  for  his  little 
boy  and  turned  his  back  upon  Spain,  still  undismayed,  still  deter 
mined  to  achieve  the  goal  of  his  ambition.  In  his  journey  afoot  he 
called  at  the  Franciscan  Monastery  La  Rabida  and  asked  for  bread 
and  water  for  his  child.  This  was  probably  in  the  autumn  of  the 
year  1491.  While  here  he  again  related  the  story  of  his  ambition. 
The  prior,  Juan  Perez,  who  had  been  confessor  to  the  queen  and 
was  greatly  esteemed  by  her,  heard  and  believed.  His  patriotism 
was  aroused.  Why,  thought  he,  should  Spain  throw  away  so  great 
an  opportunity  ?  He  interested  several  others,  one  of  whom  was 
Alonzo  Pinzon,  who  became  captain  of  one  of  the  vessels  in  the  great 
voyage  that  was  to  follow.  Perez  also  dispatched  a  messenger  to 
the  queen  begging  an  interview.  On  the  fourteenth  day  afterward 
the  messenger  returned  with  the  desired  invitation,  and  by  midnight 
Perez  was  on  his  way  to  the  royal  court  at  Granada.  He  related  to 
the  queen  anew  the  story  that  she  had  often  heard  before.  He 
spoke  of  the  grandeur  of  Columbus's  views,  and  defended  the  scien 
tific  principles  on  which  they  were  based.  He  dwelt  on  the  glory 
that  would  come  to  Spain  if  the  venture  should  succeed,  and  the 
trifling  loss  should  it  fail.  This  proved  the  turning  point  in  the 
life  of  Columbus,  and  Perez  was  his  benefactor. 

Queen  Isabella  was  converted.  She  sent  Perez  back  with  a  sum 
of  money  for  Columbus,  bidding  him  array  himself  properly  and 
come  into  her  presence.  Columbus  arrived  in  time  to  witness  the 
fall  of  Granada,  January  2,  1492.  After  eight  centuries  on  Spanish 
soil  the  Moslem  was  conquered  at  last,  and  as  Boabdil,  the  last  of 
the  Moorish  kings,  slowly  and  sadly  passed  outside  the  city  gates, 
weeping  over  his  fallen  empire,  the  Spanish  banners  were  unfurled 
over  the  crumbling  walls  of  the  Alhambra.  Spain  was  delirious 
with  joy ;  and  as  soon  as  the  festivities  occasioned  by  the  great 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS  AND  THE   AGE   OF  DISCOVERY    11 

victory  had  subsided,  the  sovereigns  granted  a  careful  hearing  to 
the  waiting  navigator. 

But  there  .were  discouragements  yet  in  store  for  this  heroic 
soul.  When  he  laid  his  plans  before  the  king  and  queen,  his  con 
ditions  were  such  that  they  refused  to  accept  them.  He  demanded 
that  he  be  made  admiral  of  the  ocean  and  viceroy  of  the  heathen 
lands  he  might  discover,  and  also  that  he  receive  one  eighth  of  the 
income  from  such  lands,  and  one  tenth  of  all  the  profits  by  trade  or 
conquest,  offering  at  the  same  time  to  bear  one  eighth  of  the  expense 
of  the  voyage.1  The  terms  were  not  accepted,  the  council  broke  up, 
and  Columbus  for  a  third  time  determined  to  seek  aid  in  a  foreign 
land.  He  mounted  his  mule  and  started  toward  France.2  Scarcely 
nad  he  gone  when  Santangel,  the  royal  treasurer,  rushed  into  the 
presence  of  the  queen  and  implored  her  with  impassioned  eloquence 
not  to  let  the  golden  opportunity  slip  away.  He  spoke  of  the  in 
calculable  gain  if  Coliunbus's  dream  should  become  a  reality,  and  how 
deep  would  be  their  regret  should  some  rival  nation  obtain  the  treas 
ure  that  Spain  had  thrown  away.  The  Marchioness  de  Moya,  who 
had  long  been  a  friend  of  Columbus,  added  her  eloquence,  and 
Isabella  was  again  converted.  She  dispatched  a  messenger  to  in 
form  Columbus  that  his  terms  would  be  accepted.  The  messenger 
overtook  him  when  six  miles  on  his  way  and  told  him  the  great 
news.  Columbus  quietly  turned  about  and  rode  back  into  the  city. 

THE  VOYAGE 

The  most  famous  of  all  sea  voyages  began  on  the  morning  of 
Friday,  August  3,  1492,  about  an  hour  before  sunrise.  After  several 
months  of  preparation  three  little  ships  or  caravels  had  been  fitted 
out,  the  Santa  Maria,  the  Pinta,  and  the  Nina,  only  one  of  which 
was  a  decked  vessel.  A  motley  crowd  composed  the  crews  of  these 
vessels.  When  it  was  learned  what  the  destination  of  the  voyage 
was,  the  greatest  difficulty  was  experienced  in  securing  a  crew. 
This  would  hardly  have  been  possible  but  for  the  twofold  error  under 
which  Columbus  labored.  He  believed  the  earth  to  be  smaller  than 
it  is,  and  that  Asia  extended  much  farther  to  the  east  than  it  does. 
Never  was  there  a  more  fortunate  mistake,  for  had  the  distance  been 

1  Pinzon  had  made  this  offer  to  Columbus.    The  voyage  is  estimated  to  have 
cost  a  sum  equivalent  to  nearly  $100,000.     See  Thatcher's  "Columbus,"  I,  p.  490. 

2  Some  look  upon  this  act  of  Columbus  as  obstinate  and  showing  a  want  of  tact. 
Others  regard  the  demands  of  Columbus  and  the  high  value  at  which  he  placed  his 
services,  in  spite  of  his  former  discouragements,  as  the  highest  indication  of  genius. 


12  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

known,  the  securing  of  his  crew  would  have  been  scarcely  possible. 
Even  as  it  was,  the  hardiest  sailors  shrank  from  an  enterprise  so  dar 
ing  and  so  uncertain  in  its  outcome.  The  government  was  obliged 
to  use  force.  Men  were  pressed  into  the  service,  some  of  whom 
were  criminals  released  from  prison  for  this  purpose.  At  length 
ninety  mariners  with  a  physician,  a  surgeon,  an  interpreter  of 
Asiatic  languages,  a  metallurgist  and  a  few  others,  aggregating  in  all 
one  hundred  and  twenty  souls,  were  got  together,  and  the  voyage 
was  begun.  Columbus,  who  was  now  an  admiral,  commanded  the 
largest  vessel,  the  Santa  Maria;  Alonzo  Pinzon,  a  navigator  of  note, 
was  captain  of  the  Pinta,  and  his  brother  Vincent  of  the  Nina. 
With  tears  and  lamentations  the  friends  of  the  departing  ones  bade 
them  good-by,  for  it  was  generally  believed  that  they  were  setting 
out  on  a  journey  from  which  none  would  return.  The  sailors,  as 
well  as  their  friends,  were  fully  convinced  that  a  voyage  across  the 
unexplored  Sea  of  Darkness  was  fraught  with  unknown  perils,  and 
their  minds  were  filled  with  ominous  forebodings.  Six  days  after 
leaving  Palos  they  reached  the  Canary  Islands,  and  here  a  sudden 
eruption  of  Mt.  Teneriffe  filled  the  men  anew  with  consternation ; 
they  interpreted  it  as  an  evil  omen.1  The  admiral  allayed  their 
fears  by  explaining  the  cause  of  such  eruptions  as  best  he  could,  and 
by  citing  Mt.  ^Etna  and  other  volcanoes  whose  frequent  eruptions 
had  no  particular  meaning  attached  to  them.  The  first  week  of 
September  had  passed  when  they  left  the  last  of  the  Canaries  behind 
and  were  fairly  launched  upon  the  open  sea.  As  the 
men  &aze(^  fondly  upon  the  receding  shore,  dissolving 
at  length  into  a  pale  blue  line  on  the  verge  of  the  horizon, 
and  then  disappearing  beneath  the  waters,  they  broke  into  wails  and 
sobs.  It  seemed  to  them  as  the  last  farewell  of  the  land  of  home. 
Behind  them  were  family,  home,  and  friends,  —  all  that  was  lovable 
and  loving ;  before  them  was  the  vast  dark  sea,  whose  silent  depths 
seemed  the  more  ominous  from  its  very  silence. 

Sailors  are  the  most  superstitious  of  men,  and  even  in  our  modern 
days  of  geographical  knowledge,  of  steam,  and  of  ironclads,  every 
thing  that  breaks  the  monotonous  life  on  the  ocean  wave  attracts 
attention  and  has  its  meaning.  How  much  more  was  this  true  in 
the  time  of  Columbus.  He  and  his  crew  had  launched  out  into  the 
region  of  the  unknown ;  their  ships  were  small  and  weak,  and  the 

1  These  incidents  are  from  the  account  of  Las  Casas,  who  received  them  from 
Columbus's  journal,  which  has  been  lost. 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS   AND   THE   AGE   OF   DISCOVERY    13 

ocean  through  which  they  plowed  was  fathomless  in  its  depths  and 
measureless  in  expanse;  never  before  had  it  been  explored  by  civilized 
man,  and  moreover,  in  popular  fancy,  it  had  for  ages  been  peopled 
with  shapeless  monsters  and  unknown  terrors.  What  wonder  that 
Columbus  had  trouble  in  allaying  the  fears  of  his  subordinates ! 

Day  after  day  the  three  caravels  glided  through  the  waters. 
The  weather  was  fine  almost  throughout  the  voyage,  says  Columbus 
in  his  journal ;  but  fine  weather  and  fair  winds  had  little  power  to 
remove  the  superstitious  fears  of  the  sailors.  They  were  forever  on 
the  watch  for  some  dreadful  happening. 

Early  in  the  voyage  they  noticed  the  fragment  of  a  mast  floating 
in  the  water,  and  they  quickly  decided  that  it  must  be  the  remains 
of  some  hapless  wanderer  as  foolhardy  as  themselves.  It  seemed  as 
the  bones  of  the  slain  traveler  in  front  of  the  murderer's  cave  warn 
ing  the  passer-by  not  to  enter. 

One  of  the  most  alarming  incidents  of  the  voyage  was  the 
deflection  of  the  needle.  It  pointed  no  longer  to  the  north  star,  but 
deflected  slightly  to  the  northwest.  The  pilots  were  alarmed ;  they 
feared  that  the  very  laws  of  nature  were  changing,  and 
they  were  surely  entering  into  another  world.  Colurn- 
bus  himself  did  not  understand  this  variation  of  the 
needle,  but  he  affected  to  have  no  fears,  and  explained  it  apparently 
to  the  satisfaction  of  his  followers.  Again,  the  Sargasso  Sea, 
unknown  to  them  before,  awakened  all  sorts  of  wild  conjectures  and 
presages  of  evil.  The  constant  blowing  of  the  trade  winds  in  the 
same  direction  led  them  to  believe  that  it  would  never  change,  and 
they  would  therefore  never  be  able  to  return  home.  Indeed,  every 
thing  possible  was  construed  into  a  cause  of  alarm.  Columbus  alone 
remained  undaunted ;  he  had  absolute  confidence  in  success,  and  he 
believed  himself  directly  under  the  guidance  of  Heaven. 

After  sailing  westward  for  two  or  three  weeks  the  voyagers 
became  deeply  interested  in  their  outlook  for  land.  Various  signs 
indicated  that  it  could  not  be  far  off.  Tropical  birds  that  are  not 
supposed  to  reach  mid-ocean  in  their  flight  were  seen  from  time  to 
time  ;  floating  seaweed  sometimes  gave  them  hope.  On  September 
25,  Pinzon  shouted  from  the  stern  of  his  vessel,  "  Land,  land.  Senior, 
I  claim  my  reward."  *  They  all  looked  to  the  southwest,  the  direction 

1  A  reward  of  10,000  maravedis  per  year  (probably  equal  to  $420  of  our  money 
See  Thatcher.  I,  p.  490)  had  been  offered  by  the  sovereigns  of  Spain  to  the  one  who 
first  sighted  laud. 


14  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES 

in  which  he  pointed,  and  indeed  there  seemed  to  be  land.  Columbus 
fell  on  his  knees  and  thanked  God  ;  the  crew  sang  the  Te  Deum  ;  the 
night  was  spent  in  rejoicing.  But  lo  !  when  the  morning  arose  the 
dream  was  dissolved,  and  only  the  unbroken  expanse  of  water  lay 
before  them  in  its  merciless  boundlessness.  They  had  seen  only  a 
mirage  or  a  thin  stratum  of  cloud  lying  low  on  the  horizon.  Fre 
quently  they  were  deceived  by  the  distant  banks  of  clouds  or  by  fog, 
and  their  hopes  were  raised  again  and  again  only  to  be  dashed  to  the 
ground.  After  the  voyagers  had  sailed  steadily  westward  from  the 
Canaries  for  an  entire  month  without  sight  of  land,  the  crew  became 
more  despondent  and  restless ;  they  begged  their  commander  to  turn 
back  while  there  was  still  a  chance  to  reach  home  and  civilization. 
Columbus  was  inflexible.  From  the  moment  they  left  Palos  he  had 
not  faltered,  and  now  he  had  no  thought  of  yielding  to  the  clamors 
of  the  sailors.  Now  he  would  dilate  on  the  honor  and  fortune  that 
awaited  them  ;  again  he  would  threaten  to  place  the  leaders  in  irons, 
if  they  persisted. 

It  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  Columbus  was  himself 
puzzled.  He  had  firmly  believed  that  by  sailing  twenty-five  hun 
dred  miles  to  the  west  he  would  reach  the  islands  of  Cipango; 
and  that  the  gorgeous  empire  of  Cathay  was  but  a  few  hundred 
miles  farther  on.  They  had  now  traversed  twenty-seven  hundred 
miles  of  trackless  ocean,  and  no  land  yet  appeared.  He  had  kept 
two  reckonings  of  the  distance  they  had  come,  —  a  true  and  a  false 
one,  the  former  for  himself  and  the  latter  to  deceive  the  sailors,  as 
he  feared  that  if  they  knew  how  far  they  were  from  Europe,  noth 
ing  could  induce  them  to  proceed. 

Columbus  was  perplexed  at  not  finding  land.  There  is  no  evi 
dence,  however,  that  he  wavered  in  his  purpose  or  was  inclined  to 
turn  back.  But  being  urged  by  Pinzon,  he  now  decided  to  change 
his  course.  Had  they  continued  their  westward  course  for  a  few 
days  longer,  they  would  have  reached  the  coast  of  Florida ;  but  this, 
of  course,  they  did  not  know,  and  the  many  flights  of  small  birds, 
always  going  to  the  southwest,  convinced  them  that  land  must  be 
nearest  in  that  direction.  They  accordingly  stood  to  the  southwest, 
and  in  this  direction  they  sailed  steadily  for  three  days  and  yet  no 
land  appeared. 

The  crew  now  became  more  hopeless  than  ever.  They  felt  as  if 
they  were  in  a  world  of  enchantment,  where  the  signs  of  land  were 
but  delusions  alluring  them  on  and  on  to  destruction.  Old  seafaring 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS  AND   THE   AGE   OF   DISCOVERY    15 

men  were  appalled  at  the  thought  of  their  vast  distance  from  home, 
and  the  apparent  boundlessness  of  the  ocean  in  which  they  sailed. 
But  011  the  morning  of  October  11  the  signs  of  land  were  so  un 
mistakable  that  the  most  reluctant  could  doubt  no  longer.  A  float 
ing  branch  of  thorn  with  berries  on  it,  a  staff  carved  by  the  hand  of 
man,  and  weeds  that  grow  only  on  land1  —  all  these  were  picked 
up  from  the  water  on  that  morning.  All  were  now  convinced  that 
land  was  near,  and  that  it  was  a  matter  of  but  a  few  days  at  most 
when  the  discovery  would  be  made.  The  three  caravels  that  night 
presented  a  scene  of  suspense  and  eager  expectancy ;  not  an  eye 
was  closed  in  sleep.  About  ten  o'clock  Columbus  saw  from  the 
top  of  the  castle  of  his  vessel  the  dim  flicker  of  a  light  at  a  great 
distance,  and  its  uncertain  movements  indicated  that  it  might  be  a 
torch  in  the  hands  of  some  one  walking.  As  the  long  hours  of  the 
night  wore  away  every  eye  was  strained  in  the  vigilant  gaze  into 
the  far-away  horizon  in  search  of  the  longed-for  land. 

The  midnight  hour  passed  and  it  was  October  12,2 1492,  —  one  of 
the  most  prominent  dates  in  the  world's  history,  made 
so  by  the  work  of  the  men  of  these  three  little, 
lonely  vessels  so  far  from  the  civilized  world,  with 
crews  so  lately  despondent,  but  now  so  full  of  expectant  gladness. 
Two  hours  more  passed  when  suddenly  a  shout  of  wild  joy  arose 
from  the  deck  of  the  Pinta.  It  was  followed  by  the  firing  of  a  gun 
as  the  joyful  signal  of  land.  There  was  no  mistake  this  time  ;  the 
coming  dawn  revealed,  at  a  distance  of  six  miles,  a  verdant  shore 
covered  with  waving  trees.  The  goal  had  at  last  been  reached,  and 
we  can  only  imagine  the  joy  that  filled  the  hearts  of  these  men  after 
their  long  and  painful  voyage  that  seemed  to  promise  so  little. 
And  what  must  have  been  the  feelings  of  Columbus  at  this  sacred 
moment  ?  What  a  world  of  emotion  must  have  thrilled  his  soul 
when  first  he  realized  that  the  object  for  which  he  had  spent  long 
years  of  unceasing  toil,  and  had  sacrificed  so  much,  had  at  last  been 
achieved. 

THE   NEW   WORLD 

Columbus  fully  believed  that  the  discovery  he  had  made  was  a 
new  and  short  route  to  the  Indies,  and  that  the  land  before  him  was 
probably  one  of  the  Japanese  islands  lying  off  the  eastern  coast  of 

1  The  first  one  to  see  the  land  was  a  sailor  namen  Rodrigo  de  Triana.    Columbus, 
however,  received  the  reward  for  having  seen  the  light  a  few  hours  before. 

2  New  style,  October  21. 


16  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

Asia.  Had  this  been  the  extent  of  his  discoveries,  it  would  indeed 
have  been  a  great  boon  to  mankind,  and  his  name  would  no  doubt 
be  remembered  for  all  time. 

But  he  had  done  far  more  than  he  knew.  He  had  opened  the 
way  to  the  discovery  of  a  continent,  vast  in  its  dimensions,  unknown 
before  to  civilized  man,  — a  continent  containing  the  greatest  rivers 
of  the  world,  lofty  ranges  of  mountains  extending  for  thousands  of 
miles,  and  mineral  wealth  that  would  require  centuries  to  unfold,  — 
a  continent  that  was  to  be  the  seat  of  mighty  empires  and  the  home 
of  millions  yet  to  be  born.  What  would  have  been  the  thoughts  of 
Columbus  had  all  this,  as  the  result  of  his  discovery,  been  presented 
to  his  vision  ? 

The  land  first  discovered  by  Columbus  was  one  of  the  Bahama 
Islands  which  he  called  San  Salvador.1  Soon  after  daybreak  the 
three  vessels  cast  anchor,  and  the  admiral,  richly  clad  in  scarlet 
and  bearing  the  royal  banner  of  Spain,  made  for  the  shore  in  a 
small  boat.  He  was  accompanied  by  Pinzon  and  a  few  others.  The 
beach  was  lined  with  human  beings  who  had  come  running  from 
the  woods  on  seeing  the  vessels,  which  they  thought  to  be  gigantic 
white-winged  birds.  As  the  Spaniards  approached  the  shore,  the 
natives  fled  in  terror,  and  in  a  few  moments  all  were  hidden 
away  in  the  forest.  Columbus  on  landing  was  overcome  with 
emotion ;  he  burst  into  tears ;  he  bowed  himself  down  and  kissed 
the  ground;  he  thanked  God  for  the  realization  of  the  dream 
that  he  had  cherished  so  long.  He  then  drew  his  sword  and 
took  possession  of  the  new  lands  in  the  name  of  the  sovereigns  of 
Spain,  and  exacted  at  the  same  time  the  most  solemn  promise  of 
obedience  from  his  followers.  Their  attitude  had  greatly  changed ; 
their  bitterness  toward  the  admiral  for  having  led  them  so  far  into 
the  region  of  the  unknown  was  now  replaced  by  a  feeling  little 
short  of  admiration.  They  surrounded  and  embraced  him,  kissed 
his  hands,  and  promised  the  most  implicit  obedience. 

The  natives,  seeing  that  they  were  not  pursued,  and  overcome  by 

curiosity  began  again  to  emerge  from  their  coverts.  They 

H  Indians."       approached  the  Spaniards  slowly  and  timidly,  bowing 

themselves  to  the  ground  again  and  again,  and  showing 

every  sign  of   adoration.      They  were  especially   attracted  by  the 

1  It  is  not  positively  known  which  of  the  Bahamas  was  the  landing  place  of 
Columbus.  Most  writers  believe  it  was  Watling  Island.  See  Adams's  "  Columbus." 
p.  89. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS   AND   THE   AGE   OF   DISCOVERY    17 

shining  armor,  the  beards,  the  clothing,  and  the  light  color  of  their 
strange  visitors,  whom  they  thought  to  be  inhabitants  of  the  skies, 
and  the  commanding  appearance  of  Columbus  in  his  brilliant  uni 
form  plainly  indicated  that  he  was  the  leader.1 

Columbus  was  greatly,  interested  in  the  newly  found  specimens 
of  the  human  race  that  stood  before  him.  They  were  cinnamon- 
brown  in  color,  darker  than  the  European  and  lighter  than  the 
African,  had  straight,  raven-black  hair,  high  foreheads,  expressive 
eyes,  and  well-formed  bodies.  They  wore  no  clothing  whatever,  and 
all  were  males  except  one,  a  young  female  of  beautifully  formed  body. 
Columbus  believed  himself  to  be  in  the  Indies,  and  he  called  these 
people  "  Indians,"  a  name  that  spread  until  it  included  all  the 
aborigines  of  the  Americas. 

Columbus  cruised  for  ten  days  about  this  island  and  its  neighbors, 
and  he  was  puzzled.  He  was  searching  for  the  Indies.  He  saw 
waving  forests  and  crystal  streams  and  bright-plumed  birds;  but 
where  were  the  towered  cities,  the  mighty  rivers  ?  where  were  the 
spices  and  the  ivory  and  the  gold  ?  He  found  naked  savages ;  where 
were  the  kings  and  the  princes  in  their  royal  robes  ?  Surely  he  must 
find  Cathay  ?  He  bore  a  friendly  letter  from  the  king  and  queen  of 
Spain  to  the  Grand  Kahn.  Could  he  return  to  Europe  without  see 
ing  the  mighty  emperor,  or  even  locating  his  gorgeous  dominions  ? 
Alas  for  the  limitations  of  genius !  Looking  upon  this  scene  from 
our  standpoint,  how  pathetic  it  seems.  Columbus  was  groping 
among  these  little  islands  in  search  of  an  empire  that  was  more 
than  ten  thousand  miles  away,  and  between  him  and  it  lay  an 
undiscovered  ocean  far  greater  in  extent  than  the  one  that  he  had 
crossed. 

When  the  Spaniards  asked  the  natives  where  gold  could  be  pro 
cured,  they  always  pointed  to  the  south.  They  also  told  of  a  rich 
and  populous  island  called  Cuba.  This  must  be  Cipango,  thought 
Columbus,  and  thither  he  steered.  They  discovered  the  Cuban  coast, 
but  it  seemed  much  like  the  other  lands  they  had  seen.  The  admiral 
sent  two  explorers  far  into  the  interior ;  they  found  the  most  luxu 
riant  groves  swarming  with  bright-hued  birds  and  insects;  they 
found  fields  of  maize  and  cotton,  but  no  rich  cities  as 
Marco  Polo  had  described  —  only  rude  villages  of  huts 
aswarm  with  naked  barbarians,  such  as  they  had  seen  at  San  Salva 
dor.  Again  was  Columbus  baffled,  and  he  sailed  away  after  a  cruise 

1  Irving,  Vol.  I,  p.  195. 


18  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

of  several  weeks  and  discovered  the  island  of  Hayti,  which  he  named 
Hispaniola  (Spanish  land).  The  autumn  weeks  passed.  Pinzon  with 
the  Pinta  had  separated  from  the  other  two  caravels,  no  one  knew 
why.  On  Christmas  Day  the  Santa  Maria  drifted  upon  the  shoals 
of  an  island  and  was  wrecked.  Columbus  now  bethought  himself  of 
his  condition.  The  world  had  not  yet  heard  of  his  great  discoveries. 
Only  the  little  Nina  was  left  him,  and  a  vast  ocean  rolled  between 
him  and  civilization.  Suppose  she,  too,  were  wrecked!  He  and 
his  friends  must  then  spend  their  lives  among  the  savages  in  these 
far-off  islands  of  the  sea,  and  who  would  tell  the  story  of  their  dis 
coveries?  Except  as  a  dreamer  and  a  fanatic,  who  then  would 
remember  the  name  of  Columbus  ?  It  is  true,  they  had  not  found 
Cathay,  nor  could  they  bring  back  spices  and  precious  stones ;  but 
they  had  discovered  strange,  beautiful  lands  beyond  the  dark  sea, 
and  a  new  race  of  mankind  ;  and  the  coast  of  Asia  they  thought  must 
be  near,  and  if  so,  the  way  to  the  Indies  was  found  at  last  —  was 
this  not  success  ?  This  story  Columbus  wished  to  bear  to  the 
sovereigns  of  Spain  and  to  proclaim  it  to  the  waiting  world. 

Moved  by  such  thoughts  Columbus  determined  to  embark  for 
Europe  without  delay.  In  a  rude  building  made  of  the  timbers  of 
the  Santa  Maria  forty  of  the  men,  who  wished  to  remain,  made  their 
home,  and  the  rest  embarked  on  January  4,  carrying  with  them  ten 
of  the  native  Indians.  In  a  few  days  they  unexpectedly  overtook 
Pinzon  with  the  Pinta  cruising  about  the  Cuban  coast,  and  the  two 
launched  out  together  for  Europe.  After  sailing  for  some  time  they 
encountered  a  storm  of  the  most  violent  character.  The  small  ves 
sels  labored  and  struggled  for  life,  lost  in  the  hollow  of  the  waves 
or  riding  high  on  their  crest,  at  length  drifting  apart  to  meet  no 
more  during  the  voyage.  The  crew  of  each  believed  the  other  to 
have  perished. 

Columbus  almost  abandoned  hope  of  ever  reaching  Europe,  and 
he  prepared  two  carefully  written  accounts  of  his  discoveries;  the 
one  he  retained  in  the  ship,  while  the  other  he  sealed  in  a  ball  of 
wax,  placed  it  into  an  air-tight  casket  addressed  to  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  and  threw  it  overboard,  in  the  hope  that,  should  he  and 
his  crew  find  a  grave  beneath  the  billows,  some  future  wanderer  of 
the  ocean  might  pick  up  the  little  token,  and  that  it  might  reveal  to 
the  world  the  strange  story  of  their  romantic  wanderings,  and  thus  the 
name  of  Columbus  might  not  perish  nor  the  benefits  of  his  success 
be  lost  to  mankind. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS   AND   THE  AGE   OF   DISCOVERY    19 

But  the  storm  abated  and  the  little  craft  was  still  afloat,  and, 
strange  to  say,  a  few  weeks  later,  on  the  same  day  and  but 
few  hours  apart,  the  Nina  and  the  Pinta,  after  their  long      J^™11 15) 
separation,  were  moored  in  the  haven  at  Palos,  Spain, 
whence  they  had  weighed  anchor  more  than  seven  months  before.1 

LATER  CAREER  OF  COLUMBUS 

Seldom  in  any  country  has  a  private  citizen  received  such  homage 
as  was  accorded  Columbus  by  Spain  011  the  completion  of  this  famous 
voyage.  The  people  of  Palos  were  wild  with  joy  when  they  learned 
that  the  vessels  entering  their  harbor  on  that  fifteenth  of  March  were 
the  same  that  had  gone  on  their  perilous  voyage  the  year  before. 
The  places  of  business  were  closed,  bells  were  rung,  and  the  whole 
people  gave  themselves  up  to  a  long  fete  of  exultation.  What  a 
contrast  between  this  reception  of  the  hero  and  that  given  him  a 
few  years  before  when,  in  these  same  streets,  he  was  jeered  by  the 
rabble  as  an  adventurer  and  a  madman  —  when  he  was  forced  to  beg 
a  crust  of  bread  for  his  hungry  child  at  the  little  convent  on  the 
hill ! 

Columbus  soon  apprised  his  sovereigns  at  Barcelona  of  his  re 
turn  and  his  success,  and  they  bade  him  come  at  once  into  their 
presence.  His  journey  thither  was  a  triumphal  march.  In  front  of 
the  procession  were  six  of  the  ten  Indians  brought  from  the  New 
World ; 2  next  were  exhibited  live  parrots,  stuffed  birds  of  unknown 
species,  plants  and  Indian  ornaments  and  trinkets.  Columbus  rode 
superbly  in  the  midst  surrounded  by  the  choice  chivalry  of  Spain. 
As  the  procession  entered  Barcelona  the  people  abandoned  them 
selves  to  the  most  unrestrained  enthusiasm.  The  streets  were 
thronged  with  a  surging  multitude,  the  windows  were  filled  with 
wondering  eyes,  and  even  the  house  tops  were  covered  Reception  of 
with  men  eager  to  get  a  glimpse  of  this  strange  pro-  Columbus  at 
cession.  The  king  and  queen  sat  in  state  upon  the  Barcelona, 
throne,  beneath  a  canopy  of  gold,  erected  for  the  occasion,  and  sur 
rounded  by  the  highest  nobility  of  Spain.  Here  they  waited  to  do 
honor  to  this  civilian,  whose  achievements  had  made  for  them,  as 

1  It  is  notable  that  the  voyage  westward  had  been  begun  on  a  Friday,  had  left 
the  Canaries  on  Friday,  that   land  was  first   sighted   on  Friday,  that  the  return 
voyage  was  begun  and  ended  on  Friday. 

2  One  had  died  on  the  voyage  and  three  were  ill  at  Palos.    Irving  gives  a  fine 
description  of  Columbus's  reception  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 


20  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

well  as  for  himself,  a  name  that  would  never  be  forgotten.  If  ever 
there  was  a  moment  in  the  life  of  Columbus  when  his  joy  exceeded 
that  which  he  felt  at  his  first  view  of  the  Bahama  Islands,  it  must 
have  been  now.  Well  could  he  now  forget  the  seven  years  of  toil 
and  discouragement  he  had  suffered  before  the  voyage  began. 

As  he  approached  the  throne  the  sovereigns  rose  and  received 
him  as  one  of  their  own  class.  Columbus  bore  his  new  honors  with 
befitting  modesty.  He  told  his  royal  hosts  the  simple  story  of  his 
discoveries,  and  as  he  concluded  they  both  fell  on  their  knees  and 
thanked  God  for  the  new  lands  added  to  their  dominions,  and  for 
the  opportunity  of  carrying  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen  that  might 
inhabit  them. 

The  sovereigns  now  decided  to  settle  the  matter  between  Spain 

and  Portugal  concerning  the  right  to  the  new  lands  by  an  appeal  to 

Pope  Alexander  VI.     The  Pope  thereupon  issued  his  famous  bull 

establishing  the  "  Line  of  Demarcation." l  All  discoveries 

demarcation     eas^  °^  ^s  ^ne>  an  imaginary  one  drawn  from  pole  to 

pole,  one  hundred  leagues  west  of  the  Azores  and  Cape 

de  Verde  Islands,  changed  the  following  year  to  three  hundred  and 

seventy  leagues,  were  to  belong  to  Portugal  and  all  west  of  it  to 

Spain.      It  will  be  seen  that  this  gives  all  the  New  World,  except 

the  eastern  portion  of  Brazil,  to  Spain. 

The  sovereigns  now  busied  themselves  in  fitting  Columbus  out 
for  a  second  voyage  across  the  Atlantic.  No  trouble  this  time  to 
secure  a  crew.  Young  men  of  aristocratic  birth  hastened  to  join 
the  expedition  ;  Columbus's  brother  Bartholomew  and  Ponce  de  Leon 
were  among  the  voyagers.  With  a  fleet  of  seventeen  ships  of  vari- 
Secondvoy-  ous  s^zes  *ne  admiral  set  out  from  Cadiz  on  Septem- 
age  of  ber  25,  1493,  and  after  a  prosperous  voyage  landed  on 

Columbus.  a  smaii  mountainous  island  which  he  named  Dominica. 
He  then  hastened  to  the  island  of  La  Navidad,  where  he  had  left 
the  colony.  Of  the  forty  left  on  the  island  every  man  had  perished, 
and  the  white  bones  scattered  about  told  the  sad  story.  The  colony 
—  the  first  colony  planted  by  white  men  on  the  soil  of  the  Western 
World  —  had  been  destroyed  by  the  natives,  and  this  marked  the 
beginning  of  that  mortal  strife  between  the  white  race  and  the  red  race, 
that  was  to  continue  for  centuries,  and  to  result  at  last  in  the  com 
plete  dominion  of  the  former  and  the  universal  conquest  of  the  latter. 

After  founding  a  colony  in  San  Domingo,  and  spending  three 
1  May  2,  1493. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS   AND   THE   AGE   OF    DISCOVERY    21 

years  in  Porto  Rico,  Jamaica,  and  other  islands,  Columbus  returned 
to  Spain  in  1496,  and  two  years  later  he  made  a  third  voyage 
on  which  he  discovered  Trinidad  and  the  mainland  of 
South  America  at  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco  River,  which, 
still  believing  himself  in  Asiatic  waters,  he  took  to  be 
one  of  the  great  rivers  mentioned  in  the  Bible  as  flowing  from 
the  Garden  of  Eden.  The  fortunes  of  the  great  navigator  now 
took  a  downward  turn.  He  had  tasted  of  the  waters  of  adversity; 
he  had  drunk  at  the  purest  fountain  of  success  and  popularity,  and 
now  in  the  closing  years  of  his  life  he  must  again  drink  of  the  bit 
terest  cup  of  all  —  that  born  of  jealousy,  envy,  and  malicious  hatred. 
He  had  powerful  enemies  at  the  Spanish  court,  and  they  were 
unwearied  in  their  efforts  to  poison  the  minds  of  the  sovereigns 
against  him.  His  critics  had  begun  their  work  even  before  his 
return  from  the  second  voyage.  They  belittled  the  value  of  his  dis 
coveries,  represented  him  as  a  tyrant  and  an  adventurer,  and  inca 
pable 'of  governing  the  newly  planted  colonies,  never  forgetting  to 
speak  of  him  as  a  foreigner  and  not  a  true  Spaniard.  At  length 
they  were  successful,  and  a  pusillanimous  soul  named  Bobadilla  was 
sent  to  the  West  Indies  with  power  to  supersede  Columbus  if  he 
found  the  charges  against  him  to  be  true.  He  exceeded  his  instruc 
tions,  condemned  Columbus  without  a  hearing,  and  sent  him  bound 
in  fetters  to  Spain.  On  landing  Columbus  wrote  a  touching  letter 
to  the  queen,  reciting  his  wrongs.1  She  commanded  that  he  be  un 
bound,  and  that  he  come  into  her  presence.  In  tears  he  fell  pros 
trate  before  her  and  told  the  story  of  his  hardships.  She  was  deeply 
moved,  and  Columbus  was  reinstated  in  the  royal  favor ;  but  he  was 
not  restored  to  the  governorship  of  his  colony.  Columbus  now  made 
a  fourth  and  final  voyage  to  the  New  World  and  discovered  the 
coast  of  Honduras.  He  returned  in  Io04  and  found  to  his  sorrow 
that  his  enemies  were  again  in  the  ascendency.  His 
benefactress,  Queen  Isabella,  was  dying.  A  few  weeks  voyage 
later  she  breathed  her  last,  and  the  hopes  of  Columbus 
were  shattered  to  fragments.  King  Ferdinand  had  grown  indifferent 
to  the  claims  of  the  admiral,  and  did  not  even  consult  him  in  man 
aging  the  lands  beyond  the  Atlantic.  It  must  be  stated,  however, 
that  the  admiral  had  not  been  successful  in  governing  his  colony. 
Columbus  was  bowed  down  with  grief  and  disappointment.  Old 

1  The  letter  was  addressed  to  a  friend  who  stood  near  the  queen  and  who  made 
her  acquainted  with  its  contents. 


22  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED  STATES 

age   was  deepening  the   furrows  in   his  brow,  and  his   long  years 

of  toil  and  hardship  had  utterly  broken  his  health.     He  was  in  want 

of  the  necessaries  of  life ;  but  his  spirit  was  unconquerable,  and  to 

the  very  last  he  kept  planning  to  do  even  greater  things 

Columbus         ^or  Spain  tnan  ^e  na(^  vet  done.     No  palliation  can  be 

offered  for   the  sovereign  of  Spain   for   allowing  this 

aged  navigator,  who  had  done  so  much  for  his  kingdom,  to  die  in 

poverty  and  want.     The  end  came  at  Valladolid  on  May  20,  1506, 

and  there  his  body  was  buried.1 

It  is  true  that  Columbus  had  made  a  failure  in  his  attempt  to 
govern  the  colony  he  had  planted  in  the  West  Indies,  and  that  the 
popular  clamor  against  him,  both  in  the  colony  and  in  Spain,  fur 
nished  the  sovereigns  ample  ground  for  an  investigation.  It  is  also 
true  that  his  ever  sanguine  spirit,  and  his  belief  that  he  had  found 
Cathay,  led  him  to  make  promises  of  gold  for  the  coffers  of  Spain 
that  could  not  be  fulfilled.  These  things  and  the  ceaseless  clamor 
of  his  enemies  led  the  king  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  his  cries. 

It  is  supposed  that  he  died  in  the  firm  belief  that  he  had  discov 
ered  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia  and  had  opened  a  new  route  to  the 
Indies.  The  real  grandeur  of  his  achievement  perhaps  never  dawned 
upon  his  mind.  What  a  joy  must  have  thrilled  his  soul  and  soothed 
his  dying  hours  could  he  only  have  known  that  he  had  discovered 
a  vast  continent  rivaling  the  Old  World  in  extent,  and  that  his  name 
would  be  forever  enshrined  in  the  human  heart  as  one  of  the  rare 
few  whose  luster  never  fades. 

As  in  the  early  years  of  the  sixteenth  century  other  navigators 
rapidly  rose  into  prominence,  the  name  of  Columbus  fell  into  tempo 
rary  obscurity,  but  when  in  later  years  it  was  known  that  it  was  not 
the  East  Indies,  but  a  great  new  continent  that  had  been  discovered ; 
when  it  was  remembered  that  the  world  owed  the  discovery  to  this 
wandering  Genoese,  his  half-forgotten  name  was  revived  and  he  was 
placed  among  the  immortals. 

But  Columbus,  with  all  his  admirable  qualities,  was  very  human, 
and  was  not  without  his  faults.  That  he  was  deeply  religious  none 
can  deny,  but  he  did  not  rise  above  his  day  and  generation  in  morals. 
He  was  in  no  sense  a  reformer.  He  captured  an  Indian  chief  by 
treachery  while  pretending  to  be  his  friend;  he  kidnapped  many 

1  His  remains  were  afterward  removed  to  Seville,  and  later  to  San  Domingo, 
then  to  Havana  and  again  back  to  Spain  (1898) .  The  removal  from  San  Domingo 
to  Havana  was  made  in  1796.  But  there  is  some  doubt  that  the  body  removed  was 
that  of  Columbus.  See  Adams,  p.  249. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS  AND   THE   AGE   OF  DISCOVERY    23 

hundred  natives  and  sent  them  to  Spain  for  the  slave  market ;  he 
advocated  the  slave  trade  on  a  large  scale,  and  inaugurated  the 
treacherous  methods  of  dealing  with  the  Indians  that  were  afterward 
carried  on  by  Spain  for  hundreds  of  years. 

But  Columbus  did  a  great  work  for  mankind,  and  the  world  has 
rightly  chosen  to  give  his  name  the  highest  place  among  the  great 
names  of  that  age  of  discovery.  His  greatness  consisted,  not  in  his 
conception  of  a  new  thought,  for  the  thought  was  old,  nor  in  doing 
for  the  world  a  work  that  no  other  could  have  done,  but  in  his  will 
ingness  to  undertake  to  demonstrate  the  truth  of  his  theory.  He 
dared  to  do  where  others  only  talked  and  theorized.  In  this  he 
stood  far  above  every  other  man  of  his  times.  "  He  linked  forever 
the  two  worlds."  It  is  true  he  achieved  more  than  he  intended ; 
but  his  intentions  were  great  also,  and  he  deserves  the  highest  credit 
for  carrying  his  vast  plan  into  execution.  The  fame  of  Columbus  is 
secure,  though  "  his  discovery  was  a  blunder,  his  blunder  was  a  new 
world,  and  the  new  world  is  his  monument." 1 
• 

JOHN  CABOT 

Continental  America  was  not  first  discovered  by  Columbus,  but 
by  John  Cabot,  who  like  Columbus  was  an  Italian  and  a  native  of 
Genoa.  Little  is  known  of  the  life  of  Cabot  beyond  the  facts  that 
he  was  born  at  Genoa,  became  a  citizen  of  Venice,  and  later,  about 
1490,  of  Bristol,  England ;  that  he  was  a  seaman  and  merchant,  and 
that,  next  to  the  Northmen,  he  was  the  first  white  man  known  to 
have  made  a  voyage  to  North  America. 

For  ages  there  had  been  a  current  belief  in  England,  known  to 
legend  and  song,  that  there  were  lands  unknown,  somewhere,  far 
away,  beyond  the  stormy  western  sea.2  And  when  the  news  reached 
England  that  Columbus,  whose  brother  had  sought  in  vain  for  aid 
from  the  English  king,  had  succeeded  in  his  great  voyage,  this 
belief  was  confirmed,  and  Henry  VII  felt  that  the  prize  which 
might  have  been  his  had  slipped  from  his  grasp.  But  when  John 
Cabot  applied  to  him  for  a  permit  to  seek  western  lands,  it  was 
readily  granted.  The  grant  bore  the  date  March  5,  1496,  and  was 
issued  to  John  Cabot  and  his  three  sons, — Lewis,  Sebastian,  and 
Sancto;  but  for  some  unknown  reason  the  expedition  did  not  sail 

for  over  a  year  afterward.     The  start  is  said  to  have  been  made  on 

p 
1  Winsor.  2  Payne,  Vol.  I,  p.  232. 


24  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

May  2,  1497,  in  a  single  vessel,  the  Matthew,  the  crew  consisting  of 
eighteen  men.1  They  lauded,  June  24,  on  the  coast  of  Cape  Breton 
Island,  or  possibly  Newfoundland,  or  Labrador.  They  saw  no 
natives,  but  found  their  traces,  and  reported  that  the  natives  "  used 
needles  for  making  nets  and  snares  for  catching  game." 

In  August,  Cabot  was  again  back  in  Bristol,  and  it  was  reported 
that  he  had  drifted  three  hundred  leagues  along  the  coasts  of  the 
new  lands ;  but  this  is  not  believed,  as  the  shortness  of  the  time 
would  not  have  admitted  such  an  extended  tour.  "  Vast  honor " 
was  paid  to  Cabot  on  his  return,  we  are  informed ;  "  he  dresses  in 
silk,  and  the  English  run  after  him  like  mad  people."  The  king 
granted  him  a  bonus  of  ten  pounds,  and  later  twenty  pounds  a  year. 
He  made  a  second  voyage  in  1498,  and  followed  the  coast  of  North 
America  as  far  south  as  Cape  Hatteras,  and  some  claim  to  Florida, 
returning  to  England  late  in  the  autumn.  He  believed,  like  Colum 
bus,  that  he  had  reached  Cipango  and  Cathay.  Nothing  is  known 
of  Cabot's  career  after  the  second  voyage.  He  is  supposed  to  have 
died  in  the  year  1500. 

For  many  years  it  was  believed  that  Sebastian  Cabot,  and  not 
his  father,  was  the  real  discoverer  of  North  America;  but  modern 
research  has  dealt  a  damaging  blow  to  this  claim.  Sebastian 
was  a  navigator  of  some  note ;  he  spent  many  years  in  the  service  of 
England  and  of  Spain ;  but  there  is  no  proof  that  he  had 
Cabot l£  anything  to  do  with  the  discovery  of  America.  It  is  pos 

sible,  even  probable,  that  he  and  his  brothers  accompanied 
their  father  on  his  first  voyage,  but  no  contemporary  record,  aside 
from  the  king's  grant,  makes  any  mention  of  them,  and  in  the 
second  grant  their  names  are  not  mentioned.  It  is  now  certain  that 
Sebastian  Cabot  played  false  to  the  memory  of  his  father  long  after 
these  voyages  had  been  made.  He  gave  out  that  his  father  had  died 
before  the  first  voyage,  and  that  he  himself  had  commanded  both. 
This  story  was  believed  for  centuries,  but  no  critical  student  of 
history  now  accepts  it.  The  Cabot  discoveries  created  a  furor  in 
England,  but  it  was  short-lived.  The  voyagers  brought  no  gold,  and 
interest  in  the  subject  soon  died  away.  But  many  years  later,  when 

1  One  account  gives  two  ships,  another  five  with  three  hundred  men  —  both  of 
doubtful  authority  (see  Beazly,  p.  55).  The  safest  accounts  are  a  letter  written  by 
Soucino,  an  Italian  of  London,  to  his  friend,  the  Duke  of  Milan;  and  another  by 
Pasqualigo  to  his  family  in  Venice  —  both  within  a  few  months  after  Cabot's  return. 
Payne  and  some  other  writers  think  that  Cabot  started  on  his  first  voyage  in  1496 
and  spent  the  following  winter  in  Iceland. 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS  AND   THE   AGE   OF   DISCOVERY    25 

the  world  caine  to  know  that  a  new  continent  had  been  found,  Eng 
land  laid  claim  to  the  whole  of  North  America  on  the  ground  of  the 
Cabot  discoveries. 

THE   NAMING   OF   AMERICA 

Strange  were  the  fatalities  in  the  career  of  Christopher  Columbus, 
—  doubt  concerning  so  many  events  of  his  life,  no  authentic  portrait, 
the  indigence  and  want  of  his  last  years,  and,  above  all,  the  failure 
of  the  New  World  to  be  called  after  his  name. 

For  many  years  it  was  not  known  that  Columbus  had  discovered 
aught  than  some  unimportant  islands  of  the  sea ;  that  a  great  con 
tinent  was  to  be  opened  to  civilization,  through  his  initiative,  had 
not  yet  dawned  upon  the  world.  Meantime  others  were  making 
voyage  after  voyage  over  the  western  seas  and  bringing  their  glow 
ing  reports  of  what  they  had  found.  Among  these  was  Amerigo 
Vespucci,  or  Americas  Vespucius,  a  native  of  Florence,  a  resident  of 
Seville.  Not  much  is  known  of  his  life ;  but  it  is  claimed  that  he 
made  at  least  three  voyages  to  the  new  lands.  On  one  of  these, 
probably  in  1501,  he  is  said  to  have  explored  far  down  the  coast  of 
Brazil.  It  now  began  to  dawn  upon  Europe  that  a  new  continent 
had  been  discovered,  but  this  was  not  connected  in  the  public  mind 
with  the  work  of  Columbus,  who  had  discovered  only  islands  and 
possibly  a  new  route  to  the  Indies.  When,  therefore,  Vespucius 
wrote  a  brief  account  of  the  "  New  World,"  as  he  called  it,  he 
created  a  greater  sensation  than  Columbus  had  done  ten  years  before. 
His  pamphlet  was  translated  into  many  languages,  and  he  was  hailed 
throughout  Europe  as  one  of  the  greatest  mariners  of  his  time. 

In  1507  Professor  Waldseemuller,  of  the  little  college  of  St.  Die 
among  the  Vosges  Mountains  of  Lorraine,  published  a  pamphlet  on 
geography,  and  in  this  he  first  suggested  the  name  America.  "  1  see 
no  reason  why,"  he  states,  "  this  fourth  part  of  the  world  should  not 
take  its  name  from  its  sagacious  discoverer  and  be  called  Amerige, 
or  America."  The  suggestion  found  favor,  and  it  was  not  long  until 
the  name  America  found  its  way  on  all  new  maps  and  globes  repre 
senting  the  Western  Hemisphere.1  At  first  it  was  confined  to  Brazil, 
but  at  length  it  was  made  to  designate  all  of  South  America  and 
eventually  (about  1541)  all  the  land  area  of  the  New  World. 

1  This  same  year,  Io07,  Waldseemuller  made  a  map  of  the  New  World  and  used 
on  it  the  name  America.  A  copy  of  the  original  was  recently  found  in  an  old  library 
at  Wurternburg. 


26  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

There  is  no  evidence  that  Americas,  who  was  a  friend  of  Colum 
bus,  had"  any  intention  to  defraud  the  latter  of  the  honor  of  giving 
his  name  to  the  continent,  nor  was  there  any  sinister  motive  on  the 
part  of  the  German  professor.  The  naming  of  America  must  be 
classed  as  an  accident  born  of  ignorance  of  the  facts.  The  "  Indies  " 
discovered  by  Columbus  were  renamed  West  Indies,  and  the  name 
came  to  be  confined  to  the  islands  lying  east  of  Central  America. 

OTHER   DISCOVERERS  AND   DISCOVERIES 

The  eastern  coast  of  North  America  was  discovered  1000  A.D.  by  the  North 
men  led  by  Leif  Ericson  (son  of  Eric  the  Red,  who  had  planted  a  colony  in 
Greenland),  and  a  temporary  settlement  called  Vinland  made.  As  the  vine 
does  not  grow  north  of  47  degrees,  the  settlement  was  probably  somewhere  on 
the  New  England  coast,  but  the  exact  location  cannot  be  ascertained.  Several 
voyages  to  Vinland  were  made,  according  to  the  Norse  sagas,  and  the  voyagers 
encountered  Indians  whom  they  called  "  Skraelings,"  inferior  men.  These  pre- 
Columbian  discoveries  had  long  been  forgotten  at  the  time  of  Columbus,  who 
probably  never  heard  of  them.  They  added  little  to  geographical  knowledge 
and  left  no  permanent  effect  on  the  world. 

Balboa. —  A  Spaniard  named  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  a  bankrupt  and 
leader  of  rebels,  while  traversing  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  in  1513,  was  in 
formed  by  an  Indian  chief  that  there  was  a  great  sea  beyond  the  mountains, 
and  that  the  lands  bordering  on  it  abounded  in  gold.  Balboa  ascended  the 
mountains  and,  casting  his  eyes  to  the  southward,  beheld  a  vast  glittering  sea 
that  seemed  boundless  in  extent.  He  called  it  the  South  Sea.  It  proved  to  be 
the  greatest  body  of  water  in  the  world,  and  came  to  be  called  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Magellan.  —  In  1519  a  bold  Portuguese  navigator,  named  Ferdinand  Magel 
lan,  with  five  small  vessels  and  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  sailed  from 
Spain  westward,  and  three  years  later  fifteen  of  them  with  one  ship  returned 
from  the  East  to  their  starting  point.  All  the  rest  had  perished,  and  among 
them  the  brave  commander,  Magellan,  who  was  killed  by  the  natives  in  the 
Philippine  Islands.  This  was  the  first  voyage  around  the  world. 

Other  early  discoverers  of  importance  were,  Vasco  da  Gama,  who  sailed 
around  Africa  in  1597  and  reached  the  East  Indies  by  way  of  the  Indian  Ocean, 
returning  a  few  years  later  laden  with  spices  and  ivory,  and  thus  accomplishing 
what  Columbus  and  others  were  attempting  to  do  by  crossing  the  Atlantic  ; 
Caspar  de  Cortereal,  who  explored  the  eastern  coast  of  the  United  States  in 
1500 ;  and  Cabral,  who,  the  same  year,  in  a  voyage  to  India  while  attempting  to 
follow  the  course  of  Vasco  da  Gama,  swung  too  far  westward  and  touched  the 
coast  of  Brazil.  This  was  a  real,  though  accidental,  discovery  of  America  and 
might  have  occurred  even  if  the  discoveries  of  Columbus  had  never  been  made. 
These  three  navigators,  Gama,  Cortereal,  and  Cabral,  were  all  Portuguese. 

Under  Discoveries  may  also  be  mentioned  the  Conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortez, 
with  a  band  of  about  five  hundred  Spaniards  in  1521,  and  the  Conquest  of 
Peru  twelve  years  later  by  Pizarro. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE    INDIAN 

IN  these  modern  days  when  friend  can  converse  with  friend  across 
three  thousand  miles  of  sea,  when  the  news  of  the  day  from  the  utter 
most  parts  of  the  earth  lies  printed  before  us  on.  the  following  morn 
ing,  it  seems  almost  incredible  that  it  is  but  four  centuries  since  half 
the  land  area  of  the  globe  was  utterly  unknown  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  other  hajf . 

What  a  world  of  wonder  was  unfolded  to  the  eyes  of  the  European 
as  he  explored  the  great  new  continent,  with  its  broad  silent  rivers, 
its  illimitable  plains,  its  boundless  forests  !  Here  he  found  the  most 
wonderful  cataracts  of  the  earth,  the  longest  rivers,  the  broadest 
valleys,  the  greatest  lakes ;  he  found  a  vast  mountain  system,  extend 
ing  from  the  Arctic  regions  through  the  torrid  zone  into  the  frigid 
climes  of  the  South  —  almost  from  pole  to  pole  ;  he  found  strange 
new  birds  and  animals  and  plants ;  but  amid  all  the  wonders  of  this 
enchanting  land  the  most  wonderful  thing  he  found  was  the  new 
race  of  his  own  human  kind.  Yes,  here  was  man,  the  most  interest 
ing  of  all  studies  —  more  interesting  even  to  the  botanist  than  are  the 
trees  and  the  flowers,  more  interesting  to  the  astronomer  than  the 
stars,  or  to  the  geologist  than  the  minerals  and  the  fossils.  Here 
was  a  new  race  unlike  all  known  races  of  men.  Physically  the 
Indian  was  equal  to  any  other  race  ;  mentally  he  was  weak  and 
he  was  strong.  He  was  a  child,  he  was  an  animal,  and  yet 
he  was  a  man.  He  lived  amid  the  vast  solitudes  of  the  wilder 
ness  and  seemed  but  a  part  of  nature,  yet  his  breast  was  filled  with 
human  passions ;  he  had  his  loves  and  his  hatreds,  his  religion 
and  his  hopes.  Not  having  advanced  in  civilization  to  the  point 
of  using  letters,  he  had  not  recorded  his  own  history.  Where  the 
Indian  originally  came  from,  how  he  came  to  inhabit  America,  and 
how  many  ages  he  had  dwelled  here  before  the  coming  of  the 
white  man,  will  probably  never  be  known.  Many  are  the  theories 
concerning  the  origin  of  the  red  man,  but  all  are  mere  conjectures. 

27 


28  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

The  Indian  has  been  classed  as  a  distinct  and  separate  race  of 
mankind,  and  indeed  he  differs  as  greatly  from  the  Caucasian,  the 
Mongolian,1  or  the  Ethiopian  as  they  differ  from  one  another.  In 
fact  the  various  Indian  nations  differ  so  greatly  as  to  call  forth  the 
opinion  that  they  could  not  all  belong  to  the  same  race  or  stock ; 
but  while  the  Algonquin  and  the  Iroquois  differed  greatly  from  each 
other  and  still  more  from  the  Aztec  and  the  Inca,  the  difference  was 
no  greater  than  that  between  the  Englishman  and  the  Russian,  the 
Spaniard  and  the  German.  Moreover,  all  the  aboriginals  of  the 
New  World  were  characterized  by  certain  peculiarities  which  marked 
them  conclusively  as  belonging  to  the  same  race.  In  color  the  typi 
cal  Indian  was  cinnamon-brown,  varying  in  shade ;  he  had  high 
cheek  bones,  small,  dark  set  eyes,  straight,  raven-black  hair,  and  a 
scanty  beard.  "  The  race  is  physically  more  homogeneous  than  any 
other  on  the  globe." 2 

INDIAN  RELIGION 

The  American  Indians  were  all  religious.  The  belief  in  a  Great 
Spirit  who  governed  the  world,  who  taught  the  water  to  flow  and  the 
bird  to  build  her  nest,  who  caused  the  changing  of  the  seasons  and 
the  succession  of  day  and  night,  who  gave  the  sunshine  to  his  chil 
dren  and  brought  the  thunders  and  the  rain  —  this  belief  was  uni 
versal  with  the  aboriginals  of  America.3  The  Indian  believed  in  a 
future  life,  a  happy  hunting  ground,  where  he  would  be  accompanied 
by  his  dog,  would  need  his  bow  and  arrow  and  hatchet,  arid  where 
his  occupation  would  be  similar  to  that  of  this  life,  except  that  all 
care  and  sorrow,  and  toil  that  wearies,  would  be  removed.  The 
religion  of  the  red  man  was  an  ever  present  consciousness;  he 
prayed  when  he  sat  down  to  meat  and  when  he  arose ;  he  prayed 
when  he  went  on  the  chase  and  when  waging  war  upon  his  fellow- 
man.  His  religion,  however,  was  grossly  corrupted  with  superstition. 
He  believed  that  spirits  dwelled  in  animals,  in  trees,  and  in  every 
thing  about  him.  His  imagination  peopled  the  air  and  the  water 
and  the  forests  with  living,  invisible  creatures,  and  often  filled  him 
with  superstitious  dread.  Many  of  these  spirits  are  evil,  and  the 
Indian  felt  that  he  must  protect  himself  against  them 4  by  carry- 

1  Physically  the  Indian  resembles  the  Mongolian. 

2  Brinton's  "  Myths  of  the  New  World,"  pi  52. 

8  Some  writers  claim  that  the  monotheistic  idea  was  unknown   among  most 
Indian  tribes  until  the  coming  of  the  Europeans.     See  Brinton,  p.  69. 
4  Starr's  "  American  Indian,"  p.  80. 


THE   INDIAN  29 


ing  some  charm,  by  repeating  certain  secret  words,  and  he  often 
propitiated  them,  as  he  believed,  by  offerings  and  by  prayer.  He 
believed  in  signs  and  omens  and  dreams.  The  rustle  of  a  leaf,  the 
whistle  of  a  bird,  or  the  rolling  of  the  thunder  —  all  had  their 
meaning  to  the  untutored  red  man.  His  dreams  were  revelations  from 
heaven,  and  he  would  sacrifice  anything  to  carry  out  their  suggestions. 

He  worshiped  the  Great  Spirit ;  he  worshiped  the  sun  and  the 
stars,  the  rivers  and  the  mountains,  but  rarely  did  he  bow  down 
to  that  which  he  had  made  with  his  own  hands.  He  offered  to  his 
God  the  firstlings  of  his  flock,  the  best  of  his  possessions ;  but  only 
here  and  there,  as  among  the  Aztecs  of  Mexico,  did  he  engage  in  the 
revolting  practice  of  offering  human  sacrifice. 

In  one  respect  the  religion  of  the  Indian  differed  from  that  of 
almost  all  other  peoples.  He  did  not  look  upon  himself  as  a  sinner 
in  the  sight  of  the  Great  Being.  His  tribe  may  have  offended  as 
a  whole,  but  he  did  not  feel  a  personal  responsibility,  nor  did  he 
believe  that  his  future  happiness  depended  in  any  way  upon  his 
actions  in  this  life.  His  religion  led  him  to  torture  himself  at  times 
in  the  most  shocking  manner ;  he  did  this,  not  as  an  atonement  for 
sin,  but  to  enlist  the  sympathy  and  aid  of  his  God  in  some  special 
enterprise.  He  never  failed  to  pray  for  success  in  any  special  under 
taking,  even  though  his  sole  object  was  to  steal  horses  and  other 
property  from  his  enemy.  He  believed  in  a  life  of  happiness  here 
after  for  all  men  (except  perhaps  his  most  hated  enemy),  regardless 
of  their  manner  of  living  in  this  life.  As  a  rule  the  Indian  had  little 
to  regret.  He  followed  the  dictates  of  his  conscience  with  the 
utmost  exactness;  and  while  his  conscience,  which  was  based  on 
tribal  custom  and  not  upon  religion,  bade  him  to  be  honest  and 
kind  in  his  dealings  with  his  own  people,  it  permitted  him  to  steal 
from  his  enemy,  to  destroy  his  property,  and  to  torture  him  to  death. 

HOME    LIFE 

The  home  life  of  the  American  Indian  before  it  was  disturbed  by 
the  coming  of  the  white  man  was  of  the  most  simple  and  primitive 
character.  It  was  scarcely  above  that  of  the  animals  that  inhabited 
the  forest  with  himself.  He  lived  in  a  den  of  filth  —  a  little  hut  or 
a  movable  tent,1  and  with  this  he  was  content.  Here  he  often  slept  or 

1  To  this  rule  there  were  many  exceptions,  such  as  the  Aztecs,  the  Incas,  the 
Pueblos,  and  the  Iroquois  who  had  houses  of  a  more  substantial  character  and  \\  h  > 
were  far  less  nomadic  in  their  habits  than  many  of  the  tribes. 


30  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

smoked  during  the  day,  and  at  evening  he  sat  with  his  family  or  his 
friends  and  told  over  the  legends  and  myths  of  his  tribe  that  had 
been  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  or  dilated  upon  his 
own  deeds  of  valor  in  the  chase  or  on  the  battlefield.  His  legends 
were  inexhaustible  and  included  such  sublime  themes  as  that  of  the 
Creation,  when  the  ocean  was  boundless,  and  silence  and  night  were 
universal,  until  Hurakan,  the  mighty  wind,  or  the  gigantic  bird  with 
its  eyes  of  lightning  and  the  sound  of  its  wings  as  the  roar  of  thunder, 
passed  over  the  vast,  dark  water  and  produced  light  and  earth  and 
animals  and  men  ; 1  or  that  of  the  Heroes  of  the  Dawn,  fair  of  com 
plexion  and  mighty  in  war,  who  had  founded  their  nation  countless 
ages  ago  and  had  departed  to  the  East,  whence  they  would  come 
again  and  claim  their  power  as  of  old ; 2  or  that  of  the  implacable 
strife  between  the  twin  brothers,  Light  and  Darkness,  who  at  length 
compromising,  agreed  that  each  reign  half  the  time,  and  thus  we  have 
day  and  night.  From  these  sublime  legends  the  narrator  would 
descend  to  the  relating  of  weird  and  revolting  witch  and  ghost 
stories  unworthy  of  the  wizard  or  the  crone.  Sometimes,  however, 
he  would  sit  for  hours  in  absolute  silence  and  gaze  on  the  ground,  not 
giving  the  slightest  attention  to  the  gambols  of  his  children  about 
him  or  to  his  squaw  by  his  side  busy  with  her  bead  work  or  in  the 
dressing  of  skins. 

There  is  in  the  Indian  countenance  a  certain  serious,  almost  sad, 
expression  which  is  readily  noticed  by  strangers.  This  may  result 
from  the  fact  that  he  is  never  free  from  superstitious  fear.  He  lives 
in  constant  dread,  not  of  the  armed  foe  or  the  wild  beast,  but  of 
the  myriads  of  invisible  spirits  that  inhabit  everything  in  nature 
about  him.3  Against  these  mysterious  powers,  which  he  fancies  to 
be  ever  present,  he  has  no  power  to  contend,  and  his  unceasing  fear 
of  them  for  ages  has  probably  set  its  stamp  indelibly  upon  his  face. 

Usually,  however,  the  Indian  at  home  seems,  in  a  great  measure, 
happy.  No  greater  proof  of  this  is  needed  than  the  fact  that  he 
sings.  His  musical  instruments  are  few  and  crude  indeed;  but  he 
sings  in  his  tent  and  he  sings  at  play.  His  games  are  numerous 
and  he  engages  in  them  with  his  whole  heart.  The  old  and  the 
young,  the  male  and  the  female,  engage  in  many  of  the  plays.  But 

1  This  was  a  legend  of  the  northwestern  tribes. 

2  This  was  a  legend  of  Mexico  and  Seuth  America,  and  is  considered  a  remark 
able  prophecy  of  the  coming  of  the  white  man  who  "  wrote  the  doom  of  the  red  man 
in  letters  of  fire."    See  Brinton,  p.  220. 

8  Grinnell's  "  Story  of  the  Indian,"  p.  1(54. 


THE   INDIAN  31 


with  all  this,  there  seems  to  be  something  wanting  to  true  happiness  ; 
there  is  a  vein  of  sadness  that  pervades  all  Indian  life.  In  many 
of  his  plays  there  is  a  self-inflicted  pain ;  many  of  his  songs  are  in 
a  minor  key.  This  results,  perhaps,  as  stated  before,  from  his  peren 
nial  fear  that  is  born  of  superstition. 

The  Indian  is  not  cruel  by  nature,  as  is  commonly  supposed.  It 
is  true  that  the  main  business  of  his  life,  the  slaying  of  his  fellow-man  ' 
in  war  and  of  the  wild  animal  in  the  chase,  and  the  want  of  refining 
influences  at  home,  have  left  their  mark  upon  his  nature  and  rendered 
him  indifferent  to  suffering.  It  is  true  that  he  is  cruel  in  times  of 
war ;  but  when  his  anger  is  not  aroused,  when  unsuspicious  of  danger 
or  treachery,  there  is  none  among  the  children  of  men  more  kind- 
hearted  or  more  steadfast  as  a  friend  than  the  wild  Indian.  He  will 
share  his  last  morsel  with  the  stranger  within  his  gates,  and  he  has 
often  been  known  to  offer  his  life  for  the  protection  of  a  friend. 

Another  popular  error  is  the  belief  that  the  Indian  squaw  is  a 
slave  to  her  husband.1  It  is  true  that  the  squaw  does  the  necessary 
work  in  the  home :  she  prepares  the  meals,  dresses  the  skins,  raises 
the  corn,  and  gathers  the  wild  rice  and  the  berries  ;  but  her  husband 
engages  in  the  more  arduous  duties  of  following  the  war  trail  and 
slaying  the  wild  beast.  His  toil  is  less  constant,  but  far  more 
perilous  and  fatiguing  than  hers.  They  simply  divide  the  labor  and 
both  are  content.  The  fact  that  the  woman  carries  the  tent  when 
moving  has  shocked  many  a  traveler ;  but  this  custom  doubtless 
arose  from  the  fact  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  man  to  be  uu- 
trammeled  so  as  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  danger.  One  reason  why 
the  woman  and  not  the  man  cultivates  the  fields  will  be  shown  by 
the  following :  A  white  man  asked  the  men  of  a  tribe  why  they  did 
not  help  the  women  in  the  labors  of  the  field,  and  they  replied, 
"  Because  women  know  how  to  bring  forth  and  can  tell  it  to  the 
grain ;  but  we  do  not  know  how  they  do  it,  and  we  cannot  teach  the 
grains." 2 

Family  quarrels  are  almost  unknown  among  the  Indians ;  the 
man  does  not  abuse  his  wife ;  she  manages  her  home  as  seems  best 
in  her  own  eyes,  and  if  she  has  nothing  to  set  before  him  when 
hungry,  he  does  not  chide  her  for  being  improvident  or  for  not 

1  McMaster  and  other  historians  give  this  erroneous  view. 

2  The  wife  of  a  Sioux,  after  planting  her  corn  patch,  will  rise  at  night  and  walk 
around  it  in  an  entirely  nude  condition,  so  as  to  impart  to  the  grain  the  magic  of 
her  own  fecundity.    Brinton,  p.  17-4. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


raising  more  corn  or  gathering  more  rice  and  berries ;  he  bears  it  in 
silence  and  without  murmuring.  In  many  tribes  the  woman  has1 
great  influence  and  has  much  to  do  in  deciding  important  questions. 
The  descent  among  Indians  was  usually  reckoned  in  the  female  line, 
and  among  the  Iroquois  the  women  owned  the  land  and  had  greater 
influence  than  the  men.  Female  Indian  chiefs  were  by  no  means 
uncommon  among  the  tribes  of  North  America. 

INDIAN    OCCUPATIONS 

North  America,  when  first  explored  by  the  white  man,  was  found 
to  be  inhabited  over  its  entire  surface  by  Indian  tribes.  They  were 
scattered  thinly  and  there  were  not  more  perhaps  than  half  a  million 
in  the  aggregate.  It  requires  a  vastly  greater  land  area  to  support  a 
people  who  live  off  the  natural  products  of  the  country  than  to  sup 
port  an  equal  number  who  live  by  tilling  the  soil  and  raising  domestic 
animals.  The  Indian  lived  chiefly  from  natural  products  unaided  by 
the  hand  of  art.  His  serious  occupation  was  twofold, — the  busi 
ness  of  war  and  one  long  life  struggle  for  food.  Some  tribes,  espe 
cially  those  of  the  Southwest,  received  a  partial  supply  of  food  from 
tilling  the  soil  in  the  most  primitive  manner,  raising  maize  and  a 
few  other  products ;  but  the  great  source  of  the  food  supply  of  the 
Indian  was  the  flesh  of  wild  animals  taken  in  the  forest  in  which 
he  dwelt ;  and  to  capture  these  animals  with  his  imperfect  means 
required  the  utmost  skill,  and  this  he  acquired  in  a  remarkable  degree. 

The  Indian,  spending  his  life  in  the  depths  of  the  forest,  was 
truly  a  child  of  nature  and  nature  was  his  study.  He  observed  her 
changing  forms  with  the  utmost  acuteness,  and  while  he  often  mis 
interpreted  their  meaning,  the  facts  were  truly  his.  The  rolling  of 
the  billowy  clouds,  the  ever  changing  color  of  the  sky,  the  opening 
buds  and  the  fading  leaves,  the  majestic,  silent  river,  the  howling  of 
the  winter's  storm  —  these  and  a  thousand  other  things  were  observed 
by  this  inhabitant  of  the  woods ;  they  spoke  to  him  a  definite  language, 
and  he  did  not  fail  to  comprehend.  But  the  most  important  acquisi 
tion  of  the  Indian  brain  was  his  knowledge  of  animals,  especially  of 
those  on  which  he  depended  for  his  daily  food.  His  knowledge 
of  the  haunts  and  habits  of  animals  was  astonishing ;  and  not  less 
so  his  skill  and  ability  in  capturing  them.  He  could  imitate  the 

1  Sometimes  in  this  chapter  I  have  used  the  present  tense,  but  in  the  main 
my  description  of  the  Indians  refers  to  them  in  their  primitive  state  as  i'oun-l 
three  hundred  years  ago. 


THE   INDIAN  33 


gobble  of  the  wild  turkey,  the  whistle  of  the  bird,  or  the  bark  of  the 
wolf,1  and  deceive  those  creatures  in  their  own  abodes.  Pie  was 
almost  as  fleet  of  foot  as  the  deer  or  the  hare ;  he  could  follow  a 
trail  with  the  keenness  of  a  bloodhound.  As  he  crept  through  the 
forest  in  search  of  game,  no  item  of  interest  escaped  his  notice ;  his 
ear  caught  every  sound ;  he  seemed  to  see  in  all  directions  at  the 
same  moment,  and  seldom  could  the  keenest-scented  animal  escape 
his  cunning  and  his  craftiness.2 

Let  us  now  take  a  rapid  glance  at  the  Indian  as  a  warrior.  It  was 
in  this  capacity  that  we  knew  him  first.  We  have  heard  from  child 
hood  how  our  grandfathers  hewed  their  way  into  the  deep  wilderness 
where  their  conquest  of  the  forest  and  the  soil  and  the  wild  beast 
was  an  easy  task  compared  with  that  of  the  savage  man  with  whom 
they  had  to  contend.  We  have  read  of  the  Indian  wars  of  colonial 
days  —  of  the  horrible  massacres,  the  inhuman  tortures ;  of  the 
bands  of  hideous  warriors  who  roamed  over  hills  and  valleys,  seek 
ing  out  the  peaceful  abode  of  the  industrious  pioneer,  who,  with  his 
devoted  wife  and  loving  children,  had  sought  to  make  a  home  in  the 
wilderness  —  of  these  painted  fiends  dashing  with  dreadful  yells 
upon  the  harmless  family;  braining  the  astonished  husband  and 
father  with  the  tomahawk  before  the  eyes  of  the  wife  and  children ; 
stopping  the  shrieks  of  the  fond  wife  only  by  striking  her  down  also, 
to  die  quivering  in  her  husband's  blood ;  seizing  the  terrified  chil 
dren  and  carrying  them  away  into  hopeless  and  life-long  captivity ! 
We  have  all  heard  the  baleful  story,  and  it  is  not  fiction ;  it  is  truth, 
and  was  enacted  hundreds  of  times.3 

Incredible  as  it  seems,  this  monster  is  the  same  Indian  that  we 
have  seen  sitting  among  his  children  in  his  wigwam,  telling  over  the 
stories  of  his  grandfather's  days,  smoking  serenely,  accepting  his 
meal,  however  scanty,  without  murmur  — the  Indian  who  never 

1  McMaster's  "  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,"  Vol.  I,  p.  (5. 

2  But  no  Indian  could  surpass  our  pioneer  hunters  in  woodcraft.     Such  hunters 
as  Daniel  Boone  and  Simon  Kenton,  without  the  training  of  previous  generations, 
were  more  than  a  match  for  the  keenest  of  the  red  men.    The  cause  of  this  lies  in 
the  fact  that  the  white  race  is  endowed  with  a  greater  degree  of  mentality  than  any 
other  race  of  men. 

3  In  referring  to  this  practice  of  the  Indians,  as  a  necessary  part  of  history,  it  is 
but  fair  to  add  that  they  committed  such  deeds  only  when  on  the  war  path,  and  also 
that  the  white  men  at  times  were  not  a  whit  less  cruel  than  the  untutored  red  men. 
No  massacre  by  the  Indians  ever  surpassed  in  fiendish  cruelty  the  Guadeuhutten 
massacre  in  the  Tuscarawas  Valley,  Ohio,  in  March,  1782,  when  ninety-six  peaceful, 
friendly  Indians,  who  had  been  converted  to  Christianity,  were  murdered  in  cold  blood 
by  a  baud  of  white  rneii  who  called  themselves  the  Pennsylvania  militia. 

D 


34  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

. « 

scolds  his  wife  nor  strikes  his  child,  who  is  kind-hearted,  who  prays 
without  ceasing,  and  who  never  doubts  that  he  will  enter  the  happy 
hunting  ground.  Such  a  contradiction  of  character  in  the  same 
being  may  seem  difficult  to  explain. 

Judged  from  such  deeds  alone  as  the  above  mentioned,  the  Indian 
must  be  pronounced  the  most  cruel  and  hellish  of  all  men  born.  But 
let  us  examine  the  premises  before  drawing  our  conclusions.  The 
Indian  was  essentially  a  warrior.  His  noblest  art  was  the  art  of 
war.  He  inherited  his  warlike  spirit  from  his  fathers.  He  imbibed 
it  from  his  mother's  breast.  It  was  fostered  in  his  childish  plays. 
It  was  part  of  his  religion.  But  how  about  murdering  innocent 
women  and  children  ?  This  was  part  of  legitimate  warfare  with  the 
Indian.  He  practiced  it  on  his  own  race  as  readily  as  on  the  whites. 
And  even  in  this  there  was  method  in  his  madness.  He  killed  women 
and  children  because  they  would  become  warriors  or  would  bring 
forth  warriors.  His  wars  were  wars  of  extermination,  his  motto  was 
slay  and  spare  not,  and  he  never  seemed  to  think  he  was  doing 
wrong.  In  time  of  peace  he  was  passive,  and  even  gentle  in  his  own 
rude  way ;  but  when  his  war  spirit  was  roused,  when  the  peace  pipe 
was  broken,  the  wild  beast  in  his  nature  took  possession  of  him,  and 
his  fury  knew  no  bounds.  He  became,  — 

"  in  sober  truth,  the  veriest  devil 
That  e'er  clinched  fingers  in  a  captive's  hair." 

During  the  period  of  our  early  settlements  there  were  many  fierce 
conflicts  between  the  whites  and  Indians,  and  many  were  the  deeds 
of  cruelty  recorded  against  the  latter.  But  it  is  certain  that  they 
seldom  or  never  practiced  their  cruelties  without  some  specious 
ground  for  so  doing,  and  in  truth  they  were  scarcely  more  to  blame 
than  their  white  neighbors.  Sometimes  the  French  and  sometimes 
the  English  inflamed  them  against  the  Americans ;  and  again,  there 
were  dishonest  American  traders  who  roused  their  anger  by  cheating 
them.  Finally  there  was  one  abiding  cause  of  strife  between  the 
two  races.  The  Indian  saw  that  his  lands  were  gradually  being 
taken  from  him  and  that  his  race  was  being  driven  farther  and  farther 
toward  the  West ;  and  at  times  whole  tribes  and  nations  rose  against 
the  intruders  and  determined  to  repossess  the  hunting  grounds  they 
had  lost.  Hence  there  was  unceasing  warfare  along  the  frontier, 
and  the  Indian  could  not  discriminate  between  the  innocent  and  the 
guilty.  He  was  still  a  barbarian. 


THE    INDIAN  35 


The  Indian  often  tortured  his  captive.  He  would  flay  him  alive, 
cut  out  his  tongue,  or  burn  him  to  death  over  a  slow  fire.  And  he 
would  gloat  with  the  joy  of  a  fiend  over  the  dying  agonies  of  his 
foe.  For  this  110  excuse  or  palliation  can  be  offered.  Yet  it  only 
proved  the  Indian  to  be  a  man,  as  distinguished  from  the  beast  —  a 
crude,  undeveloped,  uncivilized,  barbarous  man.  No  further  evidence 
is  needed  to  prove  that  man  and  the  brute  are  not  akin,  and  that  in 
the  heart  of  the  natural  man  there  is  a  spirit  of  evil,  as  well  as  a 
spark  of  the  divine. 

The  Indian  warrior  surpassed  all  other  men  in  his  power  of  en 
durance  and  his  capacity  for  suffering.  He  could  travel  on  foot  for 
hundreds  of  miles  without  food.  If  captured  by  his  enemy,  he  would 
suffer  himself  to  be  tortured  to  death  by  fire,  or  his  body  to  be  torn 
to  pieces  by  bits  without  exhibiting  a  feeling  of  pain,  or  permitting 
a  cry  to  escape  his  lips.  He  chanted  his  death  song  with  his  latest 
breath. 

No  special  rules  of  warfare  were  followed  by  the  Indians.  No 
one  was  compelled  to  go  to 'war;  but  to  refuse  to  do  so  made  one 
very  unpopular,  if  he  was  young  and  able.  The  chief  held  his 
authority,  not  by  law,  but  principally  through  his  powers  of  leader 
ship.  If  he  was  a  natural  commander,  if  he  had  taken  many  scalps, 
if  he  had  encountered  great  dangers  and  displayed  great  heroism, 
the  young  men  were  quite  ready  to  follow  and  obey  him.  Even  in 
battle  the  Indians  had  no  particular  rules  or  order  to  guide  them. 
Each  brave  did  what  seemed  best  in  his  own  eyes.  An  Indian  battle 
was  not  the  carefully  planned  meeting  of  two  armies,  drawn  up  with 
scientific  precision,  as  we  find  among  civilized  peoples.  It  was  rather 
a  series  of  skirmishes,  of  personal  hand-to-hand  encounters,  of  am 
bushes,  without  plan  and  without  order.  The  Indian  was  full  of 
courage,  but  he  was  wily  and  treacherous.  He  would  not  fight  an 
enemy  fairly,  if  he  could  surprise  and  assassinate  him.  He  would 
lurk  in  a  ravine,  or  dark  shadow,  or  behind  a  tree  until  his  enemy 
came  near,  when  he  would  spring  upon  him  with  the  ferocity  of  a 
tiger,  uttering,  at  the  same  instant,  a  yell  so  piercing,  so  heart 
rending,  that  no  one  who  ever  heard  it  could  forget  it  to  the  end  of 

his  life.1 

CIVILIZATION 

The  most  hopeless  feature  in  connection  with  the  Indian  problem 
is  that  the  race  seems  incapable  of  civilization.  No  barbarous  peo- 

i  McMaster,  Vol.  I,  p.  7. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 


pie  awaits  and  longs  to  be  civilized.  Civilization  comes  as  a  gradual 
indigenous  growth  covering  centuries,  or  is  carried  to  them  by  more 
enlightened  peoples.  If  the  latter,  they  are  almost  sure  to  resist  it 
at  first  as  a  wild  horse  resists  capture,  but  eventually  seeing  that 
what  is  offered  them  is  better  than  what  they  have,  they  come  to 
desire  further  enlightenment,  and  when  a  people  reaches  this  stage, 
its  future  is  secure.  Even  the  Ethiopian,  while  he  has  shown  little 
or  no  capacity  for  civilizing  himself,  is  capable  of  being  improved 
by  contact  with  more  enlightened  races.  The  negro  race  in  our 
country  to-day  has  progressed  less  rapidly  in  its  third  of  a  century 
of  freedom  than  was  hoped,  but  it  has,  nevertheless,  done  something : 
it  has  shown  a  capacity  to  improve,  and  has  produced  many  intel 
ligent,  aspiring  men.  But  far  less  is  this  true  of  the  American 
Indians.  When  first  discovered  by  the  Europeans,  they  ranged 
from  the  savage,  man-eating  tribes  of  Yucatan  and  British  Colum 
bia  to  the  half-civilized  nations  of  Mexico  and  Peru.  Since  then 
little  change  has  been  wrought  in  Indian  culture.  Their  learning 
the  use  of  firearms  and  of  the  horse  has  greatly  changed  their  mode 
of  life,  but  has  not  brought  them  civilization.  Their  centuries  of 
contact  with  the  most  enlightened  race  of  the  earth  have  profited 
them  little  —  not  because  they  have  lacked  opportunity,  not  because 
they  were  crowded  from  their  original  homes,  not  even  because  of 
a  want  of  native  intelligence,  but  because  they  have  chosen  to  fight 
against  the  arts  of  civilized  life  and  to  resist  it  to  the  death.  Ages 
of  contact  with  civilization  have  produced  in  the  Indian  little  aspira 
tion  to  improve  his  own  condition,  to  make  his  race  a  world  force, 
or  to  elevate  it  above  the  state  of  barbarism.  The  Indian  languages 
are  laden  with  poetic  beauty ;  but  no  Indian  has  produced  a  poem 
that  will  live,  no  Indian  has  written  a  history,  no  tribe  has  reared 
a  monument.  For  four  centuries  the  race  has  been  associated  with 
the  most  progressive  of  all  races ;  but  has  any  Indian  invented  a 
machine,  or  founded  a  school,  or  established  a  printing-press  ? 
His  association  with  the  white  man  has,  in  the  main,  proved  a 
curse  to  him  rather  than  a  blessing,  for  he  has  absorbed  the  vices 
without  the  virtues  of  an  enlightened  people.  Some  Indians,  it  is 
true,  have  been  Christianized,  but  the  great  majority  have  persist 
ently  resisted  every  attempt  to  advance  them.  Their  contact  with 
the  whites  has  largely  broken  up  their  tribal  relations,  and  freed 
them  from  the  rigid  morality  born  of  tribal  custom,  and  their  present 
state  is  worse  than  the  first.  Even  the  greatest  Indians  ever  known 


THE   INDIAN  37 


to  the  white  race,  such  as  Pontiac  and  Tecumseh,  whose  courage  and 
endowments  the  world  must  admire,  became  great  and  famous,  not 
by  attempting  to  elevate  their  race,  not  by  fostering  civilization,  but 
by  fighting  against  it. 

The  Indian  is  essentially  a  child  of  nature.  Take  him  to  the 
centers  of  industry  and  civilization,  and  he  pines  for  his  forest  home ; 
dress  him  in  the  garb  of  a  gentleman,  and  place  him  in  the  home  of 
luxury,  and  he  longs  for  his  dirty  wigwam,  his  breech  clout,  and 
his  bead-covered  moccasins.1  He  loves,  above  all  things,  the  wild 
freedom  of  the  wilderness,  the  flowing  river,  the  waving  forest,  the 
crags  and  peaks  of  the  mountains.  The  conventionalities  of  civilized 
life,  the  hum  of  industry  in  the  great  city,  have  no  charms  for  him. 
It  is  the  howl  of  the  wolf,  the  scream  of  the  wild  bird,  the  soughing 
of  the  wind  among  the  trees  —  these  furnish  the  music  that  touches 
the  soul  of  the  Indian.  He  aspires  to  no  improvements  beyond  that 
which  his  tribe  enjoyed  when  he  was  born.  What  was  good  enough 
for  his  fathers  is  good  enough  for  him.  He  is  not  educated,  and  he 
does  not  wish  to  be.  He  does  not  desire  to  know  anything  of  the 
great  world  beyond  his  own  home  in  the  wilderness.  He  does  not 
know  his  own  age.  He  notes  the  changes  of  the  seasons  and  counts 
time  by  the  moon ;  but  how  many  moons  ago  since  he  was  born,  or 
since  his  children  were  born,  he  does  not  know,  and  he  does  not  care. 

Such  is  the  American  Indian  of  to-day ;  such  he  was  three  hun 
dred  years  ago.  What  will  his  future  be  ?  Some  claim  that  the 
Indians  of  North  America  are  not  diminishing  in  numbers,  that  there 
are  as  many  to-day  as  when  Jamestown  was  settled.  Others  claim 
that  their  numbers  are  constantly  decreasing.  The  latter  are  prob 
ably  correct.  It  is  certain  that  whole  tribes  have  disappeared ;  others 
have  greatly  diminished ;  still  others  have  been  absorbed  into  neigh 
boring  tribes  and  have  lost  their  identity.2 

As  to  the  future  of  the  Indian,  one  thing  is  as  sure  as  the  coming 
of  the  morning, — if  he  continues  to  reject  the  arts  of  civilized  life, 

1  To  this  rule  there  are  many  exceptions.     Since  writing  the  above  I  have  met 
many  Indians,  taken  from  their  tribes  in  childhood  and  educated  in  the  government 
schools,  to  whom  this  statement  will  not  apply. 

2  The  whole  number  of  Indians  in  the  United  States,  according  to  the  census  of 
1900,  was  266,760.    Of  this  number  137,242  are  said  to  be  "civilized,"  that  is,  they 
are  "  taxed  "  Indians,  who  do  not  live  in  tribal  relations  on  reservations.    The  de 
crease  in  Indian  population  during  the  preceding  ten  years  was  6,847,  and   the 
decrease  since  1850  is  nearly  200,000,  part  of  which  may  be  accounted  for  by  migra 
tions  to  British  America  and  Mexico. 


38  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

he  must  perish  as  a  race.  The  white  man  has  come  with  his  civiliza 
tion —  his  schools,  his  churches,  and  his  newspapers,  his  railways  and 
telegraph  —  and  above  all  his  ambition  to  increase  more  and  more.  If 
the  red  man  cannot  or  will  not  meet  him  on  the  same  ground,  he 
must  die.  I  am  not  defending  the  national  morality  of  driving  a 
people  from  the  land  they  had  possessed  for  ages ;  I  am  simply  stat 
ing  the  great  truth  that  ignorance  and  barbarism  must  fall  before  the 
irresistible  march  of  modern  civilization.  If  the  red  race  will  not 
rise  to  the  situation,  if  it  will  not  make  itself  a  force  in  our  govern 
ment,  if  it  refuses  to  join  the  great  procession  of  modern  thought, 
there  is  nothing  before  it  but  a  grave;  and  the  future  historian 
must  record  the  story  of  a  people  that  have  been,  a  people  that  refused 
the  sustenance  necessary  to  life,  a  people  that  died  by  their  own 
hand. 

NATIONS   AND   TRIBES 

The  Indians  of  North  America  were  divided  into  several  great  families,  dis 
tinguished  by  language,  habits,  and  personal  appearance,  and  each  family  was 
composed  of  many  different  tribes. 

One  of  the  most  prominent  families  was  the  Iroquois,  living  for  the  most 
part  in  New  York.  Some  of  the  tribes,  however,  extended  into  Canada,  the 
Ohio  Valley,  and  the  South.  They  built  connected  log  houses,  fortified  their 
villages,  and  cultivated  the  soil.  They  were  noted  for  physical  strength,  cour 
age,  and  their  warlike  propensities.  Five  tribes  of  the  Iroquois,  the  Cayugas, 
Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Onondagas,  and  Senecas,  were  banded  together  in  a  confed 
eration  known  as  the  Five  Nations,  and  after  being  joined  by  the  Tuscaroras  in 
1714,  called  the  Six  Nations.  In  addition  to  these  the  Eries,  Hurons,  Cherokees, 
and  a  few  other  tribes  belonged  to  the  Iroquois.  The  Cherokees  formerly  occu 
pied  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  they  with  the  Pawnees  are  supposed  to  have  built  the 
curious  mounds  to  be  found  in  that  locality.  The  former  belief  that  there  was 
a  civilized  people  known  as  the  Mound  Builders  who  preceded  the  Indians  is  no 
longer  held  by  thoughtful  students  of  the  subject. 

By  far  the  greatest  Indian  family  in  North  America,  measured  by  the  extent 
of  territory  occupied,  was  the  Algonquin  family.  They  surrounded  the  Iroquois 
on  all  sides,  extending  from  Labrador  westward  through  British  America  to  the 
base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  southward  to  South  Carolina.  They  also 
extended  westward  through  the  Mississippi  Valley  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
The  most  important  tribes  of  the  Algonquins  were  the  Massachuset,  Mohegan, 
Lenni  Lenape  (who  made  the  famous  treaty  with  William  Penn),  Miami,  Illinois, 
Sac  and  Fox,  Ojibwa,  Blackfoot,  Shawnee,  and  other  tribes.  Most  of  the  famous 
Indians  of  our  history,  as  King  Philip,  Pocahontas,  Pontiac,  and  Tecumseh, 
were  Algonquins.  This  nation  compared  favorably  with  the  Iroquois  in  every 
way.  Both  had  advanced  above  the  state  of  barbarism  and  showed  an  interest 
ing  incipient  civilization.  Their  highest  accomplishments  were  the  raising  of 


THE   INDIAN  39 


corn  and  the  making  of  pottery.  There  are  at  present  near  100,000  Algonquins 
and  about  40,000  Iroquois  living  on  various  reservations.  Many  of  them  are 
self-supporting,  living  mostly  by  agriculture  ;  but  in  general  civilization  they 
have  not  advanced  greatly  beyond  the  state  in  which  they  were  first  discovered. 

The  Athabascans  were  another  great  family,  which  extended  from  the  Arctic 
regions  to  Mexico,  mostly  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  They  were  divided 
into  many  tribes,  including  the  warlike  Apaches,  the  Atna  and  Kuchin  of  Alaska, 
the  Navajos  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  the  Beavers  and  Slaves  of  British 
America. 

The  Dakota  or  Sioux  family  occupied  that  portion  of  the  United  States  west 
of  the  Great  Lakes  about  the  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Yellowstone 
Valley,  and  the  adjacent  portions  of  British  America.  Among  them  we  find  the 
Crows,  Assiniboines,  lowas,  Mandans,  Oinahas,  Osages,  and  Winnebagoes. 
About  forty-five  thousand  of  them  still  exist. 

The  Muskogi  family  were  among  the  most  cultured  and  industrious  of 
Indians.  They  built  good  houses  and  cultivated  the  soil.  The  leading  tribes 
were  the  Creeks,  Chickasaws,  Choctaws,  and  Seminoles,  occupying  for  the  most 
part  the  southern  portions  of  the  United  States. 

The  Shoshone  family  included  the  semi-civilized  Aztecs  of  Mexico,  the  Co- 
manches,  the  Snakes,  the  Utes,  the  Mokis,  and  many  other  tribes. 

Since  writing  this  chapter  on  the  Indian  I  have  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Colonel  R.  H.  Pratt,  the  founder  and  superintendent  of  the  Indian  school  at  Carlisle, 
Pa.  Colonel  Pratt  has  spent  many  years  in  dealing  with  the  Indians.  He  is  a  man 
of  infinite  sympathy  with  the  great  work  in  which  he  is  engaged,  and  his  knowledge 
of  Indian  life  and  character,  equal  no  doubt  to  that  of  any  other  man  in  the  country, 
entitles  his  opinions  to  the  respect  of  all  students  of  this  question.  Colonel  Pratt 
does  not  agree  with  the  majority  of  the  historians  in  their  statements  that  the  Indians 
cannot  be  civilized,  and  I  hereby  cheerfully  make  a  record  of  his  views.  He  believes 
that  the  Indians  do  not  differ  essentially  from  other  races  in  their  capacity  for  civili 
zation,  and  that  only  the  right  conditions  have  been  wanting.  He  claims  that  it  is  a 
mistake  for  the  government  to  keep  many  of  the  Indians  on  reservations,  apart  from 
the  great  currents  of  business,  and  to  foster  them  in  idleness  by  furnishing  them  sup 
plies.  He  is  convinced  that  if  the  Indians  were  scattered  among  the  whites  they 
would  soon  become  self-supporting  and  show  the  same  capacity  to  improve  that  is 
found  in  other  races.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  most  degraded  Indians  in  the 
country  are  those  who  still  maintain  their  tribal  relations,  live  on  the  reservations, 
and  are  fostered  by  the  government. 


CHAPTER  III 

EXPLORATIONS 

SCARCELY  had  Europe  caught  its  breath  after  its  astonishment  at 
the  unexpected  discovery  of  a  great  continent  beyond  the  western 
ocean  when  the  period  of  exploration  began.  Some  of  the  explorers 
were  sent  forth  by  their  respective  governments  ;  others  went  at 
their  own  expense.  Many  of  the  expeditions  were  of  the  most  dar 
ing  and  adventurous  character,  and  the  chief  motive  forces  were  a 
thirst  for  gold  and  the  spirit  of  adventure,  to  which  were  usually 
added  some  pretense  of  preparing  for  future  colonization  and  a  desire 
to  convert  the  natives  to  Christianity. 

Spain  had  taken  the  lead  in  discovery  ;  she  also  took  the  lead  in 
exploration.  Before  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  Spanish 
explorers  had  overrun  a  territory  in  the  New  World  greater  by  far 
than  the  whole  of  Europe.  Having  covered  Central  America  and  a 
large  portion  of  South  America,  they  turned  their  attention  to  the 
north. 

Of  the  early  Spanish  expeditions  on  the  soil  of  the  United  States 
the  one  offering  the  greatest  attractions  to  the  lover  of  the  adven 
turous  was  probably  that  led  through  the  southeast  and  the  Missis 
sippi  Valley  by  Ferdinand,  or  Hernando,  de  Soto,  who  was  himself 
the  most  chivalrous  and  picturesque  of  all  the  early  explorers  of 
our  country.  To  this  expedition  and  its  ambitious  leader  the  main 
portion  of  this  chapter  will  be  devoted.1 

1  To  give  a  full  account  of  all  these  exploring  parties  and  what  they  did  would 
tend  to  swell  this  volume  to  the  point  beyond  its  intended  limits,  while  a  brief 
summary  of  each  would  fail  to  reproduce  in  any  degree  the  spirit  of  those  times, 
and  would  furnish  little  to  attract  the  reader.  I  have  chosen  therefore  to  present 
all  except  one  in  simple  outline,  while  to  that  one  a  larger  treatment  will  be  given. 

Though  it  may  seem  out  of  harmony  with  the  remainder  of  this  history,  the 
method  I  have  employed  in  treating  this  subject  was  adopted  because  I  have  heard 
various  persons  say  that  in  attempting  to  read  American  history,  they  become 
utterly  tired  of  the  subject  by  the  time  they  have  read  the  dry  details  of  the  dis 
coveries  and  explorations. 

40 


EXPLORATIONS  41 


DE  SOTO 

The  pages  of  fiction  can  scarcely  parallel  the  strange  romance  of 
the  career  of  Ferdinand  de  Soto.  He  was  born  in  the  year  1500,  in 
the  quaint  and  quiet  Spanish  town  of  Xeres  —  a  town  of  ruined 
castles  and  gloomy  monasteries.  He  was  a  boy  of  remarkable  beauty 
and  gave  early  promise  of  unusual  talent.  His  father  was  an  im 
poverished  nobleman,  and  being  too  poor  to  educate  him  and  too 
proud  to  teach  him  the  art  of  earning  a  livelihood,  his  boyhood 
would  have  been  spent  in  idleness,  had  not  a  powerful  nobleman, 
Don  Pedro  Avila,  adopted  him  into  his  family.  Avila  gave  him  a 
thorough  education,  including  all  the  chivalric  accomplishments  of 
the  Middle  Ages. 

On  reaching  manhood  De  Soto,  like  many  other  Spanish  youths 
of  the  time,  made  his  way  to  the  New  World.  As  a  Spanish  cavalier 
he  spent  many  years  in  Darien,  and  many  were  his  deeds  of  wild 
and  daring  adventure.  It  was  said  that  he  was  the  handsomest  and 
most  chivalric  man  in  the  army  and  that  he  surpassed  all  his  fellows 
as  a  horseman  and  swordsman. 

In  1531  De  Soto  joined  Pizarro,  as  second  in  command,  in  the 
infamous  conquest  of  Peru.  He  was  far  more  humane  than  his 
cruel  and  heartless  chief.  He  denounced  Pizarro  with  the  greatest 
severity  for  putting  the  harmless  Inca  to  death;  but 
the  fact  that  he  was  a  member  of  that  gang  of  robbers  -p™^™ 
and  shared  in  its  spoils  must  remain  forever  a  blot  upon 
his  name.  His  share  of  the  Peruvian  gold  was  equal  in  value  to  half 
a  million  dollars.  He  now  resolved  to  return  to  Spain,  which  he 
had  not  seen  for  fifteen  years.  On  reaching  his  native  land  he  was 
hailed  as  the  conqueror  of  Peru  and  soon  he  became  the  most  popu 
lar  and  powerful  nobleman  in  Spain.  Before  embarking  for  America 
he  had  been  betrothed,  it  is  said,  to  Isabella,  the  daughter  of  his 
benefactor,  Avila,  the  playmate  of  his  childhood,  who  had  been  pro 
nounced  the  most  beautiful  woman  in  the  kingdom.  All  these  years 
she  had  waited  for  De  Soto.  They  were  married  soon  after  his 
landing,  and  for  the  second  time  within  half  a  century  "  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella"  became  the  most  conspicuous  and  popular  pair  in 
Spain. 

De  Soto  was  unused  to  wealth,  and  he  spent  his  money  with  a 
lavish  hand.  He  lived  in  a  mansion  and  kept  trains  of  servants. 
In  two  years  half  his  fortune  had  melted  away.  He  then  bethought 


42  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

himself  how  he  might  replenish  his  coffers,  and  his  mind  turned 
again  to  America.  He  knew  about  Florida  and  believed  it  to  be 
a  land,  not  only  of  flowers,  but  of  gold,  and  his  request  to  make  a 
conquest  of  that  country  at  his  own  expense  was  readily  granted 
by  Charles  V.  With  some  six  hundred  men  he  and  his  charm 
ing  wife  embarked  for  Cuba  in  April,  1538.  He  had  been  made 
governor  of  that  island  by  the  emperor.  His  followers  included 
the  flower  of  the  nobility,  young  men  of  wealth  and  station,  and  a 
number  of  veteran  soldiers  who  had  served  under  him  in  Peru. 
Gayly  over  the  sea  the  little  fleet  swept,  the  men  as  light-hearted  as 
if  on  a  holiday  excursion  and  as  confident  as  if  the  gold  they  sought 
were  already  in  view.  Beaching  Cuba,  they  disembarked  and  more 
than  half  a  year  was  spent  in  festivities  and  preparation  for  the 
invasion. 

FLORIDA 

Florida  was  the  name  given  to  the  vast  unexplored  region  of  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  United  States,  a  region  since  divided  into 
Ponce  de  ^a^  a  dozen  flourishing  states.  It  had  been  so  named 

Leon,  by  Ponce  de  Leon,  who,  a  quarter  of  a  century  before 

1513-  the  coming  of  De  Soto,  had  wandered  through  the  wil 

derness  in  a  pathetic  and  fruitless  search  for  that  magical  fountain 
which,  as  the  natives  informed  him,  would  bring  youth  to  the  aged 
and  life  to  the  dying.  Fifteen  years  later  Narvaez,  with  a  band  of 
three  hundred  freebooters,  had  landed  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  made 
an  excursion  into  the  interior,  and  treated  the  Indians  with  such 
inhuman  cruelty  that  the  latter  rose  in  their  fury  and  destroyed  the 
invaders  of  their  soil  —  and  but  few  were  left  to  tell  the  story.  It 
was  this  land  that  De  Soto  would  now  invade  and  become  master  of. 
His  chief  aim  was  not  to  slay  and  conquer  the  simple  natives,  not  to 
make  some  great  discovery  that  would  benefit  his  race  and  perpetuate 
his  name,  but  rather  to  gain  wealth  and  the  power  that  wealth  can 
purchase. 

In  the  early  spring  of  1539  De  Soto  left  Cuba  with  his  brilliant 
army,1  an  army  that,  for  equipment  and  richness  of  uniform,  could  not 
have  been  surpassed  by  Spain  in  the  palmiest  days  of  her  chivalry. 
The  faithful  Isabella  would  gladly  have  accompanied  her  husband, 
but  he  anticipated  hardships  as  well  as  success,  and  he  left  her 
behind.  Fondly  she  waved  her  last  farewell  to  her  gallant  lord  as 
i  570  men  and  223  horses.  Winsor,  Vol.  II,  p.  245. 


EXPLORATIONS  43 


the  vessels  moved  out  from  the  harbor;  fondly  she  hoped  for  his 
early  return  loaded  with  riches  and  honor. 

The  hearts  beat  high  with  De  Soto's  crew  as  they  launched  out 
from  the  Cuban  coast.  None  seemed  to  doubt  that  wealth  and 
honor  awaited  them.  As  the  pale  blue  line  in  the  far-off  horizon 
informed  them  that  they  were  nearing  the  flowery  land,  their  joy 
broke  forth  into  songs  and  exclamations  of  delight.  There  at  last 
was  their  El  Dorado.  There  was  the  land  of  the  cedar  and  vine,  the- 
land  that  was  abloom  with  perpetual  spring  —  and  it  must  also  be 
the  land  of  gold.  It  must  be  another  Mexico,  another  Peru ;  and  the 
name  of  their  commander  would  henceforth  rival  those  of  Cortez  and 
Pizarro.  Thus  thought  the  followers  of  De  Soto,  and  they  rejoiced, 
they  "  filled  high  the  cup  with  Samian  wine" ;  they  saw  themselves  in 
imagination  returning  to  Spain  covered  with  glory  and  laden  with  gold. 

But  with  their  music  was  mingled  a  minor  strain  when  they  remem 
bered  that  De  Leon  and  Narvaez  had  found  no  gold  ;  they  had  found 
only  disaster  and  death.  Again  was  their  dream  disturbed  when  before 
the  dawn  of  the  first  morning  after  they  landed  at  Tampa  Bay  they 
were  rudely  awakened  by  the  savage  yells  and  a  shower  of  arrows 
from  a  horde  of  naked  warriors.  The  Spaniards  leaped  up  in  terror 
and  ran  for  their  lives  to  their  ships.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the 
three  and  a  half  years  of  unceasing  strife  and  turmoil  and  battle 
which  was  to  end  in  the  destruction  of  the  greater  portion  of  the 
Spanish  army. 

De  Soto  was  not  at  heart  a  cruel  man.  He  had  no  desire  to 
wantonly  slay  the  natives ; l  he  fully  intended,  however,  to  give 
battle  whenever  the  Indians  opposed  his  march.  After  this  first 
attack  he  drew  up  his  army  in  battle  array  and  marched  inland ; 
but  the  inhabitants  had  all  fled  into  the  forest  and  their  village  was 
deserted.  A  few,  however,  were  made  captive,  and  De  Soto  loaded 
them  with  presents  and  sent  them  to  their  chief,  begging  that  he 
return  and  make  friends  with  the  Spaniards.  The  chief  sent  back 
a  defiant  answer  expressing  his  hatred  of  the  invaders  and  his  inten 
tion  to  fight  them  as  long  as  they  remained  in  his  territory.  The 
various  Indian  tribes  were  usually  friendly  to  their  first  white 
visitors,  and  the  Spanish  commander  was  at  a  loss  to  account  for 
such  hostility  ;  but  he  soon  discovered  the  cause  of  it.  This  tribe 
had  a  few  years  before  come  into  contact  with  De  Narvaez,  and  this 

1  One  contemporary  writer,  however,  Oviedo,  states  that  De  Soto  was  fond  of 
the  sport  of  killing  Indians. 


44  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

same  chief  had  been  mutilated  by  that  heartless  Spaniard  by  having 
his  nose  cut  off  while  his  mother  had  been  put  to  death,  being  torn 
to  pieces  before  the  eyes  of  her  son  by  bloodhounds.1  No  wonder 
that  a  mortal  hatred  against  the  Spaniards  now  rankled  in  his  savage 
breast.  In  fact,  the  one  great  obstacle  that  De  Soto  had  to  encounter 
in  his  long  journey  through  the  wilderness  was  the  hostility  of  the 
Indians  caused  by  the  memory  of  Narvaez.  Wherever  that  adven 
turer  had  gone  he  had  left  a  trail  of  infamy  and  a  deadly  hatred  of  the 
white  man  among  the  natives.  De  Soto  did  all  in  his  power  to 
counteract  this  feeling,  but  only  partially  succeeded.  There  is  little 
doubt  that  the  loss  of  half  his  army  was  due  to  this  cause. 

The  Spanish  commander  now  made  a  most  fortunate  acquisition 
to  his  army  in  the  person  of  Juan  Ortiz,  a  fellow-countryman  who 
had  lived  with  the  Indians  for  ten  years.  He  had  come  from  Cuba 
with  a  party  searching  for  Narvaez,  and  with  three  companions  had 
been  made  captive.  The  other  three  were  tortured  to  death,  but 
Ortiz,  a  handsome  and  athletic  youth  of  eighteen  years,  was  saved  by 
an  emotional  Pocahontas,  the  daughter  of  the  chief,  who  begged  her 
father  to  spare  him.  He  was  now  familiar  with  the  Indian  language 
and  habits,  and  he  became  De  Soto's  guide  and  interpreter.  The 
Spaniards  eagerly  inquired  of  Ortiz  where  gold  might  be  found,  but 
he  could  give  them  no  definite  information.  He  only  knew  that 
something  over  a  hundred  miles  to  the  northeast  there  lived  a  great 
chief  to  whom  all  the  surrounding  chiefs  paid  tribute. 

WANDERING  IN  THE   WILDERNESS 

To  find  this  forest  king  De  Soto  immediately  set  out,  and  thus 
began  his  great  three  years'  march  through  the  wilderness  which 
was  to  end  only  with  his  life.  For  more  than  a  hundred  miles  the 
army,  cavalry  and  infantry  tramped  through  the  magnificent  forests 
of  oak  and  pine,  alternating  with  long  stretches  of  treeless  prairie 
adorned  with  bright  flowers  and  waving  grass.  But  more  than  once 
their  steps  were  arrested  with  vast,  dismal  swamps  and  impenetrable 
bogs.  Reaching  the  city  of  the  great  chief,  they  found  that  his 
majesty  with  his  subjects  had  fled  and  had  taken  refuge  in  the 
swamps  and  forests.  De  Soto  sent  Indian  runners  to  offer  the  chief 

1  The  Spanish  explorers  usually  carried  bloodhounds  with  them,  and  when  they 
wished  to  inflict  a  cruel  death  and  strike  terror  to  the  natives  they  would  throw 
their  victim  to  these  animals. 


EXPLORATIONS  45 


his  friendship,  but  the  wily  red  man  feared  another  Narvaez  and  no 
efforts  could  draw  him  from  his  hiding  place.  The  few  Indians  cap 
tured,  on  being  questioned  about  the  one  subject  nearest  the  Spanish 
heart,  told  of  a  land  many  leagues  northward  where  gold  abounded, 
as  they  had  heard,  in  great  quantities,  and  the  army  hastened  on. 
This  was  a  trick  often  employed  by  the  natives  to  get  the  white 
invaders  of  their  soil  to  pass  on,  and  it  seldom  failed  to  produce 
the  desired  effect.  The  army  moved  steadily  northward  for  several 
months,  traversing  the  central  portion  of  the  present  state  of 
Georgia  and  touching  upon  South  Carolina. 

Had  not  the  finer  and  nobler  feelings  of  the  Spaniards  been 
obscured  by  their  blind  pursuit  of  fortune,  this  tour  might  have 
been  made  one  of  great  interest  and  of  scientific  usefulness.  Here 
were  strange  trees  laden  with  climbing  vines,  flowers  of  every  color, 
herbs  and  grasses  in  numberless  variety,  unknown  to  the  most 
learned  botanist  of  that  day.  Here  were  birds  and  animals  peculiar 
to  America,  and,  above  all,  man  in  an  uncultured  state,  living  his 
simple  life  in  the  great  forest  among  the  lower  orders  of  creation. 
What  an  opportunity  for  study !  But  the  Spaniards  cared  not  for 
these  things ;  they  were  in  search  of  gold,  and  for  this  shining 
goddess  they  braved  every  peril  and  suffered  every  hardship  that 
human  nature  is  capable  of  enduring. 

The  country  through  which  they  passed  was  far  more  densely 
settled  by  the  red  men  than  were  the  northern  and  central  portions 
of  the  United  States.  The  tribes  were  nearly  all  partially  civilized ; 
they  lived  in  firmly  built  houses  and  cultivated  the  soil.  Their 
civilization  was  fully  equal  to  that  of  the  lower  classes  in  Spain. 
The  army  passed  through  a  great  many  Indian  villages,  most  of 
which  were  deserted,  the  occupants  having  fled  to  the  woods  at  the 
approach  of  the  invaders.  Frequently  the  Spaniards  stopped  for  a 
rest  of  several  days  in  these  deserted  towns.  The  natives  would 
sometimes  remain  wholly  out  of  sight  until  the  white  men  had 
gone ;  at  other  times  they  would  suddenly  emerge  from  the  forest 
in  hostile  bands  and  attack  the  foraging  parties  sent  out  from  the 
camp.  Sometimes  while  on  the  march  the  army  was  harassed  for 
whole  days  by  marauding  Indians,  lurking  behind  trees  and  hedges 
watching  for  an  opportunity  to  send  the  flint-pointed  shaft,  or  burst 
ing  forth  from  their  coverts  in  bands,  sending  a  shower  of  arrows 
and  then  hieing  away  to  their  hiding  places  with  the  fleetness  of  the 
antelope.  Many  of  the  Spaniards,  and  a  far  greater  number  of  the 


46  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Indians,  were  killed  in  these  skirmishes.  Had  not  the  former  been 
well  protected  by  coats  of  mail,  the  entire  army  would  no  doubt  have 
been  destroyed  within  the  first  year. 

De  Soto  was  ever  ready  with  friendly  overtures  to  the  fleeing 
chiefs.  A  few  of  them  were  won  by  his  presents  and  kind  words ; 
others  were  defiant  and  hostile  in  the  last  degree.  One  of  them 
made  answer  to  his  proffers  of  friendship  as  follows :  "  Others  of 
your  accursed  race,  in  years  past,  have  poisoned  our  shores.  They 
have  taught  me  what  you  are.  What  is  your  employment?  To 
wander  about  like  vagabonds  from  land  to  land;  to  rob  the  poor 
...  to  murder  the  defenseless.  With  such  people  I  want  no 
friendship.  War,  never  ending,  exterminating  war  is  all  I  ask." 
The  Spanish  commander  admired  the  heroism  and  intelligence 
displayed  by  this  answer  and  renewed  his  efforts  for  an  interview, 
but  all  in  vain. 

Long  and  weary  months  the  Spanish  army  wandered  about  in 
the  deep  wilderness  scarcely  knowing  whither  they  went,  seeking 
fortunes  as  one  follows  an  ignis  fatuus.  They  procured  most  of 
their  food  from  the  fields  of  maize  cultivated  by  the  natives.  For 
meat  they  drove  with  them  a  herd  of  swine.  They  often  made 
Indian  captives  whom  they  pressed  into  service  as  guides  or  bearers 
of  burdens.  The  guides  on  several  occasions  misled  them  into  great 
swamps  and  marshes.  The  penalty  for  such  an  act  was  to  be  torn 
to  pieces  by  bloodhounds,  and  they  bore  their  punishment  with  the 
utmost  fortitude. 

The  Spanish  army  entered  an  Indian  country,  called  Vitachuco, 
whose  chief,  a  man  of  powerful  physique  and  noble  bearing,  bore 
the  same  name  as  his  country.  De  Soto  made  a  friend  of  him,  as  he 
thought,  and  was  received  into  his  capital,  which  consisted  of  two 
hundred  strong  houses  built  of  timber.  After  several  days'  feast 
ing,  Juan  Ortiz,  the  interpreter,  informed  the  governor  that  the 
Indians  had  laid  a  plot  to  destroy  the  entire  Spanish  army.  The 
Spaniards  were  to  be  invited  to  assemble  on  a  great  plain  between  a 
forest  and  a  lake  outside  the  city,  to  witness  a  parade,  wrhere  several 
thousand  warriors  were  to  amuse  them,  when  suddenly,  at  a  given 
signal,  the  Indians  were  to  seize  their  weapons,  previously  hidden 
in  the  grass,  and  fall  upon  the  Spaniards  without  mercy.  De  Soto 
was  amazed  at  the  information.  He  quietly  informed  his  men  of 
the  plot  and  bade  them  assemble  well  armed  and  drawn  up  in  line 
for  battle.  The  fatal  day  came,  and  De  Soto  walked  by  the  side  of 


EXPLORATIONS  47 


Vitachuco,  at  the  latter's  request,  to  the  scene  of  the  coming  battle. 
Twelve  stalwart  Indians,  secretly  armed,  accompanied  their  chief ; 
but  an  equal  number  of  Spaniards  loitered  carelessly  near.  Thus 
walked  the  white  and  the  red  chiefs,  in  apparent  friendship,  each 
ready  to  give  the  signal  to  his  followers  to  leap  in  deadly  strife  upon 
those  of  the  other.  The  moment  came,  the  signal  was  given,  and  in 
an  instant  the  tranquil  serenity  of  that  beautiful  sunny  morning  was 
transformed  into  the  dreadful  din  of  battle.  The  Indian  chief  was 
made  captive  by  the  bodyguard  of  De  Soto,  who,  leaping  on  a 
horse  held  near  by  a  page,  was  soon  at  the  head  of  his  cavalry  in 
the  forefront  of  the  battle.  All  day  the  battle  raged.  The  Indians 
were  heroic  in  their  courage,  and  they  outnumbered  the  Spaniards 
ten  to  one ;  but  it  was  the  naked  body  against  the  coat  of  mail ;  the 
bow  and  arrow  against  the  steel  Toledo  blade  in  the  hands  of  the 
most  skillful  swordsmen  in  the  world,  and  the  red  men  were  mowed 
down  like  grass  before  the  reapers'  scythe.  Many  of  the  Indian 
braves  were  slain,  many  were  made  prisoners,  and  became  the  ser 
vants  of  their  conquerors.  Vitachuco  was  pardoned  by  De  Soto  and 
again  treated  as  a  friend ;  but  the  fallen  chief  was  unconquered  and 
unconquerable.  Sometime  after  the  battle  his  fury  arose  and  with  a 
dreadful  war  whoop  he  struck  De  Soto  in  the  face  with  his  fist  and 
felled  him  unconscious  to  the  ground.  In  an  instant  a  dozen  swords 
were  thrust  into  the  Indian's  body  and  he  fell  dead.  The  blow  had 
disfigured  De  Soto  for  life,  smashing  his  nose  and  knocking  out 
several  of  his  teeth. 


THE   INDIAN   QUEEN    • 

De  Soto  learned  that  there  was  far  away  to  the  north  a  rich  and 
powerful  Indian  nation  known  as  Cofachiqui,  or  Cofitachiqui,  gov 
erned  by  a  queen,  a  young  and  beautiful  girl  of  eighteen  years. 
He  heard  also  that  the  land  abounded  in  the  richest  mines  of  gold 
and  silver,  and  he  decided  to  direct  his  steps  thither ;  but  the  way 
was  long  and  the  soldiers  footsore  and  weary,  and  months  of  jogging 
along  through  marsh  and  bog,  over  arid  plains  and  through  dense 
forests,  must  be  endured  ere  they  could  reach  their  goal.  At  length 
they  traversed  a  broad,  open  country  and  came  to  the  bank  of  a 
beautiful  river.  One  evening  as  they  came  to  a  bend  of  the  river 
they  heard  from  the  opposite  shore  the  din  of  voices,  the  shouts  of 
playing  children,  and  the  barking  of  dogs.  Next  morning  they 


48  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

discovered  that  it  was  the  home  of  the  princess  who  ruled  over 
Cofachiqui.1 

De  Soto  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  make  friends  of  the  youth 
ful  queen  and  her  people.  He  bade  Ortiz  shout  across  the  river, 
and  assure  the  natives  that  he  desired  their  good  will  and  friend 
ship.  The  Indians  were  astonished  at  the  appearance  of  the  Span 
iards.  At  the  break  of  day  they  gathered  in  great  numbers  on  the 
river  bank  where  they  now  stood  gazing  in  speechless  wonder  at  the 
strange  sight  —  warriors  wrapped  in  bright  steel  armor,  with  glit 
tering  swords  in  their  hands,  and  the  richly  caparisoned  horses, 
animals  which  these  Indians  had  never  before  seen.  Presently  six 
of  the  chief  men  of  the  nation  entered  a  canoe  and  crossed  to  the 
encampment  of  their  strange  visitors. 

"  Do  you  come  for  peace  or  war  ?  "  they  asked  with  the  true 
dignity  of  the  brave. 

"  I  come  for  peace,"  replied  De  Soto ;  "  I  seek  only  a  peaceful 
passage  through  your  land  j  I  need  food  for  my  people  and  beg  your 
assistance." 

After  a  brief  conversation  and  an  earnest  request  by  De  Soto 
to  meet  their  queen  in  person,  the  chiefs  recrossed  the  stream. 
Soon  afterward  the  Spaniards  saw  a  highly  decorated  canoe  brought 
to  the  edge  of  the  water,  and  this  was  followed  by  a  gorgeous  palan 
quin  borne  by  four  men.  From  the  palanquin  stepped  a  young 
woman  who  took  a  seat  amid  downy  cushions  in  the  canoe.  She 
was  rowed  across  the  river  accompanied  by  eight  female  attendants 
and  many  warriors  in  other  canoes.  The  queen  was  dressed  in  the 
highest  art  known  to  the  red  children  of  the  forest.  As  she  stepped 
upon  the  shore  the  Spaniards  were  greatly  impressed  with  her  quiet 
dignity,  her  modest,  graceful  manner,  and  her  rare  beauty.  Through 
the  interpreter  she  and  De  Soto  entered  into  conversation,  in  which 
she  offered  him  the  use  of  half  the  houses  of  her  capital  during  his 
stay  with  them.  She  then  arose  and  handed  to  one  of  her  maids  a 
string  of  rich  and  costly  pearls,  and  bade  her  give  it  to  De  Soto ; 
but  the  latter  begged  that  she  suspend  it  from  his  neck  with  her 
own  hand.  This  she  hesitated  to  do  as  she  feared  that  it  would  be  a 
violation  of  her  woman's  modesty.  But  De  Soto  insisted  that  such 
an  act  could  not  be  immodest  as  they  were  treating  of  peace  and 
friendship,  of  all  things  the  most  serious  between  strange  peoples. 

1  It  is  believed  that  this  Indian  town  stood  on  the  present  site  of  Silver  Bluff,  on 
the  east  bank  of  the  Savannah  River,  in  Barnwell  County,  S.C. 


EXPLORATIONS  49 


The  princess  yielded  to  his  request,  whereupon  he  took  from  his 
finger  a  beautiful  gold  ring  set  with  a  ruby  and  presented  it  to  her. 

The  army  crossed  the  river  and  occupied  the  apartments  assigned 
them.  This  was  certainly  an  oasis  in  the  desert,  a  haven  of  rest 
for  the  weary  travelers,  and  now,  too,  their  hopes  were  to  rise  on  the 
wings  of  the  wind  to  the  highest  point.  On  inquiring  for  the  object 
of  their  search,  their  fair  hostess  informed  them  that  there  were 
great  quantities  of  gold  within  her  territories,  and  she  sent  men  to 
the  mines  to  bring  specimens.  At  last  the  Spaniards  believed  they 
had  found  another  Peru.  Now  they  would  load  themselves  with 
gold  and  return  to  their  native  land.  The  men  returned  from  the 
mines  laden  with  the  metal,  but  it  proved  to  be  a  worthless  alloy  of 
copper  —  and  the  Spaniards  awoke  from  their  radiant  dream,  and 
in  sorrow  turned  again  their  weary  eyes  to  the  wilderness.  Before 
leaving  the  country,  however,  the  queen  presented  her  guests  with  a 
great  number  of  really  valuable  pearls. 

The  habit  of  De  Soto  was  to  compel  every  Indian  chief  whom  he 
got  into  his  possession  to  accompany  him  at  least  to  the  bounds 
of  the  chief's  territory.  His  object  was  to  prevent  Indian  attacks 
upon  his  army.  This  he  made  known  to  the  queen  of  Cofachiqui, 
and  informed  her  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  her  to  accompany 
them.  She  demurred,  but  De  Soto  insisted  and  practically  made 
her  captive.  This  seems  cruel  after  all  the  kindness  with  which  she 
had  received  the  Spaniards,  but  De  Soto  feared  that  in  no  other 
way  could  he  prevent  an  uprising  of  the  treacherous  red  men. 

They  left  the  city  by  the  river  early  in  May,  1540,  and  traversed 
the  northern  part  of  Georgia,  the  princess  being  carried  in  her 
palanquin  by  her  own  warriors  and  followed  by  her  maids.  Thus 
they  plodded  along  for  weeks  when  one  day  the  lovely  maiden,  of 
whom  the  whole  army  was  proud,  proved  that  she  was  not  only  a 
dignified  queen  and  an  ideal  hostess,  but  a  true  Indian  —  she  sud 
denly  leaped  from  her  couch  and,  running  with  the  fleetness  of  a 
deer,  darted  beneath  the  underbrush  of  a  dense  forest.  De  Soto 
and  his  men  never  saw  nor  heard  of  her  again.  She  probably  re 
turned  to  her  quiet  home  on  the  banks  of  the  river  and  resumed  her 
happy  reign  over  her  people. 

THE   BATTLE   OF   MA  VILA 

Our  adventurers  now  turned  southward  through  the  present  state 
of  Alabama.  They  made  a  long  stop  with  a  friendly  Indian  tribe 


50  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

on  the  Coosa  Kiver,  and  departing,  left  behind  one  of  their  number 
who  had  fallen  in  love  with  the  chief's  daughter  and  chose  to 
remain  with  the  Indians. 

In  southern  Alabama  there  dwelt  the  most  warlike  and  power 
ful  of  all  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Southeast.  The  chief,  whose 
name  was  Tuscaloosa,  heard  of  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards  and 
went  to  meet  them,  receiving  them  with  the  blandest  smile  and 
inviting  them  into  his  capital.  But  this  was  only  a  blind ;  his  pur 
pose  was  to  entrap  his  white  visitors  and  destroy  them  to  the  last 
man.  The  capital l  was  built  like  a  fort,  surrounded  by  a  strong  wall 
made  of  timbers  and  surmounted  by  towers.  De  Soto  entered  the 
city  gates  with  a  portion  of  his  army,  and  a  little  later  the  fight 
began  between  two  servants  and  soon  became  general.  The  Span 
iards  were  standing  in  an  open  square  when  the  Indians,  who  had 
sent  their  squaws  and  children  to  the  forest,  poured  out  from  the 
houses  and  rushed  upon  them  with  their  blood-curdling  war  cry,  and 
white  and  red  men  grappled  in  deadly  combat.  The  white  men 
fought  their  way  to  the  main  gate,  outside  of  which  their  horses 
were  tethered.  Leaping  upon  the  horses  they  made  ready  to  charge, 
but  the  Indians  had  surged  through  the  gates  and  leaped  over  the 
walls  in  great  numbers,  and  now  they  hurled  the  Spaniards  back  for 
a  hundred  paces  over  the  plain,  when  the  latter  turned  about,  made 
a  desperate  charge,  and  drove  the  Indians  back  into  the  city.  Again 
the  Indians  rushed  out  and  again  the  white  men  hurled  them  back, 
following  them  into  the  open  square,  and  there  continued  their  deadly 
sword  thrusts.  Thus  for  hours  the  two  armies,  surging  to  and  fro, 
fought  like  demons.  The  Spaniards  set  fire  to  the  city  and  in  a  few 
minutes  every  house  was  ablaze,  and  the  roar  and  heat  of  the  flames 
were  added  to  the  din  of  battle.  When  night  came  the  Indian  army 
was  destroyed.  Some  had  probably  escaped  to  the  forest ;  thousands 
lay  dead  upon  the  ground.  But  the  Spaniards  had  paid  dearly  for 
their  victory.  Many  of  them  were  dead  and  nearly  all  the  survivors 
wounded.2  Forty-five  of  their  horses  were  killed  and  all  their  camp 
equipage,  baggage,  medicines,  and  the  pearls  from  Cofachiqui  had 
been  consumed  in  the  fire.  De  Soto  on  his  noble  charger  had  led 
the  fight.  Early  in  the  afternoon  an  arrow  pierced  his  thigh  and 
stuck  fast,  rendering  him  unable  to  sit  in  his  saddle ;  but  not  having 

1  The  town   called  Mobile,  Mavila,  or  Mavilla,  probably  stood  on  the  present 
site  of  the  Choctaw  Bluff,  on  the  Alabama  River,  in  Clarke  County,  Ala. 

2  The  total  losses  from  all  causes  at  the  end  of  this  battle  is  stated  by  the 
"  Gentleman  of  Elvas  "  at  one  hundred  and  two. 


EXPLORATIONS  51 


time  to  extract  the  arrow,  he  stood  up  in  his  stirrups  and  thus  fought 
the  remainder  of  the  day. 

This  battle  of  Mavila  was  one  of  the  greatest  ever  fought 
between  the  white  men  and  Indians  on  the  soil  of  the  United 
States.1  The  army  was  unable  to  move  for  near  a  month  after  this 
terrible  experience.  There  were  many  wounds  to  be  dressed  and 
but  one  surgeon,  a  man  of  little  skill,  left  alive. 

The  army  never  recovered  from  the  effects  of  this  battle.  From 
this  day  forth  De  Soto  was  a  changed  man.  His  buoyant  and  jovial 
spirits  were  gone.  He  heard  that  ships  from  Cuba  with  fresh  sup 
plies  for  his  army  were  now  in  Pensacola  Bay,  but  a  few  days'  march 
distant  and  thither  he  would  go  for  recruits  and  supplies.  But 
rumors  now  reached  his  ears  that  filled  him  with  dismay.  He  was 
informed  that  his  men  were  disheartened  and  would  desert  him  at 
the  earliest  opportunity.  Disguising  himself,  he  mingled  among 
them  at  night,  listened  to  their  conversation,  and  found  the  rumor 
to  be  true. 

De  Soto  was  deeply  dejected.  He  felt  that  he  could  not  raise 
another  army  if  this  one  deserted  him.  He  had  spent  his  fortune 
and  accomplished  nothing.  His  faithful  Isabella  had  written  him, 
urging  and  begging  that  he  give  up  his  vain  pursuit  of  fortune  and 
return  to  her.  But  his  spirit  was  too  proud;  he  could  not  yield. 
How  could  he  return  with  his  ragged  and  penniless  army  ?  How 
could  he  endure  poverty  and  humiliation  after  the  taste  of  wealth 
and  popularity  he  had  enjoyed  ?  No,  he  must  succeed  or  die ;  gold 
was  more  precious  than  life,  and  disgrace  was  worse  than  death. 
Such  was  De  Soto ;  such  was  Spain  in  the  sixteenth  century.  This 
man  of  iron  will  now  came  to  the  desperate  decision  to  head  off  his 
mutinous  men  by  refusing  to  inform  them  about  the  ships  and  by 
turning  northward  again  into  the  wilderness. 

DISCOVERY   OF   THE   GREAT   RIVER 

Sadly  and  wearily  now  the  army  turned  again  to  resume  its 
journey  through  the  unexplored  forest.  The  march  from  this  day 
was  aimless  and  almost  hopeless.  They  wandered  from  place  to 
place,  caring  little  whither  they  went.  The  army  was  without  tents 
or  baggage;  their  clothing  had  turned  to  rags,  and  they  dressed 
themselves  in  skins.  Through  illness  and  incessant  fighting  with 
1  See  Bancroft's  "  United  States  History,"  Vol.  I,  p.  48. 


52  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  Indians  their  numbers  were  constantly  decreasing.  But  few  of 
their  horses  remained,  and  most  of  the  men  traveled  on  foot. 

De  Soto  was  no  longer  the  frank,  energetic,  and  trusted  com 
mander;  he  was  moody,  sullen,  distant,  and  careworn.  He  had 
lived  but  forty  years,  but  the  furrows  of  age  were  deepening  in  his 
face.  It  is  believed  that  from  this  time  forth  his  mind  was  unbal 
anced,  that  he  felt  his  pursuit  of  gold  to  be  hopeless,  and  that  he 
was  resolved  to  die  in  the  wilderness.  But  strange  as  it  may  appear, 
the  one  and  only  great  historic  event  in  the  life  of  De  Soto  was  yet 
before  him ;  he  was  yet  to  do,  all  unconsciously,  the  one  thing  that 
would  bring  him  enduring  fame  and  link  his  name  forever  with 
American  history, — he  was  yet  to  discover  the  Mississippi  River. 

During  the  autumn  and  winter  months  the  general  course  of  the 
army  was  northwestward,  and  it  was  in  the  spring  of  1541,  and 
probably  at  Chickasaw  Bluff,  not  far  from  the  present  boundary 
between  Tennessee  and  Mississippi,  that  they  first  cast  their  eyes 
upon  the  great  river.  The  majestic  current,  a  mile  and  a  half  in 
width,  swept  by,  bearing  upon  its  bosom  trees  and  logs  and  great 
quantities  of  driftwood.  Here  the  mighty  river  had  rolled  for  ages 
unknown,  and  De  Soto  was  the  first  white  man  to  look  upon  its  tur 
bid  waters.1  But  he  and  his  followers  did  not  realize  the  magnitude 
of  the  discovery ;  they  were  still  seeking  for  gold.  They  built  four 
barges,  crossed  the  river,  and  made  a  detour  of  several  hundred 
miles  to  the  northwest,  through  the  present  states  of  Arkansas  and 
Missouri.  This  tour  covered  a  year,  and  it  was  a  year  of  extreme 
hardship  and  toil ;  a  year  of  Indian  fighting  and  disaster.  Many  of 
them  perished,  and  among  them  the  faithful  interpreter,  Juan  Ortiz. 
In  the  early  spring  of  1542  the  expedition  returned  to  the  Missis 
sippi,  by  way  of  Red  River,  and  now  the  great  march  was  soon  to 
close. 

De  Soto  was  weary  unto  death  with  his  long  and  fruitless  toil. 
His  countenance  was  haggard  and  worn,  nor  was  it  in  his  power  to 
Death  of  De  conceal  his  deep  depression  of  spirits.  He  was  attacked 
Soto,  May  21,  by  a  slow  fever,  which  increased  in  violence,  until  he 
saw  that  he  must  die.  Calling  his  officers  about  him, 
naming  one  as  his  successor,  he  bade  them  an  affectionate  farewell 
and  died,  commending  his  soul  to  God.  They  buried  him  "  darkly, 
at  dead  of  night,"  with  the  impressive  service  of  the  Catholic 

1  Cabeza  de  Vaca  had,  however,  seen  one  of  the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi  a  few 
years  before. 


EXPLORATIONS  53 


Church,  to  which  he  had  always  been  faithful.  That  the  Indians 
might  not  find  the  body,  all  traces  of  the  grave  were  obliterated ; 
but  the  Indians  were  soon  seen  prowling  about  and  looking  know 
ingly  at  the  burial  place,  and  it  was  determined  to  remove  the  body 
and  sink  it  into  the  depths  of  the  river.  With  solemn  countenances 
a  few  of  the  officers  rowed  out  to  the  middle  of  the  great  river  at 
midnight,  bearing  the  body  of  the  dead  chieftain,  inclosed  in  a  cas 
ket  made  of  a  hollowed-out  oaken  log,  and  reverently  they  lowered 
it  into  the  water. 

The  new  leader  lacked  the  indomitable  spirit  of  De  Soto,  and  the 
army  soon  decided  to  abandon  the  further  search  of  fortune  and  re 
turn  to  civilization.  They  at  length  moved  toward  the  southwest,  in 
the  hope  of  finding  Mexico.  After  wandering  for  some  months  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  they  returned  to  that  river,  and  in  rudely  built 
boats  floated  with  the  current  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  in  Septem 
ber,  1643,  reached  a  Spanish  colony  in  Mexico.  At  starting,  three 
and  a  half  years  before,  they  were  a  dashing  army,  many  of 
them  rich  and  of  noble  birth,  adorned  with  the  most  brilliant  uni 
forms  and  animated  by  the  highest  hopes  of  fame  and  fortune ;  now 
they  were  careworn,  dejected,  and  penniless,  dressed  in  the  skins  of 
wild  animals  and  covered  with  wounds  and  scars,  and  less  than  half 
of  their  original  number,  the  rest  of  them  having  found  a  grave  in 
the  wilderness. 

When  Isabella  heard  of  the  death  of  her  husband,  her  grief  was 
uncontrollable.  Strangely  eventful  had  been  her  life.  Long  and 
weary  years  she  had  waited  and  loved.  Then  came  a  few  short 
years  of  happiness,  too  ravishing  to  endure.  And  now  came  the 
blow  that  was  too  heavy  to  be  borne.  Her  grief  was  the  grief  of 
Niobe,  and  in  a  few  years  she  had  mourned  herself  to  death. 

For  wild  and  reckless  adventure  the  career  of  De  Soto  would  be 
difficult  to  parallel.  But  his  great  expedition  in  the  Southeast, 
while  fascinating,  was  singularly  barren  of  good  results.  Aside 
from  the  accidental  discovery  of  the  great  river  there  is  nothing  to 
mark  it  as  useful — no  study  of  the  language  and  habits  of  the 
natives,  no  record  of  the  flora  and  fauna,  nor  scientific  observations 
of  the  topography  of  the  country.  Little  indeed  was  added  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  New  World  by  this  costly  expedition  of  De  Soto. 


54  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 


OTHER   EXPLORATIONS 

Spanish.  —  In  1528  Panfilo  de  Narvaez,  with  four  ships  and  about  four 
hundred  men,  explored  the  northern  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  expe 
dition  was  most  unfortunate.  Many  were  killed  by  the  Indians ;  Narvaez  was 
drowned  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River.  At  length  but  four  were  left, 
Cabeza  de  Vaca  and  three  companions.  These  wandered  about  for  eight  years, 
traveling  over  two  thousand  miles,  crossing  the  continent,  and  finally  reaching  a 
Spanish  settlement  on  the  western  coast  of  Mexico. 

De  Vaca  and  his  companions  told  wonderful  stories  of  their  travels,  and  one 
of  these  stories  was  of  seven  cities l  of  which  they  had  heard,  said  to  contain 
vast  treasures  of  gold  ;  and  Coronado,  governor  of  a  province  in  Mexico,  raised 
an  army  of  over  a  thousand  men,  two  thirds  of  whom  were  Mexican  Indians, 
and  went  in  search  of  these  cities.  He  discovered  many  Zuni  Pueblos  of  the 
Southwest,  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado,  and  penetrated  as  far  northeastward 
perhaps  as  the  valley  of  the  Platte  River.  But  he  found  no  gold,  lost  many 
of  his  men,  and  returned  to  Mexico  broken-hearted.  In  the  summer  of  1541 
Coronado  and  De  Soto,  with  their  respective  parties,  were  but  a  few  days  apart, 
and  Coronado,  suspecting  this,  sent  a  messenger  to  find  De  Soto ;  but  he  was 
not  successful.  The  expedition  of  Coronado  was  better  managed  than  that  of 
De  Soto,  and  it  yielded  better  results  in  extending  geographical  knowledge. 

Other  Spanish  explorers  were  Gordillo,  who  explored  the  southeastern  coast 
of  the  United  States  in  1520  ;  and  De  Ayllon  who,  with  five  hundred  men,  sailed 
northward  along  the  Atlantic  coast  in  1526  and  made  a  fruitless  attempt  to 
found  a  colony  in  what  is  now  Virginia,  near  the  site  of  Jamestown.  The  fact 
that  the  Spanish  explorers  on  the  soil  of  the  United  States  found  no  gold  will 
probably  account  for  the  fact  that  no  important  Spanish  settlements  were  made 
within  it. 

French.  — The  king  of  France  refused  to  respect  the  "Line  of  Demarcation" 
by  which  the  Pope  had  divided  all  heathen  lands  between  Spain  and  Portugal, 
and  demanded  that  if  Father  Adam  had  made  such  a  will,  the  will  be  produced. 
The  French,  however,  confined  their  early  explorations  to  the  north.  In  1534 
Jacques  Cartier  made  a  voyage  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  exploring  southern 
Labrador,  Prince  Edward  Island,  and  Anticosti.  He  returned  to  France,  and 
the  next  year  came  again  and  sailed  up  the  St.  Lawrence  River  as  far  as  the 
present  site  of  Montreal,  so  called  from  the  name  he  gave  the  place  —  Mount 
Royal.  The  explorations  of  other  Frenchmen  —  Champlain,  Allouez,  Marquette, 
Joliet,  and  La  Salle  —  will  be  mentioned  in  a  later  chapter.  The  English  ex 
plorers  were  settlers  as  well  and  will  be  treated  under  colonization. 

1  Known  as  the  seven  cities  of  Cibola. 


CHAPTER  IV 

COLONIZATION  — THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES 

THE  New  World  had  been  discovered  for  a  century,  and  the  terri 
tory  of  the  present  United  States  was  still  a  wilderness,  uninhabited 
except  by  the  native  savage.1  It  was  not  possible  that  such  a  con 
dition  could  endure.  North  America  presented  wonderful  oppor 
tunities  for  future  development.  It  was  bounded  by  two  oceans, 
while  Europe  had  but  one ;  its  central  river  valley  for  extent  and 
fertility  was  unequaled  in  the  world;  nor  could  Europe  match 
the  Great  Lakes,  the  cataract  of  Niagara,  the  Mississippi  Elver, 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  or  the  Grand  Canons  of  the  Colorado  and  the 
Yellowstone.  It  was  only  through  colonization  that  this  vast  and 
beautiful  land  could  become  truly  useful  to  mankind,  and  the  time 
was  ripe  for  a  portion  of  Europe  to  transplant  itself  permanently  to 
North  America.  The  burning  question  during  the  closing  decades 
of  the  sixteenth  century  was,  Which  of  the  European  states  will 
succeed  in  becoming  the  mother  of  civilization  in  North  America  ? 
The  chances  all  seemed  to  favor  Spain.  Spain  had  taken  possession 
of  Mexico  and  South  America2  and  of  the  adjacent  islands  of  the 
sea ;  and,  moreover,  she  had  laid  claim  to  all  of  North  America  on 
the  ground  of  the  Pope's  decree  of  a  century  before.  Her  great 
advantage  lay  in  the  fact  that  she  was  by  far  the  great-  . 

est  maritime  power  of  the  earth.  But  Spain  was  ill 
fitted  to  found  empires  and  build  nations.  Her  motives  were  too 
low.  She  sought,  not  to  found  self-supporting  colonies,  but  to 
plunder  the  natives  in  her  mad  search  for  gold.  For  gold  she  slew 
the  red  man,  for  gold  she  enslaved  the  black  man,  and  gold  proved 
the  ruin  of  Spain. 

1  The  only  settlement  of  white  men  in  the  present  United  States  was  at  St. 
Augustine,  Fla.,  founded  1565,  and  at  Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  settled  in  1582  or  later. 
The  great  French  Huguenot,  Coligny,  first  sent  Kibault,  who  made  a  settlement  in 
Florida:  hut  they  were  brutally  massacred  by  Menendez,  a  Spaniard.     Gourges,  a 
Frenchman,  afterward  made  fearful  retaliation  by  destroying  the  Spanish  colony. 

2  Except  the  eastern  portion  which  belonged  to  Portugal. 

55 


56  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

For  nearly  a  hundred  years  Spain  had  held  undisputed  sway  in 
the  New  World.  Neither  England  nor  France  had  followed  up  their 
early  discoveries  with  attempts  at  colonization.  England  during  the 
sixteenth  century  was  struggling  with  the  Reformation  and  the 
political  questions  accompanying  it ;  France  was  rent  with  civil  and 
religious  wars.  Both  were  thus  deterred  for  many  years  from  giving 
serious  attention  to  the  new  lands  of  the  West,  though  both  agreed 
in  disputing  the  exclusive  claims  of  Spain. 

Meantime  Spain  had  a  clear  field.  No  other  nation  ever  had 
such  an  opportunity  to  establish  a  great  empire.1  But  Spain  proved 
unworthy  of  her  trust.  The  chief  cause  of  her  downfall  was,  as 
stated,  her  too  great  devotion  to  the  god  of  gold.  This  caused  a 
decline  in  her  agriculture  and  manufacturing.  But  there  were  other 
causes.  Spain  lost  her  best  artisans  and  laborers  through  the  expul 
sion  of  the  Moors ;  she  lost  much  of  her  commercial  spirit  through 
the  expulsion  of  the  Jews;  and,  worst  of  all,  the  horrors  of  the 
Inquisition  robbed  the  nation  of  much  of  its  choicest  blood.  Tn 
addition  to  all  this  the  efforts  of  Spain  to  increase  her  political 
power  in  Europe  and  to  lead  the  forces  of  the  counter  reformation 
only  weakened  the  Empire  and  hastened  its  downfall. 

While  Spain  was  declining  through  her  own  inherent  weakness, 
France  and  England  were  rapidly  rising.  France  had  reached  a  sea 
son  of  peace  and  also  a  season  of  wide  influence  under  the  reign 
of  that  broad-minded  statesman,  King  Henry  of  Navarre,  the  author 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  The  French  now  began  to  occupy  Acadia 
and  the  St.  Lawrence  Valley.  But  it  is  with  the  work  of  England 
that  we  are  here  concerned.  The  reformation  in  England  had  con 
tinued  through  the  reigns  of  Henry  VIII,  Edward  VI,  and,  after  a 
momentary  reaction  under  Mary,  had  been  completed  under  Eliza 
beth.  The  long  reign  of  "  Good  Queen  Bess,"  ending  in  1603, 
brought  not  only  internal  peace,  a  notable  revival  of  industries  at 
home  and  activity  on  the  sea,  it  also  raised  the  British  nation  to  a 
first-class  power.  And  the  Spaniard  at  length  found  his  match  in 
the  Briton. 

For  five  centuries,  in  their  island  home,  the  Norman  and  the 
Saxon,  the  Angle  and  the  Jute,  had  commingled,  until  each  had  lost 
his  identity  in  the  producing  of  a  race  unsurpassed  by  any  other  in 
history  —  the  English  race;  and  this  people  now,  at  the  close  of  a 
long  and  successful  struggle  for  religious  liberty,  had  taken  a  fore- 

1  See  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  122-123. 


COLONIZATION  — THE   SOUTHERN   COLONIES  57 

most  place  among  the  nations.     England  was  now  seized  with  a  de 
sire  to  expand,  and  her  attention  was  turned  toward  the  New  World. 

Various  were  the  motives  of  the  British  in  turning  their  atten 
tion  to  colony  building.  One  of  the  chief  causes  was  a  feeling  of 
rivalry  with  Spain  ;  another  was  a  belief  that  the  island  was  already 
overpopulated  and  needed  an  outlet  for  its  surplus  population.  To 
these  causes  must  be  added  the  desire  to  search  for  gold,  to  find  a 
northwest  passage,  and,  as  developed  a  little  later,  a  belief  that  the 
colonies  could  be  made  to  furnish  certain  commodities,  such  as  silk 
and  wine,  which  could  not  be  produced  in  England. 

Reviving  the  half-forgotten  voyages  of  the  Cabots,  England  laid 
claim  on  this  ground  to  the  greater  portion  of  North  America.  Con 
scious  of  the  strength  of  youth,  Englishmen  set  forth 
upon  the  sea,  and  stood  ready  to  dispute  with  Spain  the 
dominion  of  the  ocean.  The  Elizabethan  Era  is  renowned  in  Eng 
lish  history,  not  only  for  its  literature,  but  for  its  growing  power 
upon  the  sea,  and  especially  for  its  hardy  and  skillful  seamen. 
There  were  Hawkins  the  slave  trader,  the  famous  half-brothers, 
Humphrey  Gilbert  and  Walter  Raleigh,  Gosnold,  Newport,  and 
Frobisher,  and  above  all  Francis  Drake,  the  greatest  seaman  before 
Nelson.  Drake  was  the  first  to  put  into  practice  the  policy  of 
weakening  Spain  by  attacking  her  in  America,1  Drake  it  was  who 
made  a  great  voyage  around  the  earth  ending  in  1580,  the  second  in 
history,  in  which  he  took  many  Spanish  prizes;  and  henceforth  he 
was  known  by  the  Spaniards  as  the  Dragon.  Eight  years  after  the 
completion  of  his  famous  voyage  he  played  an  important  part  in 
the  most  momentous  event  of  the  century  in  which  he  lived  —  the 
defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada. 

Never  before  had  Europe  witnessed  so  vast  a  display  of  power 
upon  the  sea  as  that  which  Philip  II  now  put  forth  in  the 
"Invincible"  Armada.  Spain  was  at  this  time  by  far  the  richest 
and  greatest  nation  of  Europe  or  the  world.  Mexican  and  Peruvian 
gold  had  poured  into  the  Spanish  coffers  in  uncounted  millions,2  and 
the  power  of  the  Empire  was  felt  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea. 
This  was  the  golden  age  of  the  Spanish  Empire,  and  the  Armada  was 
the  most  notable  product  of  that  age.  With  this  vast  fleet  Philip 
would  now  smite  and  disable  the  island  kingdom,  and  at  the  same 

1  Fiske's  "  Old  Virginia  and  Her  Neighbors,"  p.  24. 

2  It  is  estimated  that  by  looting  the  Indians  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  Spain  was 
enriched  by  a  sum  equal  to  85,000,000,000. 


58  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

time  he  would  present  a  spectacle  to  the  world  that  would  overawe 
any  other  nation  that  might  have  the  temerity  to  measure  swords 
with  the  Castilian.  The  Armada  consisted  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty  ships,  the  largest  ever  seen  in  Europe,  bearing  thirty  thousand 
soldiers  and  three  thousand  heavy  guns.  Not  only  to  chasten  Eng 
land  for  daring  to  claim  a  portion  of  the  New  World  did  Philip  send 
forth  this  fleet,  but  especially  to  force  back  into  the  Church  the  stray 
ing  Briton  who  had  wandered  from  the  Catholic  fold. 

Great  was  the  excitement  in  the  British  Isles  when  the  people 
knew  of  the  hostile  coming  of  the  Armada.  Europe  stood  aghast 
with  consternation.  Had  England  been  conquered,  France  and  the 
Netherlands  would  immediately  have  been  attacked.  But  the  Eng 
lish  rose  to  the  occasion.  Forty  thousand  soldiers  were  soon  under 
arms.  The  English  fleet  was  much  smaller  than  the  Spanish,  but 
the  ships  were  swifter,  and  above  all,  they  were  manned  by  such 
masters  of  the  sea  as  Lord  Howard  of  Efnngham  and  Hawkins 
Defeat  of  the  an(^  ^r°bisher  and  Drake,  while  the  Armada  was  corn- 
Spanish  manded  by  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  a  man  of 
Armada.  little  skill  and  less  experience.  The  gigantic  fleet  ap 
proached  the  Plymouth  harbor  in  May,  1588,  in  the  form  of  a  grand 
crescent  seven  miles  in  extent.  The  English  met  the  foe  and  de 
stroyed  many  of  their  ships  by  making  sudden  dashes,  then  sailing 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  Spanish  guns,  and  again  by  sending  fire 
ships  among  them.  In  a  few  weeks  the  Spanish  fleet  was  greatly 
disabled,  and,  moreover,  it  was  penned  within  the  German  Ocean. 
The  conquest  of  England  was  now  abandoned,  and  the  remnant  of 
the  Armada,  attempting  to  reach  Spain  by  sailing  around  England 
and  Scotland,  encountered,  near  the  Orkney  Islands,  a  succession 
of  terrific  storms,  and  many  more  of  the  vessels  found  a  bed  in  the 
depths  of  the  sea.  The  soldiers  perished  by  thousands,  and  com 
paratively  few  of  them  ever  again  reached  their  native  land.  Few 
events  in  history  have  been  more  far  reaching  in  their  results  than 
the  destruction  of  the  Spanish  Armada.  It  marked  the  end  of 
Spanish  dominion  of  the  sea.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  end  of 
the  national  greatness  of  Spain.  From  this  time  the  Empire  declined 
steadily  and  irresistibly,  and  three  hundred  and  ten  years  later  the 
downfall  was  completed  in  the  short,  decisive  war  with  the  United 
States  of  America.  What  England  began  in  1588  her  child,  then 
unborn,  was  to  complete  three  centuries  later;  and  the  power  of 
Spain  was  confined  to  the  bounds  of  her  own  peninsula. 


COLONIZATION  — THE   SOUTHERN  COLONIES  59 

The  greatness  of  the  modern  British  Empire  takes  its  rise  from 
the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada.  As  a  maritime  power  England 
soon  rose  to  the  first  place,  and  from  that  day  to  the  present  there 
has  been  none  successfully  to  dispute  her  sway.  The  defeat  of  the 
Spanish  Armada  has  been  pronounced  the  opening  event  in  the 
history  of  United  States.1  From  that  moment  North  America  was 
open  to  colonization  with  little  danger  of  hindrance  from  the  Spaniards. 
Even  before  that  event  England  had  made  a  beginning  of  colonizing 
America,  and  the  first  Englishman  to  engage  in  it  was 
Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert.  Obtaining  a  charter  from 
Queen  Elizabeth,  he  made  a  heroic  attempt  to  found 
a  colony  in  Newfoundland;  but  Gilbert  lost  his  life  by  shipwreck, 
and  his  mantle  fell  on  the  shoulders  of  a  much  abler  man  than 
himself,  one  who  must  be  considered  the  father  of  English  coloniza 
tion  on  the  soil  of  the  United  States  —  Walter  Raleigh. 

Raleigh  was  one  of  the  best  representative  Englishmen  of  his 
age.  He  was  a  student  of  books  and  a  leader  of  men.  A  pupil  of 
Coiigny,  a  friend  of  Spenser,  he  was  a  statesman  and  a  scholar,  a 
courtier  and  a  soldier,  and  in  each  he  was  one  of  the 
leading  men  of  his  times.2  Raleigh  was  granted  a  char- 
ter  similar  to  that  of  Gilbert.  He  sent  two  exploring 
ships  to  the  coast  of  North  America,  and  they  brought  back  glowing 
accounts  of  the  beauty  of  the  land  and  the  gentleness  of  the  natives. 
They  had  landed  at  Roanoke  Island  off  the  coast  of  North  Carolina. 
It  was  at  this  time  that  the  eastern  coast  of  North  America  received 
the  name  Virginia  in  honor  of  the  Virgin  Queen.3  Raleigh's  first 
colony  was  sent  out  in  1585  under  Ralph  Lane  with  one  hundred 
and  eight  men,  who  settled  on  Roanoke  Island ;  but  after  a  year  of 
hardships  they  were  picked  up  and  carried  to  England  by  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  who  happened  to  touch  at  that  point  in  one  of  his  great  voy 
ages.  They  brought  back  with  them  tobacco  and  the  potato,  and  first 
introduced  the  use  of  these  in  England.  Raleigh  was  disappointed 
at  the  failure  of  his  colony  and  he  determined  to  try  again.  In  1587 
he  sent  a  colony  of  one  hundred  and  fifty,  seventeen 
of  whom  were  women,  under  John  White,  and  soon  after  i^j^S  ' 
they  landed  at  Roanoke,  Virginia  Dare  was  born.  She 
was  a  grandchild  of  Governor  White,  and  was  the  first  English  child 

1  Fiske's  "  Old  Virginia,"  p.  39. 

2  Doyle's  "  English  Colonies  in  America,"  Vol.  I,  p.  56. 

8  It  is  said  that  Elizabeth  herself  suggested  the  name  Virginia. 


00  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

born  on  the  soil  of  the  United  States.  The  governor  soon  found  it 
necessary  to  make  a  voyage  to  England,  intending  to  return  to  his 
colony.  But  the  war  with  Spain  interfered,  and  three  years  passed 

before  an  English  vessel  reached  Roanoke.  When  at 
The  lost  jagj.  he}p  came,  the  colony  had  utterly  disappeared  and 

its  fate  was  never  known.1  Raleigh  was  still  undis 
mayed.  He  exclaimed  to  a  friend  as  late  as  1602,  the  year  of  his  iifth 
expedition,  which  also  failed,  "  I  shall  yet  live  to  see  it  an  English 
nation."  But  the  great  man's  fortunes  now  took  a  downward  turn. 
His  royal  patron  died,  and  in  her  place  came  the  bustling  little 
egotist,  James  I.  Raleigh  fell  into  disfavor;  he  was  cast  into 
prison,  where  he  remained  for  twelve  years,  meantime  writing  his 
"  History  of  the  World."  Then,  after  a  brief  season  of  liberty,  he 
was  again  imprisoned  on  the  false  charge  of  treason  and  was  soon 
after  beheaded.  No  more  dastardly  deed  was  ever  committed  by  a 
British  sovereign  than  the  murder  of  Raleigh. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  none  of  the  colonies  planted  by 
Raleigh  was  permanent,  he  must  be  awarded  the  honor  of  securing 
the  possession  of  North  America  to  the  English  race,  of  making 
known  the  advantages  of  its  soil  and  climate,  and  creating  the  spirit 
of  colonization  among  his  countrymen.2  It  was  Raleigh  above  all 
men  who  prepared  the  way  for  successful  and  permanent  English 
colonization  on  the  soil  of  the  United  States. 

VIRGINIA 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  all  the  eastern 
portion  of  North  America,  which  afterward  became  the  thirteen 
original  states,  was  known  as  Virginia.  Great  interest  in  American 
colonization  was  awakened  throughout  the  kingdom  by  a  little  book 
on  "  Western  Planting,"  inspired  by  Raleigh  and  written  by  Rich 
ard  Hakluyt.  Several  voyages  were  made  before  any  permanent 
settlement  was  established.3  These  voyages,  undertaken  by  indi 
viduals,  had  not  been  successful  financially  or  otherwise.  From  this 

1  Years  afterward  the  people  of  Virginia  found  children  among  the  Indians  with 
light  hair  and  eyes,  and  it  was  believed  that  they  were  descendants  of  members  of 
White's  colony  who  were  probably  adopted  by  Indian  tribes. 

2  Winsor,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  334. 

3  In  1002  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  one  of  Raleigh's  captains,  sailed  to  Cape  Cod  and 
Buzzards  Bay,  intending  to  found  a  colony,  but  failed  to  do  so.     In  1603  Martin  Pring 
made  a  voyage  to  New  England ;  a  son  of  Humphrey  Gilbert  sailed  to  Chesapeake 
Bay  and  was  killed  by  the  Indians.     In  1(505  Captain  Wey mouth  made  a  voyage  to  the 
Kennebec  River  and  returned  with  five  Indians. 


COLONIZATION  —  VIRGINIA  61 

cause  others  were  deterred  from  risking  their  fortunes  in  similar 
enterprises.  But  the  success  of  various  commercial  companies  which 
had  multiplied  in  the  last  half  century  for  the  purpose  of  trading 
with  distant  countries,  especially  of  the  East  India  Company,  char 
tered  in  1600,  naturally  suggested  similar  enterprises  for  the 
western  world.1  And  further,  the  corporation  as  a  form  of  local 
subordinate  government  had  long  been  familiar  to  the  English  mer 
chant,  as  Osgood  says,  and  readily  "  lent  itself  to  plans  of  colonial 
extension." 2  Accordingly,  in  1606,  two  companies  were  formed, 
Virginia  was  divided  into  two  parts  and  a  part  granted  to  each, 
the  London  Company  and  the  Plymouth  Company.3  They  obtained 
a  royal  charter  enabling  each  to  found  a  colony,  granting  the  right  to 
coin  money,  raise  revenue,  and  to  make  laws,  but  reserving  much 
power  to  the  king.  Each  was  given  a  block  of  land  a  hundred  miles 
square,  and  the  settlements  were  to  be  at  least  one  hundred  miles 
apart.  The  London  Company  had  permission  to  plant  a  colony  any 
where  011  the  coast  between  the  thirty-fourth  and  forty-first  degrees 
north  latitude,  and  to  what  they  did  we  now  direct  our  attention.4 

Great  haste  was  now  made  by  the  London  Company  in  prepar 
ing  for  colonization  in  America,  and  on  the  19th  of  December, 
1606,  three  small  ships  bearing  one  hundred  and  five 
colonists  and  commanded  by  Christopher  Newport,  a 
famous  sea  captain,  set  out  upon  the  wintry  sea  for 
the  New  World.  The  largest  of  the  vessels,  the  Susan  Constant, 
was  of  one  hundred  tons  burden  and  the  smallest  of  but  twenty 
tons.  The  voyage  was  long  and  dreary,  and  it  consumed  the  re 
mainder  of  the  winter.  On  reaching  the  American  shore  the  weary 
voyagers  were  greeted  by  the  singing  of  birds  and  the  fragrance  of 
flowers.  Entering  Chesapeake  Bay  they  named  the  two  projecting 
points  at  its  sides  Cape  Henry  and  Cape  Charles,  after  the  two 

1  Doyle,  Vol.  I,  p.  108. 

2  To  the  English  motives  for  colonization,  as  given  on  a  preceding  page,  another 
was  now  added  —  rivalry  with  the  French.    The  French  king  had,  in  1603,  made  an 
extensive  grant  in  America  to  De  Monts,  and  colonists  had  gone  out  in  1604.    The 
French  grant  was  from  forty  degrees  to  sixty  degrees  north  latitude ;  the  English 
from  thirty-four  to  forty-five  degrees.    These  claims  greatly  overlapped,  and  thus 
were  sown  the  seeds  of  future  strife  between  the  two  nations. 

8  So  called  because  the  men  composing  the  former  were  London  merchants,  the 
latter,  Plymouth  merchants.  The  two  companies  were  really  but  subdivisions  of 
one  great  company. 

4  See  Poore's  "  Charters  and  Constitutions,"  Part  II,  p.  1888  sq.  The  Plymouth 
Company  made  an  effort  to  found  a  colony  the  same  year  on  the  coast  of  Maine,  but 
it  was  not  successful. 


62  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

young  sons  of  the  king.1  They  chose  out  one  of  the  great  rivers 
flowing  into  the  bay,  left  upon  it  the  name  of  King  James,  ascended 
it  for  about  thirty  miles,  and  founded  a  town  which  also  they  called 
after  the  name  of  their  king.  Thus  was  founded  the  first  of  the 
permanent  settlements  which  were  to  multiply  and  expand,  and  in 
three  hundred  years  to  grow  into  the  greatest  nation  of  the  earth. 
Let  us  take  a  glance  at  the  colonists.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
imagine  a  set  of  men  less  fitted  to  build  a  colony  and  found  a 
nation  than  were  those  who  settled  at  Jamestown  in  1607.  Among 
them  were  but  twelve  laborers,  a  few  carpenters,  a  blacksmith,  a 
mason,  a  barber,  and  a  tailor,  while  more  than  fifty  were  "  gentle 
men,"  that  is,  men  without  an  occupation,  idle,  shiftless  men  who 
Character  ^ad  joined  the  enterprise  without  realizing  that  years 
of  the  of  labor  were  essential  to  success.  But  there  were  a 

colonists.  few  men  Of  worth  in  the  company.  There  were  Wing- 
field,  who  became  the  first  president  of  the  governing  council, 
Gosnold,  the  famous  mariner  and  pupil  of  Ealeigh,  and  John  Smith, 
the  hero  of  many  strange  adventures.  They  soon  erected  a  few 
tents  and  small  cabins ;  some,  however,  found  a  dwelling  place  by  bur 
rowing  into  the  ground.  For  a  church  they  nailed  a  board  between 
two  trees,  stretched  a  canvas  over  it,  and  beneath  this  the  Rev.  Robert 
Hunt  held  services  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Church  of  England. 

Captain  Newport,  after  spending  some  weeks  exploring  the 
James  River,  returned  with  his  ships  to  England,  promising  to  come 
again  as  soon  as  practicable.  The  colony  was  soon  in  a  pitiable  condi 
tion.  Arriving  too  late  to  plant  spring  crops,  and  finding  little  cleared 
land  fit  for  cultivation,  the  men  were  soon  reduced  to  short  rations. 
The  allowance  to  each  man  for  a  day  was  a  pint  of  wormeaten  barley 
or  wheat,  made  into  pottage.  Governor  Wingfield  lacked  the  ability 
to  rule  the  men,  and  there  were  constant  quarrels  among  them.  To 
their  other  misfortunes  was  added  a  continual  fear  of  Indian  attacks ; 
and  owing  to  their  exposure  in  the  swamps  and  their  lack  of  proper 
food,  they  were  attacked  by  fevers.  They  died  sometimes  three  or 
four  in  a  night,  and  before  the  end  of  September  half  of  the  little 
colony,  including  Gosnold,  had  found  a  grave  in  the  wilderness. 

The  entire  colony  would  no  doubt  have  perished  before  the 
return  of  Newport  but  for  the  courage  and  vigor  of  one  man,  the 
most  notable  and  conspicuous  character  in  the  early  colonial  history 

1  Henry,  the  elder  and  heir  to  the  throne,  died  in  his  boyhood,  and  his  brother 
became  King  Charles  I  of  England. 


COLONIZATION  — VIRGINIA  63 

of  America  —  John  Smith.  Smith  was  still  a  young  man,  but 
according  to  his  own  story,  his  record  was  an  extraordinary  one. 
When  scarcely  beyond  boyhood  he  joined  the  French 

army  and  later  that  of  the  Netherlands  in  which  he   ^dTvt,nt?re-!i, 
J  of  John  Smith. 

served  for  several  years.  He  then  embarked  on  the 
Mediterranean  and  was  thrown  overboard  as  a  heretic,  swam  to  an 
uninhabited  island,  was  picked  up  by  a  vessel  and  carried  to  Egypt. 
We  next  find  him  traversing  Italy  on  foot,  slaying  three  Turks  suc 
cessively  in  single  combat  in  Transylvania,  and  at  length  captured 
by  the  Turks  and  sold  into  slavery.  He  slew  his  master  with  a 
flail,  escaped  into  the  Scythian  Desert,  wandered  through  every 
country  of  Europe,  and  joined  the  Virginia  colonists  soon  after 
reaching  his  native  land.  It  was  now  left  for  his  sojourn  in  the 
American  forest  to  furnish  the  crowning  romance  of  his  life. 

While  exploring  the  Chickahominy  River  he  was  taken  captive 
by  the    Indians.     After  entertaining  his  captors  for  several   days 
with  a  pocket  compass  and  such  curios,  he  was  condemned  to  death 
by  the  savages.     His  head  was  laid  on  the  block  when  at  the  last 
moment  a  little  daughter  of  the  chief,  named  Pocahontas, 
rushed  forward,  laid   her  head  upon  the  head  of  the 
intended  victim,  and  begged  that  his  life  be  spared.     Her  request 
was  granted,  and  he  was  sent  back  rejoicing  to  his  people. 

This  romantic  story,  as  also  the  account  of  his  other  adventures 
above  mentioned,  rests  wholly  on  Smith's  own  testimony,  and  most 
historical  writers  in  recent  years  are  disposed  to  discredit  them, 
especially  the  story  of  his  rescue  by  the  Indian  girl.  It  seems  clear 
that  John  Smith  gave  a  highly  colored  narrative  in  relating  his 
adventures,  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  story  of  his  rescue 
by  Pocahontas  is  true.1  The  only  ground  for  doubting  the  story  is 
Smith's  well-known  spirit  of  boasting  and  the  fact  that  in  his  first 
account  of  his  capture  by  the  Indians  he  does  not  mention  this 
incident.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  one  powerful  argument,  which 
seems  almost  conclusive,  in  favor  of  the  truth  of  the  story.  It  was 
not  an  unusual  occurrence  among  many  Indian  tribes,  when  they 
were  about  to  put  a  captive  to  death,  for  some  impulsive  Indian, 
usually  a  female  and  in  most  cases  a  member  of  the  chief's  family, 
to  beg  the  life  of  the  intended  victim  at  the  last  moment.2  Such  a 
request  was  seldom  denied,  and  the  rescue  was  usually  followed  by 

1  Fiske  makes  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  the  truth  of  the  story. 

2  See  the  case  of  Juan  Ortiz,  above,  p.  44. 


64  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

a  formal  adoption  of  the  rescued  one  into  the  tribe ;  and  this  is 
exactly  what  Smith  claimed  was  done  in  his  case,  though  he  was 
given  his  freedom  to  return  to  his  colony.  How  could  he  have 
invented  a  story  coinciding  so  perfectly  with  an  Indian  custom  with 
which  he  could  not  have  been  familiar  ?  Such  a  thing  is  far  less 
credible  than  the  story  itself. 

It  is  not  disputed,  however,  that  John  Smith  was  a  man  of  won 
derful  energy,-  and  that  he  did  more  for  Virginia  than  any  other  of 
the  early  settlers.  He  soon  became  governor  of  the  colony,  and  he 
saved  the  colonists  from  starvation  by  trading  with  the  Indians  for  corn. 
He  succeeded  above  all  others  in  keeping  the  men  at  work  and  thus 
laid  the  foundations  for  future  prosperity.  Smith  later  explored 
Chesapeake  Bay  and  its  rivers  and  afterward  the  New  England  coast, 
and  he  made  maps  of  them  that  are  remarkable  for  their  accuracy. 

Of  Pocahontas  it  is  known  that  although  she  was  a  rollicking,  romp 
ing  girl  who  often  visited  Jamestown  and  amused  the  colonists  with 
her  pranks,  she  grew  into  stately  womanhood  and  married  one  of  the 
colonists,  John  Rolfe,  a  widower  —  that  she  accompanied  her  hus 
band  to  England,  where  she  was  received  with  great  favor,  and  that 
she  died  in  England  after  giving  birth  to  a  son  who  afterward  made 
Virginia  his  home  and  became  the  ancestor  of  several  of  the  most 
prominent  families  of  the  state. 

Let  us  return  to  our  colony.  Life  in  the  forest  bore  heavily  on 
the  little  band,  and  but  thirty-eight  of  them  were  alive  when,  in  Janu 
ary,  1608,  Captain  Newport  returned  with  food  supplies  and  one 
hundred  and  twenty  more  colonists.  Others  came  from  time  to  time, 
and  in  1609,  when  John  Smith  returned  to  England,  the  colony  num 
bered  five  hundred.  The  government  had  been  placed,  by  the  first 
charter,  in  the  hands  of  a  council  of  thirteen,  resident  in  England, 
Virginia's  an(^  appointed  by  the  King,  which  should  cooperate 
second  with  a  local  council.  But  a  new  charter  was  granted  in 

1609  by  which  the  council  in  England,  originally  dis 
tinct  from  the  company,  now  became  a  part  of  it,1  while  the  local 
council  was  abolished,  being  superseded  by  a  governor.  By  this 
charter  the  bounds  of  the  settlement  were  enlarged  to  four  hundred 
miles  along  the  coast,  two  hundred  miles  each  way  from  Old  Point 
Comfort,  and  extended  "  up  into  the  land  throughout  from  sea  to  sea 
west  and  northwest."  The  company  was  also  given  much  greater 
power  than  that  granted  by  the  charter  of  1606. 

1  H.  L.  Osgood,  in  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  XI,  p.  274. 


COLONIZATION  — VIRGINIA  65 

Lord  de  La  Warr,  or  Delaware,  was  appointed  governor  of  Vir 
ginia  under  the  charter  of  1609.     He  embarked  with  nine  ships  and 
five  hundred  men  and  women  for  Virginia ;  but  encountering  a  terrible 
storm  off  the  Bermuda  Islands,  he  was  delayed  at  those  islands  for 
many  months  —  and  woe  to  Virginia  in  consequence  !    The  "  Starving 
Time"  came.     The  Indians  were  now  hostile  and  no  food  could  be 
obtained  from  them.     Men  with   blanched  faces  wan 
dered  about  actually  dying  for  food.     The  death  rate 
was  frightful.     Of  the  five  hundred  left  by  Smith  the 
fall  before  only  sixty  remained  alive  in  the  spring  of  1610.     These 
now   decided   to   abandon   Virginia  and  embark  in  the  four   little 
pinnaces  that  were  left  them,  hoping  to  reach  dear  old  England. 
Early  in  June  they  gathered  together  their  meager  possessions,  and 
with  the  funeral  roll  of  drums  left  their  cabins  behind.     Sadly,  yet 
joyfully,  they  floated  down  the  river  to  its  mouth,  when 
lo !  far  off  in  the  horizon  they  beheld  a  moving  speck  —  Arrival  of 
and  another  and  another !     They  waited  —  and  up  the 
bay  swept  the  ships  of  Lord  Delaware !     They  all  now  returned  to 
Jamestown,  and  the    colony   of  Virginia  was   born   again.      How 
slender  the  thread  on  which  hung  the  infant  life  of  the  firstborn  of 
the  United  States ! 

Delaware  soon  had  the  colony  on  its  feet,  but  the  next  year  he 
returned  to  England  and  sent  Sir  Thomas  Dale  to  govern  in  his 
stead.  Dale  was  a  man  of  much  ability  and  strength  of  character, 
and  as  Fiske  aptly  puts  it,  "  Under  his  masterful  guidance  Virginia 
came  out  from  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death."  He  introduced 
several  radical  reforms,  the  most  important  of  which  was  the  partial 
abolishing  of  communism.  Before  his  coming  the  land  and  other 
possessions  were  held  in  common ;  no  one  owned  private  property ; 
each  man  was  a  servant  of  the  state,  and  the  tendency 
of  many  was  to  do  as  little  as  possible.  Dale  gave  each 
of  the  old  settlers  three  acres  of  ground  with  the  right  of  possessing 
private  property.  The  effect  was  to  stimulate  industry,  and  from 
this  time  there  was  never  a  scarcity  of  food  in  Virginia.  The  new 
governor  also  established  other  settlements  along  the  James,  and 
although  he  was  an  austere  man,  ruled  with  a  hand  of  iron,  and  was 
merciless  in  his  punishment  of  criminals,  his  five  years'  stay  wrought 
a  great  change  for  the  better  in  Virginia. 

In   1612,  during  the  incumbency  of  Dale,  a  third  charter  was 
granted  to  Virginia.     This  charter  added  the  Bermuda  Islands  to 
p 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 


Virginia,  empowered  the  company  to  raise  money  by  means  of  lot 
teries,  and  was  far  more  liberal  than  either  of  its  predecessors  in 
granting  governmental  powers.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  first 
steps  toward  democratic  government  in  America  as  shown  by  the 
rapidly  succeeding  charters  of  Virginia.  King  James,  blindly 
devoted  to  the  autocratic  theory  of  government,  refused  to  embody 
any  democratic  features  in  the  first  charter.  The  local  council  was 
subject  to  a  superior  council  resident  in  England,  and  both  were  under 
the  instructions  of  the  king.  The  charter  guaranteed  the  rights  of 
Englishmen  to  the  people,  but  gave  them  no  voice  in  their  own  govern 
ment.  But  the  colony  came  to  the  verge  of  failure,  and  in  the  belief 
that  a  more  liberal  government  would  enhance  the  prospects  of  success, 
a  second  charter  was  applied  for  and  granted.  By  this 
°f  charter  of  1609  a11  vacancies  in  the  council,  as  also  the 
executive  office,  were  to  be  filled  by  the  vote  of  the  stock 
holders.  This  gave  the  company  the  character  of  a  body  politic,  the 
right  of  self-government.  It  was  a  great  advance  over  the  first  one 
in  the  process  of  transplanting  English  government  to  American 
soil,  a  great  step  toward  the  more  important  charter  of  1612.  By 
this  third  charter  all  governmental  power,  including  the  making  of 
their  own  laws  and  the  choosing  of  all  officials,  was  given  into  the 
hands  of  the  stockholders.  But  the  company  did  not  immediately 
extend  this  right  to  the  colonists ;  it  placed  local  affairs  in  the 
hands  of  a  governor  of  its  own  choosing.  A  few  years  later,  how 
ever,  the  liberal  element,  led  by  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  gained  control  of 
the  company,  and  to  attract  new  settlers,  as  well  as  to  curb  the 
power  of  a  profligate  or  tyrannical  governor,  the  company  instructed 
its  governor  to  call  an  assembly  of  the  settlers  and  give  them  a  share 
in  the  government.  Hence  came  the  House  of  Burgesses  —  the  first 
representative  body  in  America.1 

Meantime  the  white  and  red  races  were  united  in  Virginia  by  the 
marriage  of  Rolfe  and  the  daughter  of  the  Indian  chief  Powhatan.2 
This  secured  peace  with  the  Indians  for  eight  years,  until  the  death 
of  Powhatan.  About  1616  tobacco  became  the  staple  product  of  the 
colony.  The  English  learned  its  use  from  the  Indians,  and  marvel- 
ously  soon  after  the  discovery  of  the  weed  the  use  of  it  spread 

1  See  Morey's   "  Genesis   of   a   Written   Constitution,"   Annals  of  American 
Academy,  Vol.  I,  p.  529  sq. 

2  The  name  of  this  chief  was  Wahunsnnakok.    The  name  of  the  tribe  was  Pow 
hatan  and  the  English  called  the  chief  also  by  this  name. 


COLONIZATION  —  VIRGINIA  67 

through  every  civilized  land.  It  vvras  the  one  thing  that  found  a 
ready  sale  in  England.  Every  farmer  raised  tobacco,  and  it  was 
grown  in  the  streets  of  Jamestown ;  it  even  became  the  money  of  the 
colony,  and  the  minister  and  public  officers  were  paid  their  salaries 
in  tobacco.1 

The  colony,  however,  was,  on  the  whole,  a  disappointment  to  the 
company  that  had  founded  it.  One  of  their  chief  objects  was  the 
same  that  had  lured  Pizarro  and  De  Soto  —  a  desire  for  gold.  They 
were  not  content  with  the  sassafras  roots  and  cedar  logs  that  their 
ships  kept  bringing,  nor  even  with  the  tobacco.  When,  therefore, 
the  London  Company,  or  Virginian  Company,  as  named  by  the  second 
charter,  were  convinced  that  gold  could  not  be  found  in  that  part  of 
America,  their  interest  in  the  colony  was  greatly  diminished,  and  to 
this  fact  was  due  much  of  the  anarchy  and  disorder  in  Virginia. 

After  the  departure  of  Dale  the  colonists  suffered  severely  for  a 
few  years  at  the  hands  of  a  wicked  governor,  Samuel  Argall,  who 
robbed  and  plundered  them  in  every  way  in  his  power.  But  better 
times  were  at  hand.  About  this  time  Sir  Edwin  Sandys  gained  the 
ascendency  in  the  Virginia  Company,  and  his  energy  and  wisdom 
were  soon  felt  in  the  colony.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  send  the 
colony,  in  1619,  one  of  its  best  governors,  Sir  George  Yeardley,  who 
became  the  first  to  introduce  popular  government  into  America. 

The  most  memorable  year  in  the  early  history  of  Virginia  was 
1619.  It  was  this  year  that  witnessed  the  beginnings  of  two  institu 
tions,  opposite  in  character,  each  of  which  was  destined 
to  play  a  great  part  in  the  future  development  of  the  new 
nation  that  was  now  struggling  to  be  born.  The  first  was 
government  by  the  people,  and  the  second  the  institution  of  slavery.2 
The  first  was  to  increase  and  expand  until  it  developed  into  the 
greatest  self-governing  people  in  the  world's  history ;  the  second 
was  to  fasten  itself  like  a  blight  on  the  free  institutions  of  the  same 
people  and  in  the  end  to  bring  about  the  sacrifice  of  tens  of  thou 
sands  of  human  lives.  In  November  of  the  preceding  year  the  Vir 
ginia  Company  had  issued  an  order  limiting  the  power 
of  the  governor  of  the  colony  and  establishing  a  legisla- 
ture  of  burgesses  to  be  elected  by  the  people.  The  first 

1  The  tobacco  sent  to  England  in  one  year,  1704,  exceeded  18,000,000  pounds.     By 
1750  the    yearly  exports  of    Virginia  and    Maryland   reached    85,000,000  pounds. 
Beer,  "Commercial  Policy  of  England,"  p.  51. 

2  A  Dutch  vessel  brought  twenty  negroes  and  sold  them  to  the  colonists.    Thus 
begau  a  traffic  in  slaves  that  continued  till  after  the  Revolution. 


68  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

House  of  Burgesses,  composed  of  twenty -two  delegates,  met  in  July, 
1619,  soon  after  the  coming  of  Yeardley,  and  erelong  the  people 
were  living  under  laws  of  their  own  making,  and  a  "  government  of 
the  people,  for  the  people,  and  by  the  people  "  thus  gained  its  first 
foothold  on  American  soil.  This  granting  of  a  share  in  the  govern 
ment  to  the  people  attracted  new  settlers,  who,  from  this  time,  came 
in  ever  increasing  numbers. 

This  same  year  of  1619  witnessed  the  coming  of  ninety  young 
women  to  be  wives  of  the  colonists.  To  secure  one  of  these  prizes 
the  bachelor  planter  was  required  to  win  the  maiden's  consent  and 
to  pay  her  passage  across  the  sea  (about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds  of  tobacco),  and  as  there  were  many  more  men  than  maidens, 
the  courtship  must  have  been  very  interesting.  Other  women  were 
brought  from  time  to  time,  and  family  life  was  soon  firmly  established 
in  the  new  colony.  Indeed,  from  this  time  forth  life  in  Virginia  had 
its  attractions  as  well  as  its  hardships.  The  lowing  of  the  herds,  the 
chattering  of  the  fowls,  the  shouts  of  playing  children,  the  sound  of 
the  builder's  hammer,  and  of  the  woodman's  ax  ringing  out  from  the 
depth  of  the  forest,  bespoke  a  happy  and  prosperous  community. 

But  colonial  life  still  had  its  misfortunes.  A  great  calamity  be 
fell  the  people  of  Virginia  in  1622  in  the  form  of  an  Indian  massacre. 
The  friendly  chief  Powhatan  was  dead,  and  his  brother 
massacre  Opekankano,  who  had  never  been  friendly  to  the  English, 
now  reigned  in  his  stead.  This  chief  now  instituted  a 
massacre  in  which  three  hundred  and  forty-seven  of  the  settlers  were 
killed.  The  blow  was  a  dreadful  one ;  but  the  whites,  recovering 
from  the  shock,  pursued  the  savages  with  merciless  fury,  putting  to 
death  a  far  greater  number  than  they  had  lost.  Twenty-two  years 
later  this  same  chief,  now  an  aged  man,  made  a  second  attack  on  the 
settlement,  killing  over  two  hundred,  but  his  tribe  was  again  put 
down  with  a  firm  hand  and  himself  taken  captive  and  put  to  death.1 

In  1624  the  Virginia  Company,  after  a  severe  struggle  with  the 
Crown,  was  deprived  of  its  charter.  The  chief  cause  of  this  was 
that  the  Puritan  element,  which  formed  the  backbone 
charter  °^  tne  °PP°sition  in  Parliament,  had  also  gained  the 

ascendency  in  the  Virginia  Company.  Nor  did  James 
like  the  action  of  the  company  a  few  years  before  in  extending  repre 
sentative  government  to  the  colonists.  The  result  was  the  loss  of 

1  He  was  killed  while  in  captivity  by  one  of  his  own  race,  so  some  authorities 
claim. 


COLONIZATION  —  VIRGINIA  69 

the  charter.  Virginia  became  a  royal  colony  and  so  it  continued  to 
the  war  of  the  Revolution.  But  the  change  had  little  effect  on  the 
colony,  for  Charles  I,  who  soon  came  to  the  throne,  was  so  occupied 
with  troubles  at  home  that  he  gave  less  attention  to  the  government 
of  Virginia  than  the  company  had  done,  and  popular  government 
continued  to  flourish.  Of  the  six  thousand  people  who  had  come 
from  England  before  1625  only  one  fifth  now  remained  alive,  but 
this  number  was  rapidly  augmented  by  immigration.  Governor 
Yeardley  died  in  1627,  and  John  Harvey,  a  man  of  little  ability  or 
character,  became  governor.  Harvey  kept  the  Virginians  in  a  tur 
moil  for  some  years,  but  the  colony  was  now  so  firmly  established 
that  his  evil  influence  did  not  greatly  affect  its  prosperity. 

The  longest  rule  of  one  man  in  our  colonial  history  was  that  of 
Sir  William  Berkeley,  who  became  governor  of  Virginia  in  1642  and 
continued  to  hold  the  office  till  1677,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
years  under  the  commonwealth.  Berkeley  was  a  rough,  outspoken 
man  with  much  common  sense,  but  with  a  hot  temper  and  a  narrow 
mind.1  He  was  a  Cavalier  of  the  extreme  type,  and  during  the  first 
period  of  his  governorship  he  spent  much  of  his  energy  in  persecuting 
the  Puritans,  many  of  whom  found  re-fuge  in  Maryland. 

About  the  time  Berkeley  assumed  the  office  a  fierce  religious  war 
broke  out  in  England  between  the  Cavaliers  and  the  Eoundheads,  or 
Puritans.  The  latter,  led  by  Oliver  Cromwell,  one  of  the  strongest 
personalities  in  British  history,  eventually  triumphed  over  the 
Cavaliers  and,  in  1649,  King  Charles  I  was  beheaded  by  his  own 
subjects.  Berkeley,  with  most  of  the  Virginians,  was  loyal  to  the 
Crown,  and  he  invited  the  young  son  of  the  executed  monarch  to 
come  to  America  and  become  king  of  Virginia.  But  Parliament  would 
suffer  no  opposition  from  the  colony,  and  it  sent  a  commission  with  a 
fleet  to  reduce  the  colony  to  allegiance.  The  Virginians 
were  only  mildly  royalist  and  they  yielded  without  a 
struggle ;  but  they  lost  nothing  by  yielding,  for  the  Commonwealth 
granted  them  greater  freedom  in  self-government  than  they  had  ever 
before  enjoyed. 

In  two  ways  the  brief  period  of  the  commonwealth  in  England 
had  a  marked  effect  on  the  history  of  Virginia.  For  the  first  and 
only  time  during  the  colonial  period  Virginia  enjoyed  absolute  self- 
government.  Not  only  the  assembly,  but  the  governor  and  council 
were  elective  for  the  time,  and  the  people  never  forgot  this  taste  of 

1  Doyle,  Vol.  I,  p.  207. 


70  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

practical  independence.  The  other  respect  in  which  the  triumph  of 
the  Roundheads  in  England  affected  Virginia  was  that  it  caused  an 
exodus  of  Cavaliers  from  England  to  the  colony,  similar  to  the  great 
Puritan  migration  to  Massachusetts,  caused  by  the  triumph  of  the 
opposite  party  twenty  years  before. 

An  anonymous  pamphlet  published  in  London  in  1649  gives  a 
glowing  account  of  Virginia,  a  land  where  "  there  is  nothing  wanting," 
a  land  of  15,000  English  and  300  negro  slaves,  20,000  cattle,  many 
kinds  of  wild  animals,  "  above  thirty  sorts  "  of  fish,  farm  products, 
fruits,  and  vegetables  in  great  quantities,  and  the  like.  If  this  was 
intended  to  induce  home  seekers  to  migrate  to  Virginia, 
exodus6*  ^  kacl  *ke  desired  effect.  The  Cavaliers  came  in  large 
numbers  ;  and  they  were  of  a  far  better  class  than  were 
those  who  had  first  settled  the  colony.  Among  them  were  the  an 
cestors  of  George  Washington,  James  Madison,  James  Monroe,  John 
Marshall,  and  of  many  others  of  the  far-famed  "  First  Families  of 
Virginia."  By  the  year  1670  the  population  of  the  colony  had  in 
creased  to  38,000,  6000  of  whom  were  indentured  servants,  while  the 
African  slaves  had  increased  to  2000. * 

The  Eestoration  of  1660  brought  the  exiled  Stuart  to  the  British 
throne  as  Charles  II,  and  Berkeley  again  became  governor  of  Virginia. 
Oliver  Cromwell,  the  Lord  Protector  of  England,  had  died  in  1658, 
and  Richard,  his  son  and  successor,  too  weak  to  hold  the  reins  of 
government,  laid  aside  the  heavy  burden  the  next  year  and  Charles 
soon  afterward  became  king.  Charles  was  not  a  religious  enthusiast, 
as  his  father  had  been ;  he  was  a  worthless  debauchee,  who  cared 
much  for  his  own  ease  and  little  for  the  welfare  of  his  subjects. 
The  new  sovereign  was  utterly  without  gratitude  to  the  people  of 
Virginia  for  their  former  loyalty,  and  indeed,  it  may  be  said  that 
his  accession  marks  the  beginning  of  a  long  period  of  turmoil,  dis 
content,  and  political  strife  in  Virginia.  Charles  immediately  began 
to  appoint  to  the  offices  of  the  colony  a  swarm  of  worthless  place 
hunters,  and  some  years  later  he  gave  away  to  his  court  favorites, 

1673  the  Earl  of  Arlington  and  Lord  Culpeper,  nearly  all 
the  soil  of  Virginia,  a  large  portion  of  which  was  well 
settled  and  under  cultivation.  The  Navigation  Law,  enacted  ten 
years  before,  was  now, at  the  beginning  of  Charles's  reign,  reenacted 
with  amendments  and  put  in  force.  By  this  the  colonists  were  for 
bidden  to  export  goods  in  other  than  English  vessels,  or  elsewhere 

1  For  indentured  servants  see  post,  p.  199. 


COLONIZATION  — VIRGINIA  71 

than  to  England.  Imports  also  were  to  be  brought  from  England 
only.  The  prices,  therefore,  of  both  exports  and  imports,  were  set 
in  London,  and  the  arrangement  enabled  the  English 
merchants  to  grow  rich  at  the  expense  of  the  colonists. 
The  result  was  a  depreciation  in  the  price  of  tobacco,  the 
circulating  medium,  to  such  a  degree  as  to  impoverish  many  planters 
and  almost  to  bring  about  insurrection.  And  now  to  add  to  the 
multiplying  distresses  of  Virginia,  Governor  Berkeley,  who  had  been 
fairly  popular  during  his  former  ten-year  governorship,  seems  to  have 
changed  decidedly  for  the  worse.  He  was  a  Eoyalist  to  the  core,  and 
appeared  to  have  lost  whatever  sympathy  with  the  people  he  ever 
had.  He  was  accused  of  conniving  with  custom-house  officials  in 
schemes  of  extortion  and  blackmail,  and  even  of  profiting  by  their 
maladministration.  Popular  government  now  suffered  a  long  eclipse 
in  Virginia.  In  1661  Berkeley  secured  the  election  of  a  House  of 
Burgesses  to  his  liking,  and  he  kept  them  in  power  for  fifteen  years, 
refusing  to  order  another  election. 

But  the  people,  who  had  been  long  imbibing  the  spirit  of  liberty 
in  their  forest  home,  at  last  rose  in  rebellion  against  the  tyranny  of 
their  cynical  old  governor.  The  uprising  is  known  as  Bacon's  Rebel 
lion.  The  general  causes  of  this  rebellion  were  political  and  eco 
nomic  tyranny,  the  immediate  occasion  was  Berkeley's  Indian  policy. 
The  Indians  became  hostile  in  1675,  and  for  many  months  the  mas 
sacre  of  men,  women,  and  children  in  the  outlying  settlements  was 
of  almost  daily  occurrence.  But  Berkeley  persistently  refused  to  call 
out  the  militia,  for  the  reason,  it  was  believed,  that  he  did  not  wish 
to  disturb  the  fur  trade,  from  which  he  was  receiving  a  good  income. 
In  March,  1676,  the  assembly  raised  a  force  of  five  hundred  men, 
but  when  they  were  ready  to  begin  a  campaign,  Berkeley  suddenly 
disbanded  them.  The  people  were  now  exasperated  and  ready  for 
rebellion  —  and  then  rose  Bacon. 

Nathaniel  Bacon  was  a  young  lawyer  of  noble  English  birth,  a 
collateral  descendant  of  the  great  author  and  jurist  of  the  same 
name;  he  was  rich,  eloquent,  and  popular.  In  defiance 
of  the  governor  he  raised  a  band  of  men  and  marched 
against  the  Indians,  inflicting  on  them  a  stinging  defeat. 
Berkeley,  greatly  incensed  at  the  young  man's  insubordination, 
started  after  him  with  a  troop  of  horse ;  but  scarcely  had  he  left 
Jamestown  when  word  reached  him  that  the  whole  lower  peninsula  had 
risen  against  him.  Hastening  back,  he  found  that  he  must  do  some- 


72  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

thing  to  placate  the  people,  and  he  dissolved  the  long  assembly  and 
ordered  a  new  election.  This  was  duly  held,  and  Bacon  was  elected 
to  the  burgesses.  This  assembly  passed  a  series  of  reform  laws 
known  as  "Bacon's  Laws."  The  old  governor,  deeply  offended  at  this 
course,  dissolved  the  assembly  and  proclaimed  Bacon,  who  had  again 
marched  against  the  Indians,  a  traitor;  whereupon  Bacon,  at  the 
head  of  several  hundred  men,  marched  upon  Jamestown  and  burned 
it  to  the  ground.  Berkeley  fled  before  the  armed  invaders  and  took 
refuge  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Chesapeake.  Bacon  had  now  full 
control  of  Virginia's  affairs,  and  he  even  contemplated  resistance  to 
the  king's  troops,  that  were  said  to  be  on  their  way  to  the  colony, 
when  a  deadlier  foe  than  armed  men  —  the  swamp  fever  —  ended  his 
short,  brilliant  career,  and  Virginia  was  destined  to  spend  another 
hundred  years  as  a  royal  colony. 

Bacon  was  the  life  and  soul  of  the  insurrection,  and  after  his 
death  his  followers  scattered  like  frightened  quail  and  Berkeley  was 
soon  again  in  possession.  The  vindictive  old  governor  now  wreaked 
his  vengeance  on  the  followers  of  Bacon  until  he  had  hanged  more 
than  a  score,  including  the  Rev.  William  Drummond,  a  Scotch  Pres 
byterian  and  one  of  the  leading  men  in  the  colony.1  But  the 
king  was  displeased  with  Berkeley's  rancor.  "  The  old  fool  has 
taken  more  lives  in  that  naked  country  than  I  have  taken  for  the 
murder  of  my  father,"  said  Charles.  Berkeley  was  recalled.  He 
sailed  for  England  in  the  spring  of  1677,  leaving  his  family  and  evi 
dently  expecting  to  be  reinstated.  But  the  king  refused  to  see  him, 
and  he  died,  broken-hearted,  a  few  months  later. 

The  Bacon  Rebellion,  occurring  at  the  same  time  with  King 
Philip's  War  in  New  England,  and  exactly  a  century  before  that 
greater  rebellion,  so  vastly  different  in  its  results,  was  one  of  the 
most  important  episodes  in  our  colonial  history.  Bacon  was  a  true 
reformer,  talented  in  a  high  degree,  but  somewhat  wanting  in  judg 
ment.  His  intention  no  doubt,  in  case  the  king's  forces  came, 
was  to  hold  them  at  bay  until  the  grievances  of  the  colonists,  includ 
ing  the  oppression  of  the  Navigation  Laws,  should  have  been 
redressed.  But  in  this  he  doubtless  would  have  failed  and  would 
have  paid  the  penalty  of  resistance  with  his  life.  His  death  was 
therefore  opportune,  and  his  influence  on  the  future  of  the  colony 
was  probably  greater  than  if  his  life  had  been  prolonged. 

1  The  king  afterward  granted  aid  to  Mrs.  Drummond,  declaring  that  her  husband 
had  been  put  to  death  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  kingdom. 


COLONIZATION— VIRGINIA  73 

The  speedy  downfall  of  Berkeley,  however,  had  little  effect  in 
rescuing  Virginia  from  the  grasp  of  the  Royalists.  One  of  the  court 
favorites  to  whom  the  soil  of  Virginia  had  been  granted,  Lord  Cul- 
peper,  came  out  as  governor,  and  a  rapacious  tyrant  he  was.  In 
1684  he  was  succeeded  by  Lord  Howard  of  Effingham,  who  was  not  a 
whit  better  than  Culpeper.  Among  the  later  governors  were  Nich 
olson,  who  had  had  a  notable  career  in  Xew  York,  and  Sir  Edmund 
Andros,  who  had  had  a  more  notable  career  in  ^"ew  England.  In 
each  of  these  the  colonists  found  a  great  improvement  over  such 
creatures  as  Culpeper  and  Effingham.  But  they  fell  short  when 
compared  with  Alexander  Spottswood  (1710-1722),  one  of  the  ablest 
and  best  governors  of  colonial  Virginia.  The  habit  of  govern 
ing  through  lieutenants,  the  governor  residing  in  England,  became 
prevalent  early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  One  man,  Douglas,  was 
nominal  governor  for  forty  years,  drawing  a  large  salary,  though  he 
never  crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean.1 

In  spite  of  the  many  drawbacks,  of  the  unworthy  governors  and 
their  frequent  quarrels  with  the  assembly  and  people,  Virginia  con 
tinued  to  prosper,  and  by  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 
population  numbered  a  hundred  thousand.  The  people  up  to  this 
time  were  almost  wholly  English,  but  in  1700  several  hundred 
Huguenots  made  their  home  in  the  colony.  About  1730  the  Scotch- 
Irish  began  to  settle  in  large  numbers  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and 
soon  after  these  came  the  Germans.  The  frontier  was  moved  gradu 
ally  westward  from  the  tide-water  counties  until  it  had  crossed  the 
summit  of  the  Alleghanies.  The  coming  of  these  peoples  infused 
new  modes  of  life,  new  religious  customs,  new  democratic  ideas 
into  Virginian  society ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  next  half  century 
many  vital  changes  were  brought  about,  as  the  abolition  of  primo 
geniture  and  entail,  the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  and  reli 
gious  toleration.2  Thus  the  various  nationalities,  blending  slowly 
into  one  people,  spent  the  remainder  of  the  colonial  period 
hewing  away  the  forests  and  laying  the  foundations  of  a  great 
state.3 

1  Spottswood  and  many  other  real  governors  were  called  "  lieutenant  governors," 
the  "governor"  residing  in  England. 

2  See  Fiske's  "  Old  Virginia,"  Vol.  II,  p.  396. 

8  The  limits  of  this  volume  will  not  admit  a  full  history  of  the  several  colonies. 
This  must  be  sought  in  the  various  state  histories  and  in  such  works  as  those  of 
Doyle  and  Fiske.  A  short  account  of  the  domestic  and  political  institutions  of  the 
thirteen  colonies  will  be  given  in  a  later  chapter. 


74  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 


NOTES 

William  and  Mary  College.  —  The  second  college  founded  in  America  was 
William  and  Mary,  Harvard  alone  preceding  it.  The  father  of  this  college  was 
the  Rev.  Dr.  James  Blair,  and  the  object  was  to  train  young  men  for  the  min 
istry.  Blair  was  sent  to  England  in  1691  to  secure  funds.  He  met  with  fair 
success  until  he  approached  Sir  Edward  Seymour,  the  treasury  commissioner. 
When  Blair  declared  tjiat  the  people  of  Virginia  had  souls  to  save  as  well  as  the 
people  of  England,  Seymour  exclaimed :  "  Souls !  damn  your  souls.  Grow 
tobacco  ! "  The  good  doctor,  however,  succeeded.  He  returned  in  1693  with 
the  charter,  became  the  first  president  of  the  college,  and  held  the  position  for 
fifty  years.  The  college  was  located  at  Williamsburg.  Next  to  Blair  its  best 
friend  was  Governor  Nicholson. 

Two  Virginia  Love  Stories.  —  Governor  Francis  Nicholson  was  one  of  the 
best  governors  Virginia  had ;  but  on  one  occasion  he  lost  his  dignity.  He  fell 
madly  in  love  with  a  daughter  of  Major  Burwell  near  Williamsburg,  but  the 
young  lady  refused  him.  Nicholson  raved  about  the  matter  in  public  and 
declared  that  if  any  one  else  married  the  girl,  he  would  "  cut  the  throats  of 
three  men  :  the  bridegroom,  the  minister,  and  the  justice  who  issued  the  license." 
Suspecting  that  a  brother  of  Dr.  Blair  was  the  favored  one,  he  threatened  ven 
geance  on  the  whole  family  of  Blairs.  In  fact  the  governor  made  such  a  fool 
of  himself  that  he  was  called  to  England  (1705)  at  the  instance  of  Dr.  Blair. 
(Fiske's  "  Old  Virginia,"  Vol.  II,  p.  122.) 

The  other  love  story  ended  more  happily.  The  Rev.  Professor  Camm,  the 
last  president  of  William  and  Mary  before  the  Revolution,  was  a  middle-aged 
bachelor.  He  had  a  young  friend  who  was  desperately  in  love  with  a  Miss 
Betsey  Hansford.  But  his  wooing  was  fruitless.  He  then  begged  Professor 
Camm  to  intercede  for  him.  Camm  did  so  ;  he  bombarded  Betsey  with  Scripture 
texts  to  prove  that  matrimony  is  a  duty,  but  without  avail.  At  length  the 
young  woman  suggested  that  the  professor  go  home  and  look  up  II  Samuel  xii.  7. 
He  did  so  and  found  the  text  "  Thou  art  the  man,"  — and,  well,  Camm  himself 
married  Betsey.  (Ibid.  p.  127.) 

Governor  Berkeley's  Report  to  the  Commissioners  of  Plantations  (1671). 
Extracts. 

15.  What  number  of  planters,  servants,  and  slaves  ? 

Answer.  —  We  suppose,  and  I  am  very  sure  we  do  not  much  miscount,  that 
there  is  in  Virginia  above  forty  thousand  persons,  men,  women,  and  children, 
and  of  which  there  are  two  thousand  black  slaves,  six  thousand  Christian  ser 
vants,  for  a  short  time,  the  rest  are  born  in  the  country  or  have  come  in  to 
settle  and  seat,  in  bettering  their  condition  in  a  growing  country. 

17.  What  number  of  people  have  yearly  died  within  your  plantation  and 
government  for  these  seven  years  last  past,  both  whites  and  blacks  ? 

Answer.  —  All  new  plantations  are,  for  an  age  or  two,  unhealthy,  until  they 
are  thoroughly  cleared  of  wood  ;  but  unless  we  had  a  particular  register  office, 
for  the  denoting  of  all  that  died,  I  cannot  give  a  particular  answer  to  this  query, 
only  this  I  can  say,  that  there  is  not  often  unseasoned  hands  (as  we  term  them) 
that  die  now,  whereas  heretofore  not  one  of  five  escaped  the  first  year. 


COLONIZATION  —  MARYLAND  75 

23.  What  course  is  taken  about  instructing  the  people  within  your  govern 
ment  in  the  Christian  religion  ? 

Answer.  —  The  same  course  that  is  taken  in  England  out  of  towns;  every 
man  according  to  his  ability  instructing  his  children.  We  have  forty-eight 
parishes,  and  our  ministers  are  well  paid,  and  by  my  consent  should  be  better  if 
they  would  pray  oftener  and  preach  less. 

But  of  all  other  commodities,  so  of  this,  the  worst  are  sent  us,  and  we  had 
few  that  we  could  boast  of,  since  the  persecution  in  Cromwell's  tyranny  drove 
divers  worthy  men  hither.  But,  I  thank  God,  there  are  no  free  schools  nor 
printing,  and  I  hope  ice  shall  not  have  these  hundred  years ;  for  learning  has 
brought  disobedience  and  heresy  and  sects  into  the  world,  and  printing  has 
divulged  them,  and  libels  against  the  best  government.  God  keep  from  both  ! 


MARYLAND 

The  founding  of  Maryland  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  plan 
in  colony  building  in  North  America.  The  tentative  experiments 
of  Gilbert  and  Raleigh  had  for  their  object  mainly  the  establishing 
of  trading  posts,  from  which  a  search  for  gold  and  for  a  northwest 
passage  to  the  Indies  might  be  carried  on.1  Close  upon  these  fol 
lowed  the  founding  of  the  earliest  permanent  colonies  by  chartered 
companies,  the  chief  objects  being  to  bring  commercial  advantage 
to  the  companies,  and  to  make  good  by  actual  occupation  English 
claims  to  the  soil.  With  the  founding  of  Maryland  came  the  first 
permanent  proprietary  government  of  America,  that  is,  a  govern 
ment  by  a  lord  proprietor,  who,  holding  his  authority  by  virtue  of 
a  royal  charter,  nevertheless  exercised  that  authority  almost  as  an 
independent  sovereign. 

As  shown  on  a  preceding  page,  the  idea  of  colony  planting  in 
America  by  means  of  a  corporation  was  borrowed  from  existing 
corporations  common  in  England  at  the  time.  It  is  interesting  here 
to  note  the  proprietary  form  of  government,  —  its  origin,  the  trans 
planting  of  the  institution  to  America,  and  its  gradual  democratiz 
ing.  It  is  well  known  that  the  Maryland  charter  was  borrowed  in 
great  part  from  the  Palatinate  of  Durham ;  but  this  needs  a  word 
of  explanation.  In  mediaeval  times  it  was  customary  in  Continental 
Europe  for  a  sovereign  to  grant  almost  regal  powers  of  government 
to  the  feudal  lords  of  his  border  districts,  so  as  to  prevent  foreign 
invasion.  These  districts  or  manors  were  often  called  palatinates 
or  counties  palatine,  because  the  lord  dwelled  in  a  palace,  or  wielded 
1  See  also  other  motives  mentioned  on  p.  57. 


70  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  power  of  the  king  in  his  palace.  His  power  was  regal  in  kind, 
but  inferior  in  degree  to  that  of  the  king.1  William  the  Conqueror, 
soon  after  the  battle  of  Hastings,  adopted  this  plan  in  case  of  a  few 
counties,  one  of  which  was  Durham  on  the  borders  of  Scotland,  and 
this  one  alone  remained  at  the  time  of  Charles  I.  The  English 
landlord  was  as  familiar  with  the  palatinate  form  of  government, 
as  Osgood  says,  as  was  the  English  merchant  with  the  corporation. 
It  was  most  natural,  therefore,  that  the  proprietary  form  of  govern 
ment  be  adopted  in  the  work  of  colonizing  America,  and  it  was 
equally  natural  that  the  palatine  of  Durham  be  made  the  model. 

The  charter  of  Maryland  granted  in  express  terms  "as  ample 
rights,  jurisdictions,  privileges,  prerogatives,  .  .  .  royal  rights  .  .  . 
as  used  and  enjoyed  .  .  .  within  the  bishopric  or  county  palatine 
of  Durham."  This  was  one  of  the  many  instances  of  planting  Eng 
lish  institutions  in  America ;  it  was  an  attempt  to  introduce  a  limited 
feudalism  on  American  soil.  And  it  is  a  notable  fact  that  all  the 
English  colonies  founded  in  America  after  Maryland  were  of  the 
palatinate  type,  except  those  founded  spontaneously  by  the  people 
in  New  England.2 

It  will  be  noticed  that  this  form  of  government  was  monarchial ; 
but  monarchial  government  did  not  flourish  in  America.  In  a  new 
country  where  all  men  were  obliged  to  work  for  a  living  the  con 
ditions  for  building  up  an  order  of  nobility  were  wanting.  The 
great  distance  from  the  motherland  tended  to  lessen  the  feeling  of 
reverence  for  the  sovereign,  and  men  soon  absorbed  that  wild  spirit 
of  freedom  so  characteristic  of  life  in  the  forest.  The  result  was 
that  democracy  gained  an  early  foothold  in  every  colony,  and  it 
continued  to  increase  in  power  all  through  the  colonial  period. 

The  father  of  Maryland  was  George  Calvert,  the  actual  founder 
was  his  son,  Cecilius  Calvert.  George  Calvert  was  a  man  of  broad 
views  and  stanch  character.  About  the  time  of  the  accession  to  the 
throne  of  Charles  I,  Calvert  resigned  his  seat  as  British  secretary  of 
state  and  turned  his  attention  to  colonization  in  the  New  World. 
King  James  had  raised  him  to  an  Irish  peerage  with 
Calvert  ^ne  *^e  °^  ^Ol'&  Baltimore.  Receiving  a  grant  of  land 

in  Newfoundland,  which  he  named  Avalon,  he  removed 
thither  and  planted  a  colony;  but  after  a  brief  sojourn  he  deter 
mined,  owing  to  the  severity  of  the  climate  and  the  hostility  of  the 

1  Osgood,  in  American  Historical  Review,  July,  1897,  p.  644. 

2  Fiske,  "Old  Virginia,"  Vol.  I,  p.  280. 


COLONIZATION  — MARYLAND  77 

French,  to  abandon  the  place.  He  sailed  for  Virginia,  in  which  he 
had  already  been  interested  as  a  member  of  the  original  London 
Company  and  later  of  the  governing  council.  But  Baltimore,  hav 
ing  espoused  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  found  the  Virginians  inhos 
pitable,  owing  to  the  spirit  of  religious  intoleration  of  the  times. 
Returning  to  England  he  obtained  the  promise  of  a  charter  for  a 
large  tract  of  land  north  of  the  Potomac  River,  and  King  Charles  in 
granting  it  named  the  place  Maryland  in  honor  of  his  queen,  Henri 
etta  Maria.  The  object  of  the  lord  proprietor,  as  Baltimore  was  now 
called,  was  twofold.  He  wished  to  found  a  state  and  become  its 
ruler,  for  he  was  truly  a  man  of  the  world ;  he  loved  power  and  he 
loved  wealth.  Second,  he  wished  to  furnish  a  refuge  for  the  op 
pressed  of  his  own  faith ;  for  the  Roman  Catholics,  as  well  as  the 
Puritans,  were  objects  of  persecution  in  England. 

But  before  he  could  carry  his  purpose  into  execution,  and  before 
the  Great  Seal  was  placed  upon  his  charter,  George  Calvert  died. 
The  charter  was  then  issued  to  his  son,  Cecilius,  and  the  son,  who 
became  the  second  Lord  Baltimore,  was  faithful  in  carrying  out  the 
project  of  his  father. 

The  new  colony  as  set  forth  in  the  charter  was  bounded  on  the 
north  by  the  fortieth  parallel,  and  on  the  south  by  the  southern 
bank  of  the  Potomac,  while  the  western  boundary  was  to  be   the 
meridian  passing  through  the  source  of  that  river.     From  this  line 
the  colony  extended  eastward  to   the  Atlantic  Ocean 
and  included  all  of  the  present  state  of  Delaware  and     J^  i^  °d 
portions  of  Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia.     In  after 
years  these  boundary  lines,  as  marked  out  by  the  charter,  led  to 
serious  complications  between  Maryland  and  her  neighbors. 

Never  before  had  an  English  sovereign  conferred  such  power 
upon  a  subject  as  that  now  granted  to  Lord  Baltimore.  He  was 
required  by  the  charter  to  send  the  king  two  Indian  arrows  each 
year,  as  a  token  of  allegiance  to  the  Crown,  and  if  any  gold  and 
silver  were  mined  in  Maryland,  one  fifth  of  it  was  to  be  paid  to  the 
king.  But  aside  from  this  the  proprietor  was  invested  with  almost 
kingly  power.  He  could  not  tax  his  people  without  their  consent, 
but  he  could  coin  money,  make  war  and  peace,  pardon  criminals, 
establish  courts,  and  grant  titles  of  nobility.  The  government  of 
the  colony  wras  very  similar  to  that  of  the  feudal  estates  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 

But  this  "  miniature  kingdom  of  a  semi-feudal  type  "  was  affected 


78  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

by  the  leaven  of  democracy  from  the  beginning.  The  charter,  as 
stated,  defined  the  relations  of  the  proprietor  to  the  king;  it  also 
defined  his  relations  to  the  colonists.  It  provided  that  the  laws  be 
made  by  the  proprietor  and  the  freemen.  Here  was  the  entering 
wedge;  the  people  could  not  be  taxed  without  their  own  consent, 
and  they  were  soon  making  their  own  laws.  They  won  the  right  to 
initiate  legislation  in  their  first  contest,  a  slight  one,  in  1635.  At 
first  the  assembly  consisted  of  the  governor,  council,  and  all  the 
freemen ;  but  as  the  people  increased  in  numbers,  the  proxy  system 
supplanted  this.  The  proxy  system,  however,  proved  unsatisfactory 
and  it  soon  gave  way  to  the  delegate  system.  By  the  middle  of  the 
century  both  the  representative  system  and  a  bicameral  legislature 
were  firmly  established  in  Maryland.1 

Aside  from  the  fact  that  Maryland  was  the  first  of  the  proprie 
tary  governments,  the  colony  is  especially  remembered  in  American 
history  as  the  first  in  which  religious  toleration  had  a  place.  This 
condition  came  about  in  the  most  natural  way.  Baltimore,  as  an 
honest  adherent  of  the  Catholic  faith,  could  not  have  excluded  his 
fellow-Catholics  from  his  new  dominions.  Such  a  course  would  have 
proved  him  untrue  to  his  own  avowed  principles,  and  defeated  one 
of  his  objects  in  founding  the  colony;  namely,  to  furnish  a  home 
for  oppressed  Catholics  who  were  shamefully  treated  in  England  at 
that  time. 

It  was  equally  impossible  for  him  to  have  excluded  Protestants, 
being  the  subject  of  a  Protestant  king  who  ruled  over  a  Protestant 
nation.  Had  he  done  this,  he  would  have  raised  a  storm  in  England 
which  would  have  proved  fatal  to  the  colony.  He  did  therefore  the 
only  wise  thing  to  be  done,  —  he  left  the  matter  open, 
freefoia8  inviting  Catholics  and  Protestants  alike  to  join  his  col 
ony.  The  spirit  of  the  age  was  an  intolerant  spirit,  and 
while  Baltimore  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  moved  by  any  advanced 
views  of  religious  toleration,  nor  was  his  primary  object  in  founding 
a  colony  a  desire  to  furnish  a  home  for  the  oppressed  in  conscience, 
it  is  certain  that  he  rose  above  the  intolerance  of  the  times,  as  shown 
by  his  subsequent  invitation  to  the  Puritans  of  Virginia  and  New 
England  to  make  their  home  in  Maryland.  Thus  for  the  first  time 
in  colonial  history  we  have  a  state  in  which  a  man  could  worship 
God  with  freedom  of  conscience  and  without  being  oppressed  by 
intolerant  laws.  Baltimore  proved  a  wise  and  just  governor.  His 

1  Mereness's  "Maryland,"  p.  196. 


COLONIZATION  — MARYLAND  79 

treatment  of  the  Indians  was  not  surpassed  by  that  of  William 
Penn.  Indeed,  one  might  search  in  vain  through  all  our  colonial 
history  for  a  ruler  superior  to  Cecilius  Calvert. 

The  first  settlers,  about  three  hundred  in  number,  reached  Mary 
land  in  March,  1634.  Leonard  Calvert,  a  brother  of  the  proprietor, 
led  the  colony  and  became  its  first  acting  governor.  They  settled 
on  a  small  island  in  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac,  paying  the  Indians 
for  the  land  in  axes,  hoes,  and  cloth.  Here  they  planted  the  cross 
and  founded  a  town  which  they  named  St.  Mary's.  The  colony  was 
happily  founded,  and  it  advanced  more  in  the  first  six  months  than 
Virginia  had  done  in  as  many  years. 

Maryland  was  singularly  free  from  Indian  massacres  as  also  for 
many  years  from  maladministration ;  but  there  was  one  source  of 
constant  irritation  that  annoyed  the  colony  for  a  generation,  and  that 
was  the  jealousy  of  the  Virginians.  The  second  charter  of  Virginia 
had  included  all  the  territory  that  afterward  became  Maryland,  and 
the  people  of  Virginia  disputed  the  right  of  Baltimore  to  plant  this 
colony  there ;  but  their  objections  could  not  hold  good  from  the  fact 
that  the  Virginia  charter  had  been  canceled  in  1624  and  the  province 
had  reverted  to  the  Crown.  But  there  were  two  other  causes  of  an 
unfriendly  feeling  from  the  elder  colony:  first,  her  northern  neighbor 
was  under  Catholic  control  and  this  was  irritating  to  the  intolerant 
Virginians;  and,  second,  Maryland  enjoyed  free  trade  in  foreign 
markets  which  Virginia  did  not.  This  unfriendly  spirit  between  the 
two  reached  its  acute  stage  through  the  action  of  one  man,  whose 
name  fills  a  conspicuous  page  in  the  early  history  of  Maryland,  and 
that  man  was  William  Clayborne. 

Clay  borne  was  a  Virginia  surveyor,  a  member  of  the  council  and 
also  a  tradesman.  The  year  before  the  charter  of  Maryland  was 
issued  to  Calvert,  Clayborne  had  established  a  trading 
post  on  Kent  Island  in  the  Chesapeake  without  any  title 
to  the  land.  Soon  after  the  settlement  at  St.  Mary's  had 
been  made  Baltimore  informed  Clayborne  that  Kent  Island  must  hence 
forth  be  under  the  government  of  Maryland ;  but  the  latter,  encouraged 
by  the  governor  of  Virginia,  resisted,  whereupon  Baltimore  ordered 
that  he  be  arrested  and  held  prisoner  if  he  did  not  yield.  Soon 
after  this  a  party  from  St.  Mary's  seized  a  pinnace  belonging  to 
Clayborne,  who,  retaliating,  sent  a  vessel  against  his  enemy  and  in  a 
skirmish,  in  which  several  men  were  killed,  the  Marylanders  made 
captives  of  the  Virginians.  This  occurred  in  1635  and  two  years 


80  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

later  Clayborne  repaired  to  England  to  lay  his  case  before  the  king. 
He  met  with  little  success  and  during  his  absence  the  enemy  seized 
and  occupied  Kent  Island.  Clayborne  returned  to  Virginia  and  for 
more  than  ten  years  longer  we  rind  him  a  disturbing  element  to  the 
peace  of  Maryland.  In  1645,  aided  by  a  piratical  sea  captain  named 
Ingle,  he  again  gained  control  of  his  favorite  island  and  indeed  of 
the  government  of  Maryland,  Leonard  Calvert  being  forced  to  take 
refuge  in  Virginia.  But  Clayborne's  reign  was  of  short  duration,  and 
the  coveted  island  eventually  passed  permanently  under  the  control 
of  Maryland. 

In  spite  of  internal  disturbance  the  colony  increased  in  numbers 
and  prosperity  year  by  year.  The  political  and  social  condition  of 
the  people  swayed  to  and  fro  with  the  great  events  that  were  taking 
place  in  England,  and  when  at  last  the  Puritan  party  under  Crom 
well  triumphed  over  the  Cavaliers,  Baltimore,  who  had  favored  the 
royal  party,  would  doubtless  have  lost  his  title  to  Maryland  but  for 
the  tact  he  exercised  in  appointing  a  Protestant  governor,  William 
Stone,  to  rule  over  it. 

The  year  1649  —  that  eventful  year  in  British  history  in  which 
King  Charles  I  was  put  to  death — witnessed  the 
famous  Toleration  Act  in  Maryland.  By  this  act 
the  toleration  of  all  Christian  sects  —  a  privilege  that 
the  people  had  enjoyed  in  practice  since  the  founding  of  the  colony 
—  was  recognized  by  law.1 

The  Toleration  Act  was  very  liberal  for  that  period,  but  it  would 
not  be  so  considered  in  our  times.  For  example,  it  did  not  "  tolerate  " 
one  who  did  not  believe  in  the  Trinity,  the  penalty  for  this  offense 
being  death.  Any  one  speaking  reproachfully  concerning  the  Virgin 
Mary  or  any  of  the  Apostles  or  Evangelists  was  to  be  punished  by  a 
fine,  or,  in  default  of  payment,  by  a  public  whipping  and.  imprison 
ment.  The  calling  of  any  one  a  heretic,  Puritan,  Independent, 
Popish  priest,  Baptist,  Lutheran,  Calvinist,  and  the  like,  in  a 
"  reproachful  manner,"  was  punished  by  a  light  fine,  half  of  which 
was  to  be  paid  to  the  person  or  persons  offended,  or  by  a  public 
whipping  and  imprisonment  until  apology  be  made  to  the  offended. 
This  act  was  drawn  up  under  the  directions  of  Cecilius  Calvert  him 
self  ;  it  was  probably  a  compromise  between  the  Catholic  party  and 
the  Puritans,  who,  driven  from  Virginia  by  Berkeley,  had  arrived  in 

1  Except  Unitarians;  not  till  1826— one  hundred  and  seventy-seven  years  after 
this  —did  Jews  and  Unitarians  gain  full  political  rights  in  Maryland. 


COLONIZATION  —  MARYLAND  81 

Maryland  in  large  numbers.  This  was  the  first  law  of  its  kind 
enacted  in  America,  and  it  was  in  force,  with  brief  intervals  of 
suspense,  for  many  years. 

On  the  fall  of  Charles  I  a  commission  sent  by  Parliament,  a 
member  of  which  was  Maryland's  old  enemy,  Clayborne,  came  to 
receive  the  surrender  of  the  colony,  and  Governor  Stone,  who 
though  a  Protestant  was  not  a  Puritan,  was  degraded  from  his 
office.  This  was  in  1652  and  three  years  later  Stone,  having  raised 
a  small  army,  met  the  Puritans  at  Providence,  now  Annapolis,  and  a 
pitched  battle  was  fought,  known  as  the  battle  of  the  Severn.  Many 
were  killed.  Stone  was  defeated  and  made  prisoner.  The  Puritans 
now  had  full  control.  Before  this  battle  occurred  they 
had  suspended  the  Toleration  Act  in  defiance  of  the 
proprietor  and  passed  one  of  their  own  shutting  out 
"popery,  prelacy,  and  licentiousness  of  opinion."  Baptists  and 
Quakers,  as  well  as  Catholics  and  Episcopalians,  were  denied  religious 
liberty.  As  Fiske  puts  it,  they  tolerated  "  everybody  except  Catholics, 
Episcopalians,  and  anybody  else  who  disagreed  with  them."  But 
this  was  going  too  far,  even  for  Oliver  Cromwell,  who  sided  with 
Calvert ;  and  at  the  word  of  that  powerful  dictator  the  Toleration 
Act  was  restored  and  the  Puritan  domination  was  ended. 

In  1661,  soon  after  the  Restoration  in  England,  Lord  Baltimore 
sent  his  only  son,  Charles  Calvert,  to  be  governor  of  his  colony. 
Charles  was  an  excellent  governor.  He  served  fourteen  years  when 
in  1675  his  father,  Cecilius,  died  and  he  became  the  lord  proprietor.1 
For  the  first  time  now  the  Marylanders  had  the  proprietor  living 
among  them.  Cecilius,  the  founder  of  the  colony  and  its  proprietor 
for  over  forty  years,  devoted  his  life  to  Maryland ;  but  he  resided 
in  London  and  never  crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

This  period,  from  the  Restoration  to  the  English  Revolution  in 
1688,  was  one  of  unusual  quiet  in  Maryland.  It  is  true  that  the 
people  were  on  the  verge  of  rebellion  in  1676  —  an  echo  of  the  Bacon 
Rebellion  in  Virginia  —  and  that  the  government  after  the  death  of 
Cecilius  was  for  a  time  similar  to  that  of  Berkeley  in  Virginia,  tend 
ing  toward  aristocracy  and  nepotism,  restriction  of  the  suffrage,  and 
the  like ;  but  on  the  whole  the  inhabitants  were  happy  and  industri 
ous  and  were  rapidly  increasing  in  numbers.  During  this  time  the 
Quakers,  the  Dutch,  the  Germans,  and  the  Huguenots  were  in  con 
siderable  numbers  finding  their  way  to  Maryland. 

1  The  population  at  this  time  was  about  twenty-five  thousand. 
O 


82  HISTOEY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

Meantime  the  boundary  dispute  between  Maryland  and  Pennsyl 
vania,  to  cover  over  three  quarters  of  a  century,  had  begun.  This 
will  be  treated  in  the  account  of  Pennsylvania.  Charles  II  and  his 
brother  James,  disregarding  the  grant  of  their  father  to  Lord  Balti 
more,  conveyed  to  William  Penn  a  large  portion  of  his  territory, 
which  afterward  became  Delaware ;  and  James,  after  he  became  king, 
was  about  to  deprive  Baltimore  of  his  charter  altogether  when,  in 
1688,  he  was  driven  from  the  British  throne,  in  what  is  known  as  the 
glorious  Revolution.  William  and  Mary  became  the  sovereigns  of 
England,  and  Baltimore  promptly  dispatched  a  messenger  to  pro 
claim  to  his  colony  their  accession  to  the  throne.  But  the  messenger 
died  at  sea,  the  message  was  not  delivered,  and  while  the  other 
colonies  in  quick  succession  proclaimed  the  new  sovereigns,  Mary- 
Maryland  land-  hesitated.  The  delay  was  fatal  to  Baltimore's 
becomes  a  charter,  and  in  1691  Maryland  became  a  royal  province, 
royal  colony.  Baltimore,  however,  was  still  permitted  to  receive  the 
revenues  in  the  form  of  quitrents  and  excises  from  his  sometime 
colony.  Maryland  remained  a  royal  colony  till  1715  when  it  passed 
back  into  the  hands  of  the  Calverts.  The  royal  governors,  among 
whom  we  find  the  ubiquitous  Nicholson  and  Andros,  were  all  men  of 
commendable  worth. 

When  Maryland  became  a  royal  colony  one  of  the  first  acts  of  its 
legislature  was  to  pass  a  law  establishing  the  Church  of  England l 
and  persecuting  the  Catholics  and  to  some  extent  the  Puritans. 
Alas,  for  the  dreams  of  the  Calverts  !  They  had  founded  the  colony 
as  an  asylum  for  the  oppressed  in  conscience,  especially  for  those 
of  their  own  faith ;  but  now  in  less  than  sixty  years  after  its  found 
ing  the  Catholics  constitute  but  one  twelfth  of  the  population  and 
these,  though  among  the  best  citizens  of  Maryland,  are  rigorously 
proscribed  by  law;  and  to  further  exasperate  them  the  capital  was 
now  moved  from  St.  Mary's,  the  Catholic  center,  to  Providence,  alias 
"Anne  Arundel  Town,"  now  Annapolis. 

In  1715  Charles  Calvert  died  and  his  son  Benedict  became  the 
fourth  Lord  Baltimore.  He  had  become  a  Protestant,  and  the  gov 
ernment  of  Maryland  was  now  restored  to  him.  The  colony  re- 

1  The  annual  tax  for  the  support  of  the  church  was  forty  pounds  of  tobacco  for 
each  "  poll,"  rich  or  poor.  But  the  law  did  not  specify  the  kind  of  tobacco,  and  many 
paid  the  minister  with  the  most  unsalable  stuff  that  they  raised.  The  clergy  sent 
over  were  generally  a  bad  lot,  gamblers  and  winebibbers.  A  common  trick  with 
them  was  to  stop  in  the  middle  of  a  marriage  service  and  exact  a  good  round  fee 
before  finishing  the  ceremony. 


COLONIZATION  — NORTH   CAROLINA  83 

mained  from  this  time  in  the  hands  of  the  Calverts  to  the  war  of 
the  Eevolution.  Benedict  died  but  six  weeks  after  the  death  of  his 
father,  and  his  son  Charles,  a  boy  of  sixteen  years,  became  the  pro 
prietor  of  Maryland.1  During  the  remainder  of  the  colonial  era 
frequent  quarrels'  between  the  governor  and  the  assembly  resulted, 
as  in  all  the  royal  and  proprietary  colonies,  in  a  steady  gain  of 
power  for  the  people. 

It  would  be  interesting  t'o  follow  the  fortunes  of  this  colony 
through  the  half  century  preceding  the  Revolution,  the  so-called 
"  neglected  period  "  of  colonial  history ;  but  the  limits  of  this  volume 
forbid  a  further  treatment,  except  in  a  general  way  with  the  rest  in 
future  chapters  on  "  Colonial  Wars  "  and  "  Colonial  Life." 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

North  Carolina  came  near  being  the  first  of  the  permanent  Eng 
lish  colonies  in  America.  Five  voyages  were  made  under  the 
Raleigh  charter  of  1584  with  the  view  of  planting  a  permanent 
colony  on  the  soil  that  became  North  Carolina ;  but  the  effort  ended 
in  failure,  and  almost  a  century  passed  when  other  hands  carried 
into  effect  the  noble  ambition  of  Raleigh.  Again,  the  people  who 
founded  Virginia  had  intended  to  settle  in  the  vicinity  of  Roanoke 
Island,  but  a  storm  changed  their  course,  and  the  first  colony  was 
planted  in  the  valley  of  the  James. 

The  first  settlements  in  North  Carolina  that  were  destined  to  live 
were  made  by  Virginians,  in  1653,  on  the  banks  of  the  Chowan  and 
Roanoke  rivers,  in  a  district  called  Albemarle  from  the  Duke  of 
Albemarle.  A  few  years  later  men  from  New  England  made  a 
settlement,  which  they  soon  abandoned,  on  the  Cape  Fear  River.  In 
1665  Sir  John  Yeamans,  an  English  nobleman  of  broken  fortunes, 
came  from  the  Barbadoes  with  a  company  of  planters  and  joined  the 
few  New  Englanders  who  had  remained  on  the  Cape  Fear  River. 
This  district  was  called  Clarendon.  Meantime  Charles  II  had 
issued  a  charter,  in  1663,  granting  to  eight  of  his  favorites  the  vast 
territory  2  south  of  Virginia,  and  two  years  later  the  charter  was 
enlarged  and  the  boundaries  defined  and  made  to  extend  from  twenty- 
nine  degrees  north  latitude  to  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes, 

1  The  population  was  now  40,700  whites  and  9500  negroes.     Chalmers,  "  Ameri 
can  Colonies,"  II,  7. 

2  A  charter  for  the  same  tract  had  been  granted  to  Sir  Robert  Heath  in  1629,  but 
this  had  lapsed  for  want  of  use.     It  was  repealed  in  1664. 


84  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  southern  boundary  of  Virginia,  and  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
on  the  east  to  the  "  South  Sea,"  or  Pacific  Ocean,  on  the  west.  The 
grant  embraced  nearly  all  the  southern  portion  of  the  present 
United  States,  and  the  government  it  created  was,  like  that  of 
Maryland,  modeled  after  the  palatinate  of  Durham.  Of  the  eight 
men  to  whom  the  grant  was  made  the  leading  spirit  was  Lord  Ashley 
Cooper,1  afterward  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  whose  name  is  still  borne 
by  the  Ashley  and  Cooper  rivers  of  South  Carolina. 

The  new  country  had  been  named  Carolina  a  hundred  years 
before  by  Ribault,  the  Huguenot,  in  honor  of  Charles  IX  of 
Trance,2  and  the  name  was  now  retained  in  honor  of  Charles  II 
of  England. 

An  account  of  the  first  attempt  to  govern  this  colony  fills  a  curi 
ous  page  in  American  history.  Shaftesbury,  who  was  unmatched  as 
a  theoretical  politician,  conceived  a  plan  of  government  that  seems 
ludicrous  to  the  American  reader  of  to-day.  The  plan  was  supposed 
to  have  been  drawn  up  by  John  Locke,  the  philosopher,  and  was 
known  as  the  Fundamental  Constitutions,  or  the  "  Grand  Model,"  3 
which  proved  to  be  grand  only  as  a  grand  failure  and  a 
m0(iel  only  to  be  shunned  by  the  liberty-loving  Ameri 
can  of  the  future.  By  this  plan  the  essence  of  mon 
archy,  of  aristocratic  rule  in  the  extreme,  was  to  be  transplanted  to 
America.  It  divided  the  land  into  counties,  and  for  each  county 
there  was  to  be  an  earl  and  two  barons  who  should  own  one  fifth  of 
the  land  while  the  proprietors  retained  another  fifth.  The  remaining 
three  fifths  were  reserved  for  the  people  as  tenants,  who  were  to  be 
practically  reduced  to  serfdom  and  denied  the  right  of  self-govern 
ment.  Its  one  good  feature  was  its  guarantee  of  religious  liberty, 
though  the  Church  of  England  was  established  by  law. 

But  the  settlers  in  North  Carolina  had  found  even  the  colonial 
governments  too  oppressive  and  had  migrated  deeper  into  the  wilder 
ness  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  a  larger  amount  of  freedom.  Could 
they  now  accept  such  a  government  as  proposed  by  Shaftesbury  ? 
Certainly  not  willingly ;  nor  was  it  possible  to  enforce  it,  and  after 

1  The  other  seven  were  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,  Lord 
Craven,  Lord  John  Berkeley,  Sir  George  Carteret,  Sir  William  Berkeley,  and  Sir  John 
Colleton. 

2  It  is  claimed  by  some  that  the  name  Carolina  was  not  used  by  Ribault ;  but  it 
is  known  to  have  been  used  when  Charles  I  was  king  of  England. 

8  This  singular  document  is  given  in  full  in  Ben:  Perley  Poore's  "  Charters  and 
Constitutions." 


COLONIZATION  — NORTH   CAROLINA  85 

twenty  odd  years  of  futile  attempts  to  do  so  the  whole  plan  was 
abandoned. 

Sir  William  Berkeley,  one  of  the  proprietors  and  governor  of 
Virginia,  had  appointed  as  governor  of  Albemarle,  the  northern  por 
tion  of  Carolina,  William  Drummond,  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  clergy 
man,  whom  he  afterward  put  to  death  for  following  Bacon.  Samuel 
Stephens,  succeeding  Drummond  in  1667,  called  an  assembly  to 
frame  laws  and  erelong  the  settlement  was  in  a  steadily  growing 
condition.  A  law  was  passed  with  a  view  of  attracting  settlers.  It 
exempted  all  newcomers  from  paying  taxes  for  a  year,  outlawed 
any  debts  they  may  have  contracted  elsewhere,  and  provided  that 
for  five  years  no  one  could  be  sued  for  any  cause  that  might  have 
arisen  outside  the  colony.  This  plan  had  the  effect  of  attracting 
many  of  a  worthless  class,  so  that  the  Albemarle  settlement  came  to 
be  known  in  Virginia  as  "Rogues'  Harbor."  Governor  Stephens 
and  his  successor  made  strenuous  but  fruitless  efforts  to  put  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions  in  force. 

The  Navigation  Laws  were  later  put  into  operation,  and  they 
greatly  interfered  with  a  lucrative  trade  with  New  England.  The 
people  were  heavily  taxed  and  at  length,  in  1678,  they  broke  out  in 
an  insurrection  led  by  John  Culpeper,  who  seized  the  government 
and  held  it  for  two  years.  This  followed  in  the  train  of  the  Bacon 
Rebellion  in  Virginia. 

The  proprietors  next  sent  Seth  Sothel,  now  a  member  of  the 
company,  to  govern  the  colony.  Sothel  proved  to  be  a  knave ;  he 
plundered  the  proprietors  and  the  people  most  shame- 
lessly,  and  after  five  years  of  turbulent  misrule  he  was 
driven  into  exile  —  the  same  year  that  witnessed  the  Revolution  in 
England  and  the  exile  of  James  II. 

Owing  to  incompetent  and  thieving  governors,  appointed  through 
favoritism  and  not  fitness  for  the  office,  and  to  abortive  attempts  to 
introduce  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  on  an  unwilling  people, 
the  Albemarle  colony  did  not  prosper,  and  in  1693  the  population 
was  but  half  what  it  had  been  fifteen  years  before,  while  the  Claren 
don  colony  planted  by  Yeamans  on  the  Cape  Fear  had  been  wholly 
abandoned.  Meantime  another  colony  had  been  planted  at  the 
mouths  of  the  Ashley  and  Cooper  rivers  (as  will  be  noticed  under 
South  Carolina).  These  two  surviving  colonies,  several  hundred 
miles  apart,  now  began  to  be  called  North  and  South  Carolina. 
Their  governments  were  combined  into  one,  and  better  times  were 


86  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

now  at  hand.  In  1695  John  Archdale,  a  good  Quaker,  became  gov 
ernor  of  both  Carolinas,  and  from  this  time  the  settlements  were 
much  more  prosperous  than  before. 

After  1704,  however,  North  Carolina  was  again  in  turmoil,  the 
causes  being  bad  governors  and  continued  attempts  to  establish  the 
Church  of  England  at  the  expense  of  the  Dissenters,  more  than  half  of 
whom  were  Quakers.  During  this  first  decade  of  the  eighteenth  cen 
tury,  settlers  came  in  increased  numbers.  Huguenots  came  from  France 
and  settled  at  Bath  near  Pamlico  Sound ;  Germans  from  the  Rhine 
founded  New  Berne  at  the  junction  of  the  Trent  and  Neuse  rivers.  The 
white  population  was  now  about  five  thousand;  Albemarle  settlement 
had  extended  many  miles  into  the  forest;  this  involved  encroachment 
on  the  soil  of  the  native  red  man  —  and  it  brought  its  troubles. 

In  the  autumn  of  1711  a  terrible  Indian  massacre  took  place  in 
North  Carolina.  Hundreds  of  settlers  fell  victims  of  the  merciless 
tomahawk.  The  chief  sufferers  were  the  inoffensive  Germans  at 
New  Berne,  where  one  hundred  and  thirty  people  were  slaughtered 
within  two  hours  after  the  signal  for  the  massacre  was  given.1 
Various  tribes,  led  by  the  Tuscaroras,  engaged  in  the 
massacre.  But  the  people  rallied,  and,  receiving  aid 
from  South  Carolina,  they,  led  by  Colonels  John  Barn- 
well  and  James  Moore,  hunted  the  red  men  from  place  to  place  and 
in  a  great  battle  near  the  Neuse  destroyed  four  hundred  of  their 
warriors.  At  length  the  Tuscaroras,  whose  ancestors  had  come 
from  New  York,  resolved  to  abandon  their  southern  home  and  return 
to  the  land  of  their  fathers.  They  removed  in  1714  and  joined  the 
Iroquois  or  Five  Nations  of  New  York,  and  that  confederation  was 
afterward  known  as  the  Six  Nations. 

The  people  of  North  Carolina  were,  in  the  main,  honest  and  well 
meaning,  and  when  not  goaded  by  profligate  rulers  and  unjust  laws, 
quiet  and  peaceable.  It  is  true  there  were  many  who  had  fled  from 
other  colonies  to  escape  debts  or  the  hand  of  the  law ;  but  a  large 
portion  of  society  was  composed  of  sturdy,  Christian  men  and 
women.  Religion  soon  found  a  footing  here  as  in  the  other  colonies, 
though  there  was  no  resident  clergyman  in  the  colony  before  1703. 
The  Church  of  England  was  supported  by  taxation,  but  the  Dis 
senters  were  in  the  majority.  The  Quakers  especially  became 
numerous,  George  Fox  himself,  the  founder  of  the  sect,  having 
visited  the  place  and  made  many  converts. 

1  Fiske,  "  Old  Virginia,"  Vol.  II,  p.  302. 


COLONIZATION  —  NOKTH  CAROLINA  87 

In  1714  the  lords  proprietors  sent  out  Charles  Eden  for  governor, 
and  he  was  the  best  and  ablest  governor  the  colony  ever  had.     But 
on  his  death,  eight  years  later,  the  colony  again  fell  into   „          .. 
unworthy  hands.    A  period  of  great  turbulence  followed  North  and 
when,  in  1729,  all  the  proprietors  save  one  having  sold   South  Caro- 
their  interests  to  the  Crown,  North  Carolina  and  South  nna' 1729< 
Carolina  were  separated  and  each  was  henceforth  a  royal  colony.1 

Of  the  royal  governors  sent  out  after  this  date  several  were 
tyrannical  or  worthless ;  but  the  people  increased  rapidly  in  num 
bers.  There  was  for  many  years  a  steady  inflow  of  Germans  from  the 
Rhine  by  way  of  Pennsylvania,  and,  beginning  about  1719,  a  still 
larger  stream  of  Scotch-Irish  from  Ulster.  During  the  first  sixty- 
six  years  —  the  entire  proprietary  period  —  the  people  of  North 
Carolina  clung  to  the  seaboard.  But  now  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Alleghanies  was  rapidly  peopled,  chiefly  by  Scotch-Irish  and  Ger 
mans,  with  a  large  sprinkling  of  shiftless  "poor  whites"  from 
Virginia.  The  settlement  of  the  region  of  the  "  back  counties " 
had  little  connection  with  those  of  an  earlier  date  on  the  coast,  and 
the  colony  was  practically  divided  into  two  distinct  settlements  with 
a  broad  belt  of  forest  between  them.  The  conditions  of  life  were 
very  different  in  the  two.  The  back  country  was  non-slaveholding, 
and  the  economic  conditions  were  very  similar  to  those  of  the  north 
ern  colonies  ;  while  the  coast  settlements  were  slaveholding  and  were 
marked  by  all  the  characteristics  of  southern  life,  except  the  aristo 
cratic  feature. 

The  products  of  the  colony  were  at  first  tobacco  along  the  Vir 
ginia  border,  rice  on  the  Cape  Fear  Eiver,  and  grain,  cattle,  and 
especially  swine  in  both  these  sections.  But  at  length  the  great 
pine  forests  began  to  yield  their  wealth,'  and  before  the  Revolution 
tar,  turpentine,  and  lumber  became  the  chief  products  of  North 
Carolina. 

Of  all  the  thirteen  colonies  North  Carolina  was  the  least  com 
mercial,  the  most  provincial,  the  farthest  removed  from  European 
influences,  and  its  wild  forest  life  the  most  unrestrained.  Every 
colony  had  its  frontier,  its  borderland  between  civilization  and 
savagery ;  but  North  Carolina  was  composed  entirely  of  frontier. 
The  people  were  impatient  of  legal  restraints  and  averse  to  paying 

1  The  price  paid  was  about  £50,000.  Carteret  had  declined  to  sell.  He  was  later 
granted  for  his  share  a  strip  of  laud  just  south  of  Virginia,  sixty-six  miles  wide 
"  from  sea  to  sea." 


88  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

taxes ;  but  their  moral  and  religious  standard  was  not  below  that  of 
other  colonies.  Their  freedom  was  the  freedom  of  the  Indian,  or 
of  the  wild  animal,  not  that  of  the  criminal  and  the  outlaw.  Here 
truly  was  life  in  the  primeval  forest,  at  the  core  of  Nature's  heart. 
There  were  no  cities,  scarcely  villages.  The  people  were  farmers  or 
woodmen  ;  they  lived  apart,  scattered  through  the  wilderness  ;  their 
highways  were  the  rivers  and  bays,  and  their  homes  were  connected 
by  narrow  trails  winding  among  the  trees.  Yet  the  people  were 
happy  in  their  freedom  and  contented  with  their  lonely  isolation. 

SOUTH   CAROLINA 

North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina  were  twin-born.  Though 
settled  at  different  times  by  different  peoples,  both  were  included  in 
the  famous  charter  of  1663,  both  were  intended  to  be  governed  by 
the  Grand  Model,  and  as  they  were  not  separated  politically  until 
1729,  their  histories  run  parallel  for  many  years,  and  much  that  we 
have  said  of  the  one  will  apply  to  her  twin  sister  to  the  south.1 

It  was  the  shores  of  South  Carolina  that  Bibault,  under  the 
direction  of  the  great  Coligny,  had  attempted  to  settle  with  a  col 
ony  of  Frenchmen,  but  failed,  and  now,  after  a  hundred  years  had 
passed,  it  was  left  for  the  English  to  lay  the  permanent  foundations 
for  a  commonwealth.  The  first  English  settlement  was  made  in 
1670,  when  William  Sayle  sailed  up  the  Ashley  B/iver  with  three 
shiploads  of  English  emigrants  from  the  Barbados,  and  they  pitched 
their  tents  on  its  banks  and  built  a  town,  which  has  since  wholly 
disappeared.  In  1671  Sir  John  Yeamans,  whom  we  have  met  in 
North  Carolina,  joined  the  colony,  bringing  with  him  about  two  hun 
dred  African  slaves,  and  ere  this  year  had  closed  two  ships  bearing 
Dutch  emigrants  arrived  from  New  York.  Ten  years  after  the  first 
settlers  arrived,  a  more  favorable  site  for  the  chief  town  being 
desired,  a  point  between  the  Cooper  and  Ashley  rivers  was  chosen, 
and  here  Charleston  was  founded  in  1680. 

South  Carolina  differs  from  most  of  the  colonies  in  not  having 
had  to  battle  against  impending  dissolution  during  its  first  years 
of  existence,  and  from  all  the  others  in  depending  largely  on  slave 
labor  from  the  beginning. 

Popular  government  found  a  footing  in  South  Carolina  from  the 
first.  Scarcely  had  the  first  immigrants  landed  when  a  popular 

1  The  original  plan  was  to  found  but  one  colony.  The  terms  North  and  South 
Carolina  first  began  to  be  used  about  1690. 


COLONIZATION  — SOUTH   CAROLINA  89 

assembly  began  to  frame  laws  on  the  basis  of  liberty.  Sayle  was 
their  leader  and  first  governor,  but  he  soon  died  and  was  succeeded 
by  Yeamans,  who  ruled  for  four  years,  when  he  was  dismissed  for 
having  enriched  himself  at  the  expense  of  the  people.  Early  govern- 
Yeanians  was  followed  by  John  West,  an  able  and  hon-  ors  of  South 
orable  man,  who  held  the  office  for  nine  years.  In  Carolina. 
1690  the  notorious  Sothel,  who  had  been  driven  from  North  Caro 
lina,  came  to  South  Carolina,  usurped  the  government,  and  began 
his  career  of  plunder ;  but  the  people  soon  rose  against  him  and  he 
was  forced  to  flee.  After  this  several  of  the  governors  were  com 
mon  to  both  North  and  South  Carolina. 

No  attempt  was  made  during  the  early  years  of  the  colony  to 
introduce  the  Fundamental  Constitutions ;  but  when,  about  1687,  a 
vigorous  effort  was  made  to  do  so,  the  people  resisted  it,  basing  their 
rights  on  the  clause  in  the  charter  which  conferred  the  right  of 
making  laws  on  the  proprietors  only  "  by  and  with  the  advice,  assent, 
and  approbation  of  the  freemen."  The  people  were  determined  in 
their  resistance  ;  they  refused  to  be  trampled  by  the  heel  of  tyranny  ; 
their  very  breath  had  been  the  pure  air  of  liberty.  The  contest 
covered  several  years,  and  the  people  won.  That  abortive  "model" 
of  government  was  at  last  set  aside  and  no  attempt  was  ever  again 
made  to  enforce  it  in  America.1 

Prosperity  now  began  to  dawn  on  the  twin  colonies  as  it  had  not 
done  before.     About  this  time  came  the  wise  Archdale  as  governor, 
and  he  was  followed  by  Joseph  Blake,  a  man  of  like  integrity  and 
wisdom,  a  nephew  of  the  great  admiral  of  that  name.     The  close  of 
the  century  was  marked  by  the  coming  of  the  Huguenots  to  South 
Carolina.       In   1598   the    sovereign   of  France,    "  King   Henry    of 
Navarre,"  had  issued  the  "  Edict  of  Nantes,"  granting  toleration  to 
the  Protestants  or  Huguenots  of  his  kingdom.      This   Huguenots 
edict   was  revoked   in   1685   by   Louis   XIV,  and  the   come  to 
Huguenots  were  not  only  forbidden  to  worship  God  in   South  Caro- 
their  own  way,  but  also  forbidden  to  leave  their  country 
on  pain  of  death.     Many,  however,  probably  half  a  million,  escaped 
from  the  land  of  their  cruel  king  and  settled  in  various  parts  of 
the  world.     They  were  a  noble  and  intelligent  people,  who  "  had  the 
virtues  of  the  English  Puritans  without  their  bigotry,"  and  their 

1  Except  in  1698  when  a  fifth  set  of  the  Constitutions  was  drawn  up  and  the  pro 
prietors  instructed  the  governors  to  enforce  it  as  far  as  they  were  able,  but  they  had 
little  success.  MacDonald's  "  Documents,"  p.  150. 


90  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

coming  to  America  infused  into  colonial  life  another  element  of 
stanchness  of  character  that  was  felt  all  through  colonial  days. 
Among  their  descendants  we  find  such  men  as  Paul  Revere,  Peter 
Faneuil,  and  John  Jay.  These  people  were  at  first  coldly  received 
on  the  shores  of  South  Carolina,  but  in  time  they  came  to  be  regarded 
as  a  substantial  portion  of  the  population.  It  was  Governor  Blake 
that  first  recognized  the  worth  of  the  Huguenot  immigrants,  and  he 
secured  for  them  full  political  rights. 

Governor  Blake  died  in  1700,  and  South  Carolina  entered  upon  a 
long  season  of  turbulence  and  strife.  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson  be 
came  governor  in  1703,  and  the  trouble  began.  His  first  act  was  to 
have  a  law  passed  by  sharp  practice  excluding  all  Dissenters,  who 
composed  two  thirds  of  the  population,  from  the  assembly.  The 
people  discovered  the  trick,  and  the  next  assembly  voted  by  a  large 
majority  to  repeal  the  law.  But  Johnson  refused  to  sign  their  act. 
The  assembly  then  appealed  to  the  proprietors,  but  they  sustained 
the  bigoted  governor.  The  people  then  appealed  to  the  House  of 
Lords  and  won  their  case,  as  they  always  will  when  they  stand 
together.  The  proprietors  yielded  when  the  act  of  their  governor 
met  a  royal  veto  from  Queen  Anne  and  when  threatened  with  the 
loss  of  their  charter,  and  the  Dissenters  were  restored  to  their  share 
in  the  government.  The  Church  of  England,  however,  was  made 
the  state  church  and  so  it  continued  to  the  time  of  the  Revolution. 
The  colony  was  divided  into  parishes,  which  became  political,  as 
well  as  ecclesiastical,  divisions. 

Hard  upon  this  trouble  followed  an  attack  by  a  French  and 
Spanish  fleet  of  five  ships  and  some  eight  hundred  men  upon 
Charleston ;  but  the  colonists  were  awake  to  their  danger.  They 
defended  their  city,  and  the  fleet  was  driven  away  after  losing  its 
best  ship  and  probably  one  third  of  its  men.  This  was  an  echo  of 
the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  or  Queen  Anne's  War,  to  be 
noticed  in  a  later  chapter. 

The  most  distressing  calamity  that  befell  South  Carolina  in  its 
youth  was  the  Indian  War  of  1715.  The  Yamassee  tribe,  which  had 
aided  the  whites  against  the  Tuscaroras  in  North  Carolina,  now 
joined  with  other  tribes  and  turned  upon  their  former  friends,  and 
a  disastrous  war  followed.  The  cause  was  chiefly  an  intrigue  with 
the  Spaniards  of  St.  Augustine,  who,  in  spite  of  the  Treaty  of 
Utrecht,  by  which  the  long,  war  between  Spain  and  England  had 
come  to  an  end,  did  all  in  their  power  to  destroy  the  English  settle- 


COLONIZATION  — SOUTH   CAROLINA  91 

ment.  Another  cause  was  that  many  Indians  were  indebted  to  the 
English  traders,  and  they  sought  to  avoid  payment,  and  still  another 
was  that  the  remembrance  still  rankled  in  the  red 
man's  breast  that  many  of  his  race  had  been  kidnaped 
by  the  whites  and  sold  into  slavery.  The  war  began  in 
the  usual  way :  the  Indians  fell  upon  the  unsuspecting  farmers  with 
relentless  fury,  and  nearly  a  hundred  perished  the  first  day.  But 
the  settlers  were  quick  to  fly  to  arms.  The  war  lasted  ten  months. 
Four  hundred  whites  perished  ;  but  the  Indians  were  utterly  defeated 
and  the  survivors  driven  from  their  homes  into  Florida.  To  meet 
the  heavy  expenses  of  the  war  the  assembly  issued  bills  of  credit,  or 
paper  money,  as  North  Carolina  had  done  after  its  Indian  war,  and 
this  brought  further  distress  to  the  colony.  At  the  time  of  this  war 
Charles  Craven  was  governor  and  he  was  one  of  the  wisest  and  ablest 
governors  of  the  period. 

Another  convulsion,  ending  in  a  bloodless  revolution,  came  next  in 
the  programme  of  South  Carolina.  The  cost  of  the  war  had  been  so 
great  that  the  people  called  upon  the  lords  proprietors,  who  had  de 
rived  a  large  incoine  from  the  colony  in  quitrents,  to  aid  in  bearing 
the  expenses.  But  the  proprietors  in  their  greed  refused,  and  they 
refused  to  permit  the  assembly  to  raise  money  by  import  Revolution 
duties,  or  by  selling  vacated  Yamassee  lands.  They 
also  refused  the  rural  freemen  the  right  to  vote  in  their  own  dis 
tricts,  requiring  them  to  go  to  Charleston  to  vote.  The  people  were 
exasperated ;  they  rose  in  rebellion  and  appealed  to  the  king  to 
make  South  Carolina  a  royal  province.  Their  request  was  granted ; 
the  charter  was  forfeited  on  the  ground  that  the  proprietors  were 
unable  to  govern  the  colony,  and  in  1719  South  Carolina  became  a 
royal  colony ;  but,  as  related  in  our  account  of  North  Carolina,  ten 
years  yet  elapsed  before  the  proprietors  sold  out  to  the  Crown  and 
the  two  colonies  were  separated.  The  king  first  sent  out  the  pro 
fessional  governor,  Francis  Nicholson,  of  New  York,  of  Virginia,  of 
Maryland.  But  we  would  cast  no  reflection  on  Nicholson ;  he  was 
one  of  the  best  governors  of  the  colonial  era.  Where  others  enriched 
themselves  at  the  expense  of  the  people,  he  reached  into  his  own 
pocket  for  funds  to  foster  education  and  to  relieve  the  distressed. 

From  the  time  that  South  Carolina  became  a  royal  province  its 
growth  was  rapid  and  substantial,  and  so  it  continued  through  the 
remaining  half  century  of  the  colonial  era.  But  the  people  did  not 
show  any  great  surfeit  of  gratitude  to  the  king  for  relieving  them 


92  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

of  proprietary  rule.  They  contended  with,  the  royal  governors,  en 
croaching  steadily  on  the  royal  power.  In  1748  Governor  Glen 
wrote  the  authorities  in  England  that  "  the  assembly  disposed  of 
almost  all  the  places  of  office  or  trust,"  and  the  people,  through  the 
assembly,  "  had  the  whole  of  the  administration  in  their  hands,  and 
the  governor,  and  thereby  the  Crown,  is  stripped  of  its  power."  l 

In  1740  the  colony  suffered  from  a  slave  insurrection  led  by  one 
Cato,  but  it  was  soon  put  down.  The  city  of  Charleston  was  burned 
this  same  year  ;  but  a  new  city,  far  more  beautiful,  rose  from  the 
ashes  of  the  old.  Indeed,  Charleston  was  one  of  the  most  delight 
ful  of  cities,  even  in  the  earlier  times,  as  testified  by  Governor 
Archdale  and  other  writers.  The  society  resembled  the  cavalier 
'society  in  England.  "Hospitality,  refinement,  and  literary  culture 
distinguished  the  higher  class  of  gentlemen."2 

The  earliest  important  product  of  South  Carolina  was  rice, 
though  it  required  a  hundred  years  to  bring  the  industry  to  perfec 
tion  ;  to  determine  the  best  kind  of  soil  and  labor,  and  to  invent 
Kice  the  machinery  for  harvesting,  threshing,  and  husking.3 

Wild  rice  was  native  in  the  South,  but  this  was  inferior 
to  the  cultivated  rice  introduced  from  Madagascar  about  1693  by  a 
sea  captain,  who  gave  a  bag  of  seed  to  a  South  Carolina  planter. 
Not  many  years  passed  till  the  Carolinas  rivaled  Egypt  and  Lom- 
bardy  in  furnishing  rice  for  Southern  Europe. 

By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  indigo  became  a  strong 
rival  of  rice  in  South  Carolina.  Its  culture  is  said  to  have  begun 
Indi  o  through  the  experiments  of  a  planter's  daughter,  a 

young  girl  named  Eliza  Lucas,  who  set  out  the  plants 
on  her  father's  farm.  Many  other  products,  as  grain,  furs,  cattle, 
and  the  products  of  the  forest,  were  exported  from  South  Carolina, 
but  not  until  a  later  generation  was  cotton  enthroned  as  king. 

Rice  grows  best  in  marshy  ground  and  swamps,  and  its  cultiva 
tion  is  peculiarly  destructive  to  human  life.  The  same  is  in  a  great 
measure  true  of  indigo.  These  facts  had  much  to  do  in  shaping  the 
economic  and  social  condition  of  South  Carolina.  They  made  it  the 
chief  slaveholding  community  in  America.  No  white  man  could 
long  endure  the  malarial  atmosphere  of  the  rice  swamps.  Even 
among  the  blacks  the  death  rate  was  very  high,  and  their  ranks  had 
to  be  refilled  constantly  from  Africa.  But  slaves  were  cheap.  A 


i  Winsor,  Vol.  V,  p.  334.  2  75^.,  p.  317. 

8  Schaper,  in  American  Historical  Association  Reports,  1900,  Vol.  I,  p.  286. 


COLONIZATION  — GEORGIA  93 

strong  black  roan  could  be  purchased"  for  forty  pounds  and,  as  he 
could  earn  near  that  amount  in  a  year,  the  planter  found  it  more 
profitable  to  work  him  to  death  than  to  take  care  of  him.1  Almost 
from  the  beginning  the  slaves  in  South  Carolina  outnumbered  the 
whites ;  slavery  became  the  cornerstone  in  the  political  system  and 
so  it  continued  to  the  time  of  the  Civil  War. 

The  people  of  South  Carolina  clung  to  the  seaboard  even  longer 
than  did  those  of  their  sister  colony  to  the  north.  In  1715  some  five 
hundred  Irish  came  and  occupied  lands  vacated  by  the  Yamassees  near 
Port  Royal.  But  the  back  country  was  held  by  the  Cherokees  until 
1755  when  they  made  a  treaty  ceding  this  territory  to  the  Crown. 
Soon  after  this  a  notable  movement  of  the  population  began.  Emi 
grants  from  Pennsylvania,  from  Virginia,  and  from  North  Carolina 
poured  into  this  region  in  large  numbers.  The  population  in  1760 
was  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  three  fourths  of 
whom  were  slaves. 

The  character  of  society  in  the  two  Carolinas,  except  in  the  back 
counties,  differed  widely,  from  two  causes  :    first,  from  a  difference 
in  the  character  of  the  settlers,  but  chiefly  from  the  fact  that  one 
possessed  a  seaport,  a  metropolis,  while  the  other  did  Contrast0fso 
not.     Many  of  the  South  Carolinians  were  men  who  had  ciety  in  North 
fled  from  religious  persecution  at  home,  as  the  Hugue-  and  South 
nots ;    while  the  class  of  restless  men  who  always  seek     ar 
frontier  life,  because  ill  at  ease  in   organized   society,  was    much 
smaller  than  in  North  Carolina.     But,  as  stated,  the  main  difference 
arose  from  the  fact  that  North  Carolina  had  no  important  seaport,  and 
therefore  little  direct  communication  with  Europe  or  New  England. 
Charleston,  on  the  other  hand,  through  its  commodious  harbor,  carried 
on  a  brisk  foreign  trade.      Here  came  ships  from  many  lands  — 
from  Europe,  the  West  Indies,  and  from  New  England  —  bringing  the 
commodities  and  luxuries  of  civilized  life.     Here  lived  the  wealthy 
planter,  visiting  but  seldom  his  plantation  where  herds  of  black 
men  toiled  under  the  lash  of  the  overseer.      Most  naturally  the 
conditions  in  Charleston  fostered  the  growth  of  aristocracy,  while  in 
culture  and  refinement  the  city  came  to  rival  Philadelphia  and  Boston. 

GEORGIA 

The  last,  as  well  as  the  first,  of  the  English  colonies  planted  in 
North  America  belongs  to  the  southern  group.     Seventy-five  years 
1  Fiske's  "  Old  Virginia,"  Vol.  II,  p.  326. 


94  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

had  elapsed  between  the  founding  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  and 
twelve  English  colonies  were  now  nourishing  on  the  soil  of  North 
America.  Then  came  a  lapse  of  fifty  years  at  the  end  of  which 
Georgia,  the  last  of  the  famous  thirteen,  came  into  existence. 

The  founder  of  Georgia  was  James  Oglethorpe,  who  alone  of  all 
the  colony  planters  lived  till  after  the  Revolution  and  saw  the 
thirteen  colonies  become  an  independent  nation.  Ogle 
thorpe  is  remembered  in  history  chiefly  as  the  founder 
of  Georgia,  but  aside  from  this  he  was  a  man  of  much  prominence. 
While  still  a  youth  he  served  in  the  European  wars  under  Marl- 
borough  and  Prince  Eugene  and  witnessed  the  battle  of  Blenheim 
and  the  siege  of  Belgrade.  Returning  to  England,  he  became  a 
member  of  Parliament  and  took  a  high  stand  among  his  fellows,  as 
he  had  done  in  the  army.  While  in  Parliament  his  attention  was 
drawn  to  the  miserable  condition  of  the  debtor's  prisons,  lately 
replenished  by  the  bursting  of  the  South  Sea  Bubble,  and  he  devised 
the  plan  to  transplant  the  unfortunate  inmates  to  the  wilderness  of 
America. 

A  charter  was  granted  for  twenty-one  years  to  a  board  of  trustees 
for  the  land  between  the  Savannah  and  Al  tarn  aha  rivers  and  west 
ward  to  the  "  South  Sea."  The  new  country  was  named  Georgia, 
from  George  II  who  had  granted  the  charter.  The  liberties  of  Eng 
lishmen  were  guaranteed  to  the  colonists,  and  freedom  in  religion  to 
all  except  Catholics.  The  object  in  founding  the  colony  was  three 
fold  :  to  afford  an  opportunity  to  the  unfortunate  poor  to  begin  life 
over  again,  to  offer  a  refuge  to  persecuted  Protestants  of  Europe, 
and  to  erect  a  military  barrier  between  the  Carolinas  and  Spanish 
Florida.  Oglethorpe  was  chosen  governor  and  with  thirty-five 
First  landing  families  he  sailed  from  England,  reaching  the  mouth 
in  Georgia,  of  the  Savannah  in  the  spring  of  1733,  and  here  on  a 
1733>  bluff  overlooking  the  river  and  the  sea  he  founded 

a  city  and  called  it  by  the  name  of  the  river.  The  character  of 
Oglethorpe's  company  was  better  than  that  of  the  men  who  had 
founded  Jamestown  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  before,  but 
inferior  to  the  character  of  the  first  settlers  of  Maryland  or  of  South 
Carolina.  The  year  after  the  founding  of  Savannah  a  shipload  of 
Salzburgers,  Protestant  refugees,  a  deeply  religious  people,  sailed 
into  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  and,  led  by  Oglethorpe,  they  founded 
the  town  of  Ebenezer.  This  same  year  the  governor  sailed  for  Eng 
land  and  soon  returned  with  more  immigrants,  among  whom  were 


COLONIZATION  —  GEORGIA  95 

John  Wesley,  the  great  founder  of  Methodism,  who  came  as  a 
missionary,  and  his  brother  Charles,  who  came  as  secretary  to  Ogle- 
thorpe.  Scotch  Highlanders  soon  came  in  considerable  numbers  and 
settled  nearest  the  Spanish  border.  George  Whitfield,  the  most  elo 
quent  preacher  of  his  times,  also  came  to  Georgia  and  founded  an 
orphan  school  in  Savannah. 

Georgia  was  the  only  colony  of  the  thirteen  that  received  finan 
cial  aid  by  a  vote  of  Parliament  —  the  only  one  in  the  planting  of 
which  the  British  government,  as  such,  took  a  part.  The  colony 
differed  from  all  others  also  in  prohibiting  slavery  and  the  importa 
tion  of  intoxicating  liquors.  The  settlers  were  to  have  their  land 
free  of  rent  for  ten  years,  but  they  could  take  no  part  in  the  govern 
ment.  The  trustees  made  all  the  laws ;  but  this  arrangement  was 
not  intended  to  be  permanent ;  at  the  close  of  the  proprietary  period 
the  colony  was  to  pass  to  the  control  of  the  Crown. 

Oglethorpe's  military  wisdom  was  soon  apparent.  In  the  war 
between  England  and  Spain,  beginning  in  1739,  the  Spaniards 
became  troublesome  and  the  governor,  this  same  year,  made  an 
expedition  against  St.  Augustine  with  an  army  of  over  two  thou 
sand  men,  half  of  whom  were  Indians.  The  city  was  well  fortified 
and  he  failed  to  capture  it ;  but  three  years  later  when  the  Spaniards 
made  an  attack  on  the  colony  Oglethorpe,  by  the  most  skillful  strat 
egy,  repulsed  the  enemy  and  drove  him.  away. 

Oglethorpe  was  governor  of  Georgia  for  twelve  years  when  he 
returned  to  England.  In  four  respects  the  settlers  were  greatly 
dissatisfied.  They  wanted  rum,  they  wanted  slaves, 
they  greatly  desired  to  take  a  hand  in  their  own  gov- 
ernment,  and  they  were  not  content  with  the  land  sys 
tem,  which  gave  each  settler  but  a  small  farm  that  must  descend  in 
the  male  line.  In  all  these  points  the  people  won.  On  account  of 
these  restrictions  the  colony  grew  but  slowly  and  at  the  end  of  eigh 
teen  years  scarcely  a  thousand  families  had  settled  in  Georgia.  The 
people  claimed  that  the  prohibition  of  liquors  drove  the  West  India 
trade  away  from  them  and  at  length  the  prohibition  was  withdrawn. 
As  to  slavery,  it  still  had  its  opponents  —  the  Salzburgers,  the 
Scotch  Highlanders,  the  Wesley  brothers.  But  the  great  majority 
favored  its  introduction  on  the  plea  that  slave  labor  was  necessary  to 
the  development  of  the  colony.  On  this  side  we  find  the  great  preacher, 
Whitfield,  who  went  so  far  as  to  purchase  a  plantation  in  South 
Carolina,  stock  it  with  slaves,  and  use  the  proceeds  for  his  orphan 


HISTORY   OF    THE   UNITED   STATES 


house  in  Savannah.  His  claim  was  that  the  negroes  were  better  off 
in  slavery  than  in  their  native  heathenism.  Parliament  finally 
relented  and  in  1749  Georgia  became  a  slave  colony  ;  but  only  under 
strict  laws  for  the  humane  treatment  of  slaves. 

In  the  matter  of  governing  without  a  voice  from  the  people,  the 
trustees  found  it  as  impracticable  as  the  promoters  of  the  Grand 
Georgia  be-  Model  had  done  in  the  Carolinas.  Before  their  twenty- 
comes  a  royal  one  years  had  expired  they  threw  the  matter  up  in 
colony,  1752.  discouragement,  and  in  1752  Georgia  became  a  royal 
colony.  The  people  now  elected  an  assembly  and  the  king  appointed 
the  governor.  The  right  to  vote  was  extended  to  Protestant  freemen, 
with  certain  property  restrictions.  But  the  colony  in  one  respect 
showed  itself  still  benighted,  as  were  all  its  twelve  sisters,  by  deny 
ing  the  franchise  to  Roman  Catholics. 

After  this  change  of  government  Georgia  grew  very  rapidly,  and 
by  the  time  of  the  Revolution  numbered  some  fifty  thousand  souls, 
about  half  of  whom  were  slaves.  Georgia  in  its  later  career  presents 
no  striking  features  differing  from  those  of  the  other  southern  colo 
nies.  The  English  church  was  made  the  state  church,  but  religious 
freedom  was  extended  to  all  Protestants.  The  chief  products  were 
rice,  indigo,  and  lumber,  and  there  was  a  very  lucrative  fur  trade 
carried  on  with  the  Indians.  It  was  believed  at  first  that  the  pro 
duction  of  silk  would  become  the  leading  industry,  as  the  mulberry 
tree,  which  furnishes  the  natural  food  of  the  silkworm,  grew  wild 
in  Georgia;  but  after  a  trial  of  several  years  the  business  was 
abandoned. 

The  social  condition  of  Georgia  resembled  that  of  North  Carolina. 
There  were  no  schools,  and  the  mails  seldom  or  never  reached  the 
inland  settlements.  The  people  were  mostly  small  farmers,  with 
here  and  there  a  rich  planter.  There  was  little  town  life.  Savan 
nah  was  the  only  town  of  importance,  and  it  was  still  a  wooden  vil 
lage  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution.  The  roads  were  mere  Indian 
trails,  and  the  settlers  saw  little  of  one  another.  To  the  end  of  the 
colonial  era  Georgia  was  essentially  the  southern  frontier  of  South 
Carolina,  as  North  Carolina  was  of  Virginia.1 

NOTE 

The  Pirates.  —  In  our  own  age  of  international  order  it  is  difficult  to  realize 
what  sway  was  held  on  the  seas  by  the  pirates  two  hundred  years  ago.  These 

i  Fiske,  Vol.  II,  p.  336. 


COLONIZATION  — GEORGIA  97 

pirates,  called  also  buccaneers  and  filibusters,  infested  the  American  coast  and 
the  West  Indies  especially  between  1650  and  1720  and  they  often  numbered 
thousands.  Many  of  these  men  were  utterly  without  a  redeeming  feature  of 
character.  One  of  these  fiends  named  Okmnois,  having  captured  a  Spanish 
crew  of  ninety  men,  beheaded  them  to  the  last  man  with  his  own  hand.  (Fiske, 
"  Old  Virginia,"  II,  p.  349.)  The  most  notorious,  and  one  of  the  most  desperate 
of  the  pirates  was  Henry  Morgan  who  was  at  the  height  of  his  career  about  1670. 
He  captured  whole  towns  on  the  Spanish-American  coast  and  put  the  inhab 
itants  to  the  sword.  Many  towns,  however,  purchased  immunity  from  the 
buccaneers  by  paying  them  from  time  to  time.  Others  welcomed  them  because 
they  brought  much  gold  and  spent  it  lavishly.  There  was  scarcely  an  American 
colony  whose  officials  were  not  at  one  time  or  another  in  connivance  with  the 
pirates.  But  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  was  a  crusade 
against  them.  South  Carolina  took  the  lead  and  sometimes  half  a  score  were 
hanged  in  a  day  at  Charleston.  One  of  the  most  famous  of  the  pirates  was 
Captain  William  Kidd.  The  Earl  of  Bellomont,  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
sent  Kidd.  hitherto  an  honest  merchant,  against  the  pirates  in  1696.  Reports 
soon  came  in  that  Kidd  had  turned  pirate,  and  when  he  returned  to  Boston  he 
was  arrested  and  sent  to  London  for  trial.  Kidd  claimed  that  his  crew  had 
overpowered  him  and  become  pirates  against  his  consent.  It  is  believed,  how 
ever,  that  he  was  guilty  ;  but  his  trial  was  a  very  unfair  one,  his  conviction  rest- 
irg  on  the  testimony  of  two  of  his  pals,  who  had  turned  king's  evidence.  The 
charge  of  the  judge  was  strongly  against  him.  He  was  hanged  in  London  in 
1701.  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography. 


CHAPTER  V 

COLONIZATION  —  NEW   ENGLAND 

WHEN  North  America  was  first  settled  by  the  English  race  the 
blessings  of  religious  freedom  had  not  yet  fully  dawned  upon  man 
kind.  For  a  century  the  Christian  world  had  struggled  with  the 
intolerant  spirit  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Much,  indeed,  had  been  ac 
complished,  but  the  evolution  was  slow,  and  another  century  must 
elapse  before  one  could  stand  in  the  broad  daylight  of  religious 
liberty. 

No  people  were  more  enlightened  during  this  period  than  the 
English,  yet  England  furnishes  a  striking  example  of  religious 
persecution.  The  English  Reformation  is  commonly  dated  from 
Henry  VIII,  but  that  monarch  did  little  more  than  transfer  to  him 
self  the  power  before  wielded  by  the  Pope.  The  seeds  for  such  a 
revolt  had  been  sown  long  before  by  John  Wyclif.  It  was  the 
leaven  of  Lollardism  that  brought  about  in  the  English  heart  the 
conditions  which  now  made  the  work  of  Henry  vastly  easier  than  it 
otherwise  could  have  been.  After  the  death  of  Henry  the  religious 
rnind  of  England  swayed  to  and  fro  for  a  hundred  years  and  more 
with  the  caprice  of  the  sovereign  and  the  ever  changing  condition  of 
politics.  At  length,  however,  the  country  settled  down  to  the  main 
tenance  by  law  of  an  Established  Church;  but  there  were  many  whose 
consciences  could  not  be  bound.  There  were  many  who  attempted 
to  purify  the  Church  of  England  and  were  called  Puritans,  while 
still  others  separated  from  it  and  were  called  Separatists. 

These  Dissenters,  or  Nonconformists,  as  they  were  often  called, 
were  very  numerous  during  the  reign  of  James  I.  James  was  a 
narrow-minded  pedant,  and  probably  without  any  very  deep  reli 
gious  convictions.  Bred  in  the  Presbyterian  faith,  he  despised 
Presbyterianism  because  incompatible  with  his  ideas  of  monarchy. 
Of  the  Puritans  he  said,  "  I  will  make  them  conform,  or  I  will  harry 
them  out  of  the  land."  They  refused  to  conform,  and  the  cruel 
monarch  did  the  latter  —  he  harried  them  out  of  the  land. 


COLONIZATION  — NEW   ENGLAND  99 

THE    PILGRIM   FATHERS 

The  Separatists l  were  less  numerous  by  far  than  other  classes  of 
Nonconformists,  yet  they  formed  the  advance  guard  of  the  great 
Puritan  exodus  from  the  mother  country  to  the  shores  of  New  Eng 
land.  The  town  of  Scrooby  in  Nottinghamshire  was  the  center  of 
a  scattered  congregation  of  Separatists  whose  minister  was  John 
Robinson  and  whose  ruling  elder  was  William  Brewster,  the  village 
postmaster.  After  enduring  many  persecutions  this  little  band  of 
Christians,  who  now  became  "Pilgrims,"  escaped  with  difficulty 
from  their  native  land  to  Amsterdam,  Holland,  whence  a  year  later 
they  removed  to  Ley  den.  Here  they  dwelt  for  eleven  years,  exiles 
for  conscience'  sake,  earning  their  bread  by  the  labor  of  their  hands. 

But  the  Pilgrims  felt  that  Holland  was  not  their  home;  they 
could  not  endure  the  thought  of  giving  up  their  language  and 
customs  for  those  of  the  Dutch,  nor  were  they  willing  ^g  pngrims 
to  return  to  their  native  England,  where  religious  perse-  in  Holland, 
cution  had  not  abated.  They  had  heard  of  the  colony  1608-1620. 
of  Virginia,  and  their  thoughts  were  directed  to  the  wilderness  of 
the  New  World.  Through  the  friendship  and  aid  of  Sir  Edwin 
Sandys,  and  others,  they  secured  a  little  money  and  purchased  a 
little  vessel,  the  Speedwell,  hired  another,  the  Mayflower,  and  deter 
mined  to  cross  the  wide  waters  to  America,  where  they  might 
worship  God  in  their  own  way  and  still  be  Englishmen.  Having 
secured  a  grant  from  the  Virginia  Company  to  settle  in  the  Hudson 
Valley,  and  a  promise  from  the  king  that  he  would  not  interfere 
with  them,  and  having  mortgaged  themselves  to  a  company  of 
London  merchants,  they  set  forth  with  brave  hearts  to  encounter 
the  unknown  perils  of  the  sea  and  of  the  wilderness.  The  Speed 
well  proved  unfit  for  the  sea,  and  the  little  band  reembarked  from 
Plymouth,  England,  in  the  Mayflower  alone.  Their  minister  Robin 
son  had  remained  in  Leyden,  and  Brewster  was  the  leader.  He 
and  John  Carver  were  well  advanced  in  years,  but  most  of  the 
company  were  in  the  prime  of  life.  William  Bradford  was  thirty 
and  Edward  Winslow  but  twenty-five.  Before  leaving  Plymouth 
they  were  joined  by  Miles  Standish,  a  sturdy  soldier  of  thirty-six, 
who  was  in  sympathy  with  the  movement  though  not  a  member 
of  the  congregation. 

1  The  Separatists  were  often  called  Brownists,  from  Robert  Browne,  the  reputed 
founder  of  the  sect.  The  sect,  however,  had  its  origin  before  Browne's  time.  See 
Eggleston's  "  Beginners  of  a  Nation,"  p.  14(5. 


100  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

The  "  Pilgrim  Fathers  "  with  their  wives  and  children,  as  borne 
by  the  Mayflower,  numbered  one  hundred  and  two ;  one  died  on.  the 
voyage  and  one  was  born.  After  a  perilous  voyage  of  many  weeks 
they  anchored  off  the  coast  of  New  England,  far  from  the  point  at 
which  they  had  aimed,  and  here  they  were  obliged  to  remain.1 
Being  north  of  the  bounds  of  the  company  that  had  granted  them  a 
patent,  they  occupied  a  country  to  which  they  had  no  legal  right. 
Before  landing  they  drew  up  a  compact  for  the  government  of  the 
colony  and  chose  John  Carver  governor  for  the  first  year.  This 
compact,  the  "  first  written  constitution  in  the  world,"  was  an  agree 
ment  by  which  they  pledged  themselves  "  solemnly  and  mutually,  in 
the  presence  of  God  and  of  one  another,'-'  to  form  a  body  politic,  to 
frame  such  laws  as  they  might  need,  to  which  they  promised  "  all 
due  submission  and  obedience." 

The  compact  was  signed  by  all  the  adult  males,  forty-one  in 
number,  on  the  llth  of  November,  the  day  on  which  the  Mayflower 
entered  Cape  Cod  harbor.2  An  exploring  party  went  ashore,  and 
they  found  the  country  bleak  and  uninviting  in  the  extreme.  The 
snow  was  half  a  foot  deep,  and  the  fierce  wind  blew  the  spray  of  the 
sea  upon  them  where  it  froze  until  their  "  clothes  looked  like  coats 
of  iron."  But  the  Pilgrims  had  not  sought  ease  and  comfort ;  they 
expected  hardships  and  discouragements.  They  chose  Plymouth 
harbor  as  a  landing  place,  and  on  December  16,  one  hundred  and 
two  days  after  leaving  Plymouth,  England,  they  made  a  landing  in 
the  face  of  a  wintry  storm,  on  a  barren  rock  since  known  as 
Plymouth  Rock.  Next  they  "  fell  vpon  their  knees  and  blessed  ye 
God  of  heaven,  who  had  brought  them  ouer  ye  vast  and  furious  ocean." 3 

In  a  few  days  the  men  were  busily  engaged  in  building  cabins, 
returning  each  night  to  the  ship ;  but  ere  they  were  finished  the 

J  There  had  been  earlier  attempts  to  colonize  the  New  England  coast.  Gosnold 
had  sailed  into  Buzzards  Bay  in  1G02,  but  the  would-be  colonists  who  came  with  him 
went  back  in  his  ship  to  England.  In  1(507  George  Popham,  with  a  party,  undertook 
to  colonize  the  coast  of  Maine,  but  after  the  experience  of  one  severe  winter  they  all 
returned  to  England.  Without  attempting  to  plant  a  colony,  Martin  Pring  had 
sailed  into  Plymouth  harbor  in  1003,  and  George  Weymouth  visited  the  coast  of 
Maine  in  1605. 

In  1615  Captain  John  Smith  with  a  company  of  sixteen  men  explored  a  portion 
of  the  New  England  coast,  and  it  was  he  and  not  the  Pilgrims,  as  is  commonly  stated, 
who  gave  the  name  "  Plymouth  "  to  the  landing-place  of  the  latter. 

2  New  style,  November  21. 

8  The  tradition  of  the  famous  "  Landing  on  Plymouth  Rock  "  should  be  revised, 
as  the  women  and  children  remained  in  the  ship  for  many  weeks  longer.  See  Ames's 
"  The  Mayflower,  Her  Log,"  p.  278. 


COLONIZATION  — NEW   ENGLAND  101 

wintry  blasts  had  planted  the  seeds  of  consumption  in  many  of  the 
little  band,  and  before  the  coming  of  spring  more  than  forty  of  them, 
including  the  wives  of  Bradford,  Winslow,  and  Standish,  had  been 
laid  in  the  grave.  And  yet  when  the  Mayjfoiuer  sailed  for  England 
in  the  early  spring,  not  one  of  the  survivors  returned  with  her,  and 
it  is  a  singular  fact  that  nearly  all  who  survived  that  dreadful 
winter  at  Plymouth  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  Among  those  who 
died  the  first  year  was  Governor  Carver,  and  William  Bradford,  the 
historian  of  the  colony,  was  chosen  to  fill  the  office,  and  he  held  the 
position  for  thirty-one  years. 

The  coast  at  this  point  was  unusually  free  from  Indians,  owing 
to  a  pestilence  that  had  swept  them  away  a  few  years  before.     Dur 
ing   the  winter   they  saw  but   few  natives;  but  they  found  many 
Indian  graves  and  here  and  there  hidden  baskets  of  corn.     One  day 
in   March  the  people  were  astonished  at  the  bold  approach  of  an 
Indian  who   entered   their  village  crying,  "  Welcome, 
Englishmen."     This  Indian,  whose  name  was  Samoset,   k 
of  the  Wampanoag  tribe,  had  learned  a  little  English  from  fisher 
men  on  the  coast  of  Maine.     He  went  away  and  returned  in  a  few 
days  with  another  of  his  people  named  Squanto,  who  was  to  become 
a  benefactor  to  the  infant  colony  of  white  men.     Squanto  had  been 
kidnaped   some   years   before   by  traders   and  sold  into  slavery  in 
Spain,  but  he  was  rescued  and  sent  back  to  his  own  home  by  an 
Englishman,  and  from  this  time  he  was  an  unswerving  friend  to  the 
English.     He  taught  the  Plymouth  people  many  things 
about  fishing  and  raising  corn,  and  a  few  years  later, 
when  dying,  he  begged  them  to  pray  that  he  might  go  to  the  Eng 
lishman's  God  in  heaven.     He  could  now  speak  the  English  language 
fairly  well,  and  he  informed  the  settlers  that  his  great  chief  Massa- 
soit  desired  to  make  a  treaty  of  peace  and  friendship  with  them. 
The  treaty  was  soon  made  and  it  was  faithfully  kept  by  both  sides 
for  more  than  fifty  years.     One  object  of  Massasoit  in  making  this 
treaty  was  to  protect  his  tribe  from  his  enemy  Canoni- 
cus,  the  chief  of  the  powerful  Narragansett  tribe.     Soon  ^Bsasoit. 
after    this    Canonicus,  wishing    to    show   his    hostility 
toward  the  new  friends  of  his  old  enemy,  sent  Governor  Bradford  a 
challenge  in  the  form  of  a  snake  skin  filled  with  arrows,  but  when 
the  skin  was  returned  filled  with  powder  and  shot,  the  forest  king 
decided  that  it  were  better  to  make  friends  of  the  white  men  and 
did  so.     With  the  exception  of  a  little  skirmish  in  defense  of  a 


102  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

party  of  traders  at  Weymouth,  the  Plymouth  people  were  free  from 
Indian  wars  till  the  rise  of  King  Philip  —  more  than  a  half  century 
after  the  landing  of  the  Mayflower. 

The  government  of  Plymouth  was  a  pure  democracy,  all  the 
freemen  assembling  in  town  meetings  to  choose  their  officers,  make 
laws,  and  render  judicial  decisions.  So  it  continued  for  eighteen 
years,  when  the  growth  of  the  colony  rendered  the  meeting  of  all 
voters  impossible  and  they  established  a  representative  government, 
each  settlement  sending  two  representatives;  but  the  people  re 
tained,  for  twenty  years  longer,  the  Referendum — the  power  to 
repeal  any  law  that  their  assembly  might  enact. 

The  colony  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  had  much  to  contend  with 
and  it  increased  but  slowly.  At  the  end  of  ten  years'  existence  it 
contained  scarcely  more  than  three  hundred  people.  They  had  to 
grapple  with  the  most  serious  obstacles,  —  the  severe  climate,  the 
unproductive  soil,  and  the  want  of  means  to  carry  out  what  was 
necessary  to  be  done.  To  these  was  added  a  lack  of  educational 
facilities  to  attract  other  settlers  and  a  feeling  in  England  against 
the  Separatists,  even  among  Puritans,  who  refused  to  join  or  sympa 
thize  with  a  body  of  men  that  had  entirely  severed  their  relations 
with  the  Church  of  England.  These  things  had  much  to  do  with 
retarding  the  growth  of  Plymouth ;  but  there  was  another  drawback 
still  more  serious  during  the  first  six  years. 

The  Pilgrims  had,  before  leaving  England,  virtually  mortgaged 
themselves  to  a  company  of  "  merchant  adventurers  "  of  London  by 
forming  with  them  a  stock  company.  In  this  company  every 
colonist  above  sixteen  years  of  age  engaged  to  serve  the  colony  seven 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  each  would  receive  the  profits  of  one  share 
of  stock.1  This  arrangement  necessitated  a  communistic  mode  of 
living  at  Plymouth,  and  Governor  Bradford  soon  saw  that  the  system 
was  sapping  the  life  of  the  colony.2  At  length  he  sent  Miles  Stan- 
dish  to  England  to  have  the  contract  canceled  if  possible  ;  but  in  this 
he  failed,  and  in  1627  the  colonists  purchased  their  freedom  for  a 
large  sum  which  required  seven  years  for  them  to  pay.  At  this  time 
the  communal  system  was  for  the  most  part  broken  up,  and  each 
household  was  granted  twenty  acres  as  a  private  allotment. 

The  American  people  of  to-day  look  back  with  pride  to  the  sturdy 

1  Some  contributed  money,  in  addition  to  personal  service,  and  received  thereby 
a  greater  amount  of  stock.  See  Bradford's  "  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation," 
(Boston,  1898),  p.  57.  2  Ibid.,  pp.  162-163. 


COLONIZATION  — MASSACHUSETTS   BAY  103 

Christian  character  of  the  founders  of  our  nation  ;  and  of  the  various 
rivulets  of  emigration  that  resulted  in  the  earliest  settlements,  it  is 
certain  that  the  one  holding  the  highest  place  of  honor  in  the  great 
American  heart  is  the  little  band  of  Pilgrims  who  settled  at 
Plymouth  in  1620.  With  all  their  narrowness  we  must  admire 
them.  No  state  was  ever  founded  by  a  more  heroic  people, 
and  no  people  were  ever  moved  by  nobler  motives.  The  colony 
continued  to  live  its  humble  life  in  the  forest  in  its  own  way  until 
many  years  later  it  was  merged  into  another,  and  finally  became  a 
part  of  the  great  state  of  Massachusetts. 

MASSACHUSETTS   BAY 

Puritanism  increased  mightily  in  England  during  the  later  years 
of  James  I  and  the  reign  of  his  son  Charles,  notwithstanding  the 
cruel  persecutions.  If  the  Dissenters  hoped  for  better  things  by  the 
change  of  monarchs,  they  were  doomed  to  disappointment ;  for  if 
James  had  chastised  them  with  whips,  Charles  chastised  them  with 
scorpions.  But  King  Charles  with  all  his  bigotry  was  not  the  mov 
ing  spirit  during  his  reign  in  persecuting  Dissenters  ;  for  this  we 
must  look  to  his  more  bigoted  courtier,  William  Laud,  the  Arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury.1  Laud  was  a  man  of  remarkable  energy.  He 
was  an  extreme  lover  of  law  and  order  and  a  powerful  supporter  of 
the  royal  prerogative.  In  religion  he  clung  with  unyielding  tenacity 
to  the  letter  of  the  law,  but  had  little  conception  of  its  spirit.  How 
a  man  could,  on  principle  and  for  conscience'  sake,  dissent  from  the 
Established  Church  was  wholly  beyond  the  comprehension  of  Laud, 
nor  could  he  respect  the  one  who  did  it.  It  was  Laud  above  all 
men  who  visited  bitter  persecutions  upon  the  Puritans  in  the  reign 
of  Charles,  and  it  was  Laud  who,  all  unconsciously,  did  a  great  ser 
vice  for  humanity  —  he  caused  the  building  of  a  powerful  Puritan 
commonwealth  in  the  New  World.  The  great  migration  set  in  with 
the  ascendency  of  Laud ;  "  it  waned  as  he  declined  and  ceased  for 
ever  with  his  fall."  2 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Puritan  and  Pilgrim  were  not  synony 
mous  terms.  The  Puritans,  as  stated  before,  w,ere  those  who  sought 
to  purify  the  English  Church  and  to  modify  its  forms,  while  remain 
ing  within  it.  The  word  "  Pilgrim,"  while  it  has  acquired  a  religious 

1  Laud  did  not  become  archbishop  until  1633,  though  he  had  long  been  an  intimate 
adviser  of  the  king. 

2  Eggleston,  "  Beginners  of  a  Nation,"  p.  196. 


104  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

meaning,  was  not  an  ecclesiastical  term.     It  was  applied  only  to  the 
Separatists  or  Independents  who  settled  at  Plymouth 
Puritan  and      Decause  °f  their  migration,  first  to  Holland  and  later  to 
America.     But  eventually  the  Puritans  became  Indepen 
dents,  not  only  in  America,  but  also  in  England,  and  from  them  have 
grown  the  great  religious  denominations  of   the   English-speaking 
world  —  the  Congregationalist,  the  Baptist,  "the  Methodist,1  and  to  a 
great  extent  the  Presbyterian. 

During  the  ten  years  following  the  coming  of  the  Pilgrims  in 
1620  there  were  numerous  conflicting  land-grants  made  in  eastern 
New  England,  and  various  scattered  settlements  sprang  up  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Plymouth.  An  enumeration  of  these  would  only  be 
confusing  to  the  reader. 

We  have  noticed,  in  our  account  of  Virginia,  that  King  James  in 
1606  chartered  two  companies,  the  London  and  the  Plymouth  com 
panies.  The  former  succeeded  in  founding  Jamestown ;  the  latter, 
after  various  sporadic  attempts,  had  in  1620  done  nothing.  Mean 
time,  John  Smith  of  Virginia  fame  had  explored  the  coast  of  northern 
Virginia,  as  it  was  then  called,  made  a  map  of  the  coast,  and  named 
the  country  New  England.  In  1620  the  old  Plymouth  company 
Council  for  secured  a  charter  and  was  henceforth  known  as  the  Council 
New  Eng-  for  New  England.  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  was  its  lead- 
land-  ing  jnember.  This  charter  was  for  the  vast  territory 

between  the  fortieth  and  forty-eighth  degrees  of  latitude,  the  name 
New  England  being  substituted  for  northern  Virginia.  This  new  com 
pany,  in  its  effort  to  found  colonies,  made  many  land  grants,  one  of 
which,  in  1628,  was  to  six  men,  of  whom  John  Endicott  was  the 
chief.  This  same  year  Endicott,  who  was  to  play  a  leading  part 
in  the  early  history  of  Massachusetts,  came  out  with  a  following  of 
sixty  and  settled  at  a  place  called  Salem,  joining  a  small  settlement 
already  there.  But  the  great  Puritan  exodus  was  yet  to  begin,  and 
as  a  large  number  of  Puritans  were  now  ready  to  join  the  colony,  it 
was  deemed  far  more  satisfactory  to  have  a  royal  charter  than  a  mere 
land  grant.  A  charter  was  therefore  secured  from  Charles  I  in  March, 
Massachu-  1629,  confirming  the  land  grant  of  1628,  namely,  from 
satts  charter,  three  miles  south  of  the  Charles  River  to  a  point  three 
miles  north  of  the  Merrimac,  extending  westward  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean  which  was  believed  to  be  much  nearer  than  it  is. 

1  The  Methodist  church  rose  at  a  later  date ;  hut  it  had  its  origin  in  the  same 
spirit  that  actuated  the  Puritans. 


COLONIZATION  — MASSACHUSETTS   BAY  105 

This  new  company  was  styled  the  Governor  and  Company  of  Massa 
chusetts  Bay  in  New  England.  The  government  was  to  be  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  governor,  deputy  governor,  and  eighteen  assistants, 
to  be  elected  annually  by  the  company.1 

This  charter  was  very  similar  to  the  third  charter  of  Virginia 
of  1612.  But  there  was  one  remarkable  point  of  difference :  it  did 
not  provide,  as  did  the  Virginia  charter,  that  the  seat  of  government 
must  remain  in  England.  This  omission  led  to  the  most  important 
results  in  the  building  of  New  England.  The  year  of  the  granting 
of  the  charter  was  the  same  in  which  the  despotic  king  of  England 
dismissed  his  Parliament  and  began  his  autocratic  rule  of  eleven 
years  without  one.  The  political  situation,  therefore,  as  well  as  reli 
gious  persecution,  rendered  the  Puritan  party  extremely  uncomfort 
able  in  England.  Consequently,  a  small  party  of  leading  Puritans 
met  at  Cambridge  in  August  of  this  year  and  adopted  the  "  Cam 
bridge  Agreement,"  to  migrate  to  Massachusetts,  on  condition  that 
the  charter  and  seat  of  government  be  transferred  thither.  To  this 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  Company  agreed,  and  John  Winthrop,  a  gen 
tleman  of  wealth  and  education,  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  ad 
mirable  characters  in  the  pioneer  history  of  America,  was  chosen 
governor.  Thomas  Dudley  was  chosen  deputy  governor.  A  party 
of  three  hundred  had  been  sent  to  join  Endicott  at  Salem,  and  in 
April  of  the  next  year,  1630,  Winthrop  himself  embarked,  with  a 
large  company,  for  the  New  World. 

The  Pilgrims  of  1620  were  men  of  great  zeal,  but  of  little  knowl 
edge  ;  many  of  the  Puritans  of  1630,  however,  were  men  of  educa 
tion  and  fortune,2  members  of  Parliament,  or  clergymen  of  the  most 
liberal  education.  Led  by  such  men,  the  movement  created  a  pro 
found  impression  in  England,  and  thousands  now  pre 
pared  to  cross  the  western  ocean  and  take  up  their 
abode  in  the  forests  of  New  England.  More  than  a 
thousand  came  in  1630,  and  as  the  policy  of  the  king  and  Laud 
became  more  intolerable,  the  tide  increased  in  volume.  The  people 
came,  not  singly,  nor  as  families  merely,  but  frequently  as  con 
gregations,  led  by  their  pastor. 

Winthrop  had  brought  with  him  the  charter,  and  this  was  the 
first  step  in  a  very  important  process  —  the  process  of  fusing  the 

1  Provision  was  also  made  for  "  one  great,  general  and  solemn  assembly  "  to  meet 
four  times  a  year. 

2  Chalmers's  "  Introduction,"  Vol.  I,  p.  58. 


106  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

company  and  the  colonists  into  one  body.  The  second  step,  which 
soon  followed,  was  the  admitting  of  the  colonists,  or  "  freemen,"  to 
membership  in  the  company.  By  this  the  company  ceased  to  be  a 
private  trading  company  conducted  for  commercial  gain ;  it  became 
a  body  politic,  a  self-governing  community.  The  condition  of  free- 
manship  was  made,  not  a  property  or  educational  test,  but  a  religious 
qualification.  The  company  was  conservative  and  the  process  was 
slow.  When  there  were  3000  settlers  there  were  but  350  freemen, 
but  the  beginning  of  popular  government  was  at  hand.  The  osten 
sible  object  of  the  company,  when  it  secured  the  charter,  was  to 
profit  by  trade ;  the  real  object  was  to  establish  a  religious  commu 
nity  with  freedom  of  conscience,  not  for  all,  but  for  those  only  who 
were  in  religious  accord  with  them.  And  the  religious  test  for  free- 
manship  became  the  safeguard  by  which  they  secured  for  the  future 
the  end  for  which  they  had  sacrificed  so  much.  The  matter  of 
popular  government,  however,  did  not  come  without  some  friction, 
as  we  shall  soon  notice. 

Some  time  after  landing,  Winthrop  found  a  clear  spring  of  water 
on  a  peninsula  called  Shawmut,  and  there  he  took  up  his  abode, 
founded  a  town,  and  called  it  Boston.  Newt  own,  now  Cambridge, 
was  the  first  capital,  but  Boston  was  soon  chosen  as  the  seat  of 
government.  Meantime,  Eoxbury,  Chaiiestown,  Watertown,  Dor 
chester,  and  other  towns  were  founded. 

The  various  Puritan  settlements  were  soon  in  friendly  relations  with 
the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth.  They  had  formerly  professed  to  despise 
the  Separatists,  but  scarcely  had  the  shores  of  England  receded  from 
their  view  when  they  felt  a  sense  of  freedom  as  never  before,1  and  this 
feeling  took  a  deeper  hold  on  them  until  they  found  themselves  no 
longer  Puritans  in  the  original  sense,  but  Separatists  pure  and  simple. 
Their  churches  were  organized  on  the  Plymouth  plan,  and  were  never 
connected  in  any  way  with  the  Established  Church  of  England. 

In  the  matter  of  local  government,  the  old  parish  system  of  Eng 
land,  half  ecclesiastical   and  half  political,  was  reproduced  in  the 
town  or  township.     But  it  soon  lost  its  religious  functions  and  be 
came  the  political  unit,  with  absolute  control  of  local 
ment  s°vern"  government ;  while  in  Virginia,  where  the  old  name  was 
retained,  the   opposite   ensued  —  the   parish   became  a 
religious  division,  while  the  county  became  the  political  unit.     This 
subject  will  be  treated  more  fully  in  our  chapter  on  Colonial  Life. 

1  Eggleston,  p.  213. 


COLONIZATION  — MASSACHUSETTS   BAY  107 

The  general  government  was  at  first  conducted  by  the  governor, 
deputy  governor,  and  the  assistants.  This  caused  discontent  among 
the  freemen  and  when,  in  1631,  a  tax  was  assessed  for  public  works, 
the  people  of  Watertown  protested  with  the  argument  that  it  was 
taxation  without  representation.  The  Watertown  protest  was  heeded 
and  the  freemen,  who  had  delegated  their  right  of  electing  the  gov 
ernor  to  the  assistants,  now  resumed  that  right,  and  to  punish  Win- 
throp  for  his  aristocratic  tendencies,  they  dropped  him  and  elected 
Dudley  governor.  Thus,  in  New  England,  as  well  as  in  the  South,  the 
democratic  tendency  was  apparent  almost  from  the  beginning.  •  But 
the  freemen  soon  found  it  inconvenient  for  all  to  meet 
in  General  Court,  and  they  established  the  represents 
tive  system.  Each  town  sent  two  delegates l  and  these, 
with  the  governor  and  assistants,  formed  the  General  Court,  which 
had  legislative  and  judicial  power.  The  freemen,  however,  continued 
to  meet  at  Boston  once  a  year  to  choose  a  governor  and  other  officials ; 
but  as  this  practice  became  inconvenient,  the  proxy  system  was  intro 
duced,  and  this  developed  into  the  system  of  written  ballots  and  sealed 
returns.2  In  1641,  the  General  Court  adopted  a  code  of  laws  known 
as  the  "  Body  of  Liberties."  Prior  to  this  they  had  been  governed 
by  the  common  law  of  England  and  the  precepts  of  the  Bible. 

The  settlers  of  the  Bay  colony  had  their  hardships,  —  the  long, 
harsh  winters,  the  unfertile  soil,  the  lurking  red  man,  often  hostile, 
and  other  obstacles  common  to  pioneer  life.  —  but  the  growth  of  the 
colony  was  phenomenal.  The  great  Puritan  exodus  continued  for 
ten  years,  and  by  1640  more  than  twenty  thousand  home  seekers 
had  sailed  into  the  harbors  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  Such  a  move 
ment  of  population  had  not  been  known  since  the  Crusades  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  Strong  houses  soon  took  the  place  of  the  early  built 
cabins  ;  herds  of  cattle,  goats,  and  swine  covered  the  countryside, 
and  ships  were  soon  carrying  loads  of  lumber,  salt  fish,  and  furs  to 
the  mother  country. 

No  one  was  more  astonished  at  the  growing  prosperity  of  the 
Puritan  commonwealth  than  was  the  despotic  king  who  had  granted 
the  charter.  From  the  ignoblest  of  motives,  therefore,  though  osten 
sibly  because  of  complaints  that  had  reached  his  ears  from  a  few  mal 
contents,  who  had  been  sent  back  to  England  by  the  Puritans,  King 
Charles  determined  (1635)  to  annul  the  charter.  A  writ  of  quo 

1  After  1636  the  delegates  were  from  one  to  three  according  to  population. 

2  Bishop's  "  History  of  Elections,"  p.  123  sq. 


108  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

warranto  was  issued,  and  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  an  uncompromising 
enemy  of  the  Puritans,  was  to  be  made  ruler  of  New  England.  But 
suddenly  the  opposition  to  the  king  became  so  threatening  in  Eng 
land  that  lie  dropped  the  matter,  and  the  charter  was  left  unharmed. 
The  people  of  Massachusetts  had  meantime  shown  a  spirit  of  defiance 
similar  to  that  by  which  their  posterity,  a  hundred  and  forty  years 
later,  drew  the  attention  of  the  world.  They  sent  a  messenger,  in 
the  person  of  Edward  Winslow  of  Plymouth,  to  London  to  plead  their 
cause,  but  at  the  same  time  they  fortified  their  coast  towns,  collected 
arms',  and  trained  militia.  When,  however,  the  king  abandoned  his 
designs  against  the  charter,  Massachusetts  became  practically  an  inde 
pendent  colony.  In  1643  even  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Crown 
was  dropped,  and  for  a  long  period  the  colony  was  wholly  without 
interference  from  royal  authority.  During  the  Civil  War  in  England, 
and  even  during  the  period  of  the  commonwealth  under  Cromwell, 
Massachusetts  followed  the  same  independent  course  as  before. 

The  governorship,  during  the  early  years  of  the  Bay  colony,  alter 
nated  between  Winthrop  and  Dudley.  But  in  1636  Harry  Vane,  a 
young  man  who  had  arrived  the  year  before,  the  son  and  heir  of  a  high 
official  in  England,  was  chosen  to  fill  the  office.  Vane  was  not  a  bad 
man,  but  he  was  radical,  and  his  selection  at  a  time  when  the  wisest 
heads  were  needed  to  guide  the  ship  of  state  proved  to  be  unwise. 

It  was  at  this  early  period  that  two  notable  events  mark  the  his 
tory  of  Massachusetts,  and  they  were  brought  about  by  two  notable 
persons,  —  Roger  Williams  and  Anne  Hutchinson.  Williams  was  a 
young  English  clergyman  of  great  strength  of  character  and  irrepres 
sible  enthusiasm.  In  his  own  land  he  found  no  rest,  on  account  of 
his  religious  teachings,  and  in  1631  made  his  way  with 
Williams  ^s  younS  w^e  to  ^ew  England.  Scarcely  had  he 
landed  when  his  troubles  began  anew.  He  seemed  like 
an  Ishmael  —  his  hand  against  every  man  and  every  man's  hand 
against  him.  He  stirred  up  opposition  at  Boston,  at  Plymouth,  and 
at  Salem.  He  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity ;  he  denied  the 
right  of  the  magistrate  to  punish  for  violations  of  the  first  table  of 
the  Decalogue;  he  denied  the  right  of  compelling  one  to  take  an 
oath ;  he  denounced  the  union  of  Church  and  State,  and  pronounced 
the  king's  patent  void,  as  the  Indians  were  the  true  owners  of  the 
land.  The  discontent  caused  by  Williams' s  doctrines  became  so  seri 
ous  that  the  General  Court  took  hold  of  the  matter  and,  after  a  second 
offense,  ordered  him  to  leave  the  colony  within  six  weeks.  He  still 


COLONIZATION  — MASSACHUSETTS   BAY  109 

kept  up  the  disturbance  and  it  was  decided  to  send  him  directly  to 

England.     Williams,  hearing  of  this  decision,  made  his  escape  into 

the   forest   and   wandered    about    for   fourteen    weeks, 

spending   his   nights  with   the   Indians,  or   in   hollow 

trees,  until  eventually  he  settled  in  one  spot  and  became  the  builder 

of  a  city  and  the  founder  of  a  state. 

Roger  Williams  has  been  looked  upon  as  an  apostle  of  religious 
liberty,  and  so  he  was.  His  ideas  were  far  in  advance  of  his  age, 
and  some  of  them  have  since  spread  throughout  the  Christian  world. 
We  admire  Williams  for  his  sincerity,  his  adherence  to  principles. 
But  he  was  impractical  and  wanting  in  tact.  He  was  mainly  right 
in  the  abstract,  but  wrong  in  his  methods  of  application.  He  was 
wrong  in  preaching  revolutionary  doctrines,  and  urging  them  on  a 
people  who  were  not  ready  for  them.  Had  the  colonists  followed 
him  in  declaring  the  royal  charter  valueless,  their  independence 
would  soon  have  come  to  an  end.  The  people  of  Massachusetts 
were  proud  of  their  theocratic  government ;  they  had  labored  and 
sacrificed  much  to  obtain  it,  and  probably  it  was  the  very  best  for 
them  at  the  time.  They  cannot,  therefore,  be  blamed  for  dealing 
with  Williams  as  they  did. 

Scarcely  had  the  affair  of  Roger  Williams  been  settled  when  the 
colonists  found  it  necessary  to  deal  with  another  religious  enthusi 
ast.  The  men  were  in  the  habit  of  holding  meetings,  to  which  the 
women  were  not  admitted,  to  discuss  public  and  religious  questions. 
Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson,  a  woman  of  talent  and  elo 
quence,  resented  this  insult  to  her  sex,  as  she  called  HUtc 
it,  and  began  to  hold  meetings  at  her  own  house.  Here 
they  discussed  theological  questions  and  put  forth  views  at  variance 
with  those  of  the  ministers  and  the  magistrates,  asserting  that  the 
latter  were  under  a  covenant  of  works  while  she  and  her  followers 
were  under  a  covenant  of  grace.  The  whole  colony  became  agitated 
with  the  subject.  John  Winthrop  and  most  of  the  magistrates  and 
ministers  opposed  the  new  doctrines,  while  the  young  Governor 
Vane  and  others  favored  them.  At  length,  after  Winthrop  had  been 
reflected  governor  and  Yane  had  sailed  for  England,  Mrs.  Hutchin 
son  was  exiled  from  the  colony.  She  made  her  way  to  a  new  anti- 
nomian  settlement  near  that  of  Roger  Williams,  whence,  after  a 
sojourn  of  several  years,  she  removed  farther  westward  and  was 
captured  and  murdered  by  the  Indians. 

About  twenty  years  after  the  Hutchinson  episode  another  and 


110  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

more  serious  affair  disturbed  the  peace  of  Massachusetts.  The 
Quakers,  a  religious  sect  newly  founded  in  England,  began  coining 
to  Massachusetts  in  1G56.  They  refused  to  take  an  oath  and  many 
thought  them  Jesuits  in  disguise.  Reports  of  their  extreme  fanati 
cism  had  reached  the  colonists,  and  the  first  arrivals  were  sent  back. 
Laws  were  then  enacted  to  prohibit  their  coming,  but  they  came  in 
defiance  of  the  laws.  At  length  a  law  was  passed  (there  was  but 
one  majority  in  the  lower  house)  pronouncing  the  death  sentence 
upon  any  Quaker  who,  having  been  once  banished,  should  return  to 
the  colony.  To  the  astonishment  of  all,  a  few  of  the  banished  ones 
returned  and  demanded  the  repeal  of  the  cruel  law.  Their  fanati 
cism  increased  with  the  persecution;  they  walked  the  streets  and 
Execution  of  entered  the  churches  in  a  nude  condition,1  denouncing 
Quakers,  the  laws  and  the  Puritan  form  of  worship.  The  author- 
1656.  ities  were  perplexed.  They  had  not  expected  to  have 

occasion  to  enforce  their  harsh  law ;  they  had  only  meant  to  keep 
out  a  people  whom  they  despised.  But  now  they  must  actually  put 
these  people  to  death  or  yield  to  their  demand  and  repeal  the  law. 
They  met  in  solemn  conclave  and  again  decided  by  one  majority  to 
enforce  the  law.  Four  of  the  Quakers  were  hanged. 

But  public  opinion  did  not  sustain  the  magistrates  and  the  law 
was  repealed.  Thus  the  Quakers,  by  sacrificing  a  few  lives,  won  a 
victory,  and  they  eventually  settled  down  and  became  quiet,  useful  citi 
zens,  devoting  much  of  their  energy  to  the  conversion  of  the  Indians. 

Another  popular  delusion,  still  more  serious  in  its  results,  was 
what  is  known  as  the  Salem  Witchcraft.  This  we  notice  here 
though  it  belongs  to  a  later  period.  The  witchcraft 
1692  Cra  '  craze  began  on  this  wise.  Some  young  girls  who  were 
in  the  habit  of  reading  witch  stories  imagined  themselves 
bewitched,  and  began  to  accuse  an  old  Indian  woman  and  others  of 
bewitching  them.  The  tale  was  believed,  and  the  excitement  it 
caused  spread  like  an  epidemic.  Hundreds  of  people,  accused  of 
being  witches,  were  thrown  into  prison ;  nineteen  were  hanged,  one, 
an  aged  man,  was  pressed  to  death,  and  two  died  in  prison  before 
the  crazy  superstition  had  spent  its  force. 

It  was  not  long  until  the  people  awoke  to  the  horror  of  their 
delusion,  and  then  they  bitterly  repented  their  folly  —  as  a  drunkard, 
in  his  sober  moments,  mourns  over  the  deeds  of  his  delirium.  It  is 
unjust  for  later  generations  to  make  this  delusion  a  ground  of  re- 

l  Lodge's  "  English  Colonies,"  p.  354. 


COLONIZATION  — MASSACHUSETTS   BAY  111 

proach  upon  the  people  of  New  England.  Be  it  remembered  that 
witchcraft  was  believed  in  at  this  time  in  every  part  of  the  civilized 
world,  and  thousands  had  been  put  to  death  in  Europe  for  the  same 
cause.1  When  it  is  remembered,  further,  that  the  religion  of  the 
Puritans  was  austere  and  somber,  that  the  people  were  given  to 
the  morbid  habit  of  introspection,  that  they  ever  had  to  battle  with 
the  dark,  frowning  forest  and  the  wily  Indian,  and  further  that  the 
age  was  a  superstitious  age  —  remembering  all  these  things,  we  can 
only  wonder  that  our  forefathers  were  not  more  frequently  the  vic 
tims  of  some  delusive  craze  than  they  were. 

Massachusetts  grew  and  prospered  greatly,  and  by  the  time  of 
the  Restoration  in  England,  in  1660,  the  colony  had  become  a  power 
ful  commonwealth.     The  independence  of  the  colony  was  largely 
due   to   the   internal    strife   and  frequent   changes  of   government 
in  England,   which  left  little  time  and  opportunity  to  deal  with 
matters  beyond  the  sea.     But  soon  after  Charles  II  became  king  he 
began  to  look  with  jealous  eye  upon  the  increasing  im-  ^^  of  Mas 
portance  of  Massachusetts  Bay.     He  accused  the  colo-  sachusetts 
nists  of  assuming  powers  not  warranted  in  the  charter  and  charter, 
of  violating  the  Navigation  Acts,  and  he  ceased  not  to 
harass  them  in  various  ways  until  the  last  year  of  his  life,  when  he  suc 
ceeded,  on  a  writ  of  quo  warranto,  in  having  the  charter  pronounced 
void  by  the  high  court  of  chancery,  and  the  liberties  of  the  great 
Puritan  commonwealth  were  temporarily  at  an  end.     Other  matters 
of  importance,  as  the  New  England  Confederacy,  King  Philip's  War, 
the  career  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  and  the  like,  belong  rather  to  the 
history  of  New  England  as  a  whole  than  to  that  of  one  colony,  and 
will  be  treated  in  a  later  chapter. 

CONNECTICUT 

The  other  New  England  colonies  were  founded  and  built  up  by 
the  same  class  of  people  that  had  settled  Massachusetts,  and  they 
were  actuated  by  much  the  same  motives  and  ambitions.  The  history 
of  the  one  as  given  is  therefore  in  substance  the  history  of  the  others. 
A  brief  notice,  however,  of  the  interior  settlements  is  here  in  place. 

The  people  of  Massachusetts  were  not  long  in  casting  their  eyes 
westward  from  their  own  barren  coast  to  the  fertile  valley  of  the 
Connecticut  River,  which  Adrian  Block,  the  Dutchman,  had  discov- 

1  The  law  in  England  imposing  death  for  witchcraft  was  not  repealed  for  forty 
years  after  this  Salem  delusion. 


112  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

ered  some  years  before ;  and  the  result  was  that  a  new  colony  was 
soon  flourishing  on  its  banks.    The  father  of  Connecticut  was  Thomas 
Hooker,  who  had  been  driven  from  his  native  land  by  the  persecut 
ing  Laud.     He  had  arrived  at  Boston,  in  1632,  in  the  same  ship  which 
bore  that  other  noted  divine,  John  Cotton.    Cotton  became 
Hooker          " the  ^uritan  Pastor  at  Boston,  and  Hooker  at  the  ad 
joining  village  of  Newtown,  now  Cambridge.     Hooker 
was  not  only  a  preacher  of  great  power ;  he  possessed  the  elements 
of  statesmanship  of  the  most  modern  type.     Governor  Winthrop, 
with  all  his  admirable  qualities,  was  an  aristocrat  to  the  core.     He 
believed  in  the  government  of  the.  many  by  the  few,  arid  it  was  he 
that  influenced  the  Bay  colony  to  create  freemen  out  of  the  citizens 
but  slowly,  and  to  limit  the  suffrage  to  members  of  the 
W°inthropnd      Church.     To  this  Hooker  could  not  agree.     A   sharp 
controversy  ensued  between  him  and  the  governor  of 
Massachusetts.    To  Winthrop  he  wrote  that,  "  In  matters  which  con 
cern  the  common  good,  a  general  council  chosen  by  all,  to  transact 
business  which  concern  all,  I  conceive  most  suitable  to  rule  and  most 
safe  for  relief  of  the  whole." 

This  was  modern  democracy  at  its  best,  nor  was  the  sentiment 
ever  surpassed  by  the  writer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
It  was  this  disagreement  with  the  powers  of  Massachusetts  that  led 
Hooker  to  dreams  of  pressing  farther  into  the  wilderness  and  found 
ing  another  colony.  Another  cause  for  this  desire,  as  some  think, 
was  that  he  was  disturbed  by  the  fact  that  his  rival,  John  Cotton, 
had  surpassed  him  in  winning  public  attention.  Cotton,  the  pastor 
at  Boston,  was  the  leading  clergyman,  the  religious  oracle  of  the 
colony;  while  Hooker,  conscious  of  equal  power  and  eloquence, 
believed  that  the  insignificance  of  the  town  in  which  he  was  located, 
away  from  the  harbor,  in  the  midst  of  an  unfertile  region,  had  much 
to  do  with  curbing  his  influence.  But  Hooker  was  a  man  of  spotless 
character,  and  his  ambition  to  extend  his  influence  was  an  ambition 
to  do  good. 

In  the  balmy  days  of  June,  1636,  the  famous  year  of  the  found 
ing  of  Providence  and  of  Harvard  College,  Hooker  and  his  entire 
Founding  of  congregation  migrated  on  foot  to  the  Connecticut  Val- 
Connecticut,  ley,  driving  their  cattle  before  them.  Here  they  found 
a  post  of  Plymouth  men  and  Dutch  traders  from  the 
Hudson  striving  for  the  mastery  ;  but  Hooker  ignored  both,  began 
the  town  of  Hartford,  and  thus  laid  the  foundations  of  a  new  com- 


COLONIZATION  — CONNECTICUT  113 

monwealth.  Other  congregations,  from  Dorchester  and  Watertown, 
soon  followed  and  founded  the  towns  of  \Vindsor  and  Wethersfield. 
Within  a  year  eight  hundred  people  had  found  their  way  into  the  valley. 

The  government  was  a  provisional  one  under  a  commission  from 
Massachusetts,  for  a  year,  when  the  three  towns,  with  the  scattered 
settlers  around,  banded  together  and  formed  a  little  independent 
republic ;  and  here,  in  a  rude  legislative  hall,  with  no  flare  of  trum 
pets,  occurred  one  of  the  great  events  of  early  American  annals  —  the 
production  of  the  first  written  constitution  in  history  that  really 
created  a  government.1  This  constitution,  known  as  the  Funda 
mental  Orders,  brought  forth  little  that  was  new ;  it  modeled  a 
government  after  that  of  Massachusetts,  the  chief  j-irst  written 
departures  being  that  a  governor  could  not  serve  two  constitution, 
successive  terms  and  especially  that  no  religious  test  be  1639- 
required  for  citizenship.  It  created  a  General  Court  with  legisla 
tive,  judicial,  and  administrative  powers,  while  local  town  govern 
ment  had  already  been  transplanted  from  the  mother  colony.  It 
provided  for  a  representative  government;  but  sixty  years  passed 
before  Connecticut  had  a  bicameral  legislature.  No  mention  what 
ever  was  made  by  the  Fundamental  Orders  of  the  British  govern 
ment  or  of  any  allegiance  to  the  king.  Here  on  the  banks  of  the 
Connecticut  was  one  of  the  birthplaces  of  modern  democracy,  with 
the  needful  elements  of  a  nationality ;  here  was  a  federal  govern 
ment,  a  prototype  in  miniature  of  the  present  government  of  the 
United  States,  which  is  to-day,  as  Mr.  Fiske  says,  "  in  lineal  descent 
more  nearly  related  to  that  of  Connecticut  than  to  that  of  any  of  the 
other  thirteen  colonies." 

This  constitution,  with  some  alterations,  was  in  force  for  one 
hundred  and  eighty  years.  John  Haynes  became  the  first  governor 
of  Connecticut.  Springfield,  founded  about  the  same  time,  remained 
a  part  of  Massachusetts. 

Meanwhile  John  Winthrop,  son  of  the  Massachusetts  governor, 
built  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut  River,  which  was  named 
Saybrook,  after  Lord  Say  and  Lord  Brook,  under  whose   New  Haven 
authority  he  acted.    Of  more  importance  was  the  found-   founded, 
ing  of   the  New  Haven  colony,  in  1638.     Kev.  John    1638- 
Davenport  and  Theophilus  Eaton,  a  wealthy  merchant  from  London, 

1  Neither  the  Mayflnwer  compact,  nor  the  agreements  of  the  Narragansett  com 
munities  had  created  a  form  of  government.  Osgood,  in  Political  Science  Quarterly, 
XIV,  p.  261. 


114  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

led  a  company  of  emigrants,  mostly  from  Massachusetts,  and  pitched 
their  tents  on  the  northern  shore  of  Long  Island  Sound.  Here  under 
a  great  oak  Davenport  expounded  the  Scriptures,  saying  that  the 
people,  like  the  Son  of  Man,  were  led  forth  into  the  wilderness  to  be 
tempted  ;  and  here  they  set  up  their  government  with  the  Mosaic 
law  as  their  code  adapted  to  their  conditions,  and  with  the  closest 
union  of  Church  and  State.  Eaton  was  made  governor  and  was 
reflected  annually  for  many  years.  Other  towns,  Milford,  Guilford, 
and  Stamford,  soon  came  into  existence,  and  these  united  with  New 
Haven,  all  taking  the  name  of  the  New  Haven  Colony. 
Thus  the  river  valley  and  the  northern  shore  of  the 
sound  gradually  became  peopled  with  Puritan  settlers.  These  two 
newborn  colonies  came  near  being  strangled  in  their  infancy.  Their 
dangers  were  twofold  —  from  the  Dutch  and  from  the  Indians. 
The  Dutch  of  New  Amsterdam  claimed  the  Connecticut  Valley,  and 
for  many  years  there  was  desultory  strife  between  them  and  the 
English  settlers,  when  at  length  the  latter  succeeded  in  driving  out 
the  former. 

But  the  greatest  menace  came  from  the  Indians,  and  scarcely 
had  these  infant  settlements  been  made  when  the  people  had  to  pass 
through  an  Indian  war,  the  first  in  New  England's  history,  and 
known  as  the  Pequot  War.  The  Pequot  Indians  had  murdered  a 
Virginia  trader  on  the  Connecticut  River,  and  John  Endicott 
marched  against  them  with  a  body  of  soldiers.  The  Indians  refused 
to  give  up  the  guilty  ones,  and  Endicott  burned  two  of  their  towns 
and  destroyed  their  crops.  The  next  spring  the  storm  broke  forth 
in  earnest.  The  Pequots,  who  had  been  murdering 
war  ^637  settlers  during  the  winter,  made  every  effort  to  enlist 
the  powerful  Narragansetts ;  but  the  alliance  was  pre 
vented  by  Roger  Williams.  A  company  of  about  eighty  white  men, 
accompanied  by  about  three  hundred  Indian  allies  of  the  Narragan- 
sett  and  Mohegan  tribes,  surprised  the  enemy  in  their  fort  at  day 
break  one  morning  in  May,  and  slew  more  than  six  hundred,  but 
seven  making  their  escape.  A  few  months  later  another  battle  was 
fought,  and  the  Pequot  power  was  utterly  broken.  The  chief,  Sas- 
sacus,  escaped  to  New  York  with  a  few  followers,  and  was  afterward 
murdered  by  one  of  his  own  subjects.  Thus  the  whole  tribe  was 
practically  exterminated,  and  for  forty  years  afterward  New  Eng 
land  was  free  from  Indian  wars. 

The  people  of  Connecticut  occupied  their  land  for  many  years 


COLONIZATION— RHODE  ISLAND  115 

without  any  title  to  it  except  what  they  had  from  the  Indians.  But 
in  1662  the  younger  Winthrop  secured  a  royal  charter  for  Connecti 
cut  from  Charles  II,  the  most  liberal  that  had  yet  been  given.  The 
only  restriction  was  that  the  laws  should  not  conflict  with  the  laws 
of  England.  This  charter,  creating  a  corporation  on  the  place,  was 
similar  to  that  of  Massachusetts,  to  which  the  king  objected.  One 
object  in  granting  it,  as  in  the  case  of  Rhode  Island,  was  to  encour 
age  rivalries  to  Massachusetts.  The  charter  included  the  New 
Haven  Colony ;  but  that  colony  sternly  resisted,  and  at  length  con 
sented  to  become  a  part  of  Connecticut  only  when  there  was  danger 
of  its  being  absorbed  by  New  York.  But  many  of  the  New  Haven 
people  emigrated  to  northern  New  Jersey  rather  than  come  under 
the  rule  of  Connecticut.  John  Winthrop  now  became  the  leading 
man  in  the  colony,  as  his  father  had  been  in  Massachusetts,  and  he 
held  the  office  of  governor  for  many  years.  After  the  serious 
trouble  with  King  James  II  and  with  Andros,  Connecticut,  still 
retaining  its  liberal  charter,  was  free  from  royal  interference,  and 
for  a  long  period  this  "  Land  of  Steady  Habits  "  was  the  most  peace 
ful  and  happy  of  all  the  English  colonies  in  America. 

RHODE    ISLAND   AND   PROVIDENCE   PLANTATIONS 

"We  have  noticed  the  flight  of  Roger  Williams  from  Salem,  and 
his  wandering  through  the  forest  in  search  of  a  place  to  rest  his 
head.  He  visited  the  good  old  chief  Massasoit,  who  received  him 
with  great  kindness,  and  Canonicus,  who  gave  him  a  tract  of  land  at 
the  head  of  Narragansett  Bay;  and  here  on  the  banks  of  a  little 
river  he,  with  five  followers,  laid  out  a  town  and  called  it  Providence. 
Soon  after  this  William  Coddington  and  John  Clark,  with  a  small 
following,  settled  011  the  little  island  of  Rhode  Island,  then  called 
Aquednok,  which  they  purchased  from  the  Indians,  and  founded 
the  town  of  Portsmouth.  These  settlers  were  but  twenty  in  number, 
but  they  adopted  an  agreement,  chose  Coddington  governor,  and  put 
into  motion  the  machinery  of  government.  The  Providence  people 
had  adopted  a  similar  agreement,  and  thus  they  had  two  miniature 
independent  commonwealths.  These  little  settlements  soon  attracted 
people  from  Massachusetts.  Mrs.  Hutchinsoii  came,  and  joined 
the  Coddington  settlement;  but  as  she  and  Coddington  could  not 
agree,  the  latter  left  the  place  in  1639  and  founded  Newport  on  the 
same  island.  Newport  and  Portsmouth  were  united  the  next  year, 


116  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

and  Coddington  was  made  governor.  These  communities  were 
founded  on  the  principle  of  absolute  freedom  of  conscience.  Most 
of  the  settlers  were  of  the  type  of  the  founders,  antinomians  and 
malcontents  —  men  who  could  not  endure  the  rigors  of  Puritan  the 
ology,  law,  and  custom.  In  fact,  their  spirit  of  freedom  was  extreme, 
and  it  went  wild.  They  could  not  agree  among  themselves,  and  for 
many  years  Rhode  Island  was  the  most  turbulent  of  all  the  New 
England  colonies.1 

Their  "  soul  liberty/'  as  Roger  Williams  termed  it,  did  not  ex 
tend  to  civil  matters.  In  Providence  only  heads  of  families  could 
vote,  all  unmarried  men  being  denied  the  right  of  suffrage.  Later 
the  suffrage  was  restricted  to  owners  of  land.  The  settlements,  being 
without  title  to  their  land,  sent  Williams  in  1643  to  England  to  secure 
a  charter.  The  king  and  Parliament  being  then  at  variance,  he  ob 
tained  his  charter  from  a  committee  of  the  latter,  and  on  his  return 
was  received  with  great  enthusiasm.  The  charter  was  issued  to  the 
"  Incorporation  of  Providence  Plantations  in  the  Narragansett  Bay 
in  New  England."  It  gave  the  people  power  to  govern  them 
selves,  but  was  simply  a  charter  of  incorporation  and  contained  no 
land  grant.2  The  town  of  Warwick  had  now  been  founded,  and  the 
four  towns  were  united  under  the  new  charter.  But  the  union  was 
short-lived.  Coddington,  in  1648,  obtained  a  separate  charter  for 
Portsmouth  and  Newport.  But  this  action  was  not  satisfactory,  and 
after  a  bitter  quarrel  of  several  years  the  four  towns  were  again 
united  under  the  charter  secured  by  Williams. 

After  the  Restoration,  however,  this  charter  granted  by  Parliament 
was  not  considered  valid,  and  in  1663  Roger  Williams  secured  from 
Charles  II  a  second  charter  for  "  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plan 
tations,"  which  confirmed  the  privileges  granted  by  the  first,  made  a 
land  grant,  and  provided  that  no  one  be  molested  "  for  any  difference 
in  opinion  in  matters  of  religion."  2  Here  was  the  spirit  of  Roger 
Williams  embodied  in  constitutional  law,  and  it  grew  and  expanded 
until  it  covered  all  Christendom.  But  with  sublime  inconsistency 
the  legislature  of  the  colony,  some  time  after  the  charter  was  granted, 
declared  that  "  Roman  Catholics  shall  not  enjoy  the  rights  of  free 
men."  So  liberal  was  this  charter  and  so  devoted  to  it  were  the 
people  that  it  remained  in  force  until  after  the  Dorr  Rebellion  of 
1842.  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  enjoyed  greater  freedom  of 

1  Winsor,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  337 ;  Lodge,  p.  389. 

2  See  Poore,  Vol.  II,  pp.  15-94. 


COLONIZATION  — NEW  HAMPSHIRE  117 

government  than  any  other  of  the  American  colonies.     They  were 
called  "two  little  republics  embosomed  within  a  great  empire."1 

The  colony  of  Ehode  Island  was  never  popular  among  its  neigh 
bors.  As  Doyle  says,  "  Rhode  Island  was  to  New  England  what 
New  England  as  a  whole  was  to  the  mother  country  "  —  an  outcast 
child  that  in  the  end  brought  glory  to  the  parent  state.  The  colony 
was  excluded  from  the  confederacy  of  1643,  and,  moreover,  it  was 
harassed  for  years  by  the  claims  upon  its  territory  by  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut.  But  the  people  were  plucky  and  they  successfully 
defended  their  rights,  and  in  spite  of  external  encroachments  and 
internal  dissensions  the  colony  grew  in  strength  and  importance,  and 
its  trade  extended  in  every  direction. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE 

The  territory  that  afterward  became  New  Hampshire  was  included 
in  a  grant  of  land  in  1622  by  the  Council  for  New  England  to  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges  and  John  Mason,  both  of  whom  had  been  inter 
ested  in  New  England  affairs  from  the  beginning.  The  grant 
extended  from  the  Merrimac  River  to  the  Kennebec.2  The  first  set 
tlement  was  made  in  1623  by  a'  Scotchman  named  Thomson,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Piscataqua  River,  and  was  called  Little  Harbor.  A 
few  years  later  Edward  Hilton,  a  London  fish  merchant,  founded 
Dover  six  miles  up  the  river.  He  was  soon  joined  by  his  brother 
William  and  several  families,  and  later  by  others  from  Massa 
chusetts. 

A  company  called  the  Laconia  Company  was  formed  in  England  in 
1629,  and  the  next  year  it  sent  a  vessel  to  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua, 
bearing  a  colony  of  settlers  with  Captain  Neal  as  governor.  Ports 
mouth,  first  called  Strawberry  Bank,  was  settled,  and  Governor  Neal 
spent  several  years  exploring  the  forest.  He  brought  back  a  dis 
couraging  report  to  his  company,  and  the  settlement  was  left  to  shift 
for  itself. 

In  1638  a  settlement  was  made  at  Exeter  between  the  Piscataqua 

1  Chalmers's  "  Introduction,"  Vol.  I,  p.  109. 

2  A  second  patent  to  New  Hampshire  was  granted  to  Mason  November  7,  1629, 
and  the  name  New  Hampshire  was  used  ;  ten  days  later  another  to  Gorges  and  Mason 
for  "  Laconia,"  and  two  years  later  still  another  to  the  same  for  the  land  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Piscataqua.     It  would  be  confusing  to  the  reader   to   attempt  to 
remember  all  the  land  grants  and  patents  in  addition  to  the  royal  charters  of  those 
times.    Many  of  the  charters  and  grants  conflict,  and  many  make  grants  of  lands 
whose  bounds  were  unknown. 


118  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

and  Merrimac  rivers  by  John  Wheelwright,  the  brother-in-law  of 
Mrs.  Hutchinson,  who  had  been  banished  from  Massachusetts. 

These  little  towns  had  come  into  existence,  each  independent  of 
the  others.  None  of  them  had  a  stable  government,  and  there  was 
constant  discord  and  turbulence.  In  1639  the  towns  formed  an  agree- 
N  H  ment  to  unite;  but  as  Massachusetts  claimed  this  terri- 

shire  joins  tory,  the  towns  at  length  agreed  to  come  under  her 
Massachu-  jurisdiction.  The  union  was  formed  in  1641,  the  people 
setts-  of  the  settlements  retaining  liberty  to  manage  their 

"  town  affairs,"  and  each  town  was  permitted  to  send  a  deputy  to  the 
General  Court  at  Boston. 

New  Hampshire  continued  a  part  of  Massachusetts  until  1679, 
when  the  king  separated  them.  He  joined  them  again  in  1686 ;  but 
they  were  finally  separated  in  1691,  and  New  Hampshire  again  be 
came  a  royal  province,  the  president  and  council  being  appointed  by 
the  Crown  and  the  assembly  elected  by  the  people.  Until  1741,  how 
ever,  the  governor  was  but  a  lieutenant  under  the  supervision  of  the 
governor  of  Massachusetts. 

New  Hampshire  grew  very  slowly  for  many  years.  The  chief 
cause  of  this  was  the  fact  that  the  heirs  of  Mason  claimed  the  right 
to  the  land,  and  their  infinite  disputes  and  litigations  with  the  settlers 
concerning  the  land  titles  repelled  home-seekers.  At  last,  after  a 
hundred  years  of  controversy,  the  Mason  heirs  were  satisfied  (1749) 
by  the  purchase  of  their  claims. 

In  1719  a  colony  of  Scotch-Irish  immigrants  settled  in  New  Hamp 
shire  and  founded  the  town  of  Londonderry,  so  named  from  the  city 
in  Ireland  from  which  they  came.  These  people  were  thrifty,  and 
they  soon  began  an  industry  which  they  had  learned  in  Ireland  — 
the  raising  of  flax  and  manufacturing  of  linen  goods.  The  goods 
made  by  means  of  the  old  spinning-wheel  in  these  humble  cabins  in 
the  forests  became  famous  over  all  New  England,  and  even  in  the 
mother  country. 

After  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  bitter  dispute  arose 

between  New  Hampshire  and  New  York  concerning  the  territory 

lying  west  of  the  Connecticut  Biver,  both  colonies  claiming  it.     One 

of  New  Hampshire's  governors  had  laid  out  about  one  hundred  and 

forty  townships  in  this  disputed  region.     These  were 

called  the  "New    Hampshire   Grants."      But   in  1765 

the  king   decided  the  contest   in   favor  of  New  York,  and  when 

the  governor  of  that  colony  ordered  the  settlers,  now  several  thou- 


COLONIZATION  — NEW   HAMPSHIRE  119 

sand  in  number,  to  repurchase  their  lands,  they  rose  in  rebellion. 
Led  by  Ethan  Allen  and  Seth  Warner,  both  afterward  famous  in  the 
War  of  the  Revolution,  the  "  Green  Mountain  Boys"  fought  off  the 
New  York  officers,  and  in  1777  they  declared  the  "  New  Hampshire 
Grants  "  an  independent  state  under  the  name  of  Vermont.  Four 
teen  years  later  Vermont  became  the  first  of  the  states,  aside  from 
the  original  thirteen,  to  enter  the  Union. 

The  two  proprietors  of  Laconia  had,  in  1629,  divided  their  pos 
sessions,  Mason  receiving  the  portion  that  became  New  Hampshire,1 
and  Gorges  the  eastern  portion,  which  was  called  Maine.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  the  Laconia  patent  was  simply  a  grant  of  land  from 
the  Council  for  New  England  and  not  a  royal  charter.  In  1639, 
however,  Gorges  received  from  Charles  I  a  royal  charter  for  Maine, 
from  the  Piscataqua  to  the  Kennebec  and  one  hundred  . 

and  twenty  miles  inland.  This  charter  was  similar  to  that 
of  Maryland,  erecting  a  county  palatine  and  proprietary  province. 
But  in  1677  the  heirs  of  Gorges  sold  their  rights  to  Massachusetts. 
The  territory  was  now  called  the  District  of  Maine,  and  under  this 
name  it  was  governed  by  the  elder  colony  for  nearly  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  when,  in  1820,  Maine  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a 
state. 

We  have  now  six  important  colonial  settlements  in  New  England, 
besides  many  smaller  ones  that  are  not  usually  accorded  the  dignity 
of  separate  colonies.  Two  of  these  six,  Hartford  and  New  Haven, 
had  united  and  become  one,  and  a  similar  union  was  to  be  effected 
between  two  others,  Massachusetts  Bay 2  and  Plymouth,  thus  reduc 
ing  the  number  to  four.3  These  four,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
Rhode  Island,  and  New  Hampshire,  were  among  the  thirteen  states, 
the  other  two  New  England  states,  Vermont  and  Maine,  as  we  have 
seen,  coming  into  the  Union  after  the  Revolution. 

Having  followed  the  settlements  of  the  various  New  England 
colonies,  let  us  now  take  a  brief  survey  of  matters  that  affected  all 
these  colonies,  during  what  may  be  termed  the  second  period  of 
their  existence. 

1  Mason  spoke  of  it  as  New  Hampshire  in  his  will  of  1635,  after  Hampshire  in 
England,  where  he  had  held  an  important  office ;  but  the  colony  was  not  so  called 
by  the  settlers  before  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.     For  a  hundred  years  and  more 
after  the  colony  was  settled  the  heirs  of  Mason  made  the  settlers  much  trouble  by 
claiming  their  lands. 

2  Massachusetts  was  called  Massachusetts  Bay  for  about  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  its  founding. 

3  The  union  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  being  temporary. 


CHAPTER   VI 

NEW    ENGLAND   AFFAIRS 

IMMEDIATELY  after  the  close  of  the  war  with  the  Pequot  Indians, 
there  came  a  proposition  from  Connecticut  for  a  union  of  the  New 
England  colonies,  for  the  purpose  of  protection  against  their  com 
mon  enemies.  After  several  years  of  negotiation,  this  proposition 
resulted  in 

THE  NEW  ENGLAND  CONFEDERATION  (1643-1684) 

This  union,  the  prototype  of  our  present  national  Union,  had  its 
origin  in  the  same  town  that  gave  to  the  world  its  first  written  con 
stitution,  and  the  same  that,  nearly  two  centuries  later,  became  the 
seat  of  the  famous  Hartford  Convention. 

The  articles  were  drawn  up  at  Boston  in  May,  1643,  by  the  lead 
ing  men  of  New  England.  Among  the  representatives  we  find 
Haynes,  governor  of  Hartford,  Eaton,  governor  of  New  Haven,  and 
from  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts,  Winslow  and  Winthrop.  Four 
colonies  only  entered  into  the  compact  —  Massachusetts  (including 
New  Hampshire),  Hartford,  New  Haven,  and  Plymouth  —  no  invi 
tation  to  join  the  union  being  extended  to  Rhode  Island,  or  to  the 
scattered  settlers  of  Maine.  Rhode  Island  was  left  out  for  obvious 
reasons,  and  Maine,  chiefly  because  most  of  the  settlers  were  of  the 
Established  Church. 

The  name  adopted  was  "  The  United  Colonies  of  New  England  "  ; 
the  union  was  a  loose  confederation,  each  colony  retaining  its  home 
government  as  before.  The  main  object  in  uniting  was  to  protect 
themselves  the  better  from  their  common  enemies  —  from  the  In 
dians  about  them,  from  the  Dutch  on  the  west,  the  French  on  the 
north,  and  even  from  possible  dangers  from  the  mother  country, 
which  was,  at  that  moment,  in  the  throes  of  civil  war.  The  union 
was  merely  a  business  arrangement ;  it  did  not  conduce  to  arouse  any 
particular  attachments  or  patriotism.  The  business  of  the  confed- 

120 


NEW   ENGLAND   AFFAIRS  121 

eration  was  to  be  transacted  by  a  commission  of  eight  men,  two  from 
each  colony ;  a  vote  of  six  was  required  to  carry  a  measure,  and  their 
vote  was  final.  The  expenses  as  well  as  the  spoils  of  war  were  to  be 
divided  among  the  colonies,  in  proportion  to  their  respective  male 
populations  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  threescore  years.  The 
articles  provided  for  the  delivering  up  of  the  runaway  slaves  and  of 
fugitives  from  justice.  This  feature  was  the  prototype  of  the  Fugi 
tive  Slave  Law  of  a  later  generation.  Provision  was  made  for  the 
admission  of  other  colonies,  and  that  the  union  should  be  perpetual. 

The  coalition  was  unfair  to  Massachusetts,  whose  people,  exceed 
ing  in  numbers  the  population  of  the  other  three  combined,  could 
thus  be  drawn  into  war  without  their  own  consent.  The  only  rem 
edy  lay  in  violating  the  compact,  and  this  Massachusetts  did  ten 
years  after  it  was  made,  by  refusing  to  engage  in  a  war  with  the 
Dutch,  nor  was  there  any  power  to  coerce  her.  The  union  was  very 
weak  after  1662,  when  New  Haven  was  joined  to  Connecticut ;  it 
continued,  however,  until  1684,  when  it  was  dissolved,  after  an  ex 
istence  of  forty -one  years.  The  coalition  had  been  very  useful  to  the 
people ;  it  had  given  weight  to  their  dealings  with  the  Dutch,  and 
it  carried  them  through  the  most  dangerous  Indian  conflict  of  colo 
nial  times.  It  also  furnished  a  precedent  for  colonial  union  in  later 
times. 

KING  PHILIP'S   WAR 

The  relations  of  the  colonists  to  the  Indians  were  threefold : 
they  traded  with  the  Indians,  they  fought  with  them,  and  they 
preached  the  gospel  to  them.  The  early  settlers  carried  on  trade 
with  the  natives,  because  it  was  profitable,  and  because  it  was  often 
necessary,  in  keeping  the  colonists  from  starvation.  They  sought 
from  pure  and  honest  motives  to  convert  the  red  men  to  Christianity. 
The  people  of  Massachusetts  were  foremost  in  this  laudable  ambition. 
The  Reverend  John  Eliot,  the  Apostle  to  the  Indians,  labored  for 
many  years  to  give  them  the  gospel,  and  translated  the  Bible  into 
their  language.1  Eliot  was  assisted  by  many  others,  and  many  of 
the  dusky  inhabitants  of  the  forest  learned  to  bow  down  to  the 
Christian's  God.  Nevertheless,  conflict  between  the  white  men  and 
the  Indians  was  at  times  inevitable.  The  Indian  could  not  under 
stand  the  perpetual  obligations  of  a  treaty,  nor  could  he  discriminate 
between  the  honest  settler  who  sought  only  to  do  him  good,  and  the 

1  This  translation  is  now  a  great  literary  curiosity.  No  man  can  read  it,  the 
language  having  perished  with  the  people  that  used  it. 


122  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

conscienceless  trader  who  defrauded  him.  Hence  the  two  races  were 
embroiled  in  wars  from  time  to  time,  until  the  stronger  race  finally 
triumphed  over  the  weaker,  and  took  sole  possession  of  the  land. 
No  other  result,  indeed,  was  possible.  The  two  races  were  so  unlike 
in  their  aspirations  and  their  capacity  for  civilization  that  they 
could  not  dwell  together,  and  barbarism  fell  before  the  onmarch 
of  civilization. 

Philip  was  the  son  of  Massasoit,  chief  of  the  Wampanoags,  who 
had  made  a  treaty  of  friendship  with  the  Pilgrims  of  Plymouth 
soon  after  their  landing.  This  treaty  had  been  faithfully  kept  for 
fifty  years,  but  soon  after  the  death  of  the  aged  chief,  Philip  and  his 
tribe  became  estranged  from  the  white  settlers  and  began  to  prepare 
for  war.  No  particular  cause  for  the  war  that  ensued  is  known.  It 
was  apparently  a  spontaneous  outburst,  rather  than  the  result  of  a 
conspiracy  of  the  Indians.  It  is  supposed  that  the  Indians,  seeing 
the  gradual  encroachment  of  the  white  men  upon  the  lands  of  their 
fathers,  determined  to  drive  the  intruders  from  the  country. 

The  war  began  with  an  Indian  attack  on  the  town  of  Swansea,  in 
which  several  men,  women,  and  children  were  killed.  The  cry  of 
alarm  instantly  spread  throughout  the  colonies  and  the  effect  was  im 
mediate.  Three  hours  after  the  messenger  had  reached 
Boston  a  body  of  men  was  on  the  march  from  that  city 
toward  the  Indian  country.  Other  towns  responded 
with  equal  vigor,  and  ere  many  days  the  New  England  forest  rang 
with  the  crack  of  the  musket  and  the  war  whoop  of  the  savage.  Had 
the  Indians  met  their  civilized  foe  in  open  battle  they  would  soon 
have  been  annihilated ;  but  their  method  was  to  attack  the  lonely 
farmhouse,  the  unprotected  settlement,  or  to  creep  by  stealth  at  dead 
of  night  upon  the  sleeping  hamlet  and  with  fiendish  yells  to  fall 
upon  their  victims  with  the  tomahawk. 

Philip  was  a  bold  and  powerful  leader.     He  succeeded  in  enlist 
ing  the  aid  of  the  Narragansetts ;  but  many  of  the  Indians,  especially 
those  converted  by  Eliot,  assisted  the  colonies.     In  the  summer  of 
1675  the  towns  of  Brookfield,  Deerfield,  and  Northfield  were  burned 
by  the  savages,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants  perished.     A  band  of 
soldiers   led    by  Captain  Beers  was  ambushed   near  Deerfield  and 
Goffe          alm°st  all  were  killed.     The  Indians  then  attacked  Had- 
ley,  and  while  the  villagers  were  fighting  desperately  it 
is  said  that  an  aged  man  with  flowing  white  hair  and  beard  appeared 
and  took  command  of  the  battle,  and  the  savages  were  soon  driven 


NEW   ENGLAND   AFFAIRS  123 

off.  Many  thought  him  an  angel  sent  from  heaven  for  their  deliver 
ance.  It  proved  to  be  Goffe,  the  regicide,  who  had  long  been  hiding 
in  the  town.1 

The  following  winter  a  thousand  of  the  best  men  of  New  England 
marched  against  the  savage  foe  ;  they  surprised  the  Narragansett  fort 
and  put  to  death  probably  seven  hundred  people  in  a  night.  By  the 
spring  of  1676  the  Indians  were  on  the  defensive.  Philip  became  a 
fugitive  and  escaped  his  pursuers  from  place  to  place. 
At  length  he  was  overtaken  in  a  swamp  in  Rhode 
Island  by  Captain  Ben  Church  of  Plymouth  and  was 
shot  dead  by  one  of  his  own  race.  The  war  soon  ended  ;  the  Indians 
had  lost  three  thousand  men,  their  power  was  utterly  broken,  and 
never  again  was  there  a  war  of  the  races  in  southern  New  England. 
But  the  cost  to  the  colonies  was  terrible.  Thirteen  towns  had  been 
laid  in  ashes ;  the  wilderness  was  marked  on  every  side  with  deso 
late  farms  and  ruined  homes.  A  thousand  of  the  brave  young  men 
had  fallen,  and  there  was  scarcely  a  fireside  that  was  not  a  place  of 
mourning.  The  public  debt  had  risen  to  an  enormous  figure,  falling 
most  heavily  on  Plymouth,  in  proportion  to  population.  In  this 
colony  alone  the  debt  reached  was  £15,000,  more,  it  was  said,  than 
the  entire  property  valuation  of  the  colony — but  this  debt  was  paid 
to  the  last  shilling. 

EDMUND   ANDROS 

•  Scarcely  had  this  disastrous  war  come  to  an  end  when  New  Eng 
land  was  called  upon  to  face  a  new  danger,  and  one  from  an  altogether 
different  source.  The  new  foe  was  the  British  monarch.  But  this 
was  not  the  beginning  of  the  trouble.  Fifteen  years  before,  soon 
after  Charles  II  had  come  to  the  throne,  he  became  embittered 
toward  the  people  of  New  England  for  refusing  to  give  up  the  regi 
cides,  Whalley  and  Goffe,  who  had  assisted  in  the  putting  to  death 
of  his  father.  This  feeling  of  the  king  was  heightened  by  the 
Massachusetts  Declaration  of  Rights  of  1661,  which,  while  profess 
ing  allegiance  to  the  king,  was  regarded  by  him  as  an  encroachment 
on  his  authority.  This  declaration  is  one  of  the  memorable  docu 
ments  of  the  colonial  era.  By  it  the  General  Court  declared  any 
imposition  contrary  to  their  own  just  laws,  not  repugnant  to  the, 
laws  of  England,  "  to  be  an  infringement "  of  their  rights.  This  was 

1  Goffe  and  his  father-in-law,  Whalley,  had  signed  the  death  warrant  of  King 
Charles  I,  and  after  the  Restoration  they  fled  to  America  and  lived  in  hiding  till 
their  death. 


124  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

aimed,  for  the  most  part,  at  the  Navigation  Acts.  It  has  the  true 
American  ring.  Doyle,  the  British  historian,  declares  that  it  seems 
to  take  us  forward  a  hundred  years,  and  that  the  "  men  of  1776  had 
nothing  to  add  to  or  take  from  the  words  of  their  ancestors." 

Commissioners  were  sent  to  the  colony  in  1664,  and  a  long  and 
fruitless  controversy  concerning  violations  of  the  Navigation  Acts  and 
other  matters  resulted.  Massachusetts  would  probably  have  lost  her 
charter  at  this  period  but  for  the  war  between  England  and  Holland. 
A  Dutch  fleet  had  entered  the  Thames  and  was  threatening  London. 
This  enlisted  the  full  energy  of  the  mother  country,  and  New  Eng 
land's  liberties  continued  for  some  years  longer. 

But  the  resentment  of  Charles  against  the  colonies  only  slumbered ; 
it  was  not  dead.  His  hands  being  again  free,  he  opened  the  old 
quarrel.  Massachusetts  was  the  chief  object  of  his  wrath,  nor  was 
it  difficult  for  him  to  find  grounds  of  accusation  against  the  colony : 
Massachu-  ^ier  disregard  °f  the  Navigation  Acts,  her  refusal  to 
setts  offends  allow  the  English  Church  within  the  colony,  her  pur- 
the  king.  chase  of  the  territory  of  Maine  ; l  and  even  the  inde 
pendent  way  in  which  the  New  England  colonies  had  managed  the 
Indian  war  was  offensive  to  the  Crown.  It  must  be  added,  how 
ever,  that  there  was  a  deep-laid  scheme  in  England  to  destroy  the 
separate  colonial  governments,  and  unite  all  New  England,  New 
York,  and  New  Jersey  under  one  government,  so  as  to  curb  the 
growing  spirit  of  liberty  and  to  resist  more  effectually  the  French 
aggressions  from  Canada. 

In  1676  Edward  Randolph,  an  officer  of  King  Charles,  and  an 
enemy  of  the  colony,  arrived  in  Boston.  His  complaints  to  the  king 
of  the  neglect  of  the  people  of  the  colony  to  observe  the  Navigation 
Acts  added  fuel  to  the  flame  of  the  monarch's  wrath.  Randolph 
set  about  to  build  up  a  more  liberal  party,  with  Tory  leanings,  in 
Massachusetts ;  and  it  must  be  added,  he  was  to  some  extent  success 
ful.  Times  had  changed  somewhat  in  Massachusetts  Bay.  The 
rigid  Puritan  rule  of  the  preceding  generation  had  softened.  The 
Puritan  party  in  England  had  waned,  and  no  longer  was  it  able  to 
fight  the  political  battles  of  its  American  offspring.  Moreover,  as 
men  in  the  colony  advanced  in  wealth  and  engaged  in  commerce  on 

1  It  was  about  this  time  that  the  heirs  of  Mason  and  Gorges  laid  claim  to  New 
Hampshire  and  Maine,  repudiating  the  dominion  of  Massachusetts.  They  won  their 
suit ;  New  Hampshire  became  a  royal  province,  but  Massachusetts  purchased  Maine 
of  Gorges's  heirs  for  £1250.  This  act  of  independence  greatly  incensed  the  king. 


NEW  ENGLAND   AFFAIRS  125 

the  high  seas,  they  were  unwilling  to  incur  the  displeasure  of  Eng 
land.  From  these  causes  and  through  the  efforts  of  Randolph  a 
moderate  party  grew  up  in  Church  and  State,  a  party  that  preferred 
a  moderate  course,  rather  than  one  of  open  defiance  to  the  king. 
The  attitude  of  this  party  made  it  easier  for  the  king  in  his  charter- 
breaking  campaign  than  it  would  have  been  had  the  people  of  the 
Bay  been  a  unit  in  their  opposition.  But  the  great  majority  of  the 
people  were  not  with  this  new  party.  The  colony  as  a  whole  re 
sisted  the  royal  encroachments  at  every  step  ;  but  after  a  long  legal 
struggle  of  nearly  eight  years  she  was  forced  to  give  up  LOSS  of  the 
that  noble  charter  which  Winthrop  had  brought  from  Eng-  charter, 
land  fifty-four  years  before,  and  which,  as  the  guardian  1684- 
of  their  liberties,  had  imbedded  itself  deeply  in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 
With  the  charter  went  the  independent  government  of  Massachusetts, 
to  return  no  more  for  a  hundred  years,1  when  a  later  generation  was 
to  rise  in  successful  rebellion  against  the  mother  country. 

In  the  year  following  this  triumph  of  the  Crown  King  Charles 
died,  and  his  brother,  James  II,  more  tyrannical  than  himself, 
began  his  short  and  turbulent  reign.  He  sent  Sir  Edmund  Andros, 
who  had  made  a  record  as  governor  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
to  govern  New  England  and  also  New  York  and  New 
Jersey.  Andros  arrived  late  in  1686,  and  made  his  seat 
in  Boston.  The  people  knew  and  despised  him,  nor 
did  his  brief  administration  do  aught  to  redeem  his  reputation.  As 
a  royal  officer  he  was  faithful,  but  he  had  little  respect  for  the  peo 
ple.  Instructed  to  make  laws  and  levy  taxes  without  a  legislative 
body,  by  the  aid  of  a  council  only,  he  was  not  slow  in  carrying  out 
his  instructions.  He  abolished  the  legislature  and  laid  taxes  at  his 
pleasure ;  he  even  took  from  the  local  town  meeting  its  power  of  tax 
ing;  he  sent  innocent  men  to  jail  and  curbed  the  liberty  of  the  press. 
This  was  exasperating  in  the  extreme,  but  the  acme  was  reached 
when  the  despotic  governor  attacked  the  titles  to  the  land,  pro 
nounced  many  of  them  void,  and  exacted  quitrents  from  the  owners. 

Andros  demanded  the  charter  of  Rhode  Island,  and  while  the 
charter  itself  was  placed  beyond  his  reach,2  the  colony  yielded  readily 
to  his  sway.      In  Connecticut  he  was  strongly  opposed, 
but,  appearing  in  person  at  Hartford,  he  demanded  the      ^^  er' 
charter.     The  assembly  was  in  session  and  Andros  pres 
ent.     The  session  was  prolonged  till  late  in  the  night,  when  suddenly 

i  Except  for  two  years,  1689-1691.  2  Winsor,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  339. 


126  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

the  lights  were  put  out,  as  tradition  informs  us,  and  Captain  Wads- 
worth  seized  the  precious  charter,  escaped  in  the  darkness,  and  hid  it 
in  the  hollow  of  an  oak  tree,  ever  after  known  as  the  Charter  Oak. 

Andros's  reign  in  New  England  was  that  of  a  despot.  As  Doyle 
says,  "  All  those  devices  of  tyranny  which  England  had  resisted, 
even  where  they  were  rare  and  exceptional,  were  now  adopted  as 
part  of  the  regular  machinery  of  government."  l  But  there  were 
breakers  ahead.  The  spirit  of  liberty,  fostered  by  a  half  century  of 
self-government,  could  not  be  crushed  in  the  New  England  heart. 
The  people  waited,  and  the  opportunity  came.  While  Andros  was  at 
the  height  of  his  power  a  copy  of  the  declaration  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange  to  the  English  people  reached  the  colony.  Andros  arrested 

•  1689  t^16  messenoer  tnat  brought  it,  but  he  could  not  arrest 
the  wild  shout  of  joy  that  rang  from  one  settlement  to 
another,  from  the  ocean  shore  to  the  river  valley.  Next  came  the 
news  of  the  prince's  landing  on  British  soil,  and  this  became  the 
signal  for  the  people  to  rise  in  rebellion  against  their  oppressor. 
Andros  was  seized  and  sent  a  prisoner  to  England,  and  the  people 
again  breathed  the  air  of  liberty. 

Soon  after  this  the  old  charters  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut 
were  declared  restored,  and  they  continued  in  operation  till  long 
Second  Mas-  after  the  Revolution.  Massachusetts  failed  to  recover 
sachusetts  her  old  charter,  but  was  granted  a  new  one.  By  this 
charter,  1691.  the  territory  of  the  colony  was  greatly  extended  through 
the  addition  of  Plymouth,  Maine,  and  Nova  Scotia.  But  the  ancient 
independence  was  gone.  The  laws  were  again  to  be  made  and  the 
taxes  levied  by  a  legislature  elected  by  the  people ;  but  every  act 
must  henceforth  be  sent  to  England  for  the  royal  approval,  and 
henceforth  the  governor,  his  deputy  and  secretary  were  to  be 
appointments  of  the  Crown.  The  new  charter  also  opened  the  door 
of  citizenship,  requiring  a  property  test,  but  no  longer  a  religious 
test.  This  feature  destroyed  forever  that  intimate  union  of  Church 
and  State  that  had  characterized  the  first  generation  in  Massachu 
setts  Bay.  The  Church  and  State  were  still  united,  but  the  Puritan 
hierarchy  had  full  control  of  the  government  no  longer.  One  feature 
of  this  charter  —  the  provision  that  the  council  be  elected  by  the 
retiring  council  and  the  assembly — rendered  it  unlike  any  other 
American  charter.  From  this  cause  Massachusetts  is  often  placed 
in  a  class  by  itself  as  a  semi-royal  colony. 

i  "  English  Colonies,"  Vol.  II,  p.  305. 


NEW  ENGLAND  AFFAIRS  127 

Regretfully  we  take  final  leave  of  Plymouth  as  a  separate 
orgauization  —  Plymouth,  the  oldest  of  the  New  England  colonies 
and  destined  in  future  ages  to  be  held  in  memory  the  most  sacred 
of  them  all.  For  seventy -one  years  the  colony  had  sailed  its  little 
boat  through  storm  and  sunshine,  but  from  this  time  its  identity 
must  be  lost  in  that  of  Massachusetts.  Of  the  original  band  of 
Pilgrims  who  had  left  England  in  the  Mayflower,  but  two  remained 
alive.1 

PURITAN  LAWS   AND   CHARACTER 

During  the  seventeenth  century  the  combined  New  England 
colonies  formed  practically,  if  we  except  Rhode  Island,  one  great 
Puritan  commonwealth.  They  were  under  separate  governments; 
but  their  aims  and  hopes,  their  laws,  for  the  most  part,  and  their 
past  history  were  the  same. 

The  people  as  a  whole  were  liberty-loving  in  the  extreme,  but 
the  individual  was  restrained  at  every  step  by  laws  that  no  free 
people  of  to-day  would  tolerate  for  an  hour.  Paternalism  in  gov 
ernment  was  the  rule  in  the  other  colonies  and  in  Europe,  but 
nowhere  was  it  carried  to  such  an  extreme  as  in  New  England. 
Here  the  civil  law  laid  its  hand  upon  the  citizen  in  his  business  and 
social  relations;  it  regulated  his  religious  affairs,  it  dictated  his 
dress,  and  even  invaded  the  home  circle  and  directed  his  family 
relations.  One  law  forbade  the  wearing  of  lace,  another  of  "  slashed 
cloaths  other  than  one  slash  in  each  sleeve  and  another  Early  New 
in  the  back."  The  length  and  width  of  a  lady's  sleeve  England 
was  solemnly  decided  by  law.  It  was  a  penal  offense  laws- 
for  a  man  to  wear  long  hair,  or  to  smoke  in  the  street,  or  for  a  youth  to 
court  a  maid  without  the  consent  of  her  parents.  A  man  was  not  per 
mitted  to  kiss  his  wife  in  public.  Captain  Kimble,  returning  from  a 
three-years'  ocean  voyage,  kissed  his  wife  on  his  own  doorstep  and 
spent  two  hours  in  the  stocks  for  his  "  lewed  and  unseemly  behavior." 

In  the  matter  of  education  the  Puritans  stood  in  the  forefront. 
Many  of  the  clergy  were  men  of  classical  education,  and  through 
their    efforts   Harvard   College   was   founded    but   six  Bounding  of 
years  after  the  great  exodus  began.     Before  the  middle   Harvard, 
of  the   century  Massachusetts  required  every  township   1636- 
of  fifty  families  to  employ  a  teacher  to  educate  the  young  in  reading 

1  The  two  survivors  were  John  Cooke,  who  died  in  1695,  and  Mary  Cushman, 
who  lived  seventy-nine  years  after  the  famous  voyage,  dying  in  1699.  Mary  Gush- 
man,  however,  was  survived  by  Peregrine  White,  the  child  born  on  the  Mayfloicer. 


128  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

and  writing,  while  every  township  of  one  hundred  families  must 
maintain  a  grammar  school.  The  other  colonies  soon  followed  with 
similar  requirements. 

But  the  most  striking  feature  in  the  life  of  New  England  is  found 
in  its  religion.  The  State  was  founded  on  religion,  and  religion  was 
its  life.  The  entire  political,  social,  and  industrial  fabric  was  built 
on  religion.  Puritanism  was  painfully  stern  and  somber;  it  was 
founded  on  the  strictest,  unmollified  Calvinism ;  it  breathed  the  air 
of  legalism  rather  than  of  free  grace,  and  received  its 
tan laws"  inspiration  from  the  Old  Testament  rather  than  the 
New.1  There  was  a  gleam  of  truth  in  the  charge  of 
Mrs.  Hutchinson  that  the  Puritans  lived  under  a  covenant  of  works. 
This  was  because  they  had  not  yet  fully  grasped  the  whole  truth 
of  divine  revelation.  No  further  proof  of  the  legalistic  tendencies 
of  Puritan  worship  is  needed  than  a  glance  at  their  own  laws.  A 
man,  for  example,  was  fined,  imprisoned,  or  whipped  for  non- 
attendance  at  church  services.  He  was  dealt  with  still  more  harshly 
if  he  spoke  against  religion  or  denied  the  divine  origin  of  any  book 
of  the  Bible.2  Laws  were  made  that  tended  to  force  the  conscience, 
to  curb  the  freedom  of  the  will,  and  to  suppress  the  natural  exuber 
ance  of  youth  — laws  that  could  not  have  been  enacted  and  enforced 
by  a  people  who  comprehended  the  full  meaning  of  Gospel  liberty, 
or  had  caught  that  keynote  of  religious  freedom  sounded  by  the 
ancient  prophet  and  resounded  by  St.  Paul  and  Luther,  "The  just 
shall  live  by  faith." 

Nevertheless  there  is  no  more  admirable  character  in  history 
than  the  New  England  Puritan  of  the  seventeenth  century.  His 
unswerving  devotion  to  duty,  his  unlimited  courage  based  on  the 
fear  of  God,  his  love  of  liberty  and  hatred  of  tyranny  —  these  are 
the  qualities  that  have  enthroned  him  in  the  memory  of  the  Ameri 
can  people.  We  deplore  the  narrowness  and  intolerance  of  the 
Puritans ;  but  they  were  less  narrow  and  intolerant  than  the  Eng 
lish  and  most  of  the  Europeans  of  that  day.  They  committed  errors, 
but  they  were  willing  to  confess  them  when  they  saw  them.  They 
banished  Roger  Williams  as  a  disturber  of  the  peace,  not  for  his 

1  The  Puritan  conscience  was  painfully  overwrought.    Nathan   Mather  wrote 
that  in  his  youth  he  went  astray  from  God  and  did  dreadful  things,  such  as  whittling 
behind  the  door  on  Sunday.     Sometimes  a  child  would  weep  and  wail  in  the  fear  that 
it  was  not  one  of  the  elect  and  would  go  to  hell. 

2  But  such  laws  were  not  peculiar  to  New  England.     See  the  Toleration  Act  of 
Maryland,  supra,  p.  80. 


NEW  ENGLAND   AFFAIRS  129 

opinions ;  but  they  bore  witness  to  his  spotless  character.  They 
executed  a  few  Quakers,  but  confessed  their  error  by  repealing  their 
own  law.  They  fell  into  the  witchcraft  delusion,  which  was  preva 
lent  throughout  Christendom  at  the  time  ;  but  they  were  first  to  see 
the  dreadful  blunder  they  had  made  and  they  were  not  too  proud  to 
publicly  confess  it.  Judge  Sewall  made,  before  a  large  congrega 
tion,  a  confession  of  his  error  as  only  a  hero  could  have  done ;  and 
he  begged  the  people  to  pray  "  that  God  might  not  visit  his  sin  upon 
him,  his  family,  or  upon  the  land."  Such  was  a  trait  of  the  Puritan 
character  that  leads  us  to  forget  his  faults  and  to  admire  rather  than 
censure  him. 

New  England  developed  steadily  throughout  the  colonial  era. 
The  people  were  chiefly  of  the  stanch  yeomanry,  the  great  middle 
class,  of  England.  Many  of  them  were  men  of  fortune  and  standing 
in  their  native  land.  The  people  of  Massachusetts  were  slow  in 
reaching  out  from  the  seaboard ;  not  till  about  1725  did  they  begin 
to  colonize  the  Berkshire  Hills.  The  Connecticut  Valley  was  more 
productive  than  any  other  part  of  New  England,  and  the  people  of 
Connecticut  were  more  purely  agricultural  in  their  pursuits  than 
were  those  of  any  other  portion,  except  New  Hampshire.  The  chief 
industry  of  Rhode  Island  was  trade,  while  Massachusetts  was  di 
vided,  agriculture  and  commerce  holding  about  equal  sway.  Six 
hundred  vessels  plied  between  Boston  and  foreign  ports,  while  the 
number  of  coasting  vessels  was  still  greater. 

Manufacturing  was  carried  on,  but  not  on  any  great  scale.     Saw 
mills  and  gristmills  were  numerous  along  the  rivers,  and  they  did 
a  large   business   in   preparing   timber   and    grain  for  Development 
transportation.     Hats  and  paper  and  other  commodities  of  New  Eng- 
were  made  on  a  small  scale ;  but  the  most  extensive  land- 
manufacturing  was  carried  on  by  the  farmers  and  their  families,  who 
made  many  of  the  utensils  for  their  own  home  use,  as  will  be  noticed 
in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

The  stern  Puritan  customs  were  gradually  softened,  more  rapidly 
in  Massachusetts  than  in  Connecticut,  owing  to  the  many  Crown  offi 
cers  residing  in  Boston.  The  first  attempts  to  introduce  the  Episcopal 
form  of  religion  were  sternly  resisted,  but  at  length  it  found  a  footing, 
though  not  in  Connecticut  till  well  into  the  eighteenth  century.  About 
1734  a  religious  revival,  started  by  Jonathan  Edwards  and  carried  on 
by  George  Whitefield,  the  evangelist,  spread  over  parts  of  New  Eng 
land,  and  to  some  extent  revived  the  waning  Puritan  religious  fervor. 


130  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

The  population  at  the  opening  of  the  Revolution  reached  nearly 
700,000,  about  300,000  of  which  was  in  Massachusetts,  including 
Maine.  Connecticut  contained  about  200,000  people,  New  Hamp 
shire  some  75,000,  and  Ehode  Island  some  SOjOOO.1  All  the  colonies 
had  negro  slaves,  but  very  few  in  comparison  with  the  southern 
colonies.  Probably  there  were  not  more  than  15,000  slaves  in  all 
New  England,  of  whom  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  had  the 
majority.  Indented  servants  were  slow  in  coming  to  New  England, 
and  when  they  came,  their  rights  were  guarded  by  salutary  laws. 

i  See  Lodge,  p.  408. 


CHAPTER  VII 

COLONIZATION— THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES 

THE  nine  colonies  whose  early  history  we  have  traced  were  all 
established  by  Englishmen;  but  we  have  now  to  notice  one,  des 
tined  in  future  to  be  the  most  populous  and  wealthy  community  of 
them  all,  which  was  founded  and  controlled  for  forty  years  by  a 
different  people  —  the  Dutch.  The  people  of  Holland,1  after  a  long 
and  terrible  war  with  Spain,  had  won  religious  and  political  inde 
pendence.  With  the  fall  of  the  Spanish  Armada  the  naval  power 
of  the  Dutch  began  to  rise,  and  by  the  coming  of  peace  in  1609,  the 
Briton  alone  could  rival  the  Hollander  upon  the  sea. 

The  Dutch  had  taken  possession  of  the  Molucca  Islands  and  had 
seized  from  Portugal  the  control  of  the  Indian  Ocean.     Their  navi 
gators  were  unsurpassed  in  daring  adventure.    They  traded  with  the 
Mongolian  of  the  Orient  and  introduced  the  use  of  tea  and  coffee 
into  Europe;    they  sailed  around  South  America   and   gave   Cape 
Horn  its  name,  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  planted  a  colony 
in  South  Africa ;  they  discovered,  in  1606,  the  far-away 
continent  of  Australia,  and  later  the  islands  of  New  gators naV1" 
Zealand  and  Tasmania.     In  their  effort  to  find  a  north 
east  passage  to  China  they  sailed  between  Nova  Zembla  and  the 
North  Pole  and  reached  a  higher  latitude  than  had  ever  before  been 
reached  by  man.     Their  vessels  also  plowed  the  icy  waters  of  the 
Antarctic  seas,  where  they  discovered  dreary,  unpeopled  lands  where 
human  feet  had  never  been. 

As  early  as  1597  the  Dutch  made  voyages  to  the  West  Indies, 
but  it  was  left  for  an  Englishman  in  the  employ  of  the  Netherlands 
to  make  the  one  and  only  discovery  in  the  New  World  by  which 
that  nation  is  remembered.  The  Dutch  East  India  Company,  a 
great  organization  trading  with  the  Orient,  was  exceedingly  anxious 
to  find  a  shorter  passage  to  the  China  seas.  It  sent  Henry  Hudson 
in  search  of  a  northeast  passage,  but  Hudson,  after  a  vain  attempt 

i  Holland  was  the  most  important  state  of  the  Netherlands,  and  the  term  is  often 
used  foi-  the  whole  country. 

131 


132  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

covering  several  months,  turned  his  little  vessel  to  the  waters  of 
the  West.  The  continental  character  of  southern  North 
vo  aelj8  America  was  known  through  the  discoveries  of  De  Soto, 
Coronado,  and  De  Vaca ;  but  the  northern  portion  of  that 
continent  was  still  believed  to  be  an  open  sea  through  which  a  pas 
sage  to  the  Orient  would  yet  be  found,  and  it  was  this  delusion  of 
a  hundred  years  that  brought  Hudson  to  the  western  world.  He 
carried  with  him  a  letter  from  his  friend,  John  Smith,  with  whose 
exploits  in  Virginia  every  reader  is  familiar.  Smith  informed  Hud 
son  of  his  exploring  the  Chesapeake  the  year  before  and  of  his 
belief  that  the  coveted  passage  might  be  found  a  little  farther 
northward.  Hudson  now  sailed  down  the  New  England  coast,  and 
in  September,  1609,  he  entered  the  broad  and  beautiful  river  that 
bears  his  name.  He  sailed  up  the  river  to  the  site  of  Albany,  and 
the  impressions  he  received  from  the  majestic  beauty  of  the  pali 
sades,  the  kindly  treatment  of  the  natives,  and  the  many-colored 
forest,  robed  in  its  autumnal  foliage,  led  him  to  write  that  it  was 
"  as  fair  a  land  as  was  ever  trodden  by  the  foot  of  man."  l 

Hudson  had  also  sailed  into  Delaware  Bay,  and  in  consequence  of 
his  discoveries  Holland  laid  claim  to  the  valleys  of  the  Hudson  and  the 
Delaware,  then  called  the  North  and  South  rivers,  and  the  country  be 
tween  them  was  named  New  Netherland.  Trading  posts  were  soon 
established  on  Manhattan  Island  and  up  the  Hudson,  but  nothing  was 
done  at  this  time  toward  planting  a  permanent  colony.2  The  Dutch 
West  India  Company  was  chartered  by  the  States-General  of  the 

1  But  Hudson  was  not  the  first  white  man  to  enter  the  New  York  Bay.    The  bay 
and  river  had  been  discovered  by  Giovanni  Verrazano,  a  Florentine  in  the  employ 
of  the  French  king,  as  early  as  1524,  and  again  the  following  year  by  the  Spaniard, 
Estevan  Gomez.     After  that  French  vessels  frequently  ascended  the  Hudson  as  far 
as  Albany,  trading  with  the  Indians,  but  their  voyages  had  ceased  and  were  well-nigh 
forgotten  when  Hudson  rediscovered  the  river.     (See  Fiske's  "Dutch  and  Quaker 
Colonies,"  Vol.  I,  p.  68  sq.)     While  Hudson  was  exploring  the  Hudson  River,  Cham- 
plain  was  not  far  away,  exploring  the  lake  that  bears  his  name,  and  John  Smith  was 
bartering  with  the  Indians  in  the  wilderness   of   Virginia  (ibid.,  p.  96).    Hudson, 
returning,  was  detained  in  England  by  King  James,  who  determined  that  so  great 
an  English  voyager  should  no  longer  be  employed   by  foreigners.    The  next  year 
(1610)  Hudson  set  forth  in  an  English  ship,  and  while  in  the  great  bay,  afterward 
called  by  his  name,  his  mutinous  crew  "set  him  adrift,  with  his  son  and  a  few  others, 
in  an  open  boat,  while  they  returned  to  England.     On  arriving,  the  crew  were  sent 
to  jail  and  an  expedition  sent  to  search  for  Hudson,  but  the  great  navigator  was 
never  again  seen  nor  heard  of. 

2  In  1614  Hendrick  Christiansen  built  Fort  Orange  near  the  site  of  Albany. 
Adrian  Block  explored  Long  Island  Sound,  and  Cornelius  May  sailed  into  the  Dela 
ware  Bay.     At  the  same  time  a  few  traders  had  settled  on  Manhattan  Island. 


COLONIZATION  — THE   MIDDLE    COLONIES  133 

Netherlands  in  1621.  It  was  a  gigantic  monopoly  (successor  to  a  short 
lived  company  called  the  New  Netherland  Company)  to  wh'ich  was 
given  control  of  all  Dutch  navigation  on  the  coasts  of  Africa  and 
America.  This  company  was  given  very  extensive  commercial  and 
governmental  powers,  but  it  was  answerable  to  the  home  government. 

It  was  three  years  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  at 
Plymouth  that  this  company  sent  a  small  Dutch  vessel,  with  some 
thirty  families,  chiefly  Walloons  (Dutch  word  for  strangers),  Protes 
tant  refugees  from  Belgium,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson.  A  few  of 
them  debarked  at  Manhattan,  but  the  majority  sailed  up  the  Hudson 
and  settled  at  Fort  Nassau,  later  called  Fort  Orange,  now  Albany. 
Almost  simultaneously  with  this  the  Dutch  built  Fort  Nassau  on 
the  Delaware,  just  below  the  present  city  of  Camden,  a  few  Dutch 
families  settled  on  Long  Island,  and  some  Dutch  traders  established 
a  post  on  the  Connecticut  River  at  the  site  of  Hartford.  The  Dutch 
had  laid  claim  to  the  entire  vast  region  between  Chesapeake  Bay  and 
Cape  Cod,  through  the  discoveries  of  Hudson  and  Block,  and  by 
these  settlements  they  were  making  good  their  claim. 

The  English  also  claimed  this  whole  territory  ;  but  as  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  was  raging  in  Germany,  and  the  Spanish  war  cloud  was 
darkening  over  the  British  Isles,  it  was  thought  best  not  to  make  an 
enemy  of  Holland.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Dutch  and  British 
entered  into  a  defensive  alliance  against  Spain.  This  continued  for 
several  years,  during  which  the  Dutch  on  the  Hudson  were  safe 
from  English  interference.  At  the  end  of  this  period  came  the  great 
internal  conflict  in  England — the  strife  between  Charles  I  and  the 
Puritans,  the  Civil  War,  the  execution  of  the  king,  the  dictator 
ship  of  Cromwell  —  covering  in  all  nearly  forty  years  ;  and  during 
these  forty  years  the  Dutch  were  left  in  control  of  the  Hudson  Val 
ley  ;  then  came  the  reckoning,  as  we  shall  see  on  a  later  page. 

The  first  director  of  the  Dutch  colonies  was  Cornelius  May  ;  but  in 
1626  Peter  Minuit  was  appointed  to  this  office,  and,  arriving  at  Man 
hattan,  he  purchased  the  entire  island  of  the  Indians,  some  twenty-two 
thousand  acres,  for  twenty-four  dollars'  worth  of  beads  and  ribbons. 
Perhaps  no  other  equal  area  in  the  world  is  now  worth  so  vast  a  sum 
of  money  as  Manhattan  Island.  Minuit  built  a  fort  at  the  southern 
point  and  called  it 

NEW  AMSTERDAM 

Thus  began  the  great  metropolis  of  the  New  World,  now  New 
York  City.  The  government  of  the  new  colony  was  carried  on  by 


134  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Governor,  or  "Director  General,"  Minuit  and  a  council  of  five 
appointed  by  the  company  in  Holland.  It  was  very  similar  to  the 
government  of  Virginia  before  the  first  House  of  Burgesses  was 
elected.  The  people  had  no  voice  whatever  in  their  own  govern 
ment.  Because  of  this  and  of  the  fact  that  in  Holland  the  people 
enjoyed  peace  and  religious  liberty  the  migration  was  slow,  and  at 
the  end  of  five  years  but  three  hundred  people  lived  on  Manhattan 
Island.  The  company  thereupon  offered  great  inducements  to  attract 
colonists.  It  issued  its  charter  of  "privileges  and  exemptions" 
(1629),  by  which  the  patroon  system  was  established.  Under  this 
system  any  member  of  the  West  India  Company  who  would  bring  or 
send  at  least  fifty  settlers  fifteen  years  of  age  or  over,  was  granted 
an  estate  of  sixteen  miles  frontage  on  one  side  of  a  river  or  bay,  or 
eight  miles  on  each  side  of  a  river,  and  as  far  inland  "  as  the  situa 
tion  of  the  occupiers  will  admit."  The  Hudson  Valley  was  soon 
dotted  with  these  estates,  and  thus  was  planted  in  America  a  feudal 
system  very  similar  to  those  of  the  Old  World.1  The  patroon  was 
bound  to  provide  a  farm  ready  stocked  for  each  of  his  tenants,  and 
to  provide  a  schoolmaster  and  minister  of  the  gospel  for  each  settle 
ment.  He  had  full  control  of  the  government  and  courts.  The 
tenants  were  temporarily  serfs,  as  they  were  obliged  to  remain  on 
the  land  for  ten  years.  They  were  also  obliged  to  sell  their  produce 
to  the  patroon,  to  grind  their  corn  at  his  mill,  and,  after  a  certain 
time,  to  pay  him  a  small  annual  rent.  The  most  noted  of  the 
patroons  became  the  founders  of  the  great  families,  afterward  so 
VanTwiller  prominent  in  New  York — the  Van  Eensselaers,  the 
succeeds  Schuylers,  the  Livingstons,  and  others.2  The  company 

Minuit,  1632.  an(j  patroons  were  soon  quarreling,  and  the  dispute  was 
carried  to  the  States-General.  One  result  was  the  recall  of  Minuit, 
who  was  accused  of  favoring  the  patroons.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Wouter  van  T wilier,  who,  after  five  years  of  misrule,  in  which  he 
enriched  himself  and  wasted  the  company's  money,  was  recalled. 
William  Kieft  then  became  governor. 

Up  to  this  time  New  Netherland  had  not  attracted  the  home 

1  The  patroons  also  made  settlements  on  the  Delaware,  but  these  did  not  flourish 
and  were  short-lived. 

2  These  great  estates,  transmitted  from  generation  to  generation,  were  held  in 
the  same  families  for  more  than  two  centuries.     On  the  death,  in  1839,  of  Stephen 
van  Rensselaer,  one  of  the  greatest  landholders,  his  tenants  refused  to  pay  rent  to 
his  successor,  and  hence  arose  the  anti-rent  riots  in  New  York.     The  courts  decided 
in  favor  of  the  tenants  in  1852. 


COLONIZATION  — NEW   AMSTERDAM  135 

seeker.  The  best  land  had  been  occupied  by  the  patroons,  and 
the  settlers  were  scarcely  more  than  servants.  The  company  had 
held,  or  attempted  to  hold,  the  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade.  But 
now  the  trade,  as  also  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  was  thrown  open 
to  all,  while  the  patroon  privileges  were  greatly  restricted.  The 
effect  was  magical.  People  came  from  New  England;  Kedemp- 
tioners  1  from  Maryland  and  Virginia;  peasant  farmers  from  con 
tinental  Europe;  the  rich  and  the  educated,  as  well  as  the  poor, 
from  various  parts  of  the  world  came,  though  not  in  large  num 
bers,  to  the  valley  of  the  Hudson,  and  made  it  their  permanent 
home.  It  is  said  that  in  1643  no  less  than  eighteen  languages 
were  spoken  in  New  Amsterdam  —  and  the  great  city  into  which 
it  has  grown  has  never  since  lost  its  cosmopolitan  character. 

Kief t  was  a  bustling,  energetic  man,  but  he  was  an  autocrat  and  a 
tyrant.    He  was  governor  for  about  ten  years  and  they  were  years  of 
storm  and  disorder.     He  quarreled  with  the  Swedes  on 
the  Delaware,  with  the  English  on  the  Connecticut,  and 
with  the  Indians  on  all  sides.     Before  his  time  the  Dutch  had  lived 
at  peace  with  the  Indians  and  had  profited  greatly  by  the  fur  trade ; 
but  Kieft  was  wanting  in  discretion  and  capacity,  and  disastrous 
Indian  wars  marked  his  governorship. 

When  about  to  engage  in  an  Indian  war  this  autocratic  ruler 
found  it  necessary  to  consult  the  people.  He  thereupon  called 
an  assembly  of  the  heads  of  families,  and  these  chose  a  board  of 
Twelve  Men,  with  De  Vries,  one  of  the  best  men  in  the  colony,  as  its 
chairman,  to  advise  with  the  governor.  This  improvised  Parliament 
authorized  the  raising  of  money  for  the  war  and  demanded  that  the 
people  be  permitted  to  elect  the  governor's  council. 
Kieft  agreed  reluctantly,  but  soon  forgot  his  promise  Jj2lTwelve 
and  resumed  his  despotic  rule.  His  treacherous  policy 
with  the  Indians  caused  a  general  uprising  of  the  Algonquin  tribes 
and  many  were  the  bloody  massacres  in  the  country  around.  Among 
the  victims  was  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson,  who  had  been  driven  from 
Massachusetts,  with  all  her  large  family,  except  a  little  grand 
daughter  who  was  made  captive.  The  very  existence  of  the  Dutch 
colony  now  hung  in  the  balance,  and  it  might  have  been  annihilated 
but  for  the  coming  of  an  Englishman  from  Massachusetts  —  John 

1  Redemptioners  were  persons  who  were  sold  into  service  for  a  certain  number 
of  years  as  payment  for  their  passage  across  the  sea.  Many  of  these,  on  gaining 
their  freedom,  preferred  to  remove  to  another  colony,  away  from  the  scenes  of  their 
servitude. 


136  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Underbill,  hero  of  the  Pequot  War.  Underbill,  with  an  army  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  brave  Dutchmen,  fell  at  midnight  on  the  Indian 
stronghold  in  the  mountains  north  of  Stamford,  and  put  seven  hun 
dred  warriors  to  the  sword  before  daybreak.  This  broke  the  Indian 
power,  brought  peace,  and  saved  the  colony  of  New  Netherland. 

But  peace  did  not  come  to  the  hot-headed  governor.  Again  he 
was  obliged  to  call  an  assembly  —  Eight  Men  this  time.  But  no 
more  could  he  agree  with  them  than  formerly  with  the  Twelve  Men. 
When  they  protested  against  his  methods  of  taxation,  he  lost  his 
temper.  "In  this  country  I  ani  my  own  master  and  may  do  as  I 
please,"  said  the  irate  Kieft.  But  the  people  were  exasperated  and 
in  their  behalf  the  Eight  Men  appealed  to  the  States-General.  They 
blamed  .Kieft  for  the  pitiful  condition  of  the  colony,  begged  that  a 
new  governor  be  sent  them  and  that  the  people  be  given  some  voice 
in  the  government,  or  that  they  be  permitted  to  return  with  their 
wives  and  children  to  their  dear  fatherland.  This  petition  had  some 
effect.  Governor  Kieft  was  dismissed  by  the  company,  and  Peter 
Stuyvesant,  the  last  and  most  famous  of  the  Dutch  governors,  became 
his  successor.  Kieft  sailed  for  Holland,  but  the  vessel  was  wrecked 
at  sea,  and  the  fallen  governor  was  among  the  lost. 

Stuyvesant  was  a  sturdy,  self-willed,  obstinate  old  fellow,  with 
little  culture  and  much  strength  of  character.  He  was  a  man  of 
great  energy  and  no  doubt  his  intentions  were  honorable ;  but  he 
peter  was  a  born  autocrat,  had  no  sympathy  with  democracy 

Stuyvesant,  and  no  power  to  read  public  opinion.  He  was  an  ex- 
1647-1664.  perienced  soldier  and  had  lost  a  leg  in  battle.  With  all 
his  faults  he  was  a  vast  improvement  over  Van  Twiller  and  Kieft. 
But  he  was  never  popular,  and  on  one  occasion  the  people  demanded 
his  recall,  but  the  company  refused  to  grant  their  request. 

The  government  of  New  Netherland  had  been  thus  far  almost  a 
despotism,  and  its  chief  object  in  existing  was  to  enrich  a  company 
of  traders.  But  the  settlers  now  determined  to  demand  their  rights 
—  a  share  in  their  own  government.  The  more  were  they  urged  to 
this  step  when  they  compared  their  own  condition  to  that  of  the 
self-governing  English  colonies  about  them.  The  haughty  governor 
was  forced  to  yield,  and  he  chose  Nine  Men  as  his 
counselors,  from  a  larger  number  selected  by  the 
people.  These  men  protested  against  the  high  taxes 
and  the  heavy  export  duties,  and  they  petitioned  the  home  govern 
ment  to  cancel  the  company's  charter  and  grant  the  colony  a  repre- 


COLONIZATION  — NEW   AMSTERDAM  137 

sentative  government  similar  to  that  enjoyed  by  the  people  in 
Holland.  The  petition  for  popular  government  was  reluctantly 
granted  by  the  company  ;  but  so  skillfully  did  the  imperious  old 
governor  manage  the  election  that  he  succeeded  in  retaining  almost 
the  entire  governing  power  in  his  own  hands.  When  the  iron- 
willed  governor  at  length  permitted  an  assembly  of  delegates  from 
a  number  of  the  towns  to  convene,  he  sat  with  them  in  the  legisla 
tive  hall,  where  the  loud  stamping  of  his  wooden  leg  on  the  floor 
warned  them  when  matters  were  not  going  as  he  desired.  After  a 
session  of  but  four  days  he  dissolved  the  assembly,  and  for  ten  years 
(1653-1663)  there  was  no  meeting  of  the  representatives  of  the  people. 

The  population  of  New  Netherland  increased  slowly  till  1653, 
when  there  were  two  thousand  residents,  eight  hundred  of  whom 
belonged  to  New  Amsterdam,  which  had  been  incorporated  that 
year.  About  this  time  a  book  describing  the  colony  was  published 
in  Holland,  and  it  created  a  great  interest  among  all  classes.  From 
this  time  a  stream  of  emigration  poured  into  the  Hudson  Valley, 
and  by  1664  the  population  reached  ten  thousand,  having  increased 
fivefold  in  eleven  years. 

Governor  Stuyvesant,  however,  is  remembered  more  on  account 
of  his  relations  to  the  English  and  the  Swedes  than  for  his  domestic 
affairs.  After  two  or  three  years'  dispute  with  the  people  of  New 
England,  he  agreed  with  them  to  fix  the  western  boundary  of  Con 
necticut  about  where  it  now  is,  and  the  Dutch  from  this  time  ceased 
to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  Connecticut  Valley.  But  of  greater  impor 
tance  was  Stuy  vesant's  dealings  with  the  Swedes  who  had  settled  on  the 
Delaware  about  the  time  that  Kieft  became  governor  of  New  Nether- 
land.  Both  banks  of  the  Delaware  were  claimed  by  conquest  of 
the  Dutch,  and  Stuyvesant  received  authority  from  Hoi-  New  Sweden, 
laud  to  take  possession  of  the  Swedish  settlement.  In  1655- 
1655  he  entered  the  Delaware  with  six  hundred  men  in  seven  ships. 
The  Swedes  had  no  power  to  resist  such  a  force ;  they  yielded 
readily,  and  New  Sweden  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Dutch. 

The  governor,  returning  home,  found  his  people  engaged  in  an 
Indian  war,  brought  about  by  a  Manhattan  Dutchman,  who  shot-  a 
squaw  for  stealing  peaches  from  his  orchard.  He  soon  brought  it  to 
an  end,  but  the  Indians  were  restless,  and  in  1658  the  war  again  broke 
out  and  continued  at  intervals  for  five  years. 

Meantime  Stuyvesant  turned  his  attention  to  religious  matters ; 
he  determined  to  enforce  uniformity  of  worship  according  to  the 


138  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

Dutch  Reformed  Church.  He  persecuted  Lutherans,  Baptists,  and 
Quakers  without  mercy,  until  public  opinion,  supported  by  the 
company,  called  a  halt  and  forced  him  to  desist.  Seventeen  years 
had  passed  since  the  self-willed  governor  had  begun  his  reign ;  but 
the  time  of  reckoning  was  at  hand,  and  Dutch  rule  in  America  was 
drawing  to  a  close. 

NEW  YORK 

For  more  than  three  centuries  England  and  Holland  had  been 
the  closest  of  friends ;  but  now,  at  the  close  of  the  long  and  bloody 
Thirty  Years'  War,  which  ended  with  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia  in 
1648,  the  power  of  Spain  was  crushed,  and  the  Dutch,  no  longer  hav 
ing  anything  to  fear  from  his  Catholic  Majesty,  rose  to  dispute  with 
the  English  the  dominion  of  the  seas.  This  brought  about  an  un 
friendly  rivalry  between  the  two  nations,  and  the  unfriendliness  was 
increased  by  the  fact  that. the  Dutch  of  New  Netherlaml  traded 
freely  with  the  English  colonies.  They  carried  great  quantities  of 
Virginia  tobacco  to  Holland,  and  thus  at  least  £10,000  a  year  was 
lost  in  customs  duties  to  the  British  government.  The  first  Navi 
gation  Law,  1651,  was  aimed  largely  at  the  Dutch  trader,  but  the 
wily  Dutchman  ignored  the  law  arid  continued  as  before.  This  was 
one  cause  that  determined  the  English  on  the  conquest  of  New 
Amsterdam.  Another,  and  probably  the  chief  one,  was  that  the 
Dutch  colony  on  the  Hudson  separated  New  England  from  the  other 
English  colonies  and  threatened  British  dominion  in  North  America. 

The  English  claimed  New  Netherland  on  the  ground  of  the 
Cabot  discoveries;  and  Charles  II  now,  1664,  coolly  gave  the  en 
tire  country,  from  the  Connecticut  to  the  Delaware,  to  his  brother 
James,  Duke  of  York,  ignoring  the  claims  of  the  Dutch  colony,  and 
even  disregarding  his  own  charter  of  two  years  before  to  the  younger 
Winthrop.  Richard  Nicolls  of  the  royal  navy  set  out  with  a  small 
fleet  and  about  five  hundred  of  the  king's  veterans.  Reaching  New 
England,  he  was  joined  by  several  hundred  of  the  militia  of  Con 
necticut  and  Long  Island,  and  he  sailed  for  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson. 

Stuyvesant  had  heard  of  the  fleet's  arrival  at  Boston,  but  he  was 
made  to  believe  that  its  object  was  to  enforce  the  Episcopal  service 
upon  the  Puritans  of  New  England,  and  so  unsuspecting  was  he  that 
he  went  far  up  the  river,  to  Fort  Orange,  to  quell  an  Indian  disturb 
ance.  Here  he  was  when  informed  that  Nicolls  was  moving  toward 
New  Amsterdam.  Stuyvesant  hastened  down  the  river  with  all  speed, 


COLONIZATION  — NEW   YORK  139 

arriving  at  New  Amsterdam  but  one  day  before  the  English  fleet 
hove  into  view.  Nicolls  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  fort. 
Stuyvesant  refused ;  he  fumed  and  fretted  and  swore  and  stamped 
his  wooden  leg.  He  tore  to  bits  a  conciliatory  letter  sent  him  by 
Nicolls.  He  mustered  his  forces  for  defense.  But  the  people  were 
not  with  him;  they  were  weary  of  his  tyrannical  government  in 
which  they  had  no  part,  weary  of  enriching  a  company  at  their  own 
expense,  and  the  choleric  old  governor  had  to  yield,  surrender  of 
The  fort  was  surrendered  without  bloodshed ;  New  New  Amster- 
Amsterdaui  became  New  York,  after  the  Duke  of  York  ;  dam> 1664- 
the  upper  Hudson  also  yielded,  and  Fort  Orange  became  Albany, 
after  another  of  the  duke's  titles,  and  all  New  Netherland,  including 
the  Delaware  Valley,  passed  under  English  control. 

By  what  right  Charles  II  seized  New  Netherland  is  probably 
known  to  kings  and  rulers,  but  not  to  the  humble  historian.  Queen 
Elizabeth  had  laid  down  the  postulate  that  mere  discovery,  without 
occupation,  did  not  constitute  a  right  to  new  lands.  This  was  a 
good  rule  when  applied  to  Spain  to  refute  her  claims  to  North 
America;  it  was  another  story  when  applied  to  the  English  con 
cerning  the  Hudson  Valley.  But  the  English  deftly  evaded  the 
difficulty,  to  their  own  satisfaction,  by  claiming  that  the  Hudson 
Valley  was  part  of  Virginia  as  given  by  James  I,  in  1606,  to  two 
companies.  This  tract  had  been  settled  at  both  ends,  —  on  the 
James  River  and  the  New  England  coast,  —  and  why  should  a 
foreign  power  claim  the  central  portion  because  not  yet  occupied  ? 
Thus  argued  the  English,  and  their  argument  won  because  sustained 
by  force  of  arms.  And  yet,  the  providential  hand  may  easily  be 
seen.  The  conquest  of  New  Netherland  was  scarcely  less  impor 
tant  than  was  the  conquest  of  New  France,  a  century  later,  on  the 
Plains  of  Abraham.  It  all  belonged  to  the  preparation  —  not  for 
British  dominion  in  North  America,  but  for  the  dominion  of  future 
generations  that  were  to  occupy  the  land.  Before  their  power  Eng 
land  was  yet  to  go  down,  as  New  Netherland  and  New  France  first 
went  down  before  hers.  Thus  England,  all  unwittingly,  became  the 
instrument  in  preparing  the  way  and  righting  the  battles  for  a  nation 
that  was  yet  to  be  born. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  later  career  of  Peter  Stuyvesant. 
After  a  journey  to  the  fatherland  to  vindicate  his  course,  he  returned 
to  New  York  and  made  it  the  home  of  his  old  age.  Here  on  his 
farm,  or  "  bowery,"  now  bounded  by  Fourth  Avenue  and  the  East 


140  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

River,  by  Sixth  and  Seventeenth  streets,  New  York  City,  amid  the 
scenes  of  his  former  strife  and  turmoil,  he  spent  a  few  quiet,  happy 
years.  A  venerable  figure  was  the  aged  Dutchman,  and  many  who 
had  hated  him  before  now  learned  to  love  him.  He 
Stu  %sant  an(^  Governor  Nicolls  became  warm  friends,  and  many 
a  time  they  met  and  drank  wine  and  told  stories  at 
each  other's  tables.  In  1672  this  last  of  the  Dutch  governors  died 
at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty  years,  and  his  body  was  laid  to  rest  at  the 
little  country  church  near  his  home  —  at  a  spot  now  in  the  heart 
of  the  vast  metropolis,  whose  population  is  ten  times  greater  than 
that  of  all  the  North  American  colonies  of  that  day. 

A  short  war  between  England  and  Holland  followed  the  conquest 
of  Nicolls,  and  the  Dutch  sailed  up  the  Thames  River  and  visited 
fearful  punishment  on  the  English,  though  they  did  not  win  back 
New  York.  But  nine  years  after  the  Nicolls  victory,  we  may  say 
by  anticipation,  the  two  nations  were  again  at  war,  and  a  Dutch  fleet 
reconquered  New  York  and  took  possession  of  the  Hudson  Valley ; 
but  by  the  treaty  of  peace  the  next  year  the  country  was  ceded  back 
to  the  English,  and  Dutch  rule  ceased  forever  in  North  America. 

At  the  time  of  the  Nicolls  conquest  the  little  city  at  the  south 
ern  point  of  Manhattan  contained  some  fifteen  hundred  people,  and 
the  whole  province  about  ten  thousand,  one  third  of  whom  were 
English.  The  colony  now  became  a  proprietary  colony,  but  as  the 
proprietor  afterward  became  king  of  England,  it  was  transferred 
to  the  list  of  royal  colonies.  Nicolls  became  the  first  governor. 
He  was  able  and  conscientious.  The  rights  of  property,  of  citizen 
ship,  and  of  religious  liberty  had  been  guaranteed  in  the  terms  of 
capitulation.  To  these  were  added  at  a  later  date  equal  taxation 
and  trial  by  jury.  In  one  year  the  tact  and  energy  of  Nicolls  had 
transformed  the  province  practically  into  an  English  colony.  After 

Nicolls.  ^our  Jears  °f  successful  rule  Nicolls  returned  to  Eng 
land —  and  a  few  years  later,  as  he  stood  by  the  side 
of  his  master,  the  Duke  of  York,  at  the  battle  of  Solebay,  his  body 
was  torn  to  pieces  by  a  cannon  ball; 

The  English  inhabitants  of  New  York  had  gladly  welcomed  the 
change  of  government,  and  even  the  Dutch  had  made  little  resist 
ance,  as  they  were  tired  of  the  tyrannical  rule  of  the  company. 
If  there  was  any  bitterness  against  English  rule  remaining,  it  was 
wholly  removed  in  1677  by  an  event  of  great  importance  to  both 
hemispheres  —  the  marriage  of  the  leading  Hollander  of  his  times,  the 


COLONIZATION  — NEW   YORK  141 

Prince  of  Orange,  to  the  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  York,  the  two  after 
ward  to  become  joint  sovereigns  of  England  as  William  and  Mary. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  here  the  transition  in  this  colony  from 
Dutch  to  English  rule.  It  has  been  claimed  by  a  few  writers  that 
our  institutions  are  derived  from  Dutch  more  than  from  English 
sources;  but  a  little  study  into  this  subject  will  easily  prove  the 
contrary.  The  people  over  whom  Nicolls  became  governor  in  1664 
were  composed  of  three  separate  communities,  each  different  from 
the  others  in  its  government:  the  Dutch  settlers  on  the  Hudson, 
the  settlements  on  the  Delaware,  and  the  English  towns  that  had 
grown  up  under  Dutch  rule  on  Long  Island.  Now  these  English 
towns  during  the  period  of  the  Dutch  supremacy  enjoyed  far  more 
liberal  local  government  than  did  the  Dutch  towns  on  the  Hudson. 
And  in  this  one  respect  Kieft,  who  encouraged  popular  government 
among  the  English  towns,  was  wiser  than  Stuyvesant,  who  opposed 
it.1  These  English  towns  held  their  popular  meetings,  chose  their 
officials,  and  transacted  other  business  after  the  manner  of  the  New 
England  towns;  while  in  the  Dutch  towns  there  were 
nc  town  meetings,  no  popular  elections,  the  ruling  offi- 
cials  forming  a  kind  of  close  corporation  with  power  to 
fill  all  vacancies  and  choose  their  own  successors.  As  to  which  of 
these  types  came  nearer  being  the  model  for  our  local  government 
of  to-day,  no  reader  need  be  informed. 

When  Nicolls  became  governor  he  made  little  immediate  change 
in  the  general  or  local  government  except  to  adopt  English  titles 
for  the  public  officers.  To  understand  this  two  things  must  be 
remembered.  First,  the  charter  for  New  York,  true  to  the  Stuart 
instinct,  made  the  Duke  of  York  absolute  master,  and  it  made  no 
provision  for  the  people  to  take  any  part  in  their  own  government ; 
second,  it  was  practically  such  a  government  that  Nicolls  already 
found  in  New  Amsterdam.  With  a  ready-made  machine  at  hand, 
why  should  he  take  the  trouble  to  make  a  new  one  ?  He  proceeded, 
however,  to  frame  a  code  of  laws  known  as  "  The  Duke's  Laws." 
These  were  intended  at  first  for  the  English  settlers  only,  but  were 
later  extended  to  all.  This  code  was  borrowed  largely  from  the 
laws  of  New  England,  with  the  two  important  omissions  that  there 
was  no  provision  for  the  people  to  take  any  part  in  the  government, 
and  that  there  was  no  religious  test  for  citizenship.  It  retained 
many  Dutch  features,  and  introduced  a  few  new  features.  To  the 
1  See  McKinley,  in  American  Historical  Revieto,  Vol.  VI,  p.  18. 


142  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Court  of  Assizes,  consisting  of  governor  and  council,  sheriff  and 
justice,  was  assigned  the  legislative  and  judicial  power ;  but  as  the 
sheriff  and  justices  were  appointees  of  the  governor,  there  was  no 
popular  government  in  the  plan. 

But  this  plan  did  not  prove  permanent.  The  English  portion 
of  the  colony  clamored  for  representative  government.  The  agita 
tion  continued  until  1681,  Edmund  Andros  being  then  governor, 
when  the  English  population  was  ready  to  break  into  open  rebellion, 
unless  their  demand  for  an  assembly  be  granted.  Accordingly  the 
next  year  the  duke  promised  the  people  an  assembly,  and  the 
first  one  was  elected  in  1683,  while  Thomas  Dongan  was  governor. 
This  assembly,  composed  of  eighteen  men  elected  by  the  people,  now 
proceeded  to  adopt  a  declaration  of  rights  known  as  the 
liberties  '  "  Charter  of  Liberties,"  by  which  it  declared  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  people  coordinate  with  the  governor 
and  council,  and  that  no  taxes  could  be  laid  without  their  consent. 
It  also  provided  that  all  laws  be  subject  to  the  duke's  approval. 

What  might  have  been  the  fate  of  this  charter  under  normal 
conditions  we  know  not,  as  the  conditions  were  suddenly  changed. 
The  duke's  royal  brother  was  suddenly  carried  off  by  a  stroke  of 
apoplexy,  and  the  duke  became  king  of  England  as  James  II. 
New  York  now  became  a  loyal  colony,  and  the  new  king,  who  at 
heart  despised  popular  government,  refused  to  sign  the  Charter  of 
Liberties,  abolished  the  New  York  assembly,  and  sent  Andros  to 
govern  the  colony  as  consolidated  with  New  England  and  New 
Jersey.  Andros,  with  a  council  of  seven  men,  was  to  govern  nine 
colonies  as  a  conquered  province.  We  have  noticed  his  career  in 
Boston  and  need  not  repeat  it  here.  The  fall  of  his  master  from  the 
British  throne  occasioned  the  immediate  fall  of  Andros  ;  but  this 
did  not  bring  immediate  peace  to  New  York.  The  colony  was  now 
about  to  pass  through  another  exciting  experience. 

But  first,  a  further  word  is  here  in  place  concerning  the  sources 
of  our  present  governmental  system.  Mr.  Douglas  Campbell,  in  two 
large  volumes  entitled  "  The  Puritan  in  England,  Hol- 

land>  and  America>"  has  taken  Sreat  Pains  to  show  thafc 
we  are  indebted  far  more  to  Dutch   than  to  English 

sources  for  our  system,  and  his  attempt  to  prove  too  much  leads 

the  critical  reader  to  believe  too  little. 

It  is  true  that  the  English  race  is  more  nearly  related  to  the 

Dutch  than  to  any  other,  and  the  English  language  resembles  the 


COLONIZATION  —  NEW   YORK  143 

Dutch  language  more  than  any  other.  It  is  also  true  that  the  Nether 
lands  preceded  England  in  securing  religious  liberty  and  in  establish 
ing  free  public  schools ;  that  the  manufacturing  of  textile  fabrics 
developed  in  Flanders  earlier  than  in  the  island  kingdom  across  the 
channel,  where  it  grew  up  later  largely  through  the  migration  of 
skilled  workmen  from  the  Netherlands;  that  many  thousands  of 
Dutchmen  and  Flemings,  driven  from  their  country  by  religious 
wars,  made  their  permanent  home  in  England.  From  these  facts 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  influence  of  Netherlands  institutions  on  Eng 
lish  civilization  must  have  been  great;  and  it  was  probably  still 
greater  on  American  civilization,  because  the  Dutch  immigrants  to 
England  nearly  all  became  Puritans,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
Dutch  blood  coursed  in  the  veins  of  a  large  per  cent  of  the  New 
England  Puritans.1  No  doubt  also  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  absorbed 
something  from  the  Dutch  during  their  sojourn  in  Leyden. 

But  when  all  is  said  on  this  side  it  must  be  added,  on  the  other, 
that  in  the  seventeenth  century  English  popular  self-government  was 
ages  in  advance  of  the  same  in  the  Netherlands.  No  better  proof 
of  this  is  needed  than  a  glance  at  the  colony  of  New  York.  It  was 
the  English  towns,  even  under  Dutch  jurisdiction,  that  demanded 
and  received  a  large  measure  of  self-government ;  it  was  the  first 
English  governor  that  extended  that  great  bulwark  of  Anglo-Saxon 
liberty,  the  jury  system,  to  the  Dutch  settlers,  who  at  first  shunned 
it  as  a  thing  to  be  feared ;  it  was  the  English  population  of  the 
colony  that  clamored  for  their  birthright  —  an  assembly  and  the 
power  of  taxation.  During  all  this  period  the  Dutch  settlers  in 
the  main  were  passive  in  matters  of  popular  government,  and  but  for 
the  coining  of  the  English  and  the  overthrow  of  Stuyvesant  and  his 
nation,  New  Netherland  might  have  remained  as  despotic  a  govern 
ment  as  was  New  France.  Moreover,  the  New  England  free  school 
system  grew,  not  from  Dutch  models,  but  from  the  inherent  character 
of  the  Puritan  religion.  In  the  face  of  these  facts,  how  can  Mr.  Camp 
bell  or  any  one  contend  that  our  institutions  of  to-day  are  derived  from 
Dutch  rather  than  from  English  sources  ? 

News  of  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary  and  of  the  imprison 
ment  of  Andros  at  Boston  created  a  great  excitement   ,     ,  ,  . 
in  New  York ;  and  the  militia,  led  by  Jacob  Leisler,  a 
German  merchant,  took  possession  of   the  government.      For  two 
years  Leisler,  with  the  aid  of  his  son-in-law,  Milborne,  governed  the 

1  Fiske's  "Dutch  and  Quaker  Colonies,"  Vol.  I,  p.  47. 


144  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES 

colony  with  vigor  and  energy.  But  he  offended  the  aristocracy  and 
the  magistrates,  who  pronounced  him  a  usurper.  Meantime  he  took 
measures  to  defend  the  colony  against  the  French  and  Indians,  who 
had  fallen  on  the  frontier  town  of  Schenectady,  had  massacred  the 
people,  and  had  burned  the  town. 

The  Leisler  movement  was  in  part  the  outgrowth  of  the  anti- 
Catholic  wave  that  swept  over  England  and  her  colonies  during  the 
reign  of  James  II,  and  Leisler's  vivid  imagination  greatly  magnified 
the  danger  of  a  general  religious  war.  He  called  for  the  election 
of  an  assembly  to  vote  taxes  for  the  pending  war  with  Canada, 
but  many  of  the  people  denied  his  authority  and  refused  to 
respond. 

Leisler's  next  step  was  one  that  marked  the  beginnings  of  great 
things.  He  called  for  a  meeting  in  New  York  of  delegates  from 
First  Colo-  a^  the  colonies  to  make  preparations  for  the  war,  and 
nial  Congress,  the  seven  delegates  that  met,  chiefly  from  New  Eng- 
1690  land,,  constituted  the  first  colonial  congress  in  America. 

They  took  counsel  concerning  the  war,  which  will  be  noticed  in  our 
chapter  on  Colonial  Wars.  The  clouds  were  now  darkening  around 
the  head  of  Leisler,  and  his  career  was  almost  over. 

In  1691  Henry  Sloughter  was  appointed  governor,  and  he  sent  his 
lieutenant  before  him  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  fort.  But 
the  lieutenant  could  not  prove  his  authority,  and  Leisler  refused  to 
surrender.  At  length,  when  Sloughter  arrived,  Leisler  yielded  to  his 
authority  and  quiet  was  soon  restored.  But  Leisler's  enemies  were 
determined  on  his  destruction.  He  and  his  son-in-law  had  been  cast 
into  prison,  and  Governor  Sloughter,  a  weak  and  worthless  man,  was 
induced  to  sign  their  death  warrants  while  drunk,  tradition  informs 
us.  Before  the  governor,  had  fully  recovered  his  senses, 
Leisler  and  Milborne  were  taken  from  the  prison  and 
hanged.  Leisler  had  doubtless  been  legally  in  the 
wrong  in  seizing  the  government ;  but  his  intentions  were  undoubtedly 
good,  and  his  execution,  after  all  danger  was  past,  was  little  else  than 
political  murder,  and  it  created  two  hostile  factions  in  New  York  that 
continued  for  many  years. 

With  the  passing  of  Leisler  the  royal  government  was  restored, 
and  the  people  for  the  first  time  secured  the  permanent  right  to  take 
part  in  their  government,  as  in  the  other  colonies,  and,  as  in  the 
others,  the  assembly  steadily  gained  power  at  the  expense  of  the  gov 
ernor.  The  royal  governors  sent  to  New  York  were,  for  the  most 


COLONIZATION  — NEW   YORK  145 

part,  men  without  principle  or  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  people. 
A  rare  exception  we  find  in  the  Earl  of  Bellamont,  whose  brief  three 
years  at  the  close  of  the  century  as  governor  of  New  York,  Massa 
chusetts,  and  New  Hampshire  were  all  too  brief  for  the  people,  who 
had  learned  to  love  him  as  few  royal  governors  were  loved.  His 
successor,  Lord  Cornbury,  was  probably  the  most  dissolute  rascal 
ever  sent  to  govern  an  American  colony,  not  even  excepting  the 
infamous  Sothel  of  the  Carolinas. 

An  event  of  great  interest  occurred  in  New  York  in  1735,  known 
as    the    Zenger    case.     Governor   Cosby   had    entered    suit    before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York  to  obtain  a  sum  of 
money  and  had  lost.     He  then  removed  the  judge  and     age  ^l^ 
appointed  a  new  one,  and  thus   offended   the   popular 
party.     Peter  Zenger,  the  publisher  of  a  newspaper,  the  New   York 
Weekly   Journal,  attacked  the    governor   through   its    columns   and 
severely  criticised  his  action.     The  governor  was  enraged  at  these 
attacks,  and  he  ordered  the  paper  burned  and  the  editor  arrested  for 
libel. 

At  the  trial,  Zenger  was  defended  by  Andrew  Hamilton  of  Phil 
adelphia,  the  greatest  lawyer  in  America.  The  justice  of  the  cause 
and  the  eloquence  of  Hamilton  won  the  jury,  and  resulted  in  a 
complete  victory  for  the  accused  editor.  This  was  the  first  impor 
tant  victory  for  liberty  of  the  press  in  America,  and  with  little 
variation  this  liberty  has  been  held  inviolate  from  that  time  to  the 
present. 

A  few  years  after  Zenger's  case  had  been  disposed  of,  New  York 
society  was  greatly  convulsed  by  the   so-called  Negro  Plot.     This 
was  a  craze  similar  to  the  witchcraft  delusion  which  had. swept  over 
Massachusetts  half  a  century  before.     It  had  its  origin  in  a  general 
belief  that  the  Spanish  Catholic  priests,  in  league  with 
the  slave  population,  were  planning  to  burn  the  city,     jwf^0 
The  craze  spread  like  an  epidemic ;  the  whole  commu 
nity  went  mad,  and  before  the  storm  abated,  twenty-two  persons, 
four   of  whom  were   whites,   had   been   hanged,   thirteen    negroes 
burnt  at  the  stake,  and  a  large  number  transported.     The  craze  soon 
passed   away  and  the   people  recovered  their  normal  senses.     The 
account  of  this  affair  constitutes  the  most  deplorable  chapter  in  the 
history  of  New  York.     It  is  now  believed  that  no  plot  to  burn  the 
city  existed,  and  that  every  one  who  suffered  on  account  of  the  de 
lusion  was  innocent. 


146  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

The  province  of  New  York  grew  steadily  to  the  time  of  the  Rev 
olution.  Every  decade  witnessed  the  coming  of  home  seekers  in 
large  numbers  to  the  valley  of  the  Hudson.  French 
New^York  Protestants,  Scotch,  Irish,  Scotch-Irish,  refugees  from 
the  Rhenish  palatinate,  and  others  spread  over  the 
beautiful  river  valleys ;  but  the  great  majority  of  the  people  were 
English  and  Dutch.  By  1750  the  population  was  probably  eighty 
thousand  and  this  number  was  more  than  doubled  by  the  opening 
years  of  the  Revolution. 

New  York  City  was  a  busy  mart  indeed,  containing  some  twelve 
thousand  people  in  1750,  and  more  than  five  hundred  vessels,  great 
and  small,  plowed  the  waters  that  half  surrounded  it.  The  city  was 
the  political,  social,  and  business  center  of  the  province.  Among  its 
leading  figures  in  winter  were  great  landholders  of  the  Hudson 
Valley  and  Long  Island,  who  spent  their  summers  on  their  estates. 
But  the  great  middle  class,  composed  chiefly  of  tradesmen  of  every 
grade,  made  up  the  majority  of  the  population. 

NEW  JERSEY 

The  first  settlements  in  New  Jersey  were  made  by  the  Dutch 
along  the  western  bank  of  the  Hudson,  with  one  on  the  Delaware 
at  Fort  Nassau ;  but  these  settlements  were  insignificant,  and  the 
history  of  the  colony  properly  begins  with  the  occupation  of  the 
territory  by  the  English.  New  Jersey  was  included  in  the  grant 
of  Charles  II  to  his  brother  James,  the  Duke  of  York,  in  1664. 
The  same  year  James  disposed  of  the  province  to  two  of  his 
friends,  Lord  Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret,  and  it  was  named 
New  Jersey  in  honor  of  the  latter,  who  had  been  governor  of  the 
island  of  Jersey  in  the  English  Channel.  The  next  year  Carteret 
began  to  colonize  his  new  possessions.  He  sent  his  nephew,  Philip 
Carteret,  as  governor,  who,  with  a  company  of  emigrants,  made  the 
first  settlement  at  Elizabethtown,  so  named  in  honor  of  Sir  George's 
wife.  A  still  larger  number  came  from  New  England,  especially 
from  New  Haven,  because  of  the  great  dissatisfaction  in  that  colony 
with  its  forced  union  with  Connecticut.  These  Puritans  founded 
Newark  and  adjacent  towns. 

Carteret  granted  a  form  of  government  in  what  was  known  as 
the  "Concessions,"  which  granted  religious  liberty  to  Englishmen 
in  the  new  colony,  and  a  government  to  be  carried  on  by  a  governor, 
council,  and  an  assembly  of  twelve  to  be  chosen  by  the  people,  and 


COLONIZATION  — NEW  JERSEY  147 

no  taxes  were  to  be  laid  without  the  consent  of  the  assembly.  A 
farm,  free  for  five  years,  was  offered  to  any  one  "having  a  good 
musket  .  .  .  and  six  months'  provisions," l  who  should  embark  with 
the  governor,  or  meet  him  on  his  arrival;  while  those  who  came 
later  were  to  pay  a  half-penny  an  acre  quitrent.  The  first  assem 
bly  met  in  1668,  and  the  severity  of  the  code  of  laws  adopted  plainly 
indicated  the  Puritan  domination  of  the  colony.  After  a  session  of 
but  five  days  it  adjourned,  and  met  no  more  for  seven  years.  The 
first  quitrents  fell  due  in  1670 ;  but  many  of  the  settlers  refused  to 
pay  rent,  claiming  to  have  received  their  lands  from  the  Indians, 
the  real  owners,  or  basing  their  right  to  titles  confirmed  by  Gov 
ernor  Nicolls  of  New  York.  The  people  rose  in  rebellion,  elected  an 
illegal  assembly,  and  called  James  Carteret,  illegitimate  son  of  the 
proprietor,  to  be  their  governor.  But  Sir  George  did  not  sustain  his 
son,  and  the  rebellious  government  fell  to  the  ground. 

The  settlers,  however,  quietly  tilled  their  farms  and  gave  little 
heed  to  matters  of  government.  Not  even  the  reconquest  of  New 
York  (which  included  New  Jersey)  by  the  Dutch,  in  1673,  caused 
any  serious  disturbance  of  the  New  Jersey  farmers.  The  constant 
commotion  between  Carteret  and  his  colony  discouraged  Lord  Berke 
ley,  and  he  sold  his  interest  in  the  province  to  two  English  Quakers, 
John  Fenwick  and  Edward  Byllynge.  The  latter  soon  became  a 
bankrupt,  and  his  share  passed  into  the  hands  of  trustees,  the  most 
prominent  of  whom  was  William  Penn  —  and  thus  we  are  intro 
duced  to  the  most  famous  of  American  colony  builders. 

The  province  was  soon  after  this  divided  into  two  parts :  East 
Jersey,  which  was  retained  by  Carteret,  and  West  Jersey,  which  now 
became  the  property  of  the  Quakers.  The  line  between 
them  was  drawn  directly  from  Little  Egg  Harbor  to  the 
Delaware  Water  Gap.  The  year  before  the  division 
Fenwick  had  led  a  few  colonists  and  settled  at  Salem,  but  the  first 
important  settlement  in  West  Jersey  was  made  in  1677,  when  two 
hundred  and  thirty  people  sailed  up  the  Delaware  and  founded  Bur 
lington,  and  within  two  years  several  hundred  more  had  made  their 
homes  in  the  vicinity.  Two  wholly  separate  governments  were  now 
set  up,  and  they  were  as  different  as  white  from  black. 
The  stern  New  England  Puritans  had  settled  in  East 
Jersey  in  sufficient  numbers  to  give  coloring  to  the  laws, 

1  One  seventh  of  the  land  was  to  be  reserved  for  the  proprietors  and  two  hundred 
acres  in  each  parish  for  the  minister.  See  Wiusor,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  424. 


148  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

and  in  these  laws  (enacted  by  the  first  assembly  before  the  division) 
we  find  enumerated  thirteen  crimes  for  which  the  penalty  was  death. 
In  West  Jersey  the  government  was  exceedingly  mild.  A  code  of 
laws  with  the  name  of  Penn  at  the  top  gave  all  power  to  the  people, 
and  made  no  mention  of  capital  punishment.  This  was  the  first  ex 
ample  of  Quaker  legislation  in  America. 

When  Edmund  Andros  was  governor  of  New  York,  in  the  later 
seventies,  he  claimed  authority  over  the  Jerseys  also,  as  the  prop 
erty  of  the  Duke  of  York.  He  arrested  and  imprisoned  Governor 
Philip  Carteret  of  East  Jersey,  but  the  courts  decided  against 
Andros,  and  the  Jerseys  continued  their  own  separate  existence. 

In  1680  George  Carteret  died,  and  two  years  later  East  Jersey 
was  sold  at  auction  to  twelve  men,  one  of  whom  was  William  Penn.1 
Each  of  these  twelve  men  sold  half  his  interest  to  another  man,  and 
thus  East  Jersey  came  to  have  twenty-four  proprietors,  and  they 
chose  Robert  Barclay,  a  Scotch  Quaker,  governor  for  life.  Every 
thing  went  smoothly  under  their  mild  government ;  but  this  tranquil 
lity  was  soon  to  end. 

When  James  II  became  king  of  England  he  demanded  the 
charters  of  the  Jerseys  on  writs  of  quo  warmnto,  leaving  the  owner 
ship  of  the  soil  to  the  people,  and  united  East  and  West  Jersey  to 
New  York  and  New  England  under  the  government  of 
Andros.  At  the  fall  of  the  king  and  the  expulsion 
of  Andros  the  Jerseys  were  left  in  a  state  of  anarchy,  and  so  it 
continued  for  more  than  ten  years.  The  heirs  of  Carteret  and  the 
Quakers  laid  claim  to  the  colony  ;  and  New  York  made  a  similar 
claim.  After  a  long  season  of  confusion  it  was  decided  to  surrender 
the  whole  colony  to  the  Crown,  and  in  1702  New  Jersey  became  a 
royal  province.  Queen  Anne,  who  was  now  the  reigning  monarch, 
extended  the  jurisdiction  of  New  York's  governor  over  New  Jersey, 
and  this  arrangement  continued  for  thirty-six  years,  when,  in  1738, 
the  two  colonies  were  finally  separated. 

New  Jersey,  numbering  some  seventy-five  thousand  inhabitants  in 
1760,  was  settled  almost  wholly  by  English  people.     A  few  Dutch, 
Swedes,  and  Germans  were  scattered  here  and  there,  but 
not  ^n  suc^  nnm^ers  as  to  affect  society.     The  Quakers 
occupied  the  western  part,  while  the  eastern  portion  was 
settled  by  emigrants  from  England,  New  England,  and  a  few  from 
Scotland  and  the  southern  colonies.   Almost  the  entire  population  were 
1  The  price  paid  was  £3100  sterling. 


COLONIZATION  —  DELAWARE  149 

farmers.  The  numerous  towns  were  little  more  than  centers  of  farming 
communities.  The  colony  was  guarded,  as  it  were,  on  the  east  and  west 
by  the  two  great  colonies  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  and  it  escaped 
those  peculiar  perils  of  frontier  life  with  which  most  of  the  other 
settlements  had  to  contend.  This  was  doubtless  the  chief  cause  of  its 
rapid  growth.  New  Jersey  was  also  singularly  free  from  Indian 
wars,  the  people  living  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with  the  red 
men,  with  whom  they  kept  up  a  profitable  trade  in  furs  and  game. 

DELAWARE 

The  soil  of  the  little  state  of  Delaware  had  more  claimants  than 
that  of  any  other  of  the  thirteen  original  colonies.  It  lies  along  the 
great  bay  and  river  of  the  same  name,  and  its  importance  consisted 
in  its  command  of  these  and  of  the  great  fertile  valley  drained  by 
them.  It  was  first  claimed  by  the  Dutch  by  right  of  the  discovery 
of  Hudson,  next  by  the  Swedes,  who  made  the  first  permanent  settle 
ment,  and  finally  it  came  into  the  possession  of  the  English.  Among 
the  English,  Delaware  was  claimed  by  Lord  Baltimore  as  part  of 
Maryland ;  it  next  became  the  property  of  the  Duke  of  York,  was 
sold  by  him  to  William  Perm,  and  only  after  the  Revolution  did  the 
inhabitants  of  Delaware  become  the  owners.  Of  the  original  thirteen 
states  Delaware  was  the  only  one  except  New  York  that  was  founded 
by  another  than  the  English  race. 

The  first  settlement  in  the  .territory  that  afterward  became  Dela 
ware  was  made  by  the  Dutch  in  1631,  who  were  sent  by  De  Vries, 
a  noted  Dutch  colonizer  and  one  of  the  patroons  of  New  Amsterdam. 
Between  thirty  and  forty  colonists  settled  on  the  Delaware  Bay  near 
the  site  of  Lewes,  but  they  were  led  into  a  foolish  quarrel  with  the 
Indians  and  were  massacred  to  the  last  man.  The  quarrel  began 
from  a  most  trivial  cause.  The  Dutch  had  set  up  a  tin  plate 
bearing  the  arms  of  Holland.  An  Indian,  without  knowing  its 
meaning,  thoughtlessly  destroyed  it.  The  Dutch  considered  this 
an  insult  to  their  nation  and  demanded  that  the  offender  be  given 
up.  Thus  began  the  trouble  which  resulted  in  the  destruction 
of  the  whole  colony.  When  De  Vries  came  the  following  year  to 
visit  his  colony,  he  found  nothing  but  heaps  of  ashes  and  charred 
bones. 

Even  before  this  unfortunate  occurrence  the  Swedes,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  greatest  of  Sweden's  kings,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  were 


150  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

planning  to  colonize  the  western  bank  of  the  Delaware.1  It  was  re 
solved  to  "  invite  colonists  from  all  the  other  nations  of  Europe,"  to 
exclude  slavery,  and  to  make  the  colony  a  home  for  the  oppressed 
of  all  Christendom.  The  Swedish  king  incorporated  a  company 
in  1627,  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  project,  and  pronounced  it  "  the 
jewel  of  his  kingdom." 

But  the  Thirty  Years'  War  was  raging  in  Germany  and  Gustavus 
Adolphus  determined  to  invade  that  country  in  defense  of  Protestant 
ism.  In  1632,  at  the  battle  of  Lutzen,  his  great  life  came  to  a  close, 
and  Swedish  colonizing  in  America  was  checked,  but  not  abandoned. 
The  fortunes  of  Sweden  now  fell  into  the  hands  of  Oxenstiern,  the 
executor  and  chief  minister  of  the  dead  king.  Oxenstiern,  one  of 
the  greatest  statesman  of  his  time  and  scarcely  less  able  than  his 
fallen  chief,  now  renewed  the  patent  of  the  company,  extended  its 
benefits  to  Germany,  and  secured  the  services  of  Peter  Minuit, 
former  governor  of  New  Amsterdam,  to  lead  his  colony  to  the 
New  World. 

In  two  vessels  the  colonists  sailed,  and  they  reached  New  Sweden, 
as  they  called  the  new  land,  early  in  the  year  1638.  They  built  a 
fort  on  the  site  of  Wilmington  and  named  it  Christina 

after  the  child  (lueeri  of   their  native  lan(L     They 
purchased  lands  of  the  Indians  on  the  western  side  of 

the  Delaware  as  far  up  as  a  point  opposite  Trenton,  founded  a  town 
on  the  site  of  Philadelphia,  built  churches  here  and  there,  and  soon 
presented  the  appearance  of  a  happy  and  prosperous  community. 
But  trouble  soon  came.  The  Dutch  claimed  the  entire  Delaware 
Valley  as  part  of  New  Netherland  and  Governor  Kieft  protested 
vigorously  at  the  time  the  Swedes  made  their  settlement ;  but  Sweden 
was  too  powerful  a  nation  at  that  time  to  be  defied,  and  the  colony  was 
left  for  the  time  unmolested. 

New  Sweden  grew  by  immigration  and  spread  over  the  surround 
ing  country.  John  Printz,  one  of  the  early  governors,  made  his 
headquarters  on  the  island  of  Tinicum,  twelve  miles  below  Philadel 
phia,  drove  from  the  Delaware  Bay  a  band  of  would-be  settlers  from 
New  England,  and  displayed  an  aggressive  spirit  in  general.  It 

1  See  Bancroft,  Vol.  II,  p.  502.  William  Usselinx,  a  Hollander  and  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  was  the  first  to  lead  Sweden  into  this 
enterprise.  Refused  a  charter  by  his  own  country,  he  turned  to  Sweden  and  became 
one  of  the  projectors  of  the  new  company.  Sweden's  only  right  to  American  soil 
lay  in  the  assumption  that  unappropriated  lands  were  common  property.  See 
Jameson,  in  American  Historical  Association  Papers,  II. 


COLONIZATION  —  PENNSYLVANIA  151 

seemed  for  a  time  that  the  whole  Delaware  Valley  would  be  settled 
and  held  by  the  Scandinavians.  But  the  Dutch  were  jealous ;  they 
came  and  built  Fort  Casimir  where  New  Castle  now  stands,  and  thus 
got  control  of  the  bay.  Soon,  however,  a  Swedish  war  vessel  entered 
the  bay  and  put  an  end  to  the  Dutch  fort.  The  blus-  stuyvesant 
tering  Stuyvesant  was  now  governor  of  New  Amster-  conquers 
dam,  and  he  determined  to  avenge  the  insult  and  put  an  New  Sweden, 
end  to  New  Sweden.  He  entered  the  bay  with  a  fleet  bear-  1 655  ' 
ing  over  six  hundred  men.  The  Swedes,  who  numbered  but  seven 
hundred  in  all,  were  overawed,  and  New  Sweden,  which  had  existed 
seventeen  years,  ceased  to  exist  as  a  separate  colony.  The  people, 
however,  were  permitted  to  retain  possession  of  their  farms,  and  the 
community  continued  to  prosper  under  its  new  government.  The 
Swedes  eventually  scattered  to  various  parts  and  lost  their  identity 
and  their  language;  but,  like  the  Huguenots  and  the  Salzburgers, 
they  infused  an  element  of  strength  into  the  veins  of  the  future 
American. 

The  conquest  of  New  Amsterdam  by  the  English,  in  1664,  in 
cluded  Delaware,  which  now  became  the  property  of  the  Duke  of 
York.  The  Duke's  Laws,  framed  by  Nicolls  for  New  York,  were  at 
length  extended  to  Delaware,  and  the  people  were  granted  some 
measure  of  self-government.  In  1682,  however,  the  year  of  the 
founding  of  Pennsylvania,  the  duke  sold  Delaware  to  William  Penn, 
and  the  colony,  which  came  to  be  called  the  "Three  Lower  Coun 
ties,"  or  the  "  Territories,"  was  the  same  year  annexed  to  Pennsyl 
vania.  From  this  time  it  was  in  possession  of  the  Penns  and  had 
no  separate  governor.  Though  the  colony  secured  a  separate  legisla 
ture  in  1702,  under  a  charter  of  privileges  granted  by  Penn,  its  his 
tory  to  the  time  of  the  Revolution  was  identified  with  that  of  its 
great  neighbor  to  the  North. 

PENNSYLVANIA 

The  idea  of  founding  a  separate  colony  in  America  as  a  refuge 
for  persecuted  Quakers  was  not  original  with  William  Penn,  but 
with  George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  sect.  Fox  was  a  man  of  intense 
religious  fervor  and  of  wonderful  personal  magnetism.  Greatly 
troubled  in  conscience,  he  sought  rest  for  his  unquiet  soul  in  the 
Established  Church,  then  among  the  Dissenters,  and  finally,  after  a 
most  diligent  study  of  the  Bible,  he  felt  that  the  "  inner  light "  had 


152  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

dawned  upon  him,  and  he  went  forth  to  preach  to  the  world.  He 
began  preaching  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  in  1644,  the  year  in 
which  William  Penn  was  born.  His  sincerity  was  un- 
George  Fox.  questioned  and  his  fervor  was  contagious ;  he  became 
the  founder  of  a  sect,  the  prime  actor  of  one  of  the  greatest  re 
ligious  movements  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  times  seemed 
ripe  for  such  an  awakening,  and  within  forty  years  from  the 
time  that  Fox  began  preaching  his  followers  numbered  seventy 
thousand. 

The  Quakers  refused  to  recognize  all  social  ranks,  or  to  pay  taxes 
to  carry  on  wars,  and  they  met  with  great  opposition  from  the  begin 
ning;  their  meetings  were  often  dispersed  by  armed  men;  an  act 
of  Parliament  pronounced  them  a  "mischievous  and  dangerous  peo 
ple."  It  was  not  long  until  the  Quakers,  driven  by  persecution, 
began  to  migrate  to  America.  Their  reception  in  Massachusetts 
and  elsewhere  was  anything  but  cordial,  and  this  led  them  to  turn 
their  attention  to  founding  a  colony  of  their  own.  Most  of  the  fol 
lowers  of  Fox  were  from  the  lower  walks  of  life,  and  they  were 
greatly  elated  when  the  talented  young  son  of  Admiral  Penn,  a 
personal  friend  of  the  king,  became  an  open  convert  to  their 
society.  The  admiral  at  first  stormed  at  his  son  for  taking  this 
step.  The  king  was  about  to  raise  the  elder  Penn  to  the  peerage, 
but  when  he  heard  that  the  son  had  become  a  Quaker, 
he  drew  back-  This  increased  the  fury  of  the  father 
against  his  son.  But  his  anger  was  short-lived ;  he  at 
length  forgave  him,  and  William  Penn  soon  became  the  most  promi 
nent  Quaker  in  England.  His  experience  in  New  Jersey  we  have 
noted;  but  owing  to  the  various  contentions  of  that  colony  with 
New  York  and  to  the  want  of  clear  land  titles,  home  seekers  were 
rather  repelled  than  invited,  and  Penn  cast  a  wistful  eye  to  the  fair 
lands  beyond  the  Delaware. 

The  king  of  England  was  indebted  to  Admiral  Penn  to  the  sum 
of  £16,000,  and  William  Penn,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  inherited 
the  claim.  At  Penn's  request  King  Charles  granted  him,  in  pay 
ment  of  this  claim,  a  tract  of  forty  thousand  square  miles  in 
America.  In  the  petition  to  the  king,  dated  June,  1680,  Penn  asked 
for  the  territory  west  of  the  Delaware  River  and  from  the  northern 
boundary  of  Maryland  to  the  north  "as  far  as  plantable,  which  is 
altogether  Indian."  It  was  the  largest  grant  ever  made  to  one  man 
in  America.  The  charter  was  granted  the  following  March.  Penn 


COLONIZATION  —  PENNSYLVANIA  153 

Aad  chosen  the  name  Xew  Wales  for  his  province,  but  the  king  called 
it  Pennsylvania  in  memory  of  the  deceased  admiral.1  The  bounda 
ries  of  the  colony,  as  given  in  the  charter,  became  the  subject  of  the 
most  serious  dispute,  and  the  matter  was  not  fully  settled  for  nearly 
a  hundred  years. 

The  dispute  between  Lord  Baltimore  and  Penn  began  the  same 
year  in  which  the  charter  was  granted,  the  former  claiming  that  the 
fortieth  degree  fell  north  of  Philadelphia,  whereas  the  king  in  grant 
ing  the  charter  had  supposed  it  would  fall  at  the  head  of  Delaware 
Bay.  Penn  therefore  insisted  that  the  line  be  fixed  where  it  was 
supposed  to  be,  and,  after  a  long  contention,  the  matter  was  settled 
in  his  favor.  The  boundary  line,  however,  was  not  determined  until 
many  years  later  —  long  after  Penn  and  Baltimore  were  in  their 
graves.  It  was  not  until  1767  that  two  English  surveyors,  Mason 
and  Dixon,  completed  this  line,  which  has  since  borne  their  names, 
and  which,  after  acquiring  a  new  meaning,  became  the  most  famous 
boundary  line  in  the  New  World.2 

1  Penn  came  near  being  the  author  of  the  name  of  his  colony.    When  "  New 
Wales  "  was  abandoned  he  suggested  "  Sylvania  "  (from  the  Latin  word  "  sylva,"  a 
forest)  and  the  king  added  the  prefix,  "  Penn." 

2  The    province  was    to    extend    five   degrees    westward    from   the   Delaware 
River;   and  "the  said  lands  to  be  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  beginning  of  the 
three  and   fortieth   degree  of  Northern  Latitude,   and   on  the  South  by  a  Circle 
drawn  at  twelve  miles  distance  from  New  Castle  Northward  and  Westward  unto 
the  beginning  of  the  fortieth  degree  of  Northern  latitude."     (See  Poore's  "  Charters," 
Vol.  II,  p.  1510.)     Just  what  the  "  beginning  of  the  three  and  fortieth"   and  the 
"beginning  of  the  fortieth"  degrees  meant  was  not  clear.    Perm,  finding  that  the 
fortieth  degree  fell  too  far  north  to  give  him  a  harbor  on  the  Chesapeake,  con 
tended  that  the  "beginning"   of  the   fortieth  degree  did  not  mean  the  fortieth 
degree,  and  he  won  in  part ;  but  it  cost  him  dearly,  for,  although  the  charter  set 
the  northern  boundary  at  the  "beginning  of  the  forty-third  degree,"  which  would 
have  thrown  it  north  of  Buffalo,  it  was  finally  fixed  at  the  forty-second  degree.    In 
1732  the  heirs  of  Penn  and  Baltimore  signed  an  agreement  that  the  line  between 
Pennsylvania  and   Maryland  be  run  due  west  from  the  tangent  of  the  western 
boundary  of  Delaware  with  the  arc  twelve  miles  from  New  Castle.    Many  years 
of   further  wrangling  followed,  when  it  was  decided  to  employ  the  two  expert 
surveyors,  Charles  Mason  and  Jeremiah  Dixon,  who  fixed  the  line  at  39°  44'  and 
extended  it  westward  about  230  miles.    At  intervals  of  a  mile  small  cut  stones  were 
set  in  the  ground ;  each  stone  had  a  large  "  P  "  carved  on  the  north  side,  and  a  "  B  " 
on  the  south  side.    Every  five  miles  was  placed  a  larger  stone  bearing  the  Pennsyl 
vania  coat  of  arms  on  one  side  and  that  of  Lord  Baltimore  on   the  other.    These 
stones  were  cut  in  England  and  afterward  brought  to  the  colonies.     A  tew  of  them 
still  stand,  but  time  has  crumbled  many  of  them;  others  have  been  carried  away 
piecemeal  by  relic  hunters,  and  a  few  are  doing  service  as  steps  before  the  doors  of 
farmhouses  along  the  route. 

When  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  was  run  both  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  were 
slave  colonies.  In  later  years  Pennsylvania  emancipated  her  slaves,  while  Mary- 


154  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Of  all  the  colony  builders  of  America  the  most  famous  in  our 
history  is  Penn.  Nor  was  he  excelled  by  any  in  sincerity  of  purpose 
and  loftiness  of  aim.  His  province  was  a  princely  domain,  a  vast 
fertile  region  traversed  by  beautiful  rivers  and  lofty  mountain 
ranges,  and  holding  beneath  the  soil  a  wealth  of  minerals  unequaled 
by  all  the  other  colonies  combined.  The  colony  was  rightly  named, 
for  it  was  one  vast  forest,  extending  from  the  Delaware  over  the 
Appalachian  Mountain  system,  down  its  western  slope  and  far  into 
the  Ohio  Valley.  It  was  inhabited  by  Indians  alone,  except  for  a 
few  Swedish  hamlets  along  the  lower  Delaware,  the  inhabitants  of 
which,  some  five  hundred  in  number,  Penn  pronounced  a  "  strong, 
Powers  industrious  people."  Penn  was  granted  ample  power 

granted  to  for  the  government  of  his  new  possessions,  the  king 
Penn.  requiring,  as  a  token  of  allegiance,  two  beaver  skins 

each  year,  and  also  a  fifth  of  the  gold  and  silver  that  might  be 
mined.  In  this  feature  the  charter  reminds  us  of  the  charter 
of  Maryland.  The  proprietor  was  clothed  with  the  power  to  estab 
lish  courts,  appoint  judges,  to  train  soldiers,  to  wage  wars,  and  to 
make  laws  ;  but  the  king  retained  the  veto  power,  and,  unlike  all  the 
other  colonial  charters,  the  power  of  taxing  the  people  of  the  colony 
was  reserved  to  the  English  Parliament.  This  provision  remained  a 
dead  letter  until  the  approach  of  the  Eevolution,  when  it  became 
very  significant.1  A  strange  omission  of  this  charter  was  that  it 
did  not  guarantee  the  settlers  the  rights  of  Englishmen,  as  did  the 
other  charters.  To  gain  an  outlet  to  the  sea  Penn  purchased  of  the 
Duke  of  York  the  three  counties  of  Delaware,  as  we  have  seen. 

That  Penn  was  a  religious  enthusiast  and  a  true  philanthropist  is 
well  known  ;  that  he  was  a  man  of  the  world  whose  secondary  object, 
private  gain,  was  never  lost  sight  of,  is  not  so  well  known,  but 
equally  true.2  His  venture  in  colony  planting  was  soon  published 
widely  over  England.  He  drew  up  a  frame  of  government  and 
offered  a  liberal  share  of  the  government  to  the  colonists.  He  also 
offered  five  thousand  acres  for  one  hundred  pounds  and  one  hundred 
acres  for  two  pounds,  subject  to  a  small  quitrent,  and  it  was  not 
long  till  many  were  ready  to  join  the  enterprise.  Penn  appointed 

land  retained  hers  and  went  with  the  South.  Daring  the  half-century  preceding  the 
Civil  War,  the  original  limits  and  meaning  of  the  line  were  lost  sight  of ;  no  one 
thought  of  it  as  a  boundary  between  two  states,  but  rather  as  the  boundary  between 
the  free  and  slave  states. 

1  See  Poore's,  "Charters,"  p.  1515. 

2  See  Shepherd's  "Proprietary  Government  in  Pennsylvania,"  p.  174. 


COLONIZATION  —  PENNSYLVANIA  155 

his  relative,  William  Markhara,  the  first  governor  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  in  the  autumn  of  1681  sent  him  ahead  with  three  shiploads  of  emi 
grants.  Markham  bore  an  affectionate  letter  from  the  proprietor  to  the 
Swedes  in  which  he  said,  "You  shall  be  governed  by  laws  of  your  own 
making,  and  live  a  free,  and  if  you  will,  a  sober,  industrious  people." 

The  year  after  Markham's  voyage  Penn  himself  followed  him  to 
the  New  World  in  the  ship  Welcome.  The  passengers  numbered 
about  a  hundred,  one  third  of  whom  died  of  smallpox  on  the  ocean. 
The  Welcome  sailed  up  the  Delaware  and  landed  at  New  Castle  in 
the  autumn  of  1682.  Penn  was  received  with  a  cordial 
greeting  by  the  inhabitants ;  he  produced  his  royal  arrival 
patent,  which  transferred  the  territory  from  the  duke  to 
himself,  and  spoke  so  kindly  to  the  people  that  he  readily  won  their 
hearts.  Reaching  Chester,  he  called  a  provisional  legislature,  and 
some  time  was  spent  in  allotting  lands  and  framing  laws.  Proceed 
ing  up  the  Delaware,  he  came  to  the  site  on  which  was  to  rise  the 
city  of  Philadelphia,  soon  to  become  the  chief  city  in  colonial  Amer 
ica,  and  in  a  later  generation  the  birthplace  of  independence  and  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Here  already  stood  a  Swed 
ish  village,  and  a  Lutheran  church  at  Wicaco,1  and  here  Penn 
decided  to  build  a  city  and  make  it  the  capital  of  his  province.  He 
purchased  from  the  Swedes  the  neck  of  land  between  the  Delaware 
and  the  Schuylkill  rivers,  and  in  the  early  months  of  1683  the  streets 
of  the  new  city  were  laid  out.  The  growth  of  Philadelphia  was 
phenomenal.  In  less  than  four  years  it  had  passed  New  York, 
which  had  been  founded  sixty  years  before. 

It  was  a  few  months  after  this  time  that  Penn  made  his  famous 
treaty  with  the  Indians  under  a  great  elm  tree  on  the  banks  of  the 
Delaware,  a  short  distance  north  of  the  newly  founded  city.2  The 
Indians  were  of  the  Delaware  or  Lenni-Lenape  tribe.  The  chiefs  sat 
in  a  semicircle  on  the  ground,  says  tradition,3  while  Penn,  with  a  few 
unarmed  attendants,  all  in  their  Quaker  garb,  addressed  them  as 
friends  and  brothers,  compared  the  white  and  red  men 
to  the  different  members  of  the  human  body,  and  made 
a  pledge  to  live  in  peace  and  friendship  with  them. 

1  This  church  still  stands  near  the  bank  of  the  Delaware,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  landmarks  in  Philadelphia. 

2  The  city  has  long  since  absorbed  the  place.    The  elm  was  blown  down  in  1810, 
and  a  beautiful  monument  now  marks  the  spot. 

3  This  tradition  is  doubtless  based  on  Benjamin  West's  painting.    See  Fisher's 
"  True  William  Penn,"  pp.  242-245. 


156  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

These  children  of  the  forest  were  deeply  touched  by  the  sincerity 
and  open  candor  of  the  great  Englishman,  and  they  answered  through 
a  chief  that  they  would  "  live  in  love  with  William  Penn  and  his 
children  as  long  as  the  sun  and  moon  give  light." 

These  mutual  vows  constituted  the  treaty ;  no  written  words 
were  required  and  no  oath  was  taken.  Yet  this  sacred  treaty  was 
kept  unbroken  till  long  after  those  who  had  made  it  had  passed  away. 
It  was  said  that  the  Quaker  dress  was  a  better  protection  among  the 
Indians  than  a  musket,  and  that  when  an  Indian  wished  to  pay  the 
highest  compliment  to  a  white  man,  he  would  say,  "  He  is  like 
William  Penn."1 

In  the  early  spring  of  1683  the  legislature  of  the  colony  met  in 
Philadelphia.  The  proprietor  presented  a  new  frame  of  government, 
giving  all  power  of  lawmaking  into  the  hands  of  the  people  repre 
sented  by  a  council  which  should  originate  all  laws  and  an  assembly 
that  should  approve  them.  All  freemen  were  made  citizens  and  all 
Christians  were  freemen,  except  servants  and  convicts.  A  law  was 
passed  uniting  the  "  Lower  counties  "  to  Pennsylvania  and  naturaliz 
ing  the  Swedes.  Penn  was  voted  the  veto  power  for  life.  Laws 
were  made  for  the  training  of  children,  the  useful  employment  of 
criminals,  religious  toleration  —  and  all  were  in  keeping  with  the 
humane  spirit  of  the  proprietor.  For  some  years  the  government 
was  very  unsettled. 

Penn  had  established  a  home  in  Philadelphia,  and  there  would  he 
gladly  have  spent  his  life ;  but  his  trouble  with  Baltimore  took  him 
back  to  England  in  the  summer  of  1684,  and  his  business  kept  him 
there  for  fifteen  years.  After  the  English  Revolution  Penn  was 
suspected  of  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  dethroned  monarch  whose 
brother  had  granted  him  his  charter,  and  in  1692  he  was  deprived  of 

1  Governor  Markham  had  already  treated  with  the  Indians  for  the  purchase  of 
lands,  and  Penn,  on  various  occasions  after  this  meeting  at  Shackamaxon,  made 
bargains  with  them  for  lands,  the  most  famous  of  which  was  the  "  Walking  Pur 
chase."  By  this  he  was  to  receive  a  tract  of  land  extending  as  far  from  the  Dela 
ware  as  a  man  could  walk  in  three  days.  Penn  and  a  few  friends,  with  a  body  of 
Indians,  walked  about  thirty  miles  in  a  day  and  a  half  and  as  he  needed  no  more 
land  at  the  time,  the  matter  was  left  to  be  finished  at  some  future  time.  (See 
Channing's  "  Students'  History,"  p.  117.)  In  1733,  long  after  Penn's  death,  the  other 
day  and  a  half  was  walked  out  in  a  very  different  spirit.  The  whites  employed  the 
three  fastest  walkers  that  could  be  found,  offering  each  five  hundred  acres  of  land. 
One  of  them  was  exhausted  and  died  in  a  few  days,  another  injured  himself  for  life, 
but  the  third,  a  famous  hunter  named  Marshall,  walked  over  sixty  miles  in  the  day 
and  a  half,  greatly  to  the  chagrin  of  the  Indians.  See  Walton  and  Brumbaugh's 
"  Stories  of  Pennsylvania,"  p.  39. 


COLONIZATION  — PENNSYLVANIA  157 

his  colony.  The  control  of  Pennsylvania  was  then  placed  mto  the 
hands  of  Governor  Fletcher  of  New  York.  But  nearly  two  years 
later,  the  charges  against  Penn  having  been  removed,  his  right  to 
Pennsylvania  was  restored.  In  1696  Markham  granted  a  new  frame 
of  government,  in  which  the  power  to  originate  legislation  was  taken 
from  the  council  and  given  to  the  assembly.  Again,  in  1699,  William 
Penn  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  visit  his  growing  family  in  the  forests 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  he  found  that  vast  changes  had  been  wrought 
in  his  absence.  Twenty  thousand  people  had  made  their  homes  in 
his  province.  The  city  that  he  had  founded  was  fast  rising  to  im 
portance,  and  the  wilderness  of  the  river  valley  was  dotted  with 
farms.  Here  he  found  not  only  his  fellow  Quakers,  but  Germans 
from  the  Rhine,  Swedes,  and  Dutch,  together  laying  the  foundations 
of  a  great  commonwealth. 

The  great-souled  proprietor  had  been  deeply  humbled  since  last 
he  saw  the  fair  lands  of  Pennsylvania,  —  lie  had  lost  his  faithful 
wife  and  eldest  son,  he  had  lost  his  fortune,  and  he  had  borne  the 
charge  of  treason  against  his  native  country.  And  now  to  these  was 
added  another  sorrow  —  the  people  of  his  province  had  been  weaned 
away  from  him  during  the  intervening  years  ;  he  was  no  longer  the 
"Father  Penn"  that  he  had  been  before;  they  clamored  for  even 
greater  freedom  than  his  generous  soul  had  granted  them  at  first, 
and  to  this  was  added  the  demand  of  Delaware  for  a  separate  gov 
ernment.1  Penn  was  grieved,  but  he  granted  these  requests.  He 
gave  Delaware  a  separate  legislature,  and  a  new  government  to 
Pennsylvania.  The  form  of  government  that  Penn  now  conferred 
on  his  colonists  practically  transferred  all  power  to  the  people,  sub 
ject  to  their  allegiance  to  the  Crown,  and  the  veto  power  of  the 
governor.  It  eliminated  the  council  as  a  legislative  body,  giving  it 
but  a  negative  influence  as  an  advisory  board  to  the  governor.  It 
also  defined  the  rights  of  prisoners,  granted  liberty  of  conscience, 
and  made  provision  for  amendments.  This  constitution  remained  in 
force  for  seventy-five  years  —  to  -the  War  for  Independence. 

In  1701  Penn  bade  a  final  adieu  to  his  beloved  Pennsylvania  and 
sailed  again  for  his  native  land.  But  even  now,  after  his  long  years 
of  turmoil,  it  was  not  for  him  to  spend  his  old  age  in  rest  and  quiet. 
On  reaching  England,  he  found  that  he  had  been  robbed  of  the  rem 
nant  of  his  fortune  by  an  unjust  steward,  and  later  he  was  thrown  into 

1  Delaware  had  been  granted  a  separate  government  as  early  as  1691,  but  the 
following  year  Governor  Fletcher,  of  New  York,  reunited  it  to  Pennsylvania. 


158  HISTORY   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES 

prison  for  debt.  In  his  earlier  manhood  he  had  suffered  various  im 
prisonments  for  conscience'  sake,  but  now  he  chafed  under  confine 
ment  and  to  secure  his  release  mortgaged  his  province  in  the  New 
World.  But  still  other  misfortunes  awaited  him.  He  was  stricken 
with  paralysis,  and  for  years  he  lay  a  helpless  invalid,  dying  in  1718 
at  the  age  of  seventy-four. 

The  character  of  Penn  is  one  of  the  most  admirable  in  history. 
It  is  difficult  to  find  a  man,  especially  one  whose  life  is  spent  in  the 
midst  of  political  turmoil  and  governmental  strife,  so  utterly  incor 
ruptible  as  was  William  Penn.  When  on  the  threshold  of  manhood, 
when  the  hot  flush  of  youth  was  on  his  cheek,  the  blandishments  of 
wealth  and  station  and  of  royal  favor  beckoned  him  to  a  life  of  ease 
and  pleasure ;  but  he  turned  away  from  them  all  and  chose  to  cast 
his  lot  with  a  despised  people  —  purely  for  conscience'  sake.  No 
allurements  of  Pharaoh's  court,  no  threats  of  an  angry  father,  nor 
frowning  walls  of  a  prison-cell  could  shake  his  high-born  purpose  to 
serve  God  in  the  way  that  seemed  to  him  right.  His  life  was  full 
of  light  and  shadow.  He  suffered  much,  but  he  also  accomplished 
much  —  far  more  than  the  age  in  which  he  lived  was  ready  to 
acknowledge.  He  founded  a  government  and  based  it  on  the 
eternal  principle  of  equal  human  rights,  with  its  sole  object  as  the 
freedom  and  happiness  of  its  people ;  and  that  alone  was  sufficient  to 
give  him  a  name  in  history. 

Thirty-seven  years  elapsed  between  the  founding  of  Pennsylvania 
and  the  death  of  the  founder,  and  he  spent  but  four  of  these  years 
in  America;  yet  we  are  wont  to  regard  William  Penn  almost  as 
truly  an  American  as  was  Franklin  or  Washington,  and  in  the  annals 
of  our  country  his  name  must  ever  hold  a  place  among  the  immortals. 

The  growth  of  Pennsylvania  was  more  rapid  than  that  of  any 
other  of  the  thirteen  colonies,  and  though  it  was  the  last  founded 
save  one,  it-  soon  came  to  rank  with  the  most  important,  and  at  the 
coming  of  the  Revolution  it  stood  third  in  population.  Penn  had 
willed  the  colony  to  his  three  sons,  John,  Thomas,  and  Eichard,  and 
these  with  their  successors  held  it  until  after  the  Revolution.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  great  number  of  palatine 
Germans,  driven  from  their  homes  by  religious  wars, 
Germans*111*  ^oun(^  their  way  to  Pennsylvania,  settled  Germantown 
(since  absorbed  by  Philadelphia),  and  scattered  over  the 
Schuylkill  and  Lehigh  valleys.  The  English  were  for  a  time 
alarmed  at  the  influx  of  such  numbers  of  a  foreign  people ;  but  they 


COLONIZATION  — PENNSYLVANIA  159 

were  not  long  in  discovering  that  these  Germans  were  an  industri 
ous,  peace-loving  people,  fairly  educated,  and,  while  wholly  unosten 
tatious,  as  sincerely  religious  as  the  Puritan  or  the  Quaker. 

Still  greater  during  this  period  was  the  stream  of  Scotch-Irish 
from  Ulster.  These  hardy  Scotch  Presbyterians,  who  had  occupied 
northern  Ireland  for  two  or  three  generations,  being  curbed  in  their 
industries  for  the  protection  of  English  industries  and  annoyed  by 
petty  religious  persecution,  came  to  America  in  great  numbers,1  — 
so  great  as  to  form  more  than  half  the  population  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  to  spare  many  thousands  of  their  numbers  to  the  southern 
colonies  along  the  coast  and  the  wilderness  of  Kentucky  and  Tennes 
see.  In  Pennsylvania  they  settled  chiefly  on  the  plains  and  moun 
tain  slopes  west  and  south  of  the  Susquehanna.  These  people,  as 
well  as  the  Germans  and  others,  were  attracted  to  Pennsylvania 
because  of  the  liberal,  humane  government  inaugurated  by  William 
Penn.  Slavery  was  never  popular  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  number 
of  slaves  was  kept  down  by  strict  laws  against  their  importation. 
Before  the  Revolution  many  of  them  had  been  set  free  by  their 
masters.  Of  Redemptioners,  mostly  Germans  and  Irish,  there  were 
probably  more  in  Pennsylvania  during  the  eighteenth  century  than  in 
any  other  colony.  The  majority  of  them,  after  their  period  of  servi 
tude,  became  useful  citizens. 

During  the  long  period  of  her  colonial  youth  we  find  in  Pennsyl 
vania  the  same  kind  of  quarreling  between  the  people  and  the  gov 
ernors,  the  same  vagaries  in  issuing  paper  money,  the  same  unbridled 
spirit  of  freedom,  the  same  monotonous  history,  as  we  find  in  most  of 
the  other  colonies.  Among  her  governors  we  find  in  the  early  period 
no  really  great  men,  but  in  1723  there  arrived  in  Philadelphia  a 
young  man  from  Boston  who  soon  rose  to  be  the  leading  figure  in  the 
colony,  and  so  he  continued  for  more  than  half  a  century.  This  was 
Benjamin  Franklin,  who,  it  may  be  further  said,  was  the  greatest 
character  of  colonial  America. 

i  Fiske,  "  Dutch  and  Quaker  Colonies,"  Vol.  II,  p.  353. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

COLONIAL   WARS 
FRENCH   EXPLORERS 

BEFORE  the  coming  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  or  even  the  founding 
of  Jamestown,  the  French  had  made  a  beginning  toward  the  occupa 
tion  of  Canada.  At  the  moment  when  Henry  Hudson  was  bartering 
with  the  Indians  along  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  Champlain  -was 
but  a  few  miles  away,  exploring  the  beautiful  lake  that  bears  his 
Quebec  name;  and  the  year  before  that  he  had  established  a  post 

founded,  on  a  rocky  cliff  overlooking  the  majestic  St.  Lawrence, 

1608.  anj  hac[  named  it  Quebec.1  For  many  years  thereafter 

the  French  came  in  small  numbers,  scattering  through  the  wilderness, 
trading  in  furs,  and  seeking  to  convert  the  Indians  to  Christianity. 
The  conversion  of  the  Indians  became  the  care  of  the  French  gov 
ernment,  and  the  work  was  intrusted  to  the  Jesuit  priests  —  men 
who  would  brave  every  peril  to  carry  the  religion  of  Rome  to  the 
benighted  red  man.  They  established  missions  in  many  places  and 
at  the  same  time  made  useful  explorations  through  the  great  north 
ern  wilderness.  In  1634  Jean  Mcollet,  sent  by  Champlain,  dis 
covered  Lake  Michigan.  Other  Frenchmen  discovered  Lake  Superior 
and  portions  of  the  boundless  regions  west  and  south  of  it. 

In  1666  one  of  these,  Father  Allouez,  went  far  into  the  lake  region, 

beyond  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  and  while  there  he  heard  of  the 

vast,  treeless  plains  of  Illinois  and  of  the  great  river 

beyond   that   flowed  toward  the  south.     Returning  to 

Quebec,  Allouez  related  what  he  had  heard,  and  the  hearts  of  others 

were  fired  with  a  desire  to  explore  the  great  valley  in  the  southwest. 

Among  these  was  Father  James  Marquette,  who  had  recently  come 

1  As  early  as  1534  Cartier  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence  as  far  as  the  site  of 
Montreal,  and  Roberval  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  plant  a  colony  near  the  site 
of  Quebec  in  1542.  The  French  had  planted  a  colony  of  jail  birds  on  Sable  Island,  off 
the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  in  1598,  and  De  Monts  settled  a  colony  in  Acadia  in  1604; 
but  neither  colony  was  permanent.  Champlain  had  made  a  previous  exploring  tour 
(1G03)  to  the  American  coast. 

160 


FRENCH  EXPLORATIONS  161 


from  France.     He,  with  another  Jesuit  priest  named  Joliet  and  a 
few  guides  and  companions,  determined  to  explore  the  western  wil 
derness,  where  no  white  man's  foot  had  been.     They  ascended  the 
Fox  Elver,  carried  their  canoes  across  the  portage  to  the  Wisconsin, 
and  floated  down  this  stream  to  the  Mississippi.    They  then  launched 
their  little  boats  upon  its  bosom  and  floated  for  hundreds   Marquette 
of   miles  with  its  current.      The  shores  were  covered   and  Joliet, 
with   dense    forests    abounding    in    wild    animals,    or    1673- 
stretched  away  in  boundless,  grassy  plains,  with  here  and  there  the 
well-known  traces  of  the  red  children  of  the  forest.    On  they  floated, 
past  the  mouths  of  the  turbid  Missouri  and  of  the  clear,  sparkling 
Ohio,  and  still  on  until  the  semi-tropical  plants  and  breezes  replaced 
the  rigorous  climate  of  the  north.     When  they,  reached  the  mouth  of 
the  Arkansas,  they  decided  to  retrace  their  steps,  and  the  toilsome 
work  of  rowing  up-stream   was  begun.      After  a  weary  journey  of 
many  weeks  they  reached  the  Illinois  River,  and,  ascending  it,  crossed 
the  country  to  Lake  Michigan.     Joliet  now  hastened  back  to  Canada 
to  tell  of  their  discoveries,  while  the  self-denying  Marquette  deter 
mined  to  remain  in  the  wilderness  and  give  his  life  to  the  enlighten 
ment  of  the  savages.      But  his  labors  were  soon  to  end ; 
one  day,  as  he  was  kneeling  by  a  rude  altar  of  his  own 
making,  his   spirit  passed  away,  and  his  friends  found  his  lifeless 
body  in  the  attitude  of  prayer. 

Of   still   greater  importance  were  the  achievements   of   Robert 
Cavelier  de  La  Salle,  a  young  Frenchman  born  at  Rouen,  France, 
and    educated   at   a  Jesuit    school.     While   yet   a  young   man   he 
migrated  to  Canada  and  occupied  an  estate  at  Fort  Frontenac,  now 
Kingston,  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Ontario.     Inflamed  with  the  news  of 
Marquette's  discoveries,  he  determined  to  leave  his  lands  and  herds 
and  explore  the  great  western  country,  and  thus  to  secure  it  for  his 
king.     La  Salle  was  probably  the  flrst  of  his  nation  to  plan  the 
holding  of  the  entire  Mississippi  basin  and  the  lake  region  by  means 
of   military  posts.      After   several   years'  negotiating,  he   received 
permission  from  Louis  XIV  to  occupy  and  explore  the 
great  valley  of  the  Mississippi.     In  the  spring  of  1682  re^eg 
he  began  one  of  the  most  famous  exploring  tours   in   mouth  of 
the  early  history  of  our  country.      Taking  with  him  a   Mississippi, 
few  companions,  he  floated  down  the  Mississippi  to  its 
mouth,  took  possession  of  its  vast  basin  in  the  name  of  France,  and 
called  it  Louisiana  in  honor  of  the  king.      He  then  made  the  long 

M 


162  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

and  weary  journey  back  to  Quebec,  and  thence  sailed  to  France,  where 
he  soon  succeeded  in  interesting  his  king  in  planting  a  colony  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  The  king  sent  La  Salle  back  with  four 
vessels,  one  of  which  was  an  armed  frigate,  bearing  nearly  three 
hundred  colonists.  It  is  claimed  that  the  French  king  expended 
more  money  in  fitting  out  this  colony  than  did  all  the  English  sover 
eigns  combined  in  planting  their  thirteen  colonies  in  North  America. 
The  little  fleet  sailed  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  but  missed  the 
mouth  of  the  great  river  and  landed  on  the  shore  of  Texas.  One  of 
the  vessels  was  wrecked.  Many  of  the  voyagers  returned  to  France, 
but  the  dauntless  La  Salle,  with  a  small  company,  remained,  built  a 
fort,  and  spent  some  months  in  a  fruitless  search  for  the  Missis- 
Death  of  sippi.  Contentions  arose  among  the  men,  and  one  day 
La  Salle,  La  Salle  was  murdered  by  two  of  his  own  countrymen. 
168?-  Thus  perished  this  ambitious  Frenchman;  his  body 
was  left  to  molder  in  the  wilderness ;  his  dream  was  unrealized,  but 
his  name,  in  connection  with  the  greatest  of  American  rivers,  has  a 
place  in  history  second  only  to  that  of  De  Soto. 

KING  WILLIAM'S   WAR   (1690-1697) 

King  James  II  of  England,  unlike  his  profligate  brother,  Charles 
II,  was  extremely  religious,  and  his  religion  was  that  of  Home, 
The  large  majority  of  the  people  of  England  were  Protestants ; 
but  they  would  have  submitted  to  a  Catholic  king  had  he  not  used 
his  official  power  to  convert  the  nation  to  Catholicism.  From  the 
time  of  James's  accession,  in  1685,  the  unrest  increased,  until,  three 
years  later,  the  opposition  was  so  formidable  that  the  monarch  fled 
from  his  kingdom  and  took  refuge  in  France.  The  daughter  of 
James  and  her  husband,  the  Prince  of  Orange,  became  the  joint 
sovereigns  of  England  as  William  and  Mary.  This  movement  is 
known  in  history  as  the  English  Revolution. 

Louis  XIV,  the  king  of  France,  was  a  Catholic  and  in  full 
sympathy  with  James.  Moreover,  he  denied  the  right  of  a  people  to 
change  sovereigns,  and  espoused  the  cause  of  James;  and  war  between 
the  two  nations  followed.  This  war  was  reflected  in  America,  as 
King  William  rejected  an  offer  of  colonial  neutrality,  and  it  is 
known  as  "  King  William's  War."  The  English  colonies  had  long 
watched  the  French  encroachments  on  the  north ;  the  French  deter 
mined  to  hold  the  St.  Lawrence  country,  and  to  extend  their  power 


COLONIAL   WARS  163 


over  the  vast  basin  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  each  was  jealous  of  the 
other  concerning  the  fisheries  and  the  fur  trade.  To  these  differ 
ences  must  be  added  an  intense  religious  feeling.  The  English 
colonies  were  almost  wholly  Protestant  except  Maryland,  and  even 
in  Maryland  the  Protestants  were  in  a  large  majority.  New  France 
was  purely  Catholic,  and  the  two  forms  of  Christianity  had  not  yet 
learned  to  dwell  together,  or  near  together,  in  harmony.  King 
James  had  not  confined  his  designs  to  the  home  country ;  he  had 
not  only  revoked  some  of  the  colonial  charters  and  sent  the  tyrant 
Andros  to  domineer  New  England,  but  he  had  instructed  his  Cath 
olic  governor  of  New  York,  Dongan,  to  influence  the  Iroquois  to 
admit  Jesuit  teachers  among  them,  and  to  introduce  the  Catholic 
religion  into  the  colony.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Leisler  seized  the 
government  of  New  York,  and  called  the  first  colonial  congress. 
Exasperated  by  these  things,  the  English  colonists  were  eager  for 
the  conflict,  while  the  French  Canadians  were  equally  ready  to 
grapple  with  them.  King  William's  War  was  very  different  in  aim 
and  meaning  in  the  colonies  from  what  it  was  beyond  the  Atlantic. 
In  America  it  was  the  first  of  several  fierce  contests,  covering  seventy 
years ;  or,  it  may  be  said,  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  seventy  years' 
war,  with  intervals  of  peace,  for  the  supremacy  in  North  America. 

The  war  began  by  a  series  of  Indian  massacres  instigated  by 
Frontenac,  the  governor  of  Canada.  The  first  of  these  was  the 
destruction  of  Dover,  New  Hampshire,  a  town  of  fifty  inhabitants. 
One  night  in  July,  1689,  two  squaws  came  to  the  home  of  the  aged 
Major  Waldron  and  begged  a  night's  lodging.  Being  admitted, 
they  rose  in  the  night  and  let  in  a  large  number  of  Indians  who  lay 
in  ambush.  Waldron  was  put  to  death  with  frightful  tortures,  the 
town  was  burned  to  the  ground,  about  half  the  people  were  massa 
cred,  and  the  remainder  were  carried  away  and  sold  into  slavery.  In 
the  following  month  Pemaquid,  Maine,  met  a  similar 
fate.  In  February,  1690,  a  body  of  French  and  Indians,  massacres 
sent  by  Frontenac,  came  to  the  town  of  Schenectady  on 
the  Mohawk.  For  nearly  a  month  they  had  faced  the  wintry  blasts, 
plowing  their  way  through  the  deep  snow  on  their  mission  of  destruc 
tion.  At  midnight  they  fell  with  dreadful  yells  upon  the  sleeping  vil 
lage.  In  a  few  hours  all  was  over ;  the  town  was  laid  in  ashes.  More 
than  sixty  were  massacred,  many  were  taken  captive,  a  few  escaped 
into  the  night  and  reached  Albany.  The  towns  of  Casco  and  Salmon 
Falls  soon  after  met  a  similar  fate. 


164  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

The  war  spirit  was  now  aroused  throughout  the  colonies.  It  was 
determined,  through  Leisler's  congress,1  to  send  a  land  force  against 
Montreal  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  a  naval  expedition  agains.t 
Quebec.  The  expenses  of  the  former  were  borne  by  Connecticut 
and  New  York,  and  of  the  latter  by  Massachusetts.  Sir  William 
Phipps  of  Maine,  who  had  this  same  year,  1690,  captured  Port  Royal 
in  Nova  Scotia,  commanded  the  naval  force.  He  had  thirty  or  more 
vessels  and  two  thousand  men.  But  the  vigilant  Frontenac,  in  spite 
of  his  fourscore  years,  was  on  the  alert.  He  successfully  repelled  the 
land  force,  which  turned  back  disheartened,  and  then  hastened  to  the 
defense  of  Quebec.  But  here  he  had  little  to  do.  Phipps  was  a 
weak  commander,  and  the  fleet,  after  reaching  Quebec  and  finding  it 
well  fortified,  returned  to  Boston  without  striking  an  effective  blow. 
The  people  of  Massachusetts  were  greatly  disappointed  at  the 
failure  of  the  expedition.  The  debt  of  the  colony  had  reached  an 
enormous  figure,  and  to  meet  it  bills  of  credit,  or  paper  money,  were 
issued  to  the  amount  of  £40,000.  Phipps  was  soon  afterward  sent  to 
England  to  seek  aid  of  the  king  and  a  renewal  of  the  old  charter 
that  Andros  had  destroyed.  King  William  was  hard  pressed  at 
home,  and  he  left  the  colonies  to  fight  their  own  battles ;  he  also  re 
fused  to  restore  the  old  charter,  but  he  granted  a  new  one,  as  we  have 
noticed,  and  made  Phipps  the  first  royal  governor  of  Massachusetts. 

The  war  dragged  on  for  several  years  longer,  but  it  consisted 
only  in  desultory  sallies  and  frontier  massacres.  The  towns  of  York, 
Maine,  Durham,  New  Hampshire,  and  Groton,  Massachusetts,  were 
the  scenes  of  bloody  massacres,  and  hundreds  of  people  were  slain.2 

In  1697  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  at  Eyswick,  a  village  near 
The  Hague,  and  the  cruel  war  was  temporarily  over.  Acadia,  which 
Treaty  of  na(^  been  prematurely  incorporated  with  Massachusetts, 
Kyswick,  was  restored  to  France.  But  this  treaty  was  only  a  truce. 
I697-  The  English  and  French  nations  had  not  learned  to  love 

1  See  supra,  p.  144. 

2  Many  were  the  heroic  deeds  of  those  days  of  savage  warfare.     One  of  the  most 
notable  was  that  of  Hannah  Dustin,  the  wife  of  a  farmer  near  Haverhill,  Massachu 
setts.     She  saw  her  home  burned  by  the  savages  and  her  infant  child  dashed  to  death 
against  a  tree,  while  she  and  a  neighbor  named  Mary  Neff  were  carried  away  captive. 
It  was  not  long  till  she  planned  her  escape.    To  prevent  being  followed,  and  to  avenge 
the  murder  of  her  babe,  she  reached  a  desperate  resolve.    Twelve  Indians,  nine  of 
whom  were  men,  lay  asleep  about  them  when  she  and  her  companion  and  a  boy, 
who  was  also  a  captive,  rose  at  midnight,  and  with  well-directed  blows  killed  ten  of 
them,  sparing  only  a  squaw  and  a  boy,  made  their  escape,  and  returned  to  their 
homes.    Mrs.  Dustin  had  scalped  the  dead  Indians,  and  she  received  a  bounty  of  £50 
for  the  scalps. 


COLONIAL   WARS  165 


each  other,  and  the  questions  in  dispute  had  made  no  progress  toward 
settlement. 

After  the  death  of  William  and  Mary  the  crown  of  England 
was  settled  (1702)  on  Anne,  the  sister  of  Mary.  James,  the  exiled 
king,  died  in  1701,  and  his  son,  known  as  James  the  Pretender,  was 
proclaimed  king  of  England  by  the  French  sovereign.  This  act 
alone  would  have  brought  another  war,  but  there  was  another  provo 
cation.  King  Louis  of  France  placed  his'grandson,  Philip  of  Anjou, 
on  the  throne  of  Spain,  and  thus  greatly  increased  his  power  among 
the  dynasties  of  Europe.  This  was  very  distasteful  to  the  English, 
and  the  war  that  followed  was  known  as  the  War  of  the  Spanish 
Succession.  In  America,  however,  it  was  styled 

QUEEN  ANNE'S   WAR    (1702-1714) 

After  this  brief  season  of  peace  the  colonists  were  obliged  to  face 
another  long  and  murderous  war.    In  character  this  war  was  similar  to 
that  which  preceded  it,  a  contest  over  Acadia  and  New  France,  consist 
ing  of  surprises  and  bloody  massacres.     Early  in  the  conflict  the  coast 
of  Maine  was  swept  by  bands  of  savage  red  men  and  equally  savage 
Frenchmen,  and  hundreds  of  men,  women,  and  children  were  toma 
hawked  or  carried  into  captivity.     On  an  intensely  cold  morning  in 
February,  1704,  at  daybreak,  a  party  of  nearly  four  hundred  French 
and  Indians  broke  upon  the  town  of  Deerfield,  and  with   Deerfield, 
their  terrible  war  cry  began  their  work  of  destruction  and   Massachu- 
slaughter.    Nearly  fifty  of  the  inhabitants  were  slain,  and  setts- 
more  than  a  hundred  were  carried  into  captivity.1    A  few  years  later 
Haverhill,  Massachusetts,  met  with  a  fate  similar  to  that  of  Deerfield. 

In  1704  the  colonists  made  an  unsuccessful  attack  by  sea  on  Port 
Royal,  Acadia,  and  another  in  1707 ;  and  three  years  later  the  Brit 
ish  government,  having  at  last  decided  to  aid  the  colonies,  sent  a 
small  fleet  under  Colonel  Nicholson,  which  was  joined  by  an  arma 
ment  from  Boston,  and  a  third  attack  was  made.  This  was  success 
ful  ;  Port  Royal  surrendered,  and  was  named  Annapolis  in  honor  of 
the  English  queen,  while  Acadia  was  henceforth  called  Nova  Scotia. 

1  Among  the  captives  were  the  minister,  Williams,  his  wife,  and  five  children. 
Mrs.  Williams  soon  perished  by  the  tomahawk.  The  rest  were  afterward  rescued, 
except  a  seven-year-old  daughter.  Many  years  later  a  white  woman  in  Indian  garb 
appeared  at  Deerfield.  It  proved  to  be  the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Williams.  She 
had  married  a  Mohawk  chief.  Her  friends  besought  her  to  remain  with  them,  but  her 
heart  was  with  her  dusky  husband  and  half-breed  children,  and  no  entreaties  could 
influence  her  to  remain  with  the  friends  of  her  childhood. 


166  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

A  beginning  of  English  success  was  thus  made,  and  the  bold 
scheme  of  conquering  Canada  was  now  conceived.  Sir  Hovendon 
Walker  arrived  at  Boston  with  a  fleet  and  an  army,  and 
Walker011  these  were  augmented  by  the  colonists  at  the  bugle  call 
of  Governor  Dudley  of  Massachusetts,  until  the  fleet 
consisted  of  nine  war  vessels,  sixty  transports,  and  many  smaller 
craft,  bearing  in  all  twelve  thousand  men.  Nothing  like  it  had  ever 
before  been  seen  in  American  waters.  In  August,  1711,  this  impos 
ing  fleet  moved  to  the  northward,  and  at  the  same  time  a  land  force 
of  twenty-three  hundred  men  under  Colonel  Nicholson  started  for 
Montreal  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain. 

It  would  seem  that  New  France  must  certainly  fall  before  such 
a  power,  and  all  Canada  be  added  to  the  British  dominions  in 
America.  But  there  was  one  fatal  obstacle  to  success,  and  that  was 
the  want  of  ability  in  Admiral  Walker.  He  not  only  lacked  capacity 
to  command  such  a  force,  but  he  was  wanting  in  courage.  *The 
whole  movement  came  to  nothing.  Walker  lost  eight  ships  and  a 
thousand  men  in  a  dense  fog  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
refused  to  go  further,  believing  that  the  disaster  was  a  blessing 
in  disguise,  a  merciful  intervention  of  Providence  to  save  his  men 
from  "  freezing,  starvation,  and  cannibalism.7' x  Nicholson,  hearing 
of  the  return  of  the  fleet,  was  greatly  enraged,  and  burned  his 
wooden  forts,  led  his  army  to  Albany,  and  disbanded  it. 

Vaudreuil,  the  governor-general  of  Canada,  had  heard  of  the 
enemy's  approach  and  had  prepared  for  him  as  best  he  could.  The 
people  were  thrown  into  a  state  of  wild  consternation ;  but  when 
they  heard  of  the  disastrous  failure  of  the  fleet,  they  rejoiced  and 
praised  God  that  He  had  preserved  them  and  dashed  their  enemy 
to  pieces,  and  a  solemn  mass  was  ordered  to  be  said  every  month  for 
a  year,  to  be  followed  by  the  song  of  Moses  after  the  destruction  of 
Pharaoh  and  his  host.2 

Both  nations  were  now  weary  of  the  war,  and  the  Treaty  of 
Utrecht  was  the  result.  By  this  treaty  Acadia,  Newfoundland,  and 
Peace  of  *ne  Hudson  Bay  territory  were  ceded  by  France  to  Eng- 

Utrecht,  April  land ;  and  the  Five  Nations  were  acknowledged  to  be 
11,  1713.  British  subjects.  The  aged  king  of  France  used  the  last 
efforts  in  his  power  to  avoid  giving  up  Acadia,  but  all  to  no  purpose. 

The  Peace  of  Utrecht,  like  that  of  Ryswick  sixteen  years  before, 
was  but  a  temporary  peace.  The  great  problems  in  America  were 

i  Parkman's  "Half  Century  of  Conflict,"  Vol.  I,  p.  170.  2  Ibid.,  p.  173. 


QUEEN  ANNE'S   WAR  167 


left  unsettled.  The  treaty  fixed  no  limits  to  Acadia,  nor  did  it  mark 
the  boundary  between  the  British  colonies  and  Canada.  These  were 
questions  that  must  sometime  be  settled ;  but  there  was  another 
question  of  far  greater  importance,  and  that  was  whether  France  or 
England  would  obtain  control  of  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  embers  of  war  were  thus  left  unquenched,  and  the  time  was 
bound  to  come  when  they  would  burst  forth  into  flame.1  The  Treaty 
of  Utrecht  brought  a  nominal  peace  that  was  unbroken  for  thirty 
years;  but  meantime  the  two  nations,  like  crouching  tigers,  made 
ready  each  to  spring  upon  the  other. 

The  king  of  France  had  sullenly  given  up  his  beloved  Acadia, 
but  he  retained  Cape  Breton  Island,  still  more  important  because  it 
commanded  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Here,  on  a  tongue  of 
land  in  the  southeastern  portion  of  the  island,  the  king  determined 
to  build  a  fortress  far  more  imposing  than  any  other  in  America, 
and  to  call  it  after  his  own  name  —  Louisburg.  This  . 
project  was  scarcely  on  foot  when  Louis  XIV  died,  and 
the  plan  was  carried  out  by  his  successors.  The  great  object  of  this 
movement  was  to  furnish  a  base  from  which  to  guard  the  St.  Lawrence 
Valley  against  all  comers,  and  to  reclaim,  if  possible,  the  fair  land  of 
Acadia. 

But  the  French  did  not  stop  with  the  founding  of  Louisburg; 
they  spent  this  season  of  peace  in  strengthening  their  hold  on  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  As  early  as  1698  a  naval  officer  named  Iberville 
had  been  sent  by  his  king  to  carry  out  the  great  work  attempted  by 
the  ambitious  La  Salle  —  to  plant  a  colony  on  the  lower  Mississippi. 
Iberville  made  great  haste  lest  the  English  precede  him  to  the  coveted 
land.  He  reached  the  mouth  of  the  great  river,  and  ascended  it 
for  some  distance.  The  chief  of  an  Indian  tribe  gave  him  a  letter 
that  had  been  written  thirteen  years  before  by  Tonty,  ^  Miggis 
while  searching  for  the  lost  colony  of  La  Salle.  Iber-  sippi  valley, 
ville  found  no  suitable  place  on  the  banks  of  the  river, 
and  settled  his  colony  on  Biloxi  Bay.  A  few  years  later  a  colony 
was  planted  on  Mobile  Bay.  In  1718  Xew  Orleans  was  founded  by 
Bienville,  a  brother  of  Iberville,  and  four  years  later  it  was  made  the 
capital  of  the  vast  region  known  as  Louisiana. 

France  had  now  two  heads,  as  Parkman  puts  it,  to  her  great 
North  American  possessions  —  one  amid  the  Canadian  snows  and 
the  other  in  the  tropical  regions  of  the  South.  But  two  thousand 

i  Parkman,  "  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,"  Vol.  I,  p.  117. 


168  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

miles  of  untrodden  wilderness  lay  between  the  extremes  of  this 
boundless  domain,  and  the  French  knew  that  to  hold  it  something 
more  than  merely  claiming  it  must  be  done.  They  began,  therefore, 
the  erection  of  a  chain  of  forts,  or  military  posts.  They  built  forts  at 
Niagara,  Detroit,  and  other  points,  to  guard  the  great  lakes,  and  they 
even  encroached  on  the  soil  of  New  York  and  built  a  fort  at  Crown 
Point.  In  the  Illinois  country  they  founded  Vincennes  and  Kaskaskia, 
and  pushed  farther  southward,  while  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  they 
moved  northward,  establishing  one  post  after  another,  until  by  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  were  more  than  sixty  forts 
between  .Montreal  and  New  Orleans.  France  now  claimed  all  of 
North  America  from  Mexico  and  Florida  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  except 
the  Hudson  Bay  region  and  the  narrow  English  margin  on  the  east 
between  the  mountains  and  the  sea;  and  it  must  have  seemed  to 
human  eyes  that  the  future  development  of  the  continent  must  be 
modeled  after  the  Latin  civilization  rather  than  the  Anglo-Saxon. 
But  a  great  struggle  was  yet  to  determine  the  trend  of  American 
civilization.  Before  treating  of  that,  however,  we  must  take  note  of 
another  preliminary  skirmish,  known  in  our  history  as 

KING  GEORGE'S   WAR    (1744-1748) 

This  war,  known  by  the  above  name  in  America,  was  but  the 
faint  glimmer  of  the  dreadful  conflagration  that  swept  -over  Europe 
at  this  time  under  the  name  of  the  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession. 
On  the  death  of  Charles  VI,  emperor  of  Austria,  in  1740,  the  male 
line  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  became  extinct,  and  his  eldest  daughter, 
Maria  Theresa,  ascended  the  Austrian  throne.  But  there  were  other 
claimants,  and  the  matter  brought  on  a  war  of  tremendous  dimen 
sions,  embroiling  nearly  all  the  nations  of  Europe.  Again  we  find 
France  and  England  on  opposite  sides,  war  being  declared  between 
them  in  the  spring  of  1744.  Of  this  great  war  we  have  little  to 
record  here,  as  little  of  it  occurred  in  America.  Aside  from  the 
usual  Indian  massacres,  but  one  great  event  marks  King  George's 
War  —  the  capture  of  Louisburg. 

Louisburg,  as  we  have  noticed,  was  built  on  a  point  of  land  on 
Cape  Breton  Island ;  it  commanded  the  chief  entrance  to  the  great 
est  of  American  rivers,  except  only  the  "  Father  of  Waters."  It  was 
a  powerful  fortress  ;  it  had  cost  six  million  dollars,  and  was  twenty 
years  in  building.  Its  walls  of  solid  masonry,  from  which  frowned 


COLONIAL   WARS  169 


a  hundred  cannon,  were  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  high,  and  their 
circumference  was  two  and  a  half  miles.  The  fort  was  the  pride  of 
the  French  heart  in  America.  It  was  looked  upon  as  an  impregna 
ble  fortress,  that  would  keep  out  every  intruder  and  baffle  every  foe ; 
yet  it  was  reduced  and  captured  by  a  fleet  of  little  fighting  strength, 
bearing  a  few  thousand  soldiers,  chiefly  New  England  farmers  and 
fishermen. 

The  father  of  the  Louisburg  expedition  was  William  Shirley, 
governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  William  Pepperell  of  Maine  was 
made  its  commander.  New  England  furnished  the  men,  while 
Pennsylvania  sent  some  provisions,  and  New  York  a  small  amount 
of  artillery.  The  fleet  was  composed  of  something  over  a  hundred 
vessels  of  various  grades,  and  just  before  sailing  these  were  joined 
by  four  English  men-of-war  from  the  West  Indies,  commanded  by 
Commodore  Warren.  On  the  first  day  of  May,  1745,  this  motley 
fleet  came  under  the  walls  of  Louisburg.  A  landing  was  soon  made, 
and  the  "men  flew  to  shore  like  eagles  to  their  quarry."  Every 
effort  of  the  French  to  drive  them  back  was  foiled.  The  artillery 
was  managed  by  the  master  engineer,  Richard  Gridley  of  Boston, 
who  was  to  figure  in  the  same  capacity  in  two  far  greater  wars. 
The  siege  continued  for  six  weeks,  when  a  French  war  vessel  of 
sixty-four  guns,  laden  with  military  stores,  came  to  the  rescue  of  the 
fort ;  but  she  was  captured  by  the  English  fleet  in  open  capture  of 
view  of  the  helpless  besieged  in  the  fort.  This  was  the  Louisburg, 
final  stroke.  The  garrison  could  hold  out  no  longer.  1745- 
On  the  17th  of  June  the  fort  and  batteries  were  surrendered,  and  the 
British  flag  soon  waved  over  the  walls  of  Louisburg. 

The  French  king  was  astonished  at  the  fall  of  his  great  fortress 
in  America,  and  determined  to  recapture  it.  He  sent  D'Annville 
with  a  fleet  for  the  purpose,  but  D'Annville  died,  and  his  successor 
committed  suicide,  and  the  project  came  to  naught.  The  next  year 
the  king  sent  another  fleet,  but  it  was  captured  by  the  English  ; 
and  then  came  the  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

The  peace,  as  arranged  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  restored  to  each  power 
what  it  had  possessed  before  the  war  —  save  the  great  sacrifice  of 
life    and   treasure  —  and   that   meant  that   Louisburg   Treaty  of  Aix- 
must  be  restored  to  the  French.     A  wave  of  indignation   la-Chapelle, 
swept  over  the  English  colonies  when  they  learned  that   1748> 
the  fruit  of  their  great  victory  had  been  quietly  handed  back,  with 
out   their  knowledge  or  consent,  to  the  enemy  from    whom  it  had 


170  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

been  taken ;  and  here  we  find  one  of  the  many  remote  causes  that 
led  the  colonists  in  later  years  to  determine  that  American  affairs 
must  be  managed  in  America  and  not  by  a  corps  of  diplomats  three 
thousand  miles  across  the  sea,  who  had  little  interest  in  the  welfare 
and  future  of  their  kindred  in  the  New  World.1 

1  But  the  English  looked  at  the  matter  from  a  different  standpoint.  Chalmers 
complains  bitterly  (Vol.  II,  p.  253)  that  England  in  this  war  had  lost  her  reputa 
tion  and  had  expended  £30,000,000  on  which  she  must  pay  interest  — all  for  the 
colonists,  who  had  lost  nothing,  and  who  ungratefully  continued  to  defraud  the 
mother  country  by  smuggling.  He  neglects  to  state  that  most  of  this  expenditure 
took  place  in  Europe  and  had.no  connection  with  American  affairs. 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE   FRENCH   AND    INDIAN   WAR 

THE  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  of  1748,  like  its  predecessors  at 
Ryswick  and  Utrecht,  failed  to  settle  the  vital  question  between  the 
rival  claimants  of  North  America.  A  commission  of  two  English 
men  and  two  Frenchmen  sat  in  Paris  for  many  months  after  this 
treaty  was  signed,  endeavoring  to  adjust  the  French-English  bound 
aries  in  America ;  but  they  labored  in  vain. 

The  first  subject  in  dispute  was  the  bounds  of  Acadia.  The 
Treaty  of  Utrecht  ceded  it  to  England  without  defining  its  bounds, 
and  thus  planted  the  seeds  of  future  quarrels.  The  French  now  con 
tended  that  Acadia  comprised  only  the  peninsula  of  Nova  Scotia, 
while  the  English  claimed  that  the  bounds  formerly  given  to  it  by  the 
French  must  now  be  adhered  to.  By  these  bounds  the  vast  territory 
comprising  northern  Maine,  New  Brunswick,  and  a  great  portion  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  Valley  were  included  in  Acadia.  While  this  ques 
tion  was  pending,  a  more  important  and  immediate  one  came  up  for 
solution,  namely,  the  ownership  of  the  Ohio  Valley. 

This  valley  of  the  "Beautiful  River"  was  a  princely  domain.  It 
extended  southward  from  Lake  Erie  and  westward  from 
the  base  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  comprising  an  end- 
less  succession  of  hills  and  valleys,  watered  by  innumer 
able  crystal  streams,  and  stretching  on  and  on  until  it  merged  at  length 
into  the  greater  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The  French  claimed  this 
vast  region  as  a  part  of  the  great  basin  of  the  Mississippi  discovered 
by  Marquette  and  La  Salle,  and  now  secured  by  a  cordon  of  forts 
from  Canada  to  the  sunny  climate  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  Eng 
lish  claimed  it  on  two  grounds,  both  of  which  were  as  shadowy  as  the 
claims  of  the  French :  first,  the  early  charters  of  Virginia  and  of  other 
colonies  (based  on  the  Cabot  discoveries)  which  covered  the  unknown 
regions  westward  to  the  equally  unknown  "  South  Sea  "  ;  and  second, 
the  claims  of  the  Iroquois.  The  Iroquois  had  been  acknowledged 
British  subjects  by  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht,  and  their  lands  were 
therefore  British  territory,  and  their  conquests  were  considered 

171 


172  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

British  conquests.  Roving  bands  of  these  Indians  had,  at  various, 
times,  traversed  this  western  country,  and  had  here  and  there  driven 
off  the  natives  or  gained  some  trivial  victory ;  and  the  English  now 
claimed  many  thousands  of  square  miles  in  consequence  of  these, 
"conquests."  They  "laid  claim  to  every  mountain,  forest,  or 
prairie  where  an  Iroquois  had  taken  a  scalp." 1 

The  claims  of  both  nations  were  extravagant  in  the  extreme. 
If  the  French  had  had  their  way,  the  English  would  have  been  con 
fined  to  the  narrow  space  between  the  crest  of  the  Alleghanies  and 
the  Atlantic.  If  the  English  boundaries  had  been  accepted,  the 
French  would  have  been  hemmed  within  a  small  portion  of  Canada, 
north  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence. 

Both  nations  were  now  moving  to  occupy  the  Ohio  Valley.  The 
governor  of  Canada  sent  Celoron  de  Bienville,  who,  with  a  company 
of  Canadians  and  Indians,  floated  down  the  Allegheny  and  Ohio 
rivers,  and  took  formal  possession  in  the  name  of  his 

king*  At  the  mouth  of  a  river  flying  into  the  Ohio, 
he  would  choose  a  large  tree  and  nail  to  it  a  tin  plate 
bearing  the  arms  of  France,  while  at  its  root  he  would  bury  a  leaden 
plate  inscribed  with  the  statement  that  the  country  belonged  to 
France.  This  was  done  at  many  places  along  the  Ohio.2 

During  this  same  year,  1749,  the  English  made  a  far  more 
rational  and  tangible  move  toward  securing  the  coveted  territory. 
The  Ohio  Company  was  formed ;  it  was  composed  of  a  few  wealthy 
Virginians,  to  whom  King  George  II  granted  five  hundred  thou 
sand  acres  of  land  free  of  rent  for  ten  years,  between  the  Mo- 
nongahela  and  Kanawha  rivers,  on  condition  that  they  plant  one 
hundred  families  and  maintain  a  fort  in  their  new  possessions.  A 
little  later  the  French  made  an  important  move.  They  built  a  fort 
at  Presque  Isle,  where  Erie  now  stands,  Fort  Le  Boeuf,  twenty 
miles  from  this,  and  Venango,  on  the  site  of  the  city  of  Franklin, 
Pennsylvania.  This  action  alarmed  Governor  Dinwiddie  of  Vir 
ginia,  as  Virginia  claimed  the  whole  of  the  Allegheny  Valley  by 
right  of  her  charter  of  1609.  The  governor,  therefore,  determined 
to  make  a  formal  protest  against  the  occupation  of  this  territory  by 

1  Parkman,  "  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,"  Vol.  I,  p.  125. 

2  The  plate  buried  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingura  was  found  half  a  century 
later  by  some  boys  while  bathing.     Part  of  it  was  melted  into  bullets,  and  the 
remainder  is  now  in  the  cabinet  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society.  •  The  plate 
buried  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  was  unearthed  by  floods,  and  was  found  by  a 
boy  in  1846,  ninety-seven  years  after  it  had  been  buried.    Ibid.,  p.  48. 


FRENCH   AND   INDIAN    WAR  173 

the  French,  and  in  choosing  a  messenger  to  make  the  journey  to  the 
newly  built  forts  he  unconsciously  introduced  to  the  future  a  young 
man  who  was  destined  to  hold  the  first  place  in  the  heart  of  the 
great  nation  that  was  soon  to  be  born  in  America  —  George  Wash 
ington.  Washington  was  a  youth  of  twenty-one  years  and  was 
adjutant-general  of  the  Virginia  militia.  He  had  seen  much  expe 
rience  in  the  woods  as  a  surveyor.  He  was  tall  and  stalwart,  and 
he  not  only  excelled  all  his  fellows  in  athletic  sports,  but  was 
specially  noted  for  his  moral  character  and  for  his  unswerving  fidel 
ity  to  truth  and  duty.  This  first  appearance  of  Washington  in  public 
life  revealed  the  metal  of  which  he  was  made,  and  plainly  fore 
shadowed  the  great  deeds  of  which  he  afterward  became  the  hero. 
With  the  strength  and  vigor  of  youth,  he  and  a  few  washing- 
attendants  made  this  perilous  journey  through  the  un-  ton's  journey, 
broken  forest.  Over  hills  and  mountains,  swamps  and  1753- 
marshes,  encountering  deep  snows  and  frozen  rivers,  and  every  peril 
of  a  wilderness  yet  untrodden  by  the  foot  of  the  pioneer,  he  carried 
the  letter  of  Virginia's  governor  to  the  French  commandant  at  Fort 
Le  Boeuf.  Washington's  chief  guides  were  Christopher  Gist,  a  pio 
neer  noted  for  his  great  skill  in  woodcraft,  and  Half  King,  an  Indian 
chief  whom  he  picked  up  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio.  He  was  treated 
with  much  kindness  by  the  French  commandant,  Saint-Pierre,  who, 
however,  declared  in  his  answer  that  he  would  remain  at  his  post, 
according  to  the  commands  of  his  general,  but  promised  to  send  Din- 
widdie's  letter  to  Marquis  Duquesne,  the  governor  of  Canada. 

Washington's  return  trip  was  full  of  adventure.  Thinking  he 
could  make  better  time,  he  left  his  horses  and  all  his  guides  ex 
cept  Gist,  and  started  out  on  foot.  At  an  Indian  village  called 
Murdering  Town  they  were  shot  at  by  a  native  whom  they  caught 
and  whom  Gist  would  have  killed  but  for  Washington's  interference. 
Beaching  the  Allegheny  River,  they  attempted  to  cross  on  a  raft, 
but  Washington  was  thrown  into  the  current  among  the  ice  floes. 
He  regained  the  raft,  thoroughly  drenched  with  the  icy  waters,  and 
they  reached  an  island  in  the  river,  on  which  they  were  obliged  to 
spend  a  bitterly  cold  night.  Next  morning  the  river  was  frozen  over, 
and  they  crossed  on  the  ice  and  were  soon  again  speeding  through 
the  forest.  They  reached  Williamsburg,  Virginia,  on  January  16, 
whence  they  had  started  seventy-eight  days  before. 

Washington  thus  won  the  warm  favor  of  his  governor  and  the 
attention  of  all  Virginia.  The  people  early  recognized  in  him  the 


174  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES 

rising  hero,  nor  was  it  long  until  his  further  services  were  needed, 
for  hostilities  were  at  hand.  Before  midsummer  of  this  same  year, 
1754,  Washington,  in  command  of  a  small  body  of  militia  near  a 
place  called  Great  Meadows,  fired  on  a  body  of  Frenchmen  under  the 
command  of  Jumonville,  and  the  latter  with  nine  of  his  men  were 
killed ; 1  and  the  great  war  that  was  to  shake  two  continents,  and  to 
determine  the  language  and  civilization  of  the  future  United  States, 
was  begun. 

A  VIEW   OF   THE   BELLIGERENTS 

It  is  in  place  here  to  take  a  momentary  view  of  the  two  peoples, 
as  we  find  them  in  America,  who  were  about  to  grapple  in  a  great 
final  struggle  for  the  control  of  the  continent.  There  are  many 
points  of  resemblance.  Both  had  occupied  portions  of  the  continent 
for  nearly  two  hundred  years,  both  were  intensely  religious,  rep 
resenting  different  forms  of  Christianity,  and  each  was  bigoted  and 
intolerant  and  jealous  of  its  rival.  However  we  may  admire  the 
religious  fervor -of  the  Puritan,  the  Presbyterian,  and  the  Huguenot, 
we  must  equally  admire  the  French  Catholic,  who  made  his  home 
in  the  wilderness  and  gave  his  life  to  the  conversion  of  the  savage. 
The  religious  zeal  of  both  peoples  had,  however,  become 
agreement  greatly  modified  during  the  two  centuries  that  had 
passed,  owing  chiefly  to  the  coming  of  many  who  sought 
only  adventure  or  gain.  In  1750  we  look  in  vain  through  the  English 
colonies  for  the  Puritan  of  the  Winthrop  type,  and  it  is  almost 
equally  difficult  to  find  in  Canada  the  spirit  of  Allouez  or  Marquette. 
Again,  the  French  and  English  were  alike  in  personal  courage,  in  a 
jealous  love  of  the  respective  countries  from  which  they  had  sprung; 
and  both  had  imbibed  that  spirit  of  wild  freedom  inseparable  from 
a  life  in  the  wilderness.  But  the  points  of  difference  between  the 
English  and  the  French  in  America  are  more  striking  than  their 
points  of  agreement. 

First,  as  to  motive  or  object  in  settling  in  America.  The  chief 
object  of  the  English  was  to  find  a  home  for  themselves,  far  from 
persecution,  where  by  patient  industry  they  might  build  up  a  com 
monwealth;  while  secondarily,  they  would  lead  the  red  man  to 
embrace  Christianity. 

The  object  of  the  Frenchman  was  twofold.  First,  he  would  build 
up  a  great  New  France  which  should  be  the  glory  of  his  native  land ; 

1  But  on  July  4  Washington  capitulated  at  Fort  Necessity. 


FRENCH   AND   INDIAN   WAR  175 

second,  he  would  convert  the  native  red  man  to  his  religion ;  and 
third,  he  sought  the  wealth  to  be  derived  from  the  fur  trade.  These 
are  comprehensive  statements.  It  was  the  French  government,  as 
reflected  in  its  loyal  sons,  that  aimed  to  build  up  a  New  France ;  it 
was  the  French  Jesuit,  typifying  the  religious  sense  of  the  nation, 
who  labored  to  convert  the  Indian ;  it  was  the  French  settler  who 
strove  for  the  wealth  of  the  fur  trade. 

But  while  the  Englishman  would  found  a  new  England  by  migrat 
ing  in  thousands,  the  Frenchman  would  do  the  same  for  his  nation, 
not  by  migrating,  but  by  making  Frenchmen  of  the  Indians.  When 
the  Englishman  wished  to  marry,  he  found  a  wife  among  his  fellow- 
immigrants,  or  imported  her  from  England ;  the  French 
man  desiring  a  wife  found  her  in  the  forest  —  he  mar- 
ried  a  squaw.  The  English  generally  migrated  in 
families,  or  congregations ;  the  French  who  came  were  mostly  men, 
and  thus  they  lacked  the  indispensable  corner  stone  of  the  State  — 
the  family.  One  great  blunder  made  by  the  Frenchman  was  his 
failure  to  diagnose  the  Indian  character.  He  evidently  believed  the 
Indian  more  capable  of  civilization  than  he  was.  The  Frenchman 
spent  himself  to  lift  up  the  Indian,  but  more  frequently  the  Indian 
dragged  him  down  to  barbarism ;  he  married  the  squaw  and  raised 
a  family,  not  of  Frenchmen,  but  of  barbarians.  The  French  made 
many  thousands  of  nominal  converts  among  the  natives,  but  there 
is  little  evidence  that  the  Indian  was  changed  in  habits  or  character 
by  his  conversion,  or  that  he  was  led  to  aspire  to  a  higher  civilization. 

A  second  important  difference  between  the  two  peoples  is  found 
in  their  relation  to  their  respective  home  governments.  The  Eng 
lish  colonies  had  been  left  by  their  sovereign  to  develop  themselves, 
and  they  grew  strong  and  self-reliant.  Two  of  them,  Rhode  Island 
and  Connecticut,  chose  their  own  governors  ;  and,  aside  from  the  ever 
irritable  Navigation  Acts,  they  all  practically  made  their  own  laws. 
They  were  very  democratic,  and  almost  independent ;  and,  indeed, 
but  for  want  of  one  thing,  union,  they  constituted  a  nation.  The 
French  colonies,  on  the  other  hand,  were  wholly  dependent  on  the 
Crown.  From  the  beginning  the  king  had  fostered  and  fed  and 
coddled  them,  and  they  never  learned  to  stand  alone.  As  a  whole 
they  were  a  centralized,  hierarchical  despotism.  As  men  they  ex 
perienced  an  individual  freedom,  born  of  life  in  the  wilderness,  but 
political  or  religious  freedom  was  beyond  their  dreams  or  desires. 

Again,  the  English  colonies  opened  wide  their  doors  to  all  the 


176  HISTORY  OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

world.  The  English  Protestants  were  intolerant  of  Catholics,  it  is 
true,  and  even  of  one  another ;  but  their  religious  strife  was  chiefly 
intellectual  and  theological,  and  they  continued  to  dwell  together  on 
the  same  soil.  The  French,  on  the  other  hand,  excluded  all  except 
Catholics  from  their  new  domains.  The  French  Huguenots,  who 
were  ill  at  ease  among  the  English  in  Carolina,  petitioned  their 
king  to  permit  them  to  settle  in  Louisiana,  where  they  might  still  be 
Frenchmen  and  still  be  his  subjects;  but  the  bigoted  monarch 
answered  that  he  did  not  drive  heretics  from,  his  kingdom  only  to 
be  nourished  in  his  colonies,  and  they  remained  with  the  English 
and  became  a  part  of  them.1  And  the  narrow-minded  king  reaped 
the  reward  of  his  folly  ;  while  the  English  in  America  numbered,  at 
the  opening  of  the  French  and  Indian  War,  at  least  twelve  hundred 
thousand  souls,  the  French  population  barely  reached  sixty  thou 
sand.  The  French  king  might  have  had,  without  expense  to  him 
self,  a  quarter  of  a  million  industrious  people  of  his  own  nation 
dwelling  in  the  Mississippi  Valley ;  but  he  threw  away  the  oppor 
tunity,  and  that  vast  fertile  region  was  now  peopled  only  by  roving 
Indian  hordes.  The  French  had  control  of  a  territory  twenty  times 
as  great  as  that  held  by  the  English ;  but  the  English  had  a  popula 
tion  twenty  times  as  great  as  the  French. 

In  one  respect,  and  one  only,  the  French  had  the  advantage  over 
the  English :  they  were  a  unit.  The  French  king  had  but  to  com 
mand,  and  all  Canada  was  ready  to  rush  to  arms.  The  English  were 
composed  of  separate  colonies  —  republics,  we  may  say ;  each  enjoying 
much  liberty  without  the  responsibility  of  nationality ;  each  joined 
loosely  to  the  mother  country,  but  wholly  separate  politically  from 
all  its  fellows.  Each  colony  had  its  own  interests  and  lived  its  own 
life,  and  it  was  difficult  to  awaken  them  to  a  sense  of  common 
danger.  Governor  Dinwiddie,  in  1754,  appealed  frantically  and  in 
vain  to  rouse  his  neighbor  colonists  to  action.  Indeed,  it  required 
two  or  three  years'  warfare  to  awaken  the  English  to  a  sense  of 
their  duty,  and  the  result  was  that  the  French  during  that  period 
were  successful  on  every  side. 

The   far-sighted  Franklin  saw  this  great  defect  —  this  want  of 

union ;  and  at  a  colonial  conference  held  at  Albany,  in 

Congress          1754,  and  known  as  the  Albany  Congress,  he  brought 

about  a  plan  of   union,  known   as   the  Albany  Plan. 

This  plan  provided  for  a  president-general  to  be  appointed  by  the 

i  Parkman,  "  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,"  Vol.  I,  p.  22. 


FRENCH  AND   INDIAN   WAR  177 

Crown,  and  for  a  council  to  be  elected  by  the  legislatures.  But  the 
English  government  rejected  the  plan  because  it  was  too  democratic, 
while  the  colonists  rejected  it  because  they  feared  it  would  increase 
the  power  of  the  king,  and  the  colonies  plunged  into  this  war,  as 
into  those  that  preceded  it,  without  concerted  action. 

An  important  consideration  at  the  opening  of  this  great  struggle 
for  a  continent  was  the  attitude  of  the  Indians.  Had  all  the  tribes 
thrown  their  weight  to  either  side,  the  other  side  would 
doubtless  have  been  defeated.  But  it  happened  that 
they  were  divided.  The  majority  of  the  Indians,  however, 
were  with  the  French,  and  most  naturally  so.  The  Frenchmen 
flattered  and  won  them  by  treating  them  as  brethren,  by  adopting 
their  customs,  by  marrying  into  their  tribes,  and  by  showing  a  zeal  for 
their  souls'  salvation.  The  Frenchman  readily  fell  into  the  Indian 
habits.  Even  the  great  Canadian  governor,  Frontenac,  is  said  to  have 
at  times  donned  their  costume  and  entered  the  uncouth  dance,  where 
he  would  leap  as  high  and  yell  as  loud  as  any  child  of  the  forest. 

The  Englishman,  on  the  other  hand,  never  received  the  native 
red  man  on  the  same  footing  with  himself,  never  cared  for  his  con 
fidence,  nor  desired  him  as  a  neighbor.  Often  the  two  races  were 
friendly,  but  a  mutual  suspicion  was  never  absent.1  Moreover,  the 
English  wanted  land,  which  the  Indians  were  loath  to  yield,  and  the 
French  wanted  furs,  which  they  were  always  ready  to  furnish.  In 
view  of  these  facts  it  is  not  strange  that  the  majority  of  the  natives 
sided  with  the  French.  Nearly  all  the  Algonquin  tribes  were  French 
in  their  sympathies.  But  the  very  notable  exception  we  find  in  the 
fierce,  warlike  Six  Nations,  or  IroquQis;_of_northern_New  York,  who 
cast  theicJot  with  the  English.  The  enmity  oTthe  Iroquois  toward 
the  French  had  its  origin  in  a  little  skirmish  they  had  in  1609  with 
Champlain,  when  a  few  of  their  chiefs  were  slain.  But  there  was 
another  cause.  The  Iroquois  and  the  Algonquins  were  deadly, 
hereditary  enemies,  and  so  they  had  been  from  a  time  far  back, 
beyond  the  coining  of  the  white  man  to  North  America ;  and  the 
intimacy  between  the  Algonquins  and  the  French  proved  a  serious 
barrier  to  the  latter  when  they  sought  to  make  friends  of  the  Iroquois. 

Nevertheless,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  before  the  opening  of 

the  war  we  are  treating,  the  French  were  making  every  effort  to  win 

the  Six  Nations,  and  they  would  doubtless  have  succeeded  but  for  the 

counter  influence  of  one  man,  William  Johnson,  the  British  superin- 

1  Sloaue,  "  The  French  War  and  the  Revolution,"  p.  34. 

N 


178  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

tendent  of  Indian  affairs.  Johnson  spent  many  years  among  the 
Iroquois,  knew  their  language  as  he  knew  his  own,  married  a 
Mohawk  squaw,  and  was  made  a  sachem  of  their  tribe.  As  Sloane 
says,  his  attitude  toward  the  Indians  was  French  rather  than  Eng 
lish,  and  it  was  he  above  all  men  who  held  the  Iroquois  firm  for  the 
English  during  the  French  and  Indian  War. 

DUQUESNE   AND   ACADIA 

The  colonial  wars  treated  in  the  preceding  chapter  did  not 
originate  in  America;  they  were  but  reflections  or  echoes  of  far 
greater  wars  in  Europe.  But  the  French  and  Indian  War  had  its 
origin  on  this  side  of  the  water,  and  was  caused  by  boundary  dis 
putes  between  two  great  European  powers  concerning  their  posses 
sions  in  North  America.  And  yet  this  was  closely  connected  with 
the  tremendous  war  that  raged  simultaneously  in  Europe,  known  as 
the  Seven  Years'  War,  in  which  Frederick  the  Great  of  Prussia  con 
tended,  at  first  single-handed,  and  later  in  alliance  with  the  British, 
against  the  powerful  French  and  Austrian  monarchies.  The  formal 
declaration  of  war  between  France  and  England  was  not  made  till  May, 
1756 ;  but  hostilities  broke  out  in  America  two  years  before  this,  and 
the  year  1755  is  marked  by  two  of  the  most  memorable  events  of 
the  war.  These  were  the  ill-starred  expedition  of  Braddock  against 
Fort  Duquesne  and  the  drastic  dealing  with  Acadia  by  the  English. 

One  Sunday,  late  in  February,  1755,  a  British  general  of  stately 
bearing  and  in  bright  uniform  came  to  the  home  of  Governor  Din- 
widdie  at  Williamsburg,  Virginia.  The  governor  wrote  to  a  friend  : 
"  He  is,  I  think,  a  very  fine  officer,  and  a  sensible,  considerate  gentle 
man.  He  and  I  live  in  great  harmony."  The  gentleman  was 
General  Braddock,  and  he  was  accompanied  by  his  secretary,  William 
Shirley,  son  of  the  famous  governor  of  Massachusetts.  Braddock 
had  come  to  be  commander  in  chief  of  the  English  and  American 
forces  against  the  rising  enemy  on  the  north  and  west.  The  ministry 
had  decided  on  three  expeditions  —  against  Niagara,  Crown  Point, 
and  Fort  Duquesne,  respectively ;  and  to  the  last  of  these  Brad- 
dock  was  now  to  address  himself.  Three  months  after  reaching 
Williamsburg  we  find  him  at  the  Ohio  Company's  old  trading 
station,  now  Cumberland,  Maryland,  with  a  motley  army  of  some 
thirteen  hundred  men,  partly  British  regulars,  partly  provincial 
troops,  and  with  a  sprinkling  of  Indians.  After  much  delay  and 


FRENCH   AND   INDIAN   WAR  179 

trouble  in  collecting  wagons,  food,  and  forage,  which  caused  the  com 
manding  general,  as  well  as  his  quartermaster,  to  "  storm  like  a 
rampant  lion,"  the  army  was  ready  to  begin  its  march  across  the 
mountains  to  attack  Fort  Duquesne. 

Fort  Duquesne  was  a  French  post  situated  at  the  junction  of  the 
Monongahela  and  Allegheny  rivers,  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the 
great  iron  city  of  Pittsburg,  with  its  teeming  life  and  its  hurrying 
thousands.  When  Washington  made  his  famous  trip  to  Saint-Pierre, 
two  years  before,  he  took  notice  of  this  spot,  and  reported  to  his  gov 
ernor  that  an  English  fort  should  be  planted  there.  A  few  months 
later  a  body  of  men  were  sent  to  carry  out  Washington's  suggestion; 
but  ere  they  had  finished  their  task,  several  hundred  French  and 
Indians  floated  down  the  Allegheny  and  drove  them  away,  and 
erected  Fort  Duquesne.  To  capture  this  fort  Braddock  would  now 
lead  his  army,  and  he  seemed  never  to  dream  of  failure.  Braddock 
was  haughty  and  self-willed,  but  he  was  brave  and  not  without 
ability.  He  refused  to  be  advised  by  those  who  knew  more  of  the 
foe  and  the  country  than  himself.  He  looked  with  contempt  on  the 
Virginia  troops,  and  made  them  feel  their  littleness  in  his  eyes  at 
all  times ;  nevertheless  one  of  them,  George  Washington,  was  a 
member  of  his  staff. 

Three  hundred  axmen  were  sent  before  to  cut  a  road,  and  the 
army  began  to  move  from  Cumberland  early  in  June.  The  march 
was  long  and  toilsome,  but  the  spring  was  in  full  bloom  and  there 
was  much  to  attract  the  lover  of  nature's  beauty.  Over  the  hills 
and  ridges,  streams  and  deep  gullies,  up  the  steep 
mountain  slopes,  the  brave,  hilarious  soldiers  marched 
through  the  great  primeval  forest,  and  the  woods  rang 
with  their  shouts  and  music.  The  road  was  cut  but  twelve  feet 
wide,  and  the  army,  four  miles  in  length,  seemed  like  a  gigantic 
centipede  trailing  its  weary  way  through  the  wilderness.1  On  the 
9th  of  July,  when  they  had  come  within  eight  miles  of  Duquesne, 
at  a  point  near  where  Turtle  Creek  flows  into  the  Monougahela,  sur 
rounded  by  the  dense  forest  and  under  the  shadow  of  a  line  of  hills, 
they  suddenly  met  the  enemy  whom  they  sought.  Braddock  was 
surprised,  but  not  ambuscaded,  as  is  commonly  stated.  The  enemy 
were  about  nine  hundred  strong ;  two  thirds  of  them  were  Indians, 
the  rest  French  and  Canadians.  They  were  led  by  Captain  Beaujeu, 
who,  seeing  the  English  advance  column,  turned  to  the  motley  hordes 
1  See  Parkman's  "  Montcalin  and  Wolfe,"  Vol.  I,  Chap.  VII. 


180  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES 

behind  him,  waved  his  hat,  and  gave  the  signal.  Instantly  there  was 
a  terrible  war  whoop  and  the  French  and  Indian  forces  spread  into  two 
parts  to  the  right  and  left,  hid  behind  trees,  and  opened  a  murderous 
fire.  The  English  column  wheeled  into  line  and  returned  the  fire 
with  the  utmost  courage  and  steadiness.  The  enemy  were  scarcely 
visible  from  the  beginning;  they  had  adopted  the  true  Indian  mode  of 
fighting.  The  first  moments  gave  promise  of  English  success.  The 
French  commander,  Beaujeu,  was  killed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
encounter,  and  most  of  the  French  and  Canadians  wavered  and 
fled.  But  not  so  with  the  Indians.  They  quickly  saw  their  oppor 
tunity  —  hiding  places  in  plenty,  with  an  enemy  before  them  that  did 
not  know  or  would  not  adopt  their  mode  of  warfare.  They  swarmed 
on  both  flanks  of  the  English  in  great  numbers,  firing  as  rapidly  as 
they  could  load  from  behind  trees,  bushes,  and  fallen  timber. 

The  English  fired  volley  after  volley,  though  they  could  see  no 
enemy — only  numberless  puffs  of  smoke  from  which  the  bullets 
whizzed  into  their  ranks  like  hail.  At  length  they  huddled  to 
gether  in  disorder  and  confusion.  Braddock  heard 
the  firing  and  came  with  all  speed  with  the  main  army ; 
but  he  knew  nothing  of  Indian  warfare,  and  he  was  too  proud  to 
learn.  He  galloped  forward  and  back  among  the  men,  striving 
with  threats  and  oaths  to  form  them  into  battle  lines,  refusing  to 
adopt  Indian  methods,  and  striking  down  with  his  sword  men  who 
hid  behind  trees.  The  Virginia  troops  knew  how  to  fight  Indians, 
and  they  might  have  won  the  day  had  they  been  allowed  to  use 
Indian  methods,  as  they  attempted  to  do;  but  the  haughty  general 
refused  to  permit  it,  and  they,  like  the  regulars,  stood  and  quivered 
like  frightened  quail  as  they  were  mowed  down  by  the  invisible 
enemy.  The  scene  was  one  of  horror  beyond  description.  The 
ground  was  covered  with  dead  and  wounded,  and  these  were  trampled 
in  the  mad  rush  of  men  and  horses,  while  the  yells  of  the  savage 
hordes  in  the  distance,  heard  above  the  din  of  battle,  added  to  the 
general  pandemonium.  Braddock  dashed  to  and  fro  like  a  madman, 
and  at  last,  when  his  army  had  stood  this  frightful  slaughter  for 
three  hours  and  more  than  two  thirds  of  it  was  cut  down,  he  ordered 
a  retreat. 

The  battle  was  almost  over.  Four  horses  had  been  shot  under 
Braddock,  and  he  mounted  a  fifth,  when  a  bullet  was  buried  in  his 
lungs,  and  he  pitched  from  his  horse  and  lay  quivering  and  speech 
less  on  the  ground.  The  ruined  army  was  soon  in  full  retreat,  but 


FRENCH   AND   INDIAN   WAR  181 

only  a  third  was  left  alive  and  unhurt.  Of  eighty-six  officers  sixty- 
three  were  killed  or  disabled.  The  escape  of  Washington  seemed 
miraculous ;  two  horses  were  killed  under  him  and  four  bullets 
pierced  his  clothing.  Young  Shirley,  Braddock's  secretary,  fell  dead 
with  a  bullet  in  his  brain.  The  loss  of  the  French  and  Canadians 
was  slight,  but  a  considerable  number  of  the  Indians  were  killed. 

The  fallen  general  was  carried  on  a  litter  back  over  the  rough- 
hewn  road  that  had  brought  him  to  the  field  of  death.  His  wound 
was  mortal.  He  was  at  times  silent  for  many  hours,  then  he  would 
say,  "  Who  would  have  thought  it  ?  Who  would  have  thought  it  ?  " 
It  is  said  that  during  his  last  hours  he  could  not  bear  the  sight  of 
the  British  regulars,  but  murmured  praises  for  the  Virginia  troops 
and  hoped  he  would  live  to  reward  them.1  Four  days  after  the 
battle  he  died,  near  the  Great  Meadows  where  Washington  had 
fought  Jumonville  the  year  before.  His  body  was  buried  in  the 
middle  of  the  road,  as  he  had  requested,  and,  lest  the  spot  be  dis 
covered  by  the  Indians,  the  whole  army  —  men,  horses,  and  wagons 
—  passed  over  his  grave. 

Acadia  had  been  settled  by  the  French  before  the  founding  of 
Jamestown ;  but  it  was  soon  in  the  possession  of  the  English,  and 
again  of  the  French,  and  so  it  passed  back  and  forth 
like  a  shuttle  between  the  two  nations  till  the  Treaty  of  gj^ied  1604 
Utrecht,  when  it  became  a  permanent  English  posses 
sion.  But  its  inhabitants  were  French,  and,  led  *by  their  priests 
and  encouraged  by  the  home  government,  they  retained  the  language 
and  customs  of  France,  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
British  king.  Furthermore,  they  fostered  a  spirit  of  hostility  to 
the  British  government,  and  it  was  feared  that  an  outbreak  against 
the  newly  founded  English  settlement  at  Halifax  might  occur  at  any 
time.  Governor  Duquesne  wrote  in  October,  1754,  to  one  of  his  sub 
ordinates,  urging  that  a  plausible  pretext  for  attacking  the  English 
be  devised.  At  the  same  time  the  English,  led  by  Governor  Shirley, 
were  planning  the  most  drastic  measures  —  no  less  than  the  removal 
by  force  of  the  entire  French  population  from  Acadia.  Plans  were 
ripened  during  the  following  winter,  and  in  the  early  spring  the 
expedition  set  forth  from  Boston  under  Colonel  Monckton,  with 
John  Winslow,  great-grandson  of  a  Mayflower  Pilgrim,  second  in 
command.  On  the  first  of  June  they  sailed  into  the  Bay  of  Fundy 
i  Parkman's,  "  Montcalrn  and  Wolfe,"  Vol.  I,  p.  226. 


182  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

and  anchored  within  a  few  miles  of  Beau  Sejour,  the  only  military 
post  on  the  peninsula  still  in  possession  of  French  troops.  After  a 
short  resistance  the  fort  surrendered  to  the  English,  who,  some 
months  later,  began  to  carry  into  effect  their  cruel  decision  to  deport 
the  Acadians.  They  had  ample  authority,  for  the  Lords  of  Trade  in 
London  had  written  that  the  Acadians  had  no  right  to  their  lands,  if 
they  persisted  in  refusing  to  take  the  oath. 

The  Acadians,  some  seventeen  thousand  in  number,  were  a 
simple,  frugal,  industrious,  and  very  ignorant  people,  who  lived 
apart  from  all  the  rest  of  the  world.  They  raised  their  herds  and 
cultivated  their  little  farms  in  contentment,  and  made  their  clothes 
from  wool  and  flax  of  their  own  raising.  They  often  had  quarrels 
and  litigations  among  themselves,  but  in  the  main  they  were  happy 
and  contented.  The  British  government  up  to  this  time  had  been 
fairly  lenient  with  them ;  it  had  granted  them  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion  and  had  exempted  them  from  military  service.  Never 
theless,  the  Acadians,  led  by  their  superiors,  had  fostered  an  un 
friendly,  almost  a  hostile,  spirit  against  their  government  during 
the  more  than  forty  years  of  British  rule. 

After  the  surrender  of  Beau  Sejour,  the  English  thought  it  a 
favorable  moment  for  exacting  the  oath  of  allegiance  which  had  so 
long  been  refused.  But  it  was  again  refused,  and  the  painful  business 
of  deporting  the  Acadians  began  early  in  the  autumn.  The  scenes  at 
Grand  Pre,  made  famous  by  Longfellow's  "  Evangeline,"  furnish  a 
fair  sample  of  £he  whole.  This  section  was  under  the  charge  of 
Winslow,  and  he  wrote  that  the  duty  before  him  was  the  most  dis 
agreeable  of  his  life.  Grand  Pre  was  a  quiet  rural  vil 
lage,  surrounded  by  broad  meadows,  their  green  slopes 
dotted  with  farmhouses.  It  was  now  late  in  August,  and  the  wav 
ing  fields  of  grain  betokened  the  industry  and  thrift  of  the  simple 
inhabitants.  Winslow,  with  a  body  of  troops,  was  encamped  at  the 
village,  and  he  issued  an  order  for  the  men  of  the  community  to 
assemble  at  the  church  on  a  certain  day  to  hear  a  decree  of  the 
king ;  and  the  glittering  bayonets  of  the  soldiers  warned  them  in 
unmistakable  language  of  their  peril  if  they  refused.  The  men, 
clad  in  homespun  and  wholly  unarmed,  assembled  in  the  church  to 
the  number  of  four  hundred  and  eighteen,  and  heard  the  fatal  decree 
that  their  houses  and  lands  and  cattle  were  forfeited  to  the  Crown, 
and  that  they,  with  their  families  and  household  goods,  were  to  be 
removed  from  the  province.  The  men  were  thunderstruck  at  the 


FRENCH  AND   INDIAN   WAR  183 

announcement ;  however,  as  Winslow  says,  many  of  them  did  not 
then  believe  that  the  decree  would  be  carried  out.  But  it  was  car 
ried  out  with  merciless  severity,  and  within  a  few  weeks  hundreds 
of  them  were  launched  upon  the  sea  for  unknown  shores,  while  the 
lowing  of  the  herds  and  the  howling  of  the  dogs  could  alone  be 
heard  from  the  desolate  farms  that  had  so  lately  been  the  scene  of 
life  and  peace  and  plenty.  Other  similar  scenes  occurred  in  various 
parts  of  Acadia;  but  the  majority  of  the  people  escaped  to  the 
forests  and  could  not  be  captured.  More  than  six  thousand  in  all 
were  deported,  families  usually  being  kept  together.  They  were 
scattered  among  the  English  colonies  from  New  Haven  to  Georgia. 
Many  of  them  afterward  returned  to  Canada,  some  to  their  old 
homes  in  Acadia ;  and  a  large  number  of  them  made  their  way  to  the 
west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  in  Louisiana,  where  their  descendants 
are  still  to  be  found. 

It  is  difficult  to  pronounce  judgment  on  this  merciless  dealing 
of  the  English  with  these  simple,  untutored  people  of  Acadia.  His 
tory  has  generally  pronounced  the  deed  a  harsh  and  needless  one, 
that  has  left  an  indelible  stain  upon  its  perpetrators.  Assuming 
that  the  English  had  a  perfect  right  to  the  province,  they  employed, 
after  forty  years  of  forbearance,  perhaps  the  only  means,  aside  from 
extermination,  by  which  they  could  secure  their  ends  and  crush 
opposition  to  their  government.  Assuming,  however,  that  might 
does  not  make  right,  the  English  should  not  have  owned  Acadia  at 
all.  They  held  it  only  by  the  doubtful  right  of  conquest.  The  land 
had  been  settled  and  was  occupied  by  the  French,  and,  if  there  is  a 
standard  of  human  rights  above  the  rulings  of  kings  and  govern 
ments  and  the  results  of  unholy  wars,  these  people  should  have  been 
permitted  to  choose  their  own  sovereign.  Viewing  the  matter  in 
this  light  (as  the  Acadians  doubtless  did),  we  must  pronounce  these 
simple  people  the  victims  of  a  dastardly  outrage,  and  they  must  ever 
elicit  the  sympathy  of  mankind. 

At  the  time  when  the  English  planned  the  two  campaigns  against 
Fort  Duquesne  and  Acadia,  they  also  decided  on  two  other  expedi 
tions  —  against  Niagara  and  Crown  Point.     The  movement  against 
Niagara  was  to  be  led  by  Governor  Shirley,  but  it  came   Defeat  Of 
to  nothing;  that  against  Crown  Point  was  led  by  Gen-  Dieskau, 
eral  William  Johnson.      He  had  nearly  four  thousand   1755> 
troops,  mostly  from  New  England,  and  with  this  army  he  met  Dies 
kau,  a  brave  and  able  French  commander,  with  a  somewhat  smaller 


184  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

array.  Several  hundred  on  each  side  were  Indians.  The  battle 
occurred  near  Lake  George,  and  Dieskau  was  defeated  and  mortally 
wounded.  The  honor  of  this,  the  only  English  victory  of  the  year, 
belonged  rightly  to  General  Lyman  of  Connecticut.  Johnson,  how 
ever,  assumed  the  honor ;  and  through  his  friends  at  court  he  was 
rewarded  with  knighthood  from  the  Crown  and  a  bonus  of  £5000. 

The  following  year,  1756,  witnessed  but  few  changes  in  the  war 
situation.  Both  nations  formally  declared  War  in  the  spring.  Lord 
Loudon  was  made  the  chief  commander  of  the  British  forces,  with 
General  Abercrombie  as  second  in  command.  The  Marquis  de 
Montcalm  became  the  commander  of  the  French.  The  English 
planned  great  things  and  accomplished  almost  nothing,  while  Mont- 
calm  captured  Oswego,  with  fourteen  hundred  prisoners  and  large 
stores  of  ammunition.  The  only  English  success,  aside  from  build 
ing  a  fort  on  the  Tennessee  River  to  guard  against  Indians  in  that 
part  of  the  country  who  were  in  sympathy  with  the  French,  was 
the  destruction  of  Kittanning.  This  was  an  Indian 
ms'  village  on  the  Allegheny  River,  forty-five  miles  above 
Fort  Duquesne,  and  was  the  base  of  many  Indian  raids  on  the 
Pennsylvania  frontier.  Early  in  September,  Colonel  John  Arm 
strong,  with  three  hundred  men,  surprised  the  town  one  morning  at 
daybreak.  A  desperate  battle  ensued  ;  the  Indians  were  defeated  and 
their  town  was  utterly  destroyed,  and  for  several  years  thereafter  the 
settlers  of  western  Pennsylvania  had  rest  from  Indian  massacres. 
The  year  1757  was  even  more  humiliating  to  British  arms  than  the 
preceding  year  had  been.  Lord  Loudon  planned  the  destruction  of 
Louisburg,  the  powerful  French  fortress  on  Cape  Breton  Island  that 
had  surrendered  twelve  years  before  to  the  New  England  farmers 
and  fishermen.  Loudon  embarked  in  June  from  New  York  with 
a  large  fleet,  and  was  joined  at  Halifax  by  Admiral  Holborne  with 
another.  With  nearly  twelve  thousand  men  they  now  made  ready 
to  attack  the  powerful  stronghold.  But  Loudon  was  wanting  in 
skill  as  a  commander,  as  well  as  in  the  mettle  of  a  true  soldier. 
Hearing  that  Louisburg  was  guarded  by  a  French  fleet,  and  that 
the  garrison  had  been  increased  to  seven  thousand  men,  he  abandoned 
the  enterprise  and  returned  to  New  York. 

While  the  English  cause  languished  for  want  of  a  leader,  the 
French  had  found  one  of  great  vigor  and  ability  in  the  person  of 
Montcalm.  This  intrepid  warrior,  hearing  that  Loudon  had  drawn 
heavily  on  the  militia  of  New  York,  and  had  left  the  northern 


FRENCH  AND   INDIAN   WAR  185 

frontier  of  that  colony  but  half  protected,  determined  to  strike  a  tell 
ing  blow  for  his  country  by  attacking  Fort  William  Henry  at  the  head 
of  Lake  George.  This  fort  was  formed  of  embankments 
of  gravel,  surmounted  by  a  rampart  of  heavy  timbers, 
and  mounted  seventeen  cannon.  Colonel  Monro,  a  brave  Scotch 
veteran,  was  in  command,  and  the  garrison  numbered  twenty-two 
hundred  men.  It  was  rumored  in  early  July  that  the  French  under 
Montcalm  were  contemplating  an  attack ;  but  Monro  felt  fairly 
secure,  owing  to  the  strength  of  his  fort,  the  bravery  of  his  men,  and 
the  fact  that  General  Webb  with  sixteen  hundred  additional  troops 
lay  at  Fort  Edward,  but  fourteen  miles  away. 

The  rumor  proved  true.  Stealthily  through  the  midsummer 
forest,  along  the  shore  of  the  silvery  lake,  over  the  streams,  and 
among  the  hills,  crept  the  army  of  Montcalm.  It  was  seven  and  a 
half  thousand  strong  —  sixteen  hundred  were  Indians.  On  the 
3d  of  August  the  wild  war  whoop  and  the  rattle  of  musketry  from 
among  the  timbers  told  the  garrison  that  the  siege  was  begun.  The 
spot  was  fast  becoming  historic ;  here  Dieskau  had  captures 
received  his  death-wound  and  here  Sir  William  Johnson  Fort  William 
had  won  his  knighthood.  But  this  third  encounter  Heni7- 
between  the  same  peoples  in  this  lonely  forest  seemed  to  promise  vic 
tory  to  the  French.  Monro  saw  his  danger,  but  he  refused  the  French 
demand  to  surrender.  He  sent  messengers  daily  to  General  Webb, 
begging  for  reinforcements.  Webb  was  within  hearing  of  the  can 
nonade,  and  held  more  than  a  thousand  men  in  idleness  ;  but  he 
refused  to  raise  a  finger  for  the  rescue  of  the  fort.  He  sent  a  letter 
to  Monro,  advising  him  to  surrender.  The  bearer  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Indians,  and  the  letter  fell  into  the  hands  of  Montcalm,  who 
sent  it  to  Monro,  renewing  his  demand  for  the  surrender  of  the  fort. 
For  several  days  longer  the  roar  of  the  cannon  echoed  from  the 
neighboring  mountains,  when  the  white  flag  was  raised  over  the  fast- 
crumbling  walls.  The  English  were  to  march  out  with  the  honors 
of  war,  to  be  escorted  by  French  troops  to  Fort  Edward,  and  not  to 
serve  again  for  eighteen  months. 

And  now  was  enacted  one  of  those  bloody  deeds  characteristic  of 
early  America  —  a  deed  of  which  only  savage  man  is  capable.  The 
French  commander  used  every  effort  to  restrain  his  Indian  allies, 
but  a  taste  of  blood  had  awakened  their  savage  nature  and  turned 
them  to  demons;  the  practice  of  generations  was  too  strong  to  be 
overcome  by  the  restraints  of  civilized  warfare.  They  rushed  into 


186  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  fort  and  tomahawked  the  sick  and  wounded,  the  women  and 
children.  But  this  did  not  appease  their  thirst  for  blood.  They 
even  attacked  the  column  of  marching  soldiers.  Montcalm  ran 
among  them  with  wild  gestures,  striving  with  threats  and  entreaties 
to  restrain  them.  "Kill  me,"  he  cried,  "kill  me,  but  spare  the 
English  who  are  under  my  protection."  But  the  savage  hordes 
were  not  restrained  until  they  had  slain  eighty  of  the  New  Hamp 
shire  men  in  the  rear  of  the  column. 

WILLIAM  PITT 

The  fortunes  of  England  were  now  at  the  lowest  ebb.  For  three 
years  she  had  suffered  one  defeat  upon  another,  and  now,  at  the  close 
of  the  year  1757,  there  was  not  an  English  fort  or  hamlet  in  the 
basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence  or  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  The  chief  cause  of 
this  condition  was  a  want  of  ability  in  the  conduct  of  the  war.  The 
Duke  of  Newcastle,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  British  cabinet,  was 
little  fitted  to  carry  on  the  great  business  of  the  nation.  Above  all 
things  England  wanted  a  man  of  ability  and  decision  of  character  at 
the  head  of  affairs,  and  at  length  she  found  one  in  the  person  of  the 
rising  statesman,  William  Pitt,  the  greatest  Englishman  of  his  genera 
tion.  Pitt  came  into  power  in  the  summer  of  1757,  and  his  compre 
hensive  mind  soon  grasped  the  situation.  His  touch  was  the  touch 
of  the  master;  he  soon  changed  the  succession  of  defeats  to  a  succes 
sion  of  victories,  and  to  him  above  all  men  was  due  the  fact  that 
England  and  not  France  became  the  possessor  of  North  America. 

In  the  early  spring  of  1758  Pitt  sent  a  powerful  fleet  commanded 
by  Admiral  Boscawen  to  capture  Louisburg.  The  fleet  consisted  of 
twenty-two  line-of-battle  ships  and  fifteen  frigates,  and  bore  ten 
thousand  troops  under  the  command  of  General  Amherst.  With 
Amherst  was  associated  the  most  brilliant  young  military  commander 
of  England  — James  Wolfe.  After  a  long  and  tempestuous  voyage, 
the  fleet  lined  up  in  the  waters  of  Louisburg  early  in  June,  and  on 
the  7th  a  landing  was  effected  under  the  leadership  of  Wolfe.  The 
outposts  were  soon  captured,  and  the  British  cannon 
burg°l7581S  oPened  on  tne  French  fortress.  For  many  weeks  the 
incessant  roar  of  the  bombardment  told  of  the  coming 
doom  of  Louisburg.  By  the  end  of  July  the  walls  began  to  crumble, 
the  French  garrison  of  fifty-six  hundred  men  surrendered  to  their 
conquerors,  and  for  the  second  time  the  fort  passed  into  English 


FRENCH   AND   INDIAN   WAR  187 

hands.  This  was  the  first  important  British  victory  in  the  French 
and  Indian  War ;  and,  with  all  honor  to  Boscawen,  to  Ainherst,  and 
to  Wolfe,  the  chief  glory  of  the  victory  must  be  awarded  to  William 
Pitt.  Thus  began  a  series  of  English  successes  that  was  to  continue 
to  the  end  of  the  war ;  but  the  series  was  broken  by  one  disastrous 
reverse. 

It  was  during  these  same  weeks  when  the  British  shells  were 
bursting  over  the  walls  of  Louisburg  that  Abercrombie  and  Lord 
Howe  led  an  army  through  the  wilderness  of  northern  New  York, 
only  to  be  defeated  by  the  great  French  commander,  Montcalin. 
The  army  was  the  largest  ever  yet  assembled  in  America,  comprising 
fifteen  thousand  men —  six  thousand  British  regulars  and  nine  thou 
sand  provincials,  or,  as  we  must  soon  begin  to  call  them,  Americans. 
The  nominal  leader  was  General  Abercrombie,  the  real  one  Lord 
Howe,  a  young  man  of  great  vigor  who  may  be  favorably  compared 
with  Wolfe.  We  find  also  in  this  army  John  Stark  and  Israel 
Putnam,  who  afterward  became  famous  in  a  greater  French  vic- 
war.  The  object  of  the  army  was  to  capture  Fort  Ticon-  tory  atTicon- 
deroga,  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Charnplain,  now  held  by  der°Sa- 
Montcalin  with  a  force  of  not  less  than  four  thousand  men.  Howe 
laid  his  plans  with  great  skill  and  approached  the  fort,  but  at  the 
first  skirmish  with  the  French  pickets  he  was  shot  dead.1  His  death 
was  an  irreparable  blow  to  the  English,  who  nevertheless  attacked 
the  fort  again  and  again  with  heroic  bravery.  The  stupid  Aber 
crombie,  himself  remaining  out  of  danger,  imposed  an  impossible  task 
upon  his  brave  artillery.  Six  times  in  a  single  day  they  dashed 
against  the  fort  with  ever  increasing  slaughter.  They  were  mowed 
down  in  hundreds  by  the  hail  of  musketry,  and  on  the  evening  of 
that  fatal  day  1944  of  their  number  lay  dead  on  the  field2  —  a  greater 
loss  of  life  than  was  suffered  by  either  side  in  any  battle  of  the 
Revolution.  The  broken  army  retreated  into  the  wilderness,  and 
Ticonderoga  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  French. 

There  was  one  ray  of  sunshine,  however,  to  cheer  the  defeated 
army.     Colonel  John  Bradstreet  with  three  thousand   provincials 
set  out  in  August  to  capture  Fort  Frontenac.    Crossing 
Lake  Ontario  in  open  boats,  they  landed  on  the  Canadian   J^*  * 
shore,  and  in  a  few  days  the  coveted  prize  was  in  their 
possession.     This  was  a  serious  blow  to  the  French,  as  the  communi- 

1  Howe  was  a  brother  of  Admiral  Howe  and  General  Howe  of  the  Revolution. 
a  Sloane's  "  French  War  and  the  Revolution,"  p.  69. 


188  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

cation  between  Quebec  and  the  Ohio  Valley  was  now  completely 
severed. 

It  remains  to  say  a  word  of  the  third  great  expedition  of  the 
year  —  that  against  Fort  Duquesne.  This  was  in  command  of  Gen 
eral  Forbes,  ably  assisted  by  George  Washington  with  nineteen 
hundred  Virginia  troops,  John  Armstrong  with  twenty-seven  hun 
dred  Pennsylvanians,  and  the  brave  Swiss  officer,  Colonel  Bouquet.1 
The  route  selected  was  not  the  road  cut  out  by  Braddock  three 
years  before,  but  a  shorter  and  more  difficult  one,  over  the  mountains 
from  the  head  waters  of  the  Juniata  and  down  the  western  slope  to 
the  Allegheny.  Forbes  was  afflicted  with  a  mortal  illness  and  had 
to  be  carried  on  a  litter,  but  his  heart  was  strong  and  brave,  and  the 
labored  march  was  continued.  Major  Grant,  with  eight  hundred 
men,  was  sent  ahead  to  decoy  a  portion  of  the  garrison  from  their 
shelter.  But  the  French  came  out  in  unexpected  numbers,  and  in 
a  sharp  conflict  Grant  lost  almost  three  hundred  men. 

So  slow  was  the  progress  of  the  main  army  that  when  winter 
approached  many  weary  miles  were  yet  to  be  covered.  A  council 
of  war  was  about  to  decide  to  abandon  the  project  for  the  season, 
when  word  was  received  that  the  French  garrison  had  been  greatly 
weakened  and  could  not  endure  a  siege.  This  news  infused  new 
life  into  the  expedition,  and  it  was  decided  to  press  forward.  Wash 
ington  was  sent  ahead  with  twenty-five  hundred  men,  but  when  he 
Capture  reached  the  place  he  found  nothing  but  smoking  ruins, 

of  Fort  The  French  had  fired  the  fort  and  abandoned  it ;  and 

Duquesne.  -^jg  much-coveted  spot,  which  had  cost  Braddock  and 
his  brave  army  so  dearly,  passed  into  English  hands  without  a  blow. 
The  place  was  now  named  Pittsburg  in  honor  of  William  Pitt,  who  had 
inspired  the  expedition ;  and  the  great  city  that  grew  up  on  the 
spot  retained  the  name,  and  is  a  perpetual  monument  to  the  memory 
of  the  great  commoner,  whose  unswerving  friendship  for  the  colonies 
during  the  Revolution  can  never  be  forgotten. 


FALL   OF  QUEBEC 

Pitt's  success  during  his  first  year  of  power  was  marvelous. 
He  had  played  a  winning  hand  in  the  terrible  war  that  convulsed 
Europe  at  the  time,  and  had  won  the  most  signal  victories  in 

1  This  army,  about  six  thousand  in  number,  was  composed  almost  exclusively 
of  Americans. 


FRENCH  AND   INDIAN   WAR  189 

America.  Louisburg,  Frontenac,  and  Duquesne  had  fallen,  before 
liis  victorious  armies,  and  the  French  hold  on  the  Ohio  country  was 
entirely  broken.  Pitt  now  planned  still  greater  things  for  the  coming 
year  —  no  less  than  the  complete  conquest  of  New  France,  and  the 
expulsion  of  French  authority  from  all  North  America.  General 
Stanwix  was  to  guard  the  frontier  between  Pittsburg  and  the  lakes  ; 
General  Prideaux  and  Sir  William  Johnson  were  to  advance  on 
Montreal  by  way  of  Niagara ;  while  Amherst,  who  had  been  made 
commander  in  chief,  was  to  lead  an  army  to  the  Chaniplain  country 
where  Abercrombie  had  been  so  drastically  beaten  the  year  before. 
But  the  most  important  expedition  of  the  season  was  to  be  sent 
against  Quebec  under  the  command  of  Wolfe. 

Prideaux  proceeded  to  Niagara  and  invested  the  fort ;  but  at  the 
beginning  of  the  bombardment  he  was  killed  by  a  bursting  shell, 
and  Sir  William  Johnson  took  command.  After  a  siege  of  three 
weeks  the  fort  surrendered,  but  Johnson  made  no  further  effort  to 
reach  Montreal.  By  this  victory  the  entire  upper  Ohio  Valley 
passed  to  the  control  of  the  English.  Amherst  gathered  his  army 
of  ten  thousand  men  at  Lake  George  in  June,  and  the  next  month  he 
sailed  down  the  lake  to  Ticonderoga;  but  the  French  abandoned 
the  fort  for  Crown  Point,  and  a  little  later  retreated  from  this 
point,  taking  up  a  strong  position  on  Isle-aux-Noix  in  the  Richelieu 
River.  Amherst  then  spent  the  summer  building  useless  forts,  and 
made  no  effort  to  support  Wolfe,  as  he  wras  expected  to  do. 

Canada  was  in  a  deplorable  condition  in  1759.  The  harvest  of 
the  year  before  had  been  meager,  and  a  barrel  of  flour  cost  two 
hundred  francs.1  Many  of  the  horses  and  cattle  had  been  killed  for 
food,  and  the  people  were  on  short  rations  ere  the  summer  had 
begun.  And  besides,  thieving  officials  robbed  the  people,  and  British 
men-of-war  guarded  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  A  bitter  quar 
rel  between  Montcalm  and  the  boastful  Canadian  governor,  Vau- 
dreuil,  added  to  the  confusion.  Their  dispute  was  carried  to  the 
court  at  Versailles,  and  Montcalm  was  sustained ;  but  the  one  great 
desire  of  his  heart,  an  additional  army  of  veterans,  was  denied  him. 

Quebec  is  situated  on  a  promontory  in  the  northwestern  angle 
made  by  the  junction  of  the  St.  Charles  River  with  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  from  the  former  extends  a  table-land  eastward  to  the  beautiful 
falls  of  the  Montmorency,  about  seven  miles  from  the  city.  This 
plateau  was  occupied  by  Montcalm  with  an  army  of  nearly  seventeen 
i  Parkman,  Vol.  II,  p.  172. 


190  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

thousand  men,  regulars,  Canadians,  and  Indians.  Back  of  the  city, 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  westward  from  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Charles,  lay  the  Plains  of  Abraham,1  which  had 
been  left  unguarded,  as  the  rocky  steep  was  supposed  to  be  inaccess 
ible  from  the  river. 

General  Wolfe  was  still  in  his  youth;  he  had  just  passed  his 
thirty-second  year.  In  appearance  he  was  uncomely,  and  his  health 
was  delicate ;  but  the  fire  of  genius  sparkled  from  his  eyes.  The 
son  of  a  British  general,  he  had  imbibed  his  martial  spirit  from 
childhood.  From  the  age  of  fifteen  he  had  served  his  king,  and 
while  still  a  boy  he  was  noted  for  deeds  of  skill  and  daring.  At 
the  capture  of  Louisburg  his  reputation  was  greatly  enhanced,  and 
the  keen  eye  of  Pitt  now  singled  him  out  to  command  the  perilous 
expedition  to  Quebec.  Wolfe  had  spent  the  winter  in  England  and 
had  won  the  heart  of  a  beautiful  maiden ;  and  now  he  gave  her  and 
his  beloved  mother  a  fond  and  final  good-by,  and  launched  out  upon 
the  journey  from  which  he  was  riot  to  return. 

His  fleet,  bearing  eight  thousand  men  and  commanded  by  Admi 
ral  Saunders,  entered  the  St.  Lawrence  in  June,  and  on  the  26th 
it  was  anchored  off  the  island  of  Orleans,  but  few  miles  below  the 
city  of  Quebec.  In  the  English  army  we  find  Colonel  Monckton 
of  Acadian  fame,  and  Guy  Carleton,  William  Howe,  and  Isaac  Barre 
—  all  afterward  famous  in  the  Revolution.  Wolfe  made 
n*s  camP  on  tne  eastern  bank  of  the  Montmorency,  near 
its  mouth,  and  opposite  the  encampment  of  Montcalm. 
The  dreary  weeks  of  the  summer  were  spent  by  the  two  armies  lying, 
each  in  view  of  the  other,  waiting  and  watching  for  some  unexpected 
advantage.  Wolfe  was  anxious  for  a  general  engagement ;  but  Mont- 
calm,  distrusting  his  Canadian  and  Indian  allies,  steadily  avoided 
one.  On  the  last  day  of  July  the  impatient  Wolfe,  with  a  large 
detachment  of  his  army,  forded  the  Montmorency  at  low  tide  and  made 
a  desperate  assault  on  the  French  position ;  but  the  ever  watchful 
Montcalm  was  on  the  alert,  and  the  English  were  driven  back  with 
the  loss  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  men.  The  French  had  attempted 
to  destroy  the  British  fleet  with  fire  ships,  but  in  vain.  The  old 
wooden  vessels,  laden  with  pitch,  powder,  and  other  combustibles, 
were  sent  burning  down  the  river,  and  grandly  they  lighted  the 
heavens  and  the  surrounding  country ;  but  the  English  grappled 

1  So  called  from  Abraham  Martin,  who  had  formerly  heen  the  owner  of  the 
plateau. 


FRENCH  AND    INDIAN   WAR  191 

with  them  and  ran  them  ashore  or  sent  them  onward  toward  the 
sea. 

As  the  summer  wore  away  and  the  situation  remained  unchanged 
the  disappointment  of  Wolfe  threw  him  into  a  dangerous  fever.  He 
had  lost  nearly  a  thousand  men,  and  the  enemy  did  not  seem  to  be 
weakened.  He  had  expected  reinforcements  from  Amherst,  but  he 
looked  and  longed  in  vain.  For  many  weeks  he  had  kept  up  an 
incessant  bombardment,  day  and  night ;  but,  aside  from  burning  the 
lower  part  of  Quebec,  this  had  brought  him  little  advantage.  At 
length  it  was  determined  to  attempt  to  scale  the  heights  of  Abraham 
and  bombard  the  city  from  there,  or  force  Montcalm  into  an  engage 
ment  in  defending  it.  The  resolve  was  a  daring  and  heroic  one,  but 
the  desperate  courage  of  Wolfe  was  unlimited.  He  had  just  risen 
from  a  bed  of  illness ;  his  fever  had  subsided,  but  he  was  further 
afflicted  with  an  incurable  disease,  and  he  had  reached  the  con 
dition  in  which  a  soldier  is  at  his  best  —  he  had  no  hope  of  return 
ing  alive  to  his  native  land.  To  his  physician  he  said,  "I  know 
perfectly  well  that  you  cannot  cure  me  ;  but  pray  make  me  up 
so  that  I  may  be  without  pain  for  a  few  days,  and  able  to  do 
my  duty."  1 

The  English  broke  up  their  camp,  and  on  that  moonless  night 
before  the  fateful  day  they  moved  as  silently  as  possible  up  the  river 
till  they  had  passed  the  sleeping  city.  Wolfe  had  a  strange  pre 
sentiment  of  death.  To  a  lifelong  friend  on  his  flagship  he  gave 
a  miniature  of  his  affianced  bride  and  requested  that  it  be  returned 
to  her.  While  on  the  deck  of  one  of  the  boats  he  recited  with 
deep  pathos  portions  of  Gray's  "  Elegy,"  especially  the  stanza  end 
ing  with  u  The  pathg  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave<,, 

Some  hours  before  dawn  the  English  vessels  landed  the  soldiers 
on  the  north  shore,  beneath  the  rocky  steeps  that  led  to  the  Plains 
of  Abraham,  and  the  men  were  soon  clambering  up  the 
cliffs  toward  the  summit.     At  the  coming  of  dawn  the   ^j.^^ 
ever  vigilant  Montcalm  was  amazed   to  find  that  his 
enemy  had  outwitted  him  —  that  the  heights  above  the  city  were 
crowned  with  long  and  threatening  lines  of  British  soldiers,  almost 
five  thousand  in  number.     The  French  commander  was  stunned  at 
the  changed  conditions  before  him.      He  saw  that  he  must  do  one 
of  two  things :  abandon  the  city  to  its  fate  and  save  his  army  by 

1  Parkman,  Vol.  II,  p.  268. 


192  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

flight,  or  grapple  with  the  enemy  in  a  final,  desperate  struggle  for 
Canada.  His  army,  though  superior  in  numbers,  was  composed 
largely  of  Indians  and  unskilled  Canadians,  and  its  fighting  qualities 
Surrender  of  were  mucn  inferior  to  those  of  the  British  veterans. 
Quebec,  Sep-  Montcalm  chose  to  fight,  and  before  noon  the  two  armies 
tember  17,  were  engaged  in  a  fierce,  determined  conflict.  The 
battle  was  short  and  decisive.  The  French  gave  way, 
and  ran  for  their  lives  ;  and  a  few  days  later  the  city  of  Quebec 
passed  into  the  hands  of  its  British  conquerors. 

But  the  English  paid  dearly  for  their  victory.  Their  noble  com 
mander  had  fallen  to  rise  no  more.  During  the  battle  Wolfe  had 
hurried  here  and  there  amid  the  hail  of  bullets,  urging  and  encourag 
ing  his  men.  Twice  wounded,  he  continued  his  efforts,  until  a  ball 
lodged  in  his  breast  and  he  sank  to  the  ground.  He  was  carried  to 
the  rear  and  offered  surgical  aid.  "  There  is  no  need,"  was  his 
answer ;  "  it  is  all  over  with  me." 

The  next  moment  he  was  informed  that  the  French  were  in  full 
retreat.  He  received  the  news  as  one  awakened  from  a  dream,  and 
immediately  gave  orders  that  a  regiment  be  placed  at  the  Charles 
River  bridge  to  cut  off  the  enemy's  retreat.  Then,  turning  upon  his 
side,  he  murmured  in  a  low,  sweet  voice,  "  Now  God  be  praised,  I 
shall  die  in  peace,"  and  a  moment  later  his  soul  had  passed  into 
eternity. 

A  similar  fate  befell  Montcalm,  the  noblest  Frenchman  of  them 
all.  He  had  been  ill  supported  by  the  governor,  the  envious 
Vaudreuil,  and  it  seemed  fitting  now  that  he  should  yield  his  life 
with  the  cause  which  he  could  no  longer  sustain.  While  guid 
ing  his  flying  troops  toward  the  city  gates,  he  received  a  wound 
that  caused  his  death.  On  being  informed  that  his  wound  was 
mortal,  he  answered,  "  I  am  glad  of  it."  He  then  asked  how  long 
he  had  to  live,  and  was  answered  by  the  physician  that  he  would 
probably  die  within  twelve  hours.  "  So  much  the  better,"  was  his 
reply ;  "  I  am  happy  that  I  shall  not  live  to  see  the  surrender  of 
Quebec." 

The  body  of  the  dead  commander,  followed  by  a  groaning  and 
sobbing  multitude,  was  borne  through  the  dusky  streets  of  the  city. 
Beneath  the  floor  of  the  Ursuline  Convent,  in  a  grave  partially  made 
by  a  bursting  shell,  the  remains  of  the  greatest  Frenchman  that  ever 
set  foot  on  American  soil  were  laid  to  rest. 

Measured  by  its  results,  the  battle  of  Quebec  was  orm  of   the 


FRENCH  AND   INDIAN   WAR  193 

most  important  ever  fought  in  America.  France  made  a  desperate 
effort  the  following  year  to  recover  the  city,  but  an  English  fleet 
came  to  the  rescue,  and  the  effort  was  vain.  Montreal  soon  after 
surrendered  to  General  Amherst,  and  French  dominion  in  America 
was  ended.  The  conflict  had  been  raging  at  intervals  for  a  hundred 
years.  The  sum  of  human  life  and  treasure  that  had  been  sacrificed 
by  the  two  rival  powers  for  supremacy  in  North  America  was  beyond 
all  calculation.  The  fall  of  Quebec  practically  ended  the  war  in 
America,  but  a  treaty  of  peace  was  not  signed  until  three  years  later, 
owing  to  the  mighty  conflict,  known  as  the  Seven  Years'  War,  that 
was  still  raging  in  Europe.  Meantime  Spain  came  to  the  rescue  of 
France,  and  in  consequence  lost  possession,  for  a  time,  of  Cuba  and 
the  Philippine  Islands,  which  were  conquered  by  England  in  1762. 

The  Treaty  of  Paris,  signed  in  1763,  stands  alone  among  treaties 
for  the  magnitude  of  its  land  cessions.  England  gave  Cuba  and  the 
Philippines  back  to  Spain  and  received  Florida  instead. 
France  ceded  to  Spain,  in  compensation  for  Florida,  the 
city  of  New  Orleans  and  that  vast  tract  west  of  the 
Mississippi  known  as  "  Louisiana."  To  Great  Britain  France  surren 
dered  all  the  rest  of  her  American  possessions,  including  the  Ohio 
Valley,  Canada,  Cape  Breton,  and  all  her  islands  except  two  in  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  Thus  France  lost  everything,  and  hence 
forth  that  country  had  no  footing  on  the  mainland  in  the  Western 
Hemisphere.1 

But  these  vast  land  cessions  did  not  constitute  the  chief  results  of 
this  conflict.  As  before  stated,  the  trend  of  civilization  in  North 
America  was  to  be  determined  by  the  outcome  of  the  French  and 
Indian  War.  Gallican  civilization  differed  widely,  as  it  does  to 
this  day,  from  Anglo-Saxon ;  and  the  result  of  this  war  was  that 
the  latter  must  prevail,  not  only  in  the  future  nation  that  was 
soon  to  come  into  existence,  but  also  in  the  vast  dominion  on  the 
north  now  wrested  from  France  to  become  a  part  of  the  British 
Empire.  The  war  did  much  also  for  the  English  colonists.  It 
brought  them  into  contact  with  one  another,  led  them  to  see  as 
never  before  that  their  interests  and  destiny  were  common,  and  pre 
pared  them  for  the  political  union  that  was  soon  to  follow.  It 
awakened  in  them  a  self-consciousness,  and,  as  will  be  noticed  on  a 
future  page,  brought  out  clearly  the  true  relations  between  them  and 
the  mother  country. 

1  Except  the  brief  possession  of  Louisiana,  1800-1803,  by  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 
o 


194  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

CONSPIRACY   OF  PONTIAC 

The  fall  of  French  dominion  in  Canada  and  the  West  left  the 
Algonquin  Indians  unprotected.  Since  the  days  of  Marquette  and 
La  Salle  the  many  tribes  of  this  great  family  had  lived  in  harmony 
with  the  French,  and  during  the  late  war  had  been  their  faithful 
allies.  But  they  now  found  in  their  new  masters  a  people  very 
different  in  their  attitude  toward  the  red  man.  The  French  had 
treated  them  as  equals  and  brethren ;  but  the  English,  while  they 
often  made  friends  among  the  various  tribes,  never  went  far  out  of 
their  way  to  conciliate  them.  And  now,  at  the  close  of  this  long 
war,  their  feelings  toward  the  allies  of  their  enemy  were  anything 
but  cordial.  The  French  had  lavished  presents  upon  them,  but  the 
English  doled  out  blankets,  guns,  and  ammunition  with  a  sparing 
hand. 

The  proud-spirited  Indians  were  exasperated  at  the  patronizing 
air  of  the  English,  and  the  rising  flame  was  secretly  fanned  by  the 
Frenchmen  who  were  still  scattered  among  them.  A  conspiracy 
was  soon  formed  to  massacre  all  the  English  garrisons  and  settlers 
along  the  frontiers  of  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  regions  of  the 
Great  Lakes.  The  leader  of  this  great  movement  was  Pontiac, 
probably  the  ablest  Indian  warrior  ever  known  to  the  white  race 
in  America.  Pontiac  belonged  to  the  Ottawa  tribe,  but  it  is  said 
that  his  mother  was  an  Ojibway.  He  came  to  be  chief  of  both 
tribes  and  of  several  others,  and  he  was  now  the  soul  of  the  great 
conspiracy  against  the  English.  On  a  certain  day  in  June,  1763,  to 
be  determined  by  a  change  of  the  moon,  every  English  post,  was 
to  be  attacked  and  the  garrison  murdered,  and  all  the  whites  were 
eventually  to  be  driven  eastward  beyond  the  Alleghanies. 

Pontiac  visited  many  of  the  tribes  and  won  them  by  his  extraordi 
nary  eloquence.  To  others  he  sent  messengers,  each  bearing  a  wam 
pum  belt  and  a  red-stained  hatchet.  Almost  every  tribe  of  the  great 
Algonquin  family,  and  one  tribe  of  the  Six  Nations,  the  Senecas, 
joined  in  this  conspiracy.  So  adroitly  was  the  plot  managed  that 
the  attack  was  made  almost  simultaneously  in  all  parts,  and  every 
English  post  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  savages  except  three,  —  Detroit, 
Fort  Pitt,  and  Niagara.  Of  these  three,  Detroit,  attacked  by  Pontiac 
in  person,  was  successfully  defended  by  Major  Gladwyn,  Fort  Pitt 
was  saved  by  Colonel  Bouquet,  and  Niagara  was  not  attacked. 

The  war  continued  at  intervals  for  three  years,  when  the  Indians 


FRENCH   AND   INDIAN   WAR  195 

yielded,  and  agreed  to  a  treaty  of  peace.  Pontiac  a  few  years  later 
went  to  the  Mississippi  Valley,  where  he  perished,  like  his  great 
prototype,  King  Philip,  by  the  hand  of  one  of  his  own  race.  He 
was  buried  on  the  soil  where  St.  Louis  afterward  rose,  and  "  the  race 
whom  he  hated  with  such  burning  rancor  trample  with  unceasing 
footsteps  over  his  forgotten  grave."  l 

NOTES 

Duquesne.  —  As  stated  in  the  text,  Colonel  Forbes  was  so  ill  when  he 
crossed  the  mountains  that  he  had  to  be  carried  on  a  litter.  He  died  the  follow 
ing  spring.  The  Indian  allies  threatened  to  refuse  to  follow  a  leader  who  had 
to  be  carried,  when  the  witty  interpreter,  Conrad  Weiser,  quieted  them  by  say 
ing,  "  Brothers,  this  man  is  so  terrible  in  war  that  we  are  obliged  to  confine  him, 
.  .  .  for  if  he  were  let  loose  upon  the  world,  he  would  deluge  it  with  blood." 
(Drake's  "  Making  of  the  Ohio  Valley  States,"  p.  76.)  After  Washington,  sent  by 
Forbes,  had  taken  Fort  Duquesne,  Captain  West,  brother  of  the  great  artist, 
led  a  party  to  Braddock's  battlefield  to  search  for  the  bones  of  their  comrades. 
Captain  Halket,  who  was  with  the  party,  found  two  skeletons  in  each  other's 
embrace,  and  recognized  them  by  the  teeth  to  be  his  father  and  brother.  He 
fainted  at  the  sight.  (Parkman,  Vol.  I,  p.  160.) 

Pitt  and  Wolfe.  —  William  Pitt,  the  "  Great  Commoner,"  was  an  aristocrat 
and  by  no  means  a  democrat  in  the  modern  sense.  His  egotism  was  his  greatest 
defect.  "  I  am  sure,"  said  he,  "  that  I  can  save  this  country  and  that  nobody 
else  can."  Frederick  the  Great  said  of  him,  "England  has  long  been  in  labor  and 
at  last  has  brought  forth  a  man."  Pitt  was  severely  criticised  for  appointing 
Wolfe  to  lead  the  Quebec  expedition.  "Pitt's  new  general  is  mad,"  said  ex- 
Premier  Newcastle.  "  Mad,  is  he  ?  "  returned  Pitt ;  "  then  I  hope  he  will  bite 
some  other  of  my  generals."  This  reminds  one  of  President  Lincoln's  remark 
about  General  Grant.  Being  informed  that  Grant  sometimes  drank,  he  ex 
pressed  a  desire  to  know  the  brand  of  whisky  Grant  used,  as  he  wished  to  give 
some  to  his  other  generals. 

Washington's  Modesty.  —  The  Southern  colonies  took  little  part  in  the  war 
during  the  last  years  of  its  progress.  Even  Washington,  after  the  capture  of 
Fort  Duquesne,  retired  to  his  plantation,  and  was  soon  afterward  elected  to 
the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses.  Being  called  on  to  give  an  account  of  his  mili 
tary  exploits,  he  rose  in  his  seat,  but  stood  abashed  and  unable  to  utter  a  word, 
when  the  speaker  relieved  him  by  saying,  "Sit  down,  Mr.  Washington,  your 
modesty  equals  your  valor,  and  that  surpasses  any  power  of  language  I  possess." 

Detroit,  Pontiac.  —  Pontiac's  plan  for  capturing  Detroit  was  very  skillful, 
but  it  miscarried.  It  was  not  unusual  for  the  Indians  to  come  into  the  fort  and 
amuse  the  garrison  with  their  rude  games  and  dances.  Pontiac's  plan  was  to 
lead  his  warriors  within  the  fort  on  a  pretended  friendly  visit,  each  to  hold  a 
weapon  hidden  beneath  his  cloak,  and  at  a  given  signal  to  fall  upon  the  English 

1  Parkman  (references  to  Parkman  are  to  the  5th  edition),  "  Conspiracy  of  Pon 
tiac,"  Vol.  IT,  p.  313. 


196  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

and  murder  them  to  the  last  man.  But  on  the  day  before  this  was  to  occur,  an 
Indian  girl,  well  known  to  the  English,  revealed  the  plot  to  Major  Gladwyn,  and 
when  the  Indians  came  they  found  the  white  men  drawn  up  in  battle  line  and 
armed  to  the  teeth.  Pontiac  did  not  give  the  signal,  but  afterward  attacked  the 
fort,  and  besieged  it  unsuccessfully  for  several  months,  when  it  was  relieved  by 
General  Bradstreet.  Gladwyn  and  Pontiac  had  both  fought  on  opposite  sides 
in  Braddock's  battle  near  Fort  Duquesne.  Pontiac  kept  two  secretaries,  one 
to  read  his  letters  and  the  other  to  answer  them,  and  he  managed  to  keep  each 
ignorant  of  what  the  other  did.  To  carry  on  the  war  he  secured  loans  from  the 
Canadians  and  gave  promissory  notes  written  on  birch  bark,  signing  his  name 
by  making  the  totem  of  his  tribe,  the  figure  of  an  otter.  Every  note  was  paid 
in  full.  On  hearing  that  a  trusted  friend  of  his,  a  Canadian,  had  been  offered  a 
bushel  of  silver  to  betray  him,  Pontiac  went  to  the  friend's  house  and  slept  there 
all  night  to  show  his  perfect  confidence.  The  genius  of  Pontiac  was  very  re 
markable,  and  had  his  great  powers  been  devoted  to  uplifting  and  civilizing  his 
race,  his  name  would  hold  a  conspicuous  and  abiding  place  in  history. 

Sir  William  Johnson  was  a  power  among  the  Indians,  and,  with  all  his 
shortcomings,  he  did  a  great  service  for  his  countrymen  in  keeping  the  Iroquois 
(except  the  Senecas)  from  joining  the  great  conspiracy.  It  was  to  him  that 
Pontiac  came  to  arrange  a  treaty  of  peace  in  1766,  making  the  long  journey  to 
Oswego,  New  York. 

Michilimackinac.  —  The  plan  adopted  at  Michilimackinac  was  similar  to 
that  at  Detroit.  Here  the  Indians  arranged  to  play  a  game  of  ball  within  the 
fort.  The  squaws  were  to  stand  by  with  concealed  weapons.  At  a  certain 
signal  the  players  ran  to  the  squaws,  seized  the  weapons,  and  began  the  bloody 
work.  The  English  were  unprepared,  and  few  of  them  escaped  alive.  At 
Presque  Isle  the  garrison  surrendered  after  a  terrible  siege  of  two  days.  San- 
dusky  was  captured  by  treachery,  and  every  man  in  the  fort  was  put  to  death 
except  the  commander,  Ensign  Paulli,  who  was  carried  to  Detroit  as  a  trophy. 
He  was  afterward  given  his  choice  of  two  things  —  to  be  put  to  death,  or  to 
marry  a  squaw.  He  was  not  put  to  death.  (Drake,  p.  85.) 


(JO     200  400  600 


BEFORE  THE  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR. 


0      100    200  400  COO 


AFTER  THE  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR. 


CHAPTER   X 

COLONIAL   LIFE 

To  compare  our  own  age  with  a  former  age  only  to  show  our 
cleverness  and  wisdom  over  those  of  our  ancestors  —  to  laud  and 
magnify  our  intelligence  and  civilization  at  the  expense  of  our  fore 
fathers —  is  at  least  of  doubtful  good  taste.  Certain  it  is  that  we, 
with  the  same  environment,  would  be  as  our  grandfathers  were, 
would  act,  speak,  and  believe  as  they  did.  It  cannot  be  demon 
strated  that  the  human  race  has,  in  historic  times,  advanced  in  men 
tal  capacity  at  all.  Our  modern  civilization  has  produced  no  greater 
figures  than  Moses  or  Plato,  Aristotle,  Hannibal,  or  Caesar.  But  to 
get  nearer  the  time  we  are  treating  :  Shakespeare  died  but  nine  years 
after  the  founding  of  Jamestown,  and  the  same  year 
Harvey  discovered  the  circulation  of  the  blood;  yet 
with  all  our  advance  in  civilization  the  world  has  not  produced 
another  Shakespeare,  nor  has  any  anatomist  of  our  times  made  a 
discovery  equal  to  that  of  Harvey.  The  year  before 
the  coming  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  Kepler  discovered 
the  three  eternal  astronomical  laws  that  bear  his  name ;  and  the 
year  before  Roger  Williams  hied  away  to  his  native  land  for  a 
charter  and  the  New  England  Confederacy  was  formed,  Isaac  New 
ton,  the  discoverer  of  the  universal  application  of  the 
law  of  gravitation,  was  born  —  and  Keplers  and  New- 
tons  since  then  have  been  rare.  We  may  twit  the  seventeenth  cen 
tury  for  its  religious  intolerance,  its  belief  in  witchcraft,  its  ignorance 
of  steam  navigation,  of  electric  motors,  and  of  sulphur  matches  — 
and  here  is  the  answer :  "  We  gave  you  Shakespeare  and  Harvey  and 
Kepler  and  Newton."  Verily,  we  are  no  better  nor  cleverer  than 
were  our  ancestors ;  yet  in  one  respect  we  are  wiser  than  they  — 
superior  to  former  generations :  we  do  not  persecute  our  Roger 
Bacons  and  Galileos ;  we  welcome  them  as  prophets  of  good.  And 
herein  lies  the  secret  of  modern  progress.  The  result  has  been  mar 
velous.  Our  modern  way  of  living  is  quite  unlike  that  of  our  fathers 

197 


198  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

of  colonial  times,  and  a  glance  at  the  latter  is  not  only  interesting, 
but  also  highly  profitable. 

POPULATION  AND  SOCIAL   RANK 

In  1760  the  population  of  the  thirteen  colonies  was  approxi 
mately  1,600,000,  about  one  fourth  of  whom  were  negro  slaves. 
The  people  were  scattered  thinly  over  the  vast  region  along  the 
seaboard  between  New  Brunswick  and  Florida,  extending  from  the 
coast  in  decreasing  numbers  to  the  foothills  of  the  Alleghanies. 
A  few  settlers  and  traders  had  occupied  the  valley  of  the  Ohio,  but 
in  one  colony  only,  Pennsylvania,  had  the  settlers  crossed  the  Alle 
ghanies  in  any  considerable  numbers.  About  half  the  population 
lived  on  either  side  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  The  most  populous 
of  the  colonies  was  Virginia,  Massachusetts  coming  second  and  Penn 
sylvania  third.  The  largest  city  was  Philadelphia,  with  25,000  in 
habitants  ;  the  only  other  cities  exceeding  5000  were  Boston,  New 
York,  and  Charleston. 

In  New  England  and  the  South,  the  people  were  almost  wholly 
of  English  stock,1  with  a  sprinkling  of  Scotch-Irish  and  other  nation 
alities,  and,  especially  in  the  South,  of  French  Huguenots  and  Ger 
mans.  In  the  middle  colonies  less  than  half  the  population  was 
English;  the  Dutch  of  New  York,  the  Germans  of  Pennsylvania, 
the  Swedes  of  Delaware,  and  the  Irish  of  all  these  colonies,  together 
with  small  numbers  of  other  nationalities,  made  up  more  than  half 
the  population.. 

In  all  the  colonies  there  were  well-drawn  social  lines ;  birth  and 
pedigree  counted  for  more  than  in  the  free  America  of  to-day.  The 

lowest  stratum    of   society  was    composed   of   African 
Social  caste.        -,  m  •  ,    -i     •         n    ,*       ,*  •  ,  i      . 

slaves.     Slavery  existed    in   all   the  thirteen  colonies, 

but  the  great  bulk  of  the  slaves,  perhaps  four  fifths  of  them,  were  in 
the  South.  The  institution  did  not  pay  at  the  North,  and  it  never 
became  an  important  social  factor  in  that  section.  Few  were  the 
rights  of  the  slaves  before  the  law  in  any  of  the  colonies ;  but  with 
regard  to  their  condition  they  may  be  divided  into  three  classes. 
Those  in  New  England  and  the  middle  colonies  were  for  the 
most  part  domestic  servants,  and  they  usually  received  mild  and 
humane  treatment,  were  instructed  in  religion  and  morals,  and  were 
not  infrequently  admitted  to  the  family  circle.  In  Virginia  and 
1  New  England  was  of  more  purely  English  stock  than  was  the  South. 


COLONIAL   LIFE  199 


Maryland,  where  all  social  life  centered  round  the  owners  of  the 
great  plantations,  the  slave  was  a  body-servant  to  his  master,  or 
more  frequently  a  plantation  laborer,  living  a  life  of  ig 
norance  and  contentment  in  his  rude  hut  with  his  family. 
At  certain  seasons  of  the  year  his  labor  was  arduous,  but,  on  the 
whole,  his  condition  was  a  happy  one.  Among  this  class  we  find 
mechanics  and  artisans,  trained  for  the  various  duties  about  the 
plantation.  A  severer  form  of  slavery  marked  the  third  class, 
which  was  found  farther  south,  where  the  blacks  were  brought  from 
Africa  or  the  West  Indies  in  great  numbers,  and  where,  under  the 
lash  of  the  taskmaster,  they  wore  away  their  lives  in  the  rice 
swamps  with  unrequited  toil. 

For  many  years  there  was  no  particular  public  sentiment  against 
slavery ;  but  about  the  time  of  the  English  Revolution,  the  Quakers 
and  Germans  of  Pennsylvania  began  to  be  heard  in  opposing  the 
institution  on  moral  grounds.  Thus  began  a  public  feeling  against 
slavery  that  was  destined  to  increase  in  volume  for  more  than  a  hun 
dred  and  fifty  years,  and  at  last  to  bring  about  the  overthrow  of  the 
institution  in  America. 

Next  above  the  slaves,  and  not  far  above  them,  stood  the  indented 
white  servants.  Many  of  these  were  criminals,  who,  being  thrust 
upon  the  colonies  by  the  mother  country,  escaped  imprisonment  or 
death  by  a  long  term  of  servitude  in  America.  Others  were  waifs 
from  the  streets  of  London,  sold  by  their  inhuman  parents,  or  kid 
napped  by  cruel  traders  and  sold  into  servitude  across  the  sea.  Still 
others,  known  as  redemptioners  or  free-willers,  volunta 
rily  sold  their  services  for  a  term  of  years,  not  usually 
more  than  five,  in  order  to  pay  their  passage  across  the 
sea.  The  shipmaster  would  bring  a  company  of  them  to  an  Ameri 
can  port,  and  dispose  of  them  to  the  planters,  farmers,  and  mer 
chants.  The  majority  of  the  redemptioners,  after  serving  their  time, 
merged  into  the  great  middle  class  and  became  substantial  citizens. 
Many  left  the  scenes  of  their  servitude  and  pushed  out  to  the  fron 
tier,  hewed  their  homes  out  of  the  frowning  forest,  and  led  a  quiet, 
industrious  life.  Of  the  convict  class,  few  were  reformed  by  their 
service ;  the  majority  continued  shiftless  and  worthless,  and  consti 
tuted,  especially  at  the  South,  the  most  undesirable  element  of 
society.  On  election  days  and  other  special  occasions  they,  and  too 
often  citizens  of  the  more  respectable  classes,  would  gather  at  the 
taverns  and  courthouses  and  spend  the  time  drinking,  gambling, 


200  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

and  fighting.  They  also,  with  the  free  negroes,  constituted  the  chief 
criminal  classes  in  most  of  the  colonies.  Crime  was  punished  by 
hanging,  whipping,  ducking,  branding,  and  by  exposure  in  the  pil 
lory  and  the  stocks  —  less  frequently  by  imprisonment,  except  in 
some  of  the  northern  colonies.  The  indented  servants,  like  the 
slaves,  were  far  more  numerous  in  the  South  than  in  the  North,  but 
in  no  place  were  they  socially  or  politically  of  much  importance.1 

The  next  higher  class,  the  most  numerous  of  all,  comprised  the 
traders,  shop-keepers,  and  small  farmers  —  the  rank  and  file,  the 
bone  and  sinew  of  the  land.  Especially  was  this  true  of  the  north 
ern  and  middle  colonies.  To  this  class  belonged  the  great  mass  of 
the  people,  and  they  were  for  the  most  part  prosperous,  contented, 
and  moderately  educated,  but  not  highly  cultured.  They  were  sturdy, 
honest,  usually  religious,  and  hospitable  to  strangers.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  in  morals  the  colonists  as  a  whole  were  equal  to  any 
people  in  the  world.  Governor  Spottswood  of  Virginia  wrote  to  the 
bishop  of  London  that  in  that  colony  he  had  observed  less  profane- 
ness,  drunkenness,  feuds,  and  villainy  than  in  any  part  of  the  world 
where  his  lot  had  been. 

At  the  top  of  the  social  scale  stood  the  ruling  class,  composed  in 
New  England  of  the  clergy,  magistrates,  college  professors,  and 
other  professional  men ;  in  New  York  of  these  classes,  and,  above 
all,  of  the  great  landholders  along  the  Hudson ;  while  in  the  South  the 
proprietors  of  the  great  plantations  were  uppermost  in  society,  and 
near  them  stood  the  professional  men.  In  all  the  colonies  social 
lines  were  distinctly  drawn,  more  so  than  in  our  own 
cte  agUlms  times.  The  style  of  dress  was,  in  some  colonies,  regu 
lated  by  law,  and  no  one  was  permitted  to  dress  "  above 
his  degree.'7  Worshipers  in  church  and  students  in  college  were 
obliged  to  occupy  seats  according  to  their  social  standing.  The  upper 
class  made  much  of  birth  and  ancestry  ;  and,  whatever  our  prejudices 
against  rank,  it  is  significant  that  from  this  class  came  many  of  the 
leading  statesmen  and  generals  of  the  Revolution.  With  all  the 
class  distinctions,  however,  it  was  not  unusual  in  those  days,  as  at 
present,  for  an  aspiring  youth  to  rise  from  the  lower  walks  of  life 
and  take  his  place  among  the  leaders  of  society. 

1  In  Virginia  the  indented  servants  outnumbered  the  slaves  for  a  hundred  years. 
In  all  the  colonies  there  were  strict  laws  against  their  running  away.  Sometimes 
man  and  wife,  or  parents  and  children,  were  separated,  to  meet  no  more  for  years, 
or  even  for  life.  See  Bolles's  "Pennsylvania,"  p.  177  sq. 


COLONIAL   LIFE  201 


OCCUPATIONS   AND   CUSTOMS 

America  in  colonial  days  was  a  land  of  farmers.  Our  forefathers 
on  migrating  to  America  found  no  great  cities  with  innumerable 
openings  for  the  industrious  and  thrifty,  no  great  industries  with 
salaried  positions  awaiting  them.  They  found  only  a  vast,  uncultivated 
region  —  the  valleys,  the  plains,  the  illimitable  succession  of  rolling 
hills,  crowned  with  primeval  forest;  and  from  this  they  must  clear 
the  timbers  and  delve  into  the  soil  for  their  daily  bread.  Hence  a 
nation  of  tillers  of  the  soil.  A  few  ministers  and  artisans,  rulers 
and  merchants,  there  had  to  be,  but  their 'combined  numbers  were 
few  compared  with  the  great  body  of  the  people,  —  the  farmers. 

In  New  England,  however,  the  soil  was  not  fertile ;  a  farmer 
could  get  a  living  from  the  soil  and  perhaps  a  little  more,  but  he 
could  not  thrive  and  accumulate  money,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
many  of  the  people  turned  their  attention  to  the  sea.  They  became 
fishermen  and  sailors,  shipbuilders  and  merchants.  They  took  car 
goes  of  fish  and  cattle  and  the  products  of  the  forest  and  of  the  soil 
to  the  West  Indies,  to  England,  and  to  Spain,  and  brought  in  return 
molasses  and  the  many  articles  of  manufacture  that  they  could  not 
make  at  home.  There  were  few  manufactories,  but  the  people  sup 
plied  many  of  their  own  wants.  Nearly  every  farmer  was  also  a 
rude  mechanic.  He  and  his  sons  usually  made  the  furniture  for  the 
household  and  many  of  the  implements  of  the  farm  as  well,  while 
his  wife  and  daughters  spun  the  flax  and  wove  it  into  a  coarse  cloth 
from  which  the  family  was  clothed. 

The  New  England  farmhouse  was  scantily  furnished.  It  was 
solidly  built  of  wood,  but,  as  if  inspired  by  their  stern  Puritan  reli 
gion,  the  builders  gave  all  too  little  attention  to  com 
fort,  and  the  average  New  England  farmhouse  would  New  Englam 
have  been  scarcely  endurable  in  winter  but  for  the  great 
open  wood-fire  about  which  the  family  (usually  a  large  one)  gath 
ered  in  the  evening  and  made  brooms,  shelled  nuts,  and  told  stories. 
But  the  "  house  of  the  seven  gables  "  was  not  wanting  in  New  Eng 
land.  Many  of  the  rich  in  the  cities  and  their  suburbs  built  fine 
stone,  brick,  or  wooden  mansions,  and  lived  on  the  fat  of  the  land. 
The  furniture  in  the  dwellings  of  the  rich  was  often  imported  from 
England,  as  was  also  the  tableware  —  china,  wedgwood,  cut  glass, 
and  silver  plate. 

Town  life  in  New  England  was  everything,  while  in  the  South, 


202  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

as  we  shall  notice  later,  the  county  or  the  plantation  was  the  geo 
graphical  unit.  The  Puritans  were  not  great  landholders;  they 
were  small  farmers.  Each  had  his  little  clearing  surrounded  by  the 
dark,  merciless  forest,  with  its  wild  beasts  and  wild  men.  But  he 
was  loath  to  dwell  far  from  the  town,  where  he  attended  church  arid 
market,  and  which  became  his  city  of  refuge  on  the  approach  of 
hostile  Indians.  Many  farmers  lived  in  the  village  or  very  near  it. 
The  town  was  a  straggling,  rural  village  with  unpaved, 
age>  shady  streets  partly  covered  with  stumps  of  native 
trees.  There  were  at  least  three  important  buildings  in  the  town, 
always  near  together — the  church,  the  tavern,  and  the  blockhouse. 
The  church  in  early  Puritan  days  was  built  of  logs,  provided  with 
benches,  and  never  heated.  The  congregation  was  summoned  by 
the  sound  of  a  horn  or  a  drum,  and  the  people  sat  in  order  of  social 
rank  and  listened  to  the  long  sermons.  If  a  man  or  a  boy  fell  asleep 
or  misbehaved,  he  received  a  rap  on  the  head  from  the  rod  of 
the  tithingman ;  while  if  a  woman  fell  into  a  doze,  she  was  awak 
ened  by  the  brushing  of  her  face  with  a  rabbit's  foot  appended  to 
the  rod.  In  early  times,  when  the  red  man  still  lurked  in  the  woods, 
the  men  went  to  church  armed,  and  the  minister  often  preached  with 
a  musket  by  his  side. 

The  tavern  or  ordinary  was  not  only  a  lodging  place  for  travelers, 
but  also  a  drinking  house,  and  a  place  of  general  gossip  for  the  village 
and  neighborhood.  Here  the  people  would  gather  on  special  days 
to  take  a  social  glass,  to  get  the  latest  news,  and  to  discuss  politics 
and  religion.  The  tavern  was  considered  a  public  necessity,  and 
a  town  that  did  not  maintain  one  was  subject  to  fine  by  the  Gen 
eral  Court.1  The  principal  drinks  were  rum,  small 
beer,  and  cider,  and  these  were  used  freely  by  men, 
women,  and  children.  The  tavern  keeper  was  a  man  of  great  im 
portance —  usually  a  jolly  gentleman  whose  stock  of  information  on 
all  current  topics  was  inexhaustible.  He  was  often  the  chief  man, 
next  to  the  town  clerk,  in  the  town  —  schoolmaster,  leader  of  the 
singing  in  the  church,  member  of  the  town  council,  land  agent,  sur 
veyor,  and  the  like.  He  was  required  to  be  a  man  of  good  character, 
and  was  not  permitted  to  sell  strong  drink  to  drunkards. 

The  blockhouse  was  strongly  built  of  logs,  the  second  story  ex 
tending  over  the  first  and  being  provided  with  portholes  so  that  the 
occupants  could  fire  directly  down  on  a  besieging  enemy.  In  case 
i  Field's  "  Colonial  Tavern,"  p.  13. 


COLONIAL   LIFE  203 


of  an  Indian  attack  the  whole  population  would  abandon  their 
homes  and  rush  to  the  blockhouse,  and  in  this  way  their  lives  were 
often  saved.  The  blockhouse  in  New  England  ceased  to  be  of  great 
importance  after  King  Philip's  War. 

Passing  westward  into  New  York,  we  find  a  soil  very  different 
from  the  barren  lands  of  New  England.  The  great  valleys  of  the 
Hudson  and  the  Mohawk  were  exceedingly  fertile,  and  in  this  colony 
the  majority  of  the  people  were  tillers  of  the  soil. 

But  New  York  was  by  no  means  wholly  agricultural.     The  sec 
ond  great  industry  was  that  of  trade,  and  this  was  of  two  kinds  — 
trade  with  foreign  countries  and  the  other  colonies  and 
the  Indian  fur  trade.     New  York  City  was  the  center 
of  all  maritime  commerce,  and  was   a  formidable  rival   of   Boston 
and  Philadelphia.     The  Indian  fur  trade  was  exceedingly  lucrative, 
and  hundreds  of   men   were  constantly  engaged  in  it.1     A  trader 
would  go  into  the  Indian  country  laden  with  rum  and  trinkets  and 
implements  prized  by  the  natives,  and  for  these  he  would  receive 
furs  and  peltries,  with  which  he  would  float  down  the  Hudson  and 
sell  them  to  the  foreign  traders  of  Manhattan. 

The  character  of  society  in  New  York  was  unlike  that  of  any 
other   colony,  owing  to  the   patrooii    system,  which  continued  all 
through  colonial  days  and  far  into  the  national  period. 
The  patroon  had  a  luxurious,  well-built  house  of  brick 
or  stone,  a  retinue  of  servants,  large  barns,  orchards  and  gardens,  and 
broad  pasture  lands  dotted  with  flocks  and  herds.    His  tenants  were 
scattered  for  miles  about  him,  and  among  them  he  lived  much  like  a 
feudal  lord  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  majority  of  the  people,  especially  in  the  country,  were  Dutch, 
and  they  clung  tenaciously  to  the  customs  and  habits  of  their  nation. 
They  were  a  plodding,  industrious,  religious  people,  who  dwelt  in  small 
wooden  or  brick  houses  with  sanded  floors,  and  high,  steep  roofs, 
and,  in  the  villages,  with  the  gable  ends,  "  notched  like  steps,"  turned 
toward  the  street.  The  window  panes  wrere  very  small;  the  doors, 
each  with  its  knocker  of  brass  or  iron,  were  divided  into  an  upper  and 
a  lower  section.  Country  houses  were  placed  as  near  together  as  the 
extent  of  each  farm  would  allow,  often  forming  a  little  village  street.2 
A  great  fireplace  in  each  house  was  usually  built  of  tiles  brought  from 

1  But  the  fur  trade  was  greatly  crippled  when,  in  1732,  England  forbade  the 
people  to  export  hats. 

2  Earle's  ''Colonial  Days  in  Old  Xew  York,"  p.  116. 


204  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

Holland,  and  on  these  were  stamped  various  Scripture  scenes,  one 
of  which  was  Lazarus  leaving  the  tomb  and  waving  the  flag  of  the 
Netherlands.1  One  of  the  features  of  the  Dutch  village  and  farm 
house  was  the  stoop,  on  which,  in  summer  evenings,  the  family  would 
sit  and  chat  for  hours  with  their  neighbors,  the  men  smoking  long 
Dutch  pipes,  the  women  busy  with  their  knitting  or  sewing. 

The  Dutch  were  more  liberal  in  games  and  amusements  than 
were  the  Puritans  of  New  England.  No  people  in  America  presented 
a  more  attractive  picture  of  quiet,  pastoral  contentment,  of  unruffled 
satisfaction  in  life,  of  thrift  and  plenty,  than  the  Dutch  rural  popu 
lation  of  New  York.  Thus  these  people  continued  their  rustic  life, 
maintaining  their  customs  and  language  for  nearly  two  centuries ; 
but  after  the  Revolution  they  were  forced  to  yield  to  the  ever 
increasing  tide  of  the  English  race,  until  they  gradually  lost  their 
identity  and  their  language. 

In  New  Jersey  the  mode  of  life  was  somewhat  similar  to  that  of 
New  England,  from  which  many  of  the  people  had  emigrated.  This 
was  especially  true  of  East  Jersey,  while  in  West  Jersey,  where  the 
Quakers  predominated,  the  mode  of  life  resembled  that  of  Pennsyl 
vania.  The  soil,  with  the  exception  of  the  sand  regions  in  some  por 
tions  of  the  colony,  was  fertile,  and  farming  was  practically  the  sole 
industry.  There  were  few  large  estates,  the  great  ma- 
'sey'  jority  of  the  settlers  being  small  farmers,  each  with  his 
clearing  in  the  forest ;  and  this,  with  the  fact  there  were  few  slaves 
or  indented  servants,  brought  about  a  social  equality  unknown  in 
most  of  the  colonies.  There  was  little  culture  or  education  except  in 
the  villages  that  dotted  the  great  highway  between  New  York  and 
Philadelphia.  The  people  were  thrifty  and  honest ;  houses  were 
left  unlocked,  and  there  was  little  crime.  The  laws  and  punish 
ments  were  modeled  after  those  of  New  England. 

The  moment  we  cross  the  Delaware  into  Pennsylvania  we  find 
a  notable  change  in  colonial  society.  It  is  true  there  "were  many 
English  Quakers,  as  in  West  Jersey,  but  they  were  outnumbered 
by  others.  There  were  Germans,  Irish,  Scotch-Irish,  Welsh,  and 
Swedes.  The  tolerant  spirit  of  the  Quaker  government  had  attracted 
men  of  every  nationality  and  every  creed.  First  in  numbers  came  the 
Lutherans  and  Presbyterians,  and  after  these  the  Dunkards,  Mora 
vians,  Baptists,  Anabaptists,  Pietists,  and  Mennonites,  with  a  sprink 
ling  of  Methodists,  Episcopalians,  and  Roman  Catholics.  Yet  with  all 
lEarle's  "  Colonial  Days  in  Old  New  York,"  p.  120. 


COLONIAL   LIFE  205 


the  mixture  of  sect  and  nationality  there  was  no  colony  in  America 
more  peaceful,  contented,  and  democratic  than  Pennsylvania.  It  is 
true  that  the  Germans  and  the  Scotch-Irish  could  not  get  along  well 
together,  and  they  kept  apart  by  settling  in  separate  communities  or 
in  parallel  bands  across  the  colony,  while  the  English 
predominated  in  Philadelphia  and  vicinity.  There  was  I 
also  frequent  political  strife  between  the  Scotch-Irish  and  the  Quakers, 
and  the  latter  often  combined  with  the  Germans  to  retain  their  pres 
tige  in  the  legislature.  The  chief  industry  was  farming ;  the  soil  was 
rich  and  productive,  and  the  river  valleys  were  laden  with  waving 
fields  of  grain  every  year,  while  the  broad  meadows  and  mountain 
slopes  were  dotted  with  grazing  herds.  'But  there  were  other  occupa 
tions  in  Pennsylvania.  Many  were  engaged  in  the  fur  trade  and  still 
more  in  foreign  commerce,  while  the  iron  industry  had  its  beginning 
early  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

Philadelphia  was  a  fine,  well-built  city  with  straight  streets  cross 
ing  at  right  angles  —  and  its  plan,  originating  with  Penn,  became  the 
model  for  nearly  all  the  cities  of  the  United  States.  This  city  passed 
New  York  in  population  but  few  years  after  its  founding ;  about  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  left  Boston  behind,  and  so  it 
continued  the  largest  city  in  America  until  after  the  Revolution. 

Crossing  into  Maryland  and  Virginia,  we  again  find  a  great  change 
in  the  social  atmosphere.  Here  there  was  little  or  no  town  life; 
villages  were  few  and  insignificant.  The  planter  or  great  landlord 
stood  at  the  head  of  society  ;  the  plantation  was  the  center  of  social 
and  industrial  activity,  and  the  sole  important  product  of  the  planta 
tion  was  tobacco.  The  great  estates  were  situated  along  the  river 
valleys.  In  the  center  stood  the  well-built  and  well-furnished  man 
sion  of  the  landlord,  and  around  it  were  clustered  the 
offices,  tobacco  houses,  barns,  stables,  and  negro  huts,  the 
whole  presenting  the  appearance  of  a  small  village. 
The  planter  enjoyed  every  luxury  of  the  age.  He  had  blooded 
horses,  carriages,  and  body  servants  in  abundance,  and  his  dress  was 
fashioned  after  that  of  the  upper  classes  in  England.  His  monotonous 
life  in  the  forest  led  him  to  long  for  company  of  his  own  class,  and 
gave  rise  to  the  hospitality  for  which  the  Southerner  became  famous. 
He  treated  strangers  with  great  cordiality,  and  often  sent  to  the 
nearest  tavern  requesting  that  any  chance  traveler  might  be  sent  to 
spend  the  night  at  his  home. 

As  we  move  farther  to  the  southward  we  find  another  marked 


206  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

change.  Here,  especially  in  South  Carolina,  the  great  staple  was 
rice.  The  rice  planters  were  men  of  education  and  culture,  and  they 
comprised  the  ruling  class.  Most  of  them  lived  in  Charleston  and 
spent  but  a  few  months  of  the  year  in  the  malarial  regions  in  which 
the  rice  was  produced. 

The  old  colonial  aristocracy  of  the  South  was  not  without  its 
shortcomings,  but  on  the  whole  it  was  chivalric  and  picturesque; 
and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  it  was  this  old  aristocracy  of  a 
single  southern  colony  that  furnished  the  newborn  Republic  with  its 
greatest  soldier,  half  of  its  first  cabinet,  and  four  of  its  first  five 
presidents. 

The  small  farmers  of  the  South  were  also  a  respectable  class,  and 
of  course  more  numerous  than  the  great  planters.  They  were  slave 
owners  on  a  small  scale,  and  many  of  them  rose  by  dint  of  genius,  by 
thrift  and  industry,  to  the  upper  class,1  while,  as  stated  before,  there 
was  an  almost  impassable  barrier  between  them  and  the  lower  classes, 
composed  of  servants  and  slaves. 

RELIGION;   EDUCATION;  MEDICINE 

In  tracing  the  growth  of  the  several  colonies  we  have  had  fre 
quent  occasion  to  notice  the  religious  life  of  the  people,  but  a  few 
additional  words  are  necessary  here.  In  the  Carolinas,  Virginia, 
and  Maryland  the  Church  of  England  was  recognized  by  law  as  the 
State  Church ;  and  in  Maryland,  which  had  passed  through  Catho 
lic  and  Puritan  hands,  this  church  was  supported  by  general  taxa 
tion.2  Many  of  the  clergy  were  men  of  doubtful  morals,  men  who 
were  foremost  at  the  horse  races,  and  who  were  seldom  outdone 
in  drinking,  betting,  and  gambling.  The  Established  Church  had 
little  footing  in  the  North,  outside  of  New  York,  where  it  was 
rapidly  gaining.  In  Pennsylvania  and  Ehode  Island  alone  were 
all  religions  free. 

In  New  England,  except  Rhode  Island,  the  Puritan  or  Congre 
gational  Church  was  practically  the  State  Church.  In  no  other  part 
of  America  had  religion  taken  such  a  powerful  hold  on  the  people 
as  here.  The  minister  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem  and  rever 
ence  by  the  people,  who  considered  it  a  privilege  to  sit  on  the  hard 
seats  and  listen  to  his  three-hour  sermon  as  he  dilated  on  the  special 
providences  of  God,  on  some  metaphysical  abstraction,  or  on  the 

1  Patrick  Henry  and  John  Marshall  were  striking  examples  of  this. 

2  This  had  been  done  at  times  in  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas. 


COLONIAL   LIFE  207 


tortures  of  the  lost  soul.  The  New  England  ministers  were' men  of 
profound  learning.  Many  of  them  could  read  the  Old 
Testament  in  the  original  Hebrew,  the  New  in  the 
original  Greek,  and  expound  them  in  classic  Latin. 
We  may  grow  weary  of  the  pedantry,  the  metaphysics,  and  the 
narrowness  of  the  Puritan  ministers,  but  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
they  were  sincere,  honest  men.  The  greatest  of  the  New  England 
ministers  was  Jonathan  Edwards,  whose  work  on  the  "  Freedom  of 
the  Will "  is  one  of  the  very  few  colonial  productions  that  still  live 
in  American  literature. 

Next  to  religion  the  Puritans  valued  education,  and  they  had 
scarcely  become  established  in  their  new  home  when  they  turned 
their  attention  to  the  education  of  their  children.  In  1636  it  was 
voted  to  found  a  college  at  Newtown,  now  Cambridge,  three  miles 
west  of  Boston.  Two  years  later,  John  Harvard,  a  young  clergy 
man,  gave  the  institution  a  portion  of  his  estate,  amounting  to 
about  $4000,  —  a  large  sum  in  those  days,  — and  it  was  called  after 
his  name.  In  1647  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  ordered 
that  a  common  school  be  established  in  every  township  of  fifty  fami 
lies,  and  a  grammar  school  in  each  of  the  larger  towns.  From  this 
crude  beginning  has  developed  the  public  school  systems 
of  the  United  States.  The  school  term  in  New  Eng 
land  was  seldom  more  than  four  months  in  the  year ;  the  teacher 
was  often  a  youthful  divinity  student,  and  sometimes  the  minister 
of  the  parish,  or  even  the  innkeeper.  The  pupils  pondered  for 
long,  weary  hours  over  the  "  New  England  Primer,"  the  catechism, 
and  various  cumbrous  text-books  of  the  time. 

In  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania  commendable 
effort  was  made  to  educate  the  young,  but  the  schools  fell  below 
those  of  New  England,  and  seldom  at  this  period  was  a  school 
to  be  found  outside  the  towns  and  villages.  In  the  South  the 
education  of  the  masses  was  almost  wholly  neglected,  except  for 
some  feeble  efforts  in  Maryland  and  Virginia.  The  rich  employed 
private  tutors,  the  minister,  or  sometimes  an  indented  servant, 
while  a  few  of  the  most  opulent  sent  their  sons  to  England  or  the 
North  to  be  educated.  There  was  no  public  school  system  in  Vir 
ginia  before  the  Revolution,1  yet  this  colony  could  boast  the  second 

1  The  seven  colleges  founded  before  the  Revolution  were :  Harvard,  1636 ;  William 
and  Mary,  1693;  Yale,  1701;  Princeton,  1746:  University  of  Pennsylvania,  1749; 
King's  (Columbia),  1754;  and  Brown  University,  1764. 


208  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

college  in  America  in  point  of  the  time  of  its  founding.  The  efforts 
to  educate  the  young  in  many  of  the  colonies  was  most  praiseworthy, 
but  outside  of  New  England  and  New  York  there  was  no  public 
school  system  till  after  the  Revolution,  all  efforts  to  educate  the 
young  in  other  colonies  being  private. 

The  practice  of  medicine  in  the  colonies  was  in  a  cruder  state 
even  than  were  the  educational  facilities.  The  village  doctor  was 
indeed  an  important  personage,  quite  equal  to  the  school 
master  or  the  innkeeper,  and  not  much  inferior  to  the 
minister.  He  was  at  home  in  every  family,  and  was  highly  respected 
by  all  classes.  He  was  present  at  every  birth  and  every  funeral ;  he 
sat  with  the  minister  at  the  bed  of  death,  and  put  his  name  with  that 
of  the  lawyer  to  every  will.1  His  medical  education  was  usually 
meager,  and  often  consisted  only  of  a  short  apprenticeship  with  some 
noted  physician.  No  medical  college  existed  in  the  colonies  before 
the  Revolution.  The  practice  of  bloodletting  for  almost  any  disease 
was  universal ;  and  if  the  physician  was  not  at  hand,  this  was  done 
by  the  barber,  the  clergyman,  or  any  medical  amateur.2  The  drugs 
used  were  few,  and  their  rightful  use  was  little  known.  St.  John's- 
wort  was  taken  as  a  cure  for  many  ills,  for  madness,  and  to  drive 
away  devils.  A  popular  medicine  was  composed  of  toads  burned  to  a 
crisp  and  powdered,  then  taken  in  small  doses  for  diseases  of  the 
blood.3  There  was  a  great  deal  of  mystery  in  connection  with  the 
practice  of  medicine.  In  addition  to  the  regular  physicians  there 
were  many  quacks  who  hawked  their  Indian  medicines  and  special 
cures  about  the  country ;  but  these  were  not  peculiar  to  colonial 
times  —  we  have  them  still. 


MEANS   OF  TRAVEL;    MAILS;   NEWSPAPERS 

In  nothing  has  there  been  a  greater  change  in  the  last  hundred 
years  than  in  the  means  of  travel.  For  two  thousand  years,  as  Henry 
Adams  says,  to  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  world 
had  made  no  improvement  in  the  methods  of  traveling.  That  cen 
tury  brought  the  river  steamer,  the  ocean  greyhound,  the  lightning 
express  train,  the  bicycle,  the  electric  car,  and  the  automobile.  In 
colonial  times  travel  by  land  was  in  the  old-fashioned  stagecoach, 
on  horseback,  or  afoot.  The  roads  were  usually  execrable.  Many  of 

1  McMaster,  Vol.  I,  p.  29. 

2  Eggleston's  "  Transit  of  Civilization,"  p.  53.  3  Ibid.,  p.  58. 


COLONIAL   LIFE  209 


the  towns  were  wholly  without  roads,  being  connected  with  their 
neighbors  by  Indian  trails.  The  best  roads  to  be  found  were  in  Penn 
sylvania,  all  centering  into  Philadelphia,  and  on  these 
at  all  seasons  the  great  Conestoga  wagons  lumbered  into  oa  s' 
the  busy  city,  laden  with  grain  and  produce  from  the  river  valleys 
and  the  mountain  slopes.  Long  journeys  were  often  made  on  foot 
by  all  classes.  A  governor  of  Massachusetts  relates  that  he  made 
extensive  journeys  afoot,  and  speaks  of  being  borne  across  the 
swamps  on  the  back  of  an  Indian  guide.  A  favorite  mode  of  travel 
was  on  horseback.  A  farmer  went  to  church  astride  a  horse,  with 
his  wife  sitting  behind  him  on  a  cushion  called  a  pillion ;  while  the 
young  people  walked,  stopping  to  change  their  shoes  before  reaching 
the  meetinghouse.  Great  quantities  of  grain  and  other  farm  prod 
ucts  were  brought  from  the  remote  settlements  on  pack  horses, 
winding  their  weary  way  through  the  lonely  forest  by  the  Indian 
trails.  Coaches  and  chaises  were  few  until  late  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  Not  until  1766  was  there  a  regular  line  of  stagecoaches 
between  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  The  journey  was  .then  made 
in  three  days ;  but  ten  years  later  a  new  stage,  called 
the  " flying  machine,"  was  started,  and  it  made  the  trip  Q*  stage- 
in  two  days.  A  stage  journey  from  one  part  of  the 
country  to  another  was  as  comfortless  as  could  well  be  imagined. 
The  coach  was  without  springs,  and  the  seats  were  hard  and  often  back 
less.  The  horses  were  jaded  and  worn,  and  the  roads  were  rough  with 
boulders  and  stumps  of  trees,  or  furrowed  with  ruts  and  quagmires. 
The  journey  was  usually  begun  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
after  eighteen  hours  of  jogging  over  the  rough  roads  the  weary 
traveler  was  put  down  at  a  country  inn  whose  bed  and  board  were 
such  as  few  horny-handed  laborers  of  to-day  would  endure.  Long 
before  daybreak  the  next  morning  a  blast  from  the  driver's  horn 
summoned  him  to  the  renewal  of  his  journey.  If  the  coach  stuck 
fast  in  a  mire,  as  it  often  did,  the  passengers  must  alight  and  help 
lift  it  out.  When  they  came  to  a  river,  they  found  no  bridge.  The 
crossing  was  made,  at  the  peril  of  all,  on  a  rude  raft  of  timbers,  or  a 
number  of  canoes  lashed  together.  After  five  or  six  days  of  such 
torture  the  traveler  from  Boston  found  himself  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  The  great  highways  of  those  early  days  were  those  that 
nature  had  furnished  —  the  rivers  and  bays.  Without  these  the 
people  of  the  different  colonies  would  have  been  isolated  indeed,  and 
would  scarcely  have  known  of  the  existence  of  one  another.  Even 
p 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


as  it  was,  only  the  few  ever  traveled  far  from  home  ;  the  majority  of 
the  native  common  people  lived  and  died  in  the  neighborhood  in 
which  they  were  born. 

The  mail  was  carried  by  postriders,  who  followed  the  main  roads 
as  far  as  there  were  any  ;  on  reaching  the  roadless  settlements  they 
found  their  way  through  the  forest  as  best  they  could 
by  the  trails  and  bridle  paths.  The  postman  left  a  city, 
not  at  regular  intervals,  but  only  when  he  received  enough  mail  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  the  trip.  The  remote  settlements  were  fortunate  if 
they  received  mail  once  a  month.  Benjamin  Franklin  was  appointed 
post-master  general  in  1753,  and  he  served  about  twenty  years.1  He 
soon  made  the  service  a  paying  one  to  the  Crown.  Yet  even  then 
the  amount  of  mail  delivered  in  the  whole  country  in  a  year  was 
less  than  that  now  delivered  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  one  day.2 

Newspapers  were  not  carried  in  the  mails,  but  by  private  arrange 
ment.  The  newspapers  were  small  and  ill-printed,  and  contained  little 
that  we  would  call  news.  The  chief  contents  were  bits  of  poetry, 
advertisements  for  runaway  slaves  and  indented  servants,  arrivals 
of  cargoes,  bits  of  European  news,  and  essays  on  politics,  morals, 
and  religion.  The  Boston  News  Letter,  established  in  1704,  was 
the  first  permanent  newspaper  in  America.  At  the  opening  of  the 
Revolution  there  were  thirty-seven  newspapers  printed  in  the 
colonies,  with  a  combined  weekly  circulation  of  about  five  thousand 
copies.  The  first  daily  was  not  printed  until  1784. 

COLONIAL   GOVERNMENT 

In  addition  to  the  brief  account  of  the  government  of  each  colony 
in  our  narrative  of  the  settlements,  an  account  must  here  be  given  of 
colonial  government  as  a  whole. 

The  thirteen  colonies  are  usually  grouped,  according  to  the  form 
of  government,  into  three  classes  —  the  Charter,  the  Royal,  and  the 
Proprietary  ;  but  recent  historical  criticism  has  reduced  these  three 
forms  to  two,  the  Corporation  and  the  Provincial.3  The  corporation 

1  As  early  as  1710  Parliament  passed  the  first  colonial  post  office  act. 

2McMaster,  Vol.  I,  p.  41. 

3  In  a  series  of  able  articles  in  the  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  II,  H.  L. 
Osgood  shows  that  the  "charter"  does  not  indicate  a  form  of  government;  it  is 
simply  a  grant  of  power  of  certain  rights  which  may  or  may  not  pertain  to  colony 
planting.  In  granting  a  colonial  charter  the  king  created  a  corporation  and  gave 
it  the  power  to  found  and  govern  a  colony.  The  government  was  therefore  a  gov 
ernment  by  the  corporation  in  accordance  with  certain  directions  given  in  the  charter. 


COLONIAL   GOVERNMENT  211 


was  identical  with  the  charter  form,  and  at  the  opening  of  the  Revo 
lution  there  were  but  three,  including  Massachusetts,1  the  other 
two  being  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut.  The  provincial  forms 
included  the  proprietary  colonies,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Delaware,  and  the  royal  colonies,  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  New 
Hampshire,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Georgia. 

So  variable  were  the  forms  of  colonial  government  that  but  two 
colonies  remained  under  the  same  form  from  the  time  of  their  found 
ing  to  the  Revolutionary  War.  These  two  were  the  chartered  colonies 
of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut.  It  will  be  noticed  that  at  the 
close  of  the  colonial  period  the  royal  form  of  government  predomi 
nated,  seven  of  the  thirteen  being  of  this  class.  The  movement 
against  the  chartered  and  proprietary  colonies  that  brought  about 
this  condition  was  begun  late  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II,  was  kept 
up  for  half  a  century,  and  ended  in  1729  when  the  Carolinas  became 
royal  provinces.  One  colony,  Georgia,  was  founded  after  this  time, 
and,  after  flourishing  for  nineteen  years  as  a  proprietary  colony,  was 
passed  over  to  the  Crown  (1752)  according  to  the  terms  of  its  charter. 
Massachusetts  was  the  first  to  fall  a  victim  to  this  new  policy, 
losing  its  charter  in  1684.  On  receiving  its  new  charter,  in  1691, 
Massachusetts  became  a  semi-royal  province,  and  is  by  some  writers 
placed  in  a  class  by  itself.  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  the  Caro 
linas  passed  into  royal  hands  during  this  crusade,  and  even  the 
governments  of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  were  each  for  a  short 
time  taken  from  their  respective  proprietors. 

By  leaving  out  of  consideration  the  two  self-governing  colonies, 
Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,2  we  find  the  colonial  governments 
strikingly  uniform.  Each  consisted  of  three  organs,3  (1)  the  governor, 
appointed  by  the  Crown  or  by  the  proprietor,  or  proprietors,  (2)  the 
council,  also  appointed  by  the  Crown,  and  (3)  the  assembly  or  house 
of  representatives,  elected  by  the  people.  These  three,  corresponding 
to  the  king  and  the  two  houses  of  Parliament,  resembled  the  British 
government. 

The  governor  directly  represented  the  Crown  or  the  proprietor. 
His  position  was  a  most'  difficult  one  to  fill.  Representing  a  higher 
power,  by  which  he  was  appointed  and  from  which  he  had  explicit 

1  More  strictly,  Massachusetts  was  a  corporation  only  before  1684 ;  after  1691  it 
was  a  royal  colony  with  a  charter. 

2  For  the  government  of  these,  see  supra,  pp.  107  and  113. 

3  Except  Pennsylvania  and  Georgia,  to  be  noticed  later.     See  Morey,  in  Annals 
of  the  American  Academy,  Vol.  IV,  p.  215. 


212  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

instructions,  he  nevertheless  owed  a  duty  to  the  people  over  whom 
lie  was  placed,  and  the  interests  of  the  two  were  so  conflicting  as  to 
keep  the  governor  in  a  constant  turmoil.     The  powers 
e  gov-          o£  khe  g0vernor  were  extensive.    He  could  convene,  pro 
rogue,  or  dissolve  the  legislature,  or  veto  any  of  its  laws. 
He  had  command  of  the  militia,  and  he  appointed  many  officials,  such 
as  judges,  justices  of  the  peace,  sheriffs,  and  the  like,  and,  especially  in 
the  early  period,  he  had  industrial,  commercial,  and  ecclesiastical  as 
well  as  political  duties;  but  in  one  respect  he  was  ever  held  in  check 
—  he  had  no  power  over  the  public  purse.     Many  of  the  governors 
were  honest  men  and  faithful  to  their  duties  ;  but  others,  and  per 
haps  the  majority,  were   profligate  men,  the   fruits   of  the  spoils 
system  of  that  day,  who  sold  the  offices  at  their  disposal,  and  who 
cared  little  for  the  welfare  of  the  colonists. 

The  council  consisted  usually  of  twelve  men,  though  in  Massa 
chusetts  there  were  twenty-eight,  and  in  early  Maryland  but  three. 
They  had  to  be  residents  of  the  colony  in  which  they 
jounci .  serve(^  an(j  they  were  usually  men  of  station  and  wealth. 
Appointed  by  the  same  power  that  appointed  the  governor,  they 
usually  sided  with  him  in  his  conflicts  with  the  assembly.  The 
functions  of  the  council  were  threefold,  —  it  was  a  board  of  advisers 
to  the  governor,  it  constituted  the  upper  house  of  the  legislature, 
and  it  frequently  formed  the  highest  court  of  the  colony.  In  Massa 
chusetts,  after  1691,  the  council  was  elected  by  a  joint  ballot  of  the 
legislature,  called  the  General  Court.  In  the  other  provincial  colo 
nies  it  was  appointed  by  the  Crown  or  the  proprietors. 

The  assembly,  or  lower  house  of  the  legislature,  represented  the 
people  and  was  elected  by  them.  It  had  the  chief  legislative  power  ; 
but  its  acts  could  be  vetoed  by  the  governor,  or  be  set  aside 
assembly  ^y  ^e  Crown  within  a  certain  time  after  their  passage. 
But  the  assembly  held  the  key  to  the  situation  by  its 
sole  power  of  taxation.  To  this  right  the  assembly  of  every  colony 
clung  with  jealous  tenacity.  Through  the  exercise  of  this  right  the 
colonies  may  be  said  to  have  been  self-governing,  and  their  liberties 
were  secure  so  long  as  they  could  retain  this  sole  right  of  taxing 
themselves.  For  many  years  the  British  government  wrestled  in 
vain  with  the  problem  of  how  to  get  an  American  revenue  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Crown.  The  governor,  representing  the  Crown,  and 
the  assembly,  representing  the  people,  were  in  frequent  conflict 
during  the  whole  colonial  period;  and  the  assembly  usually  won 


COLONIAL   GOVERNMENT  213 

through  its  one  all-powerful  weapon  —  a  withholding  of  supplies. 
On  many  occasions  the  assembly  would  refuse  to  grant  the  governor 
his  salary  until  he  had  approved  certain  laws  it  had  passed,  though 
often  his  act  was  in  direct  violation  of  his  instructions.  Nor  was  it 
infrequent  that  the  assembly  grew  arrogant  and  meddled  in  purely 
executive  affairs,  such  as  military  matters,  the  appointment  of  officials, 
and  the  like,  all  through  its  power  over  the  purse. 

The  legislature  in  every  colony  was  bicameral,  except  in  Penn 
sylvania  and  Georgia,  in  each  of  which  it-consisted  of  a  single  house. 
This  bicameral  system  had  its  model  in  Parliament,  but  it  seemed 
to  spring  up  spontaneously  in  America.  It  began  in  Massachusetts 
in  1644,  when  the  assembly  or  deputies  first  sat  apart  from  the 
council  or  magistrates,  and  the  two  bodies  henceforth  remained 
separate.  Other  colonies  soon  followed  the  example,  until  all  the 
legislatures  came  to  be  divided,  except  in  Pennsylvania,  where  the 
governor's  council  had  no  legislative  functions  after  1701,  and  in 
Georgia.  In  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  and  in  Massachusetts 
before  1684,  the  people  elected  the  governor,  and,  aside  from  the 
Navigation  and  a  few  other  restrictive  laws,  were  practically  inde 
pendent  of  the  Crown. 

The  representative  system  of  government,  as  we  have  assumed 
all  along  in  our  narrative,  was  common  to  all  the  colonies,  though 
it  was  not  introduced  in  Georgia  before  1752.  It  began  in  Virginia 
with  the  first  meeting  of  the  burgesses  in  1619;  it  was  introduced 
in  Massachusetts  in  1634,  in  Plymouth  and  Maryland  in  1639.  The 
system  of  representative  government  was  allowed,  but  not  required, 
by  the  early  charters.  But  after  it  had  sprung  up  spontaneously  in 
various  colonies,  it  was  recognized  and  ratified  by  the  later  charters, 
as  in  those  of  Connecticut  and  Ehode  Island,  and  the  second  charter 
of  Massachusetts,  though  it  was  not  mentioned  in  the  New  York 
grant.  The  franchise  came  to  be  restricted  by  some  property  quali 
fications  in  all  the  colonies,  in  most  by  their  own  act,  as  by  Virginia 
in  1670,  or  by  charter,  as  in  Massachusetts,  1691. l  In  no  colony 
was  universal  suffrage  to  be  found. 

In  the   judicial  system  the   justice  of  the  peace  stood  at  the 
bottom.     In  most  cases  he  was  appointed  by  the  governor,  and  he 
tried   petty  civil  cases  only.     Next  came  the  county 
courts,  before  which  were  tried  civil  cases  involving 

1  "Property,  not  men,  voted,"  says  Thorpe,  "Constitutional  History,"  Vol.  I, 
p.  192.  The  religious  test  was  also  applied  in  some  form  in  every  colony. 


214:  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

sums  to  a  certain  amount  and  criminal  cases  not  involving  capital 
punishment.  The  highest  colonial  court  was  usually  composed  of 
the  governor  and  the  council.  But  in  some  colonies  the  governor 
appointed  a  body  of  judges  for  this  function,  while  he  and  the 
council  acted  as  a  court  of  appeals.  In  certain  cases,  also,  a  further 
appeal  could  be  made  to  the  Privy  Council  in  England. 

A  practice  of  the  colonies  was  to  keep  an  agent  in  England  to 
look  after  their  interests.  This  practice  originated  in  Virginia  about 
1670,  and  was  soon  followed  by  other  colonies.  Some- 
times  the  same  agent  represented  two  or  more  colonies, 
as  in  the  case  of  Franklin.  The  duties  of  these  men  were 
similar  to  those  of  modern  diplomatic  representatives.  To  the  Eng 
lish  Board  of  Trade,  which  became  a  permanent  institution  after  1696, 
nearly  all  colonial  questions  were  referred,  and  the  board  reported 
them  to  the  king,  or  to  a  committee  of  the  Privy  Council.  It  was  to 
this  board  that  the  colonial  agents  presented  the  interests  of  their 
respective  colonies,  and  their  efforts  did  much  toward  bringing  about 
a  closer  fellowship  between  the  mother  country  and  the  colonies. 
This  good  feeling  between  them  was  at  its  best  about 'the  year  1750. 

In  methods  of  local  government  the  colonies  were  less  uniform 
than  in  the  general  government.  As  stated  in  our  account  of  Massa 
chusetts,  the  old  parish  of  England  became  the  town  in  New  Eng- 
Local  govern-  lan(i.  The  people,  owing  to  the  necessity  of  guarding 
ment  in  New  against  the  Indians  and  wild  animals,  and  to  their  desire 
England.  to  attend  the  same  church,  settled  in  small,  compact 
communities,  or  townships,  which  they  called  towns.  The  town 
was  a  legal  corporation,  was  the  political  unit,  and  was  represented 
in  the  General  Court.  It  was  a  democracy  of  the  purest  type.1 
Several  times  a  year  the  adult  males  met  in  town  meeting  to  discuss 
public  questions,  to  lay  taxes,  to  make  local  laws,  and  to  elect  officers. 
The  chief  officers  were  the  "  selectmen,"  from  three  to  nine  in  number, 
who  should  have  the  general  management  of  the  public  business ;  the 
town  clerk,  treasurer,  constables,  assessors,  and  overseers  of  the  poor. 
To  this  day  the  town  government  continues  in  a  large  measure  in 
some  parts  of  New  England.  The  county  in  New  England  was  of 
much  less  importance  than  the  town.  Its  business  was  chiefly  the 
holding  of  courts  of  law,  the  keeping  of  court  records,  and  the  care 
of  prisoners. 

In  Virginia,  which  may  be  taken  as  the  type  of  southern  local 
i  See  Shaler's  "United  States,"  Vol.  II,  p.  475. 


COLONIAL   GOVERNMENT  215 

government,  the  county,  first  called  the  shire,  was  the  unit  of  repre 
sentation.  The  large  plantations  rendered  the  compact  settlement 
impossible.  At  first  the  parish  was  the  local  unit, 
but  it  soon  gave  way  to  the  county.  The  chief  county 
officer  was  the  sheriff,  appointed  by  the  governor.  Next  to  the 
sheriff  stood  the  "colonel,"  whose  duties  were  largely  military. 
The  counties  were  divided  into  parishes  which  were  governed  by  ves 
tries,  whose  duties  were  largely  ecclesiastical.  Local  government, 
judicial  and  administrative,  was  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  a  county 
court,  whose  members,  usually  prominent  planters  unlearned  in  the 
law,  were  appointed  by  the  governor.  This  court  gradually  came 
to  do  the  business  formerly  done  by  the  parish.  Instead  of  the  town 
meeting,  as  in  New  England,  the  Virginians  had  their  "  court  days," 
on  which  the  people  of  every  rank  would  gather  on  the  green  about 
the  courthouse  to  transact  private  business,  to  engage  in  sports,  and 
to  listen  to  stump  speeches. 

In  South  Carolina  there  were  parishes,  but  neither  counties  nor 
townships.  In  the  Carolinas  the  governor  and  legislature  found  it 
almost  impossible  to  govern  the  mountainous  districts,  and  they  were 
aided  by  bands  of  "  regulators  "  organized  for  the  purpose. 

In  Maryland  the  "  hundred  "  was  the  unit  of  representation  till 
1654,  when  it  gave  way  to  the  county.  The  officers  of  the  hundred, 
except  the  assessor,  were  appointed  by  the  governor.  Maryland  dis 
carded  the  term  "  hundred  "  in  1824,  but  Delaware,  having  adopted 
it,  retains  it  to  this  day.  In  Delaware  the  "levy  court,"  composed 
of  the  assessors,  justices,  and  grand  jurors,  met  once  a  year  to  fix  tax 
rates. 

The  middle  colonies  borrowed  from  both  New  England  and  the 
South ;  they  adopted  a  mixed  system  of  county  and  township  govern 
ment.  In  New  York  the  township  was  the  local  unit, 
and  not  till  after  the  English  conquest  was  the  county 
organized.  Under  English  rule  the  town  meeting  was 
instituted,  but  with  less  power  than  in  New  England.  They  chose 
"overseers,"  instead  of  "  selectmen,"  and  other  officers.  After  1703 
they  chose  a  "  supervisor  "  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  township  ; 
and  he  was  also  a  county  officer  as  a  member  of  the  county  board  of 
supervisors,  which  met  once  a  year. 

In  Pennsylvania  the  county  was  at  first  the  only  organization 
for  local  government.1     It  had  charge  of  the  non-judicial,  as  well  as 
1  Except  in  Philadelphia-     All  the  county  officers  were  elective  iii  Pennsylvania. 


216  HISTORY    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

ttie  judicial,  business.  This  was  at  first  among  the  duties  of  the 
court,  but  at  length  it  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  commissioners 
elected  by  the  people.  As  the  population  increased  the  township 
was  organized  to  aid  the  county  in  local  matters,  such  as  the  care  of 
highways,  the  assessing  of  property,  and  the  like;  but  the  county 
remained  the  administrative  district  and  the  unit  of  representation. 
Nearly  all  the  states  organized  since  the  Revolution  have  adopted  the 
mixed  system  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania. 


THE   NAVIGATION  ACTS 

Throughout  the  colonial  period,  after  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  one  great  source  of  irritation  between  the  mother  coun 
try  and  her  colonies  was  found  in  the  Navigation  Acts.  The  two 
fold  object  of  these  acts  was  to  protect  English  shipping,  and  to 
secure  a  profit  to  the  home  country  from  the  colonies.  As  early  as  the 
reign  of  Richard  II  steps  had  been  taken  for  the  protection  of  ship 
ping,  but  not  before  1651  were  there  any  British  statutes  that  seriously 
hampered  colonial  trade.  The  Long  Parliament,  in  1642,  exempted 
New  England  exports  and  imports  from  all  duties,  and  a  few  years 
later  all  goods  carried  to  the  southern  colonies  in  English  vessels 
were  put  on  the  free  list. 

In  1651,  however,  while  Cromwell  was  master  of  England,  the 
first  of  the  famous  Navigation  Acts  was  passed.  The  chief  provi 
sions  were,  that  no  goods  grown  or  manufactured  in  Asia,  Africa,  or 
America  should  be  transported  to  England  except  in  English  vessels, 
and  that  the  goods  of  any  European  country  imported  into  England 
must  be  brought  in  British  vessels,  or  in  vessels  of  the  country  pro 
ducing  them.  The  law  was  directed  against  the  Dutch  maritime 
trade,  which  was  very  great  at  that  time.  But  it  was  nowhere  strictly 
enforced,  and  in  New  England  scarcely  at  all.1 

In  1660  the  second  of  these  memorable  acts  was  passed,  largely 
embodying  the  first  and  adding  much  to  it.  This  act  forbade  the 
importing  into  or  the  exporting  from  the  British  colonies  of  any 
goods  except  in  English  or  colonial  ships ; 2  and  it  forbade  certain 
enumerated  articles  —  tobacco,  sugar,  cotton,  wool,  dyeing  woods, 
etc. — to  be  shipped  to  any  country,  except  to  England  or  some 

1  Palfrey,  Vol.  II,  p.  393. 

2  Three  years  later  all  ships  were  pronounced  foreign  except  those  built  iu 
England  or  the  colonies. 


TRADE    LAWS  217 


English  plantation.  Other  goods  were  added  at  a  later  date.  Such 
goods  were  to  pay  heavy  duties  when  shipped  to  England,  and  in 
1672  the  same  duties  were  imposed  on  goods  sold  from  one  colony 
to  another.  Had  these  laws  been  strictly  enforced,  the  effect  on  the 
colonies  that  produced  the  "  enumerated  "  articles  would  have  been 
disastrous,  for  they  enjoyed  a  flourishing  trade  in  these  goods  with 
other  countries.  Other  articles,  such  as  grain,  salt  provisions,  and 
fish,  were  not  put  on  the  list,  because  these  were  produced  in  England, 
and,  had  the  entire  colonial  production  "been  sent  to  that  country,  the 
English  producer  would  have  been  ruined.1  Rice  was  also  allowed 
to  be  shipped  direct  to  all  ports  south  of  Cape  Finisterre.  Some 
things,  however,  the  Parliament  did  purely  to  favor  the  colonies, — 
it  prohibited  the  raising  of  tobacco  in  England  and  kept  Spanish 
tobacco  out  by  high  duties,  it  kept  out  Swedish  iron  by  a  high  tariff, 
to  the  advantage  of  the  colonies,  and  it  paid  a  bounty  on  various 
colonial  products. 

In  addition  to  these  laws  there  were  two  other  classes  of  laws,  all, 
however,  belonging  to  the  same  system,  which  tended  to  impede  the 
development  of  the  colonies,  —  the  corn  laws  and  the 
laws  against  manufacturing.    The  corn  laws  in  the  inter-   *J™*  corn 
est  of  the  British  farmer,  beginning  about  1666,  practi 
cally  shut  out  from  England  grain  raised  in  the  colonies.      This 
drove  New  England  and  New  York  to  manufacturing,  and  this  again 
led  England  to  forbid  manufacturing  in  the    colonies.    Manufactur 
These  laws  were  far  more  effective  than  the  Navigation   ing  forbid- 
Acts.    It  is  stated  that  in  1708  New  York  manufactured   den- 
three  fourths  of  the  woolen  and  linen  goods  used  in  the  colony,  and 
also  fur  hats  in  great  numbers,  many  of  which  were  shipped  to  Europe 
and  the  West  Indies.     This  trade  was  largely  suppressed  by  English 
laws  passed  at  various  times.     In  1732  an  act  forbade  the  exporting 
of   hats   to  England,  to  foreign    countries,  or  from    one    colony  to 
another.     It  also  limited  the  number  of  persons  a  maker  of   hats 
might  employ.     Iron  was  found  in  all  the  colonies,  and  forges  and 
furnaces  were  established  in  many  places.      But  in  1750  Parliament 
enacted  a  law  declaring  that  "  no  mill  or  other  engine  for  rolling  or 
slitting  iron,"  "  nor  any  furnace  for  making  steel  shall  be  erected  in 
the  colonies " !     After  this  only  pig  and  bar  iron  could  be  made. 
Parliament  also  enacted  laws  at  various  times  restricting  the  manu- 

1  Egerton's"  British  Colonial  Policy,  "p.  72;  N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.,  Vol.  V,  p.  63:  Beer's 
11  Commercial  Policy  of  England,"  p.  82. 


218  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

facture  of  woolen  goods.  These  laws  bore  heavily  on  the  northern 
colonies,  but  were  little  felt  in  the  South,  where  manufactories  were 
rare. 

Probably  the  harshest  of  England's  laws  in  the  suppression  of 

colonial  trade  was  the  Molasses  Act  of  1733.     By  this  act  prohibitive 

duties  were  placed  on  molasses  and  sugar,  from  the  French  West 

Indies  to  the  colonies.1    New  England  enjoyed  a  great  trade  with  the 

islands,  receiving   molasses  and  sugar  for  flour,  stock, 

Act  n33SSe8   lumber>  and  fish>  Part  of  which  could    not  be  sold  to 

England  owing  to  the  corn  laws.     Had  the  Molasses 

Act  been  enforced,  the  prosperity  of  New  England  would  have  been 

at  an  end. 

The  northern  colonies,  which  produced  the  same  kinds  of  goods 
as  England  produced,  and  consequently  were  barred  from  the  English 
trade,  suffered  deeply  by  the  trade  laws,  while  the  southern  colonies, 
which  raised  commodities,  such  as  tobacco  and  rice,  which  could  not 
be  duplicated  in  England,  suffered  far  less. 

The  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  established  as  a  permanent 
body  in  1696,2  kept  account  of  the  acts  of  colonial  legislatures,  corre 
sponded  with  the  governors,  and  informed  itself  thoroughly  concern 
ing  all  matters  of  colonial  trade.  But  in  spite  of  all  efforts  the 
Navigation  Acts  could  scarcely  be  enforced  at  all.  It  may  be  said 
that  the  whole  people  became  lawbreakers,  and  often  the  customs 
officials  and  even  the  governors  connived  at  their  practice.  Smug 
gling  was  universal.  It  went  on  regardless  of  the  ad- 
Lng'  miralty  courts  established  in  most  of  the  colonies. 
"Juries  found  their  verdicts  against  the  most  undoubted  facts."3 
The  Molasses  Act  was  certainly  an  economic  and  a  political  blunder  ; 
it  not  only  made  the  people  lawbreakers,  it  led  them  to  hold 
Parliament  in  contempt,  as  not  able  to  enforce  its  own  laws. 

But  the  colonists  were  not  without  examples  in  smuggling.  It  was 
estimated  that  forty  thousand  people  in  Great  Britain  were  engaged  in 
smuggling.  The  illegal  imports  of  French  silks,  of  India  tea,  and 
the  like  exceeded  the  legal  imports.4  On  moral  grounds,  therefore, 
England  could  not  reproach  America. 

1  The  object  of  the  act  was  to  aid  the  English  sugar  islands.    France  had  adopted 
a  liberal  policy  with  regard  to  the  trade  of  her  West  India  Islands,  and  this  had  crip 
pled  the  trade  of  the  British  West  Indies.     See  MacDonald,  p.  248. 

2  Before  this  date  the  work  was  done  by  a  committee  of  the  Privy  Council. 
8  Chalmers's  "  Introduction,"  Vol.  I,  p.  183. 

4  Stanhope's  "  Pitt,"  p.  215. 


TRADE    LAWS  219 


In  fairness  to  England  it  must  be  said  that  not  all  her  eolonial 
trade  laws  were  unfavorable  to  the  colonies.  As  we  have  noticed, 
the  raising  of  tobacco  in  England  was  forbidden  —  at  first  under 
James  I,  because  the  weed  was  offensive  to  that  monarch,  but  later 
for  the  protection  of  the  colonies.  But  further,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century  there  was  a  heavy  balance  of  trade  against  Eng 
land  with  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Russia,  from  which  she  purchased 
large  naval  stores.  To  correct  this  and  to  discourage  manufacturing 
in  the  colonies,  Parliament  offered  bounties  on  American  hemp,  lum 
ber,  tar,  turpentine,  etc.  So  effective  was  this  law,  passed  in 
Anne's  reign,  that  England  was  soon  exporting  a  surplus  of  these 
articles  received  from  her  colonies.1 

In  viewing  the  subject  of  England's  colonial  policy  during  this 
period,  two  things  should  be  borne  in  mind  ;  namely,  that  the  subject 
has  usually  been  treated,  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  from  a  purely 
American  point  of  view,  and  that  England  was  no  more  severe  in 
the  treatment  of  colonial  trade  than  were  other  countries  having 
colonial  possessions.  The  British  government  acted  throughout  on 
the  ground,  taken  by  all  European  countries  at  the  time,  that  the 
existence  of  colonial  possessions  was  for  the  purpose  of  benefiting 
the  mother  country.  The  system  involved  the  subordination  of  the 
interests  of  the  colonies  to  those  of  the  mother  country.2  The  aim 
of  Great  Britain  was  to  export  manufactured  goods  to  America,  and  to 
import  raw  materials,  and  at  the  same  time  to  retain  the  balance  of 
trade  in  her  own  favor.  This  she  usually  succeeded  in  doing.  In 
1759  New  England  sent  to  England  goods  to  the  value  of  £38,000  and 
purchased  goods  to  the  amount  of  £600,0003  —  chiefly  with  money 
made  by  smuggling.  But  in  one  respect  the  British  policy  greatly 
stimulated  American  industry.  It  made  New  England  a  shipbuild 
ing  community.  This  was  brought  about  loy  the  fact  that  the 
Navigation  Laws  placed  the  colonial-built  ship  on  the  same  footing 
with  the  English-built  ship. 

On  the  whole,  the  British  policy  was  unfortunate  for  British  in 
terests  ;  it  served  to  alienate  the  colonists,  little  by  little,  and  pre 
pared  them  for  the  final  break  with  the  mother  land.  Lecky,  one  of 
the  ablest  of  the  British  historians,  says  : 4  "  The  deliberate  selfish 
ness  of  the  English  commercial  legislation  was  digging  a  chasm 
between  the  mother  country  and  the  colonists." 

1  Beer,  p.  102.  2  Egerton,  p.  69. 

8  Beer,  p.  154.  4  "  History  of  England,"  Vol.  II,  p.  241. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   REVOLUTION  — OPENING  EVENTS  AND  CAUSES 

THE  American  Revolution,  viewed  from  its  results,  was  one  of 
the  greatest  movements  in  human  history.  The  expenditure  of  life 
and  treasure  has  often  been  exceeded,  but  the  effect  on  the  political 
life  of  the  world  is  not  easy  to  parallel.  The  chief  result  was  the 
birth  of  the  first  successful  federal  government  in  history,  a  govern 
ment  that  was  destined  to  expand  to  the  western  ocean  within  a 
century  and  to  grow  into  a  nation  of  vast  wealth  and  power  and  of 
still  greater  possibilities. 

It  is  believed  by  many  that  the  mild  bond  of  union  which  held 
the  American  colonies  to  the  mother  country  might  have  remained 
unbroken  for  an  indefinite  period,  but  for  the  unwise  policy  that 
brought  about  the  resistance  of  the  former  ;  others  are  of  the  opinion 
that  the  child  had  come  of  age,  and  that  nothing  could  have  long 
delayed  a  political  separation.  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that 
for  more  than  fifty  years  before  the  Seven  Years'  War  there  was  a 
strong  attachment  between  the  two  peoples,  and  that  the  thought  of 
severing  their  bond  of  union  was  nowhere  entertained.  It  is  true  that 
the  royal  governors  were  forever  complaining  to  the  Lords  of  Trade 
about  the  unruly  spirit  of  the  colonial  assemblies  ;  it  is  also  true  that 
the  colonists  were  constantly  annoyed  by  the  Navigation  Acts,  and 
that  they  thought  it  not  robbery  to  evade  them  when  they  could ; 
but  these  were  only  ripples  on  a  smooth  sea.  And  America  was 
happy ;  the  people  continued  to  hew  away  the  timbers  and  to  build 
cities  and  churches  and  schools,  to  delve  the  soil,  to  raise  grain  and 
tobacco  and  cattle ;  they  had  grown  strong  in  battling  with  the  for 
est, 'the  Indians,  and  the  wolves  :  but  with  all  their  growing  strength, 
of  which  they  could  not  have  been  unconscious,  they  did  not  long  to 
escape  the  mother  wings ;  their  proudest  boast  was  still  that  they 
were  Englishmen. 

It  must  be  said,  however,  that  a  separation  sooner  or  later  was 
inevitable.  It  is  true  that  there  was  no  plot,  no  conspiracy  in 

220 


REMOTE   CAUSES  221 


America  looking  to  independence ;  but  there  were  forces  at  work  for 
many  years  that  must  eventually  dissolve  the  political  bond  between 
the  two  peoples.  It  must  be  remembered  that,  while  America  was 
the  child  of  England,  it  was  not  the  child  of  the  England  of  1760, 
but  rather  of  the  England  of  1600.  The  great  Puritan  immigration 
ceased  with  1640,  the  Cavalier  immigration  ceased  a  few  decades 
later,  and  in  all  the  century  that  had  passed  since  then  the  migration 
from  England  had  been  small.  The  English  institutions,  trans 
planted  to  America  early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  had  developed 
on  purely  American  lines,  had  been  shaped  by  the  social,  political, 
and  economic  conditions  peculiar  to  America.  The  result  Demote 
was  that  the  two  peoples  unconsciously  grew  apart,  so  causes  of 
far  apart  that  they  were  no  longer  able  to  understand  separation, 
each  other ;  and  when  England  now  attempted  to  play  the  part  of 
parent,  the  fact  was  brought  out  that  the  relations  of  parent  and  child 
existed  no  longer  between  the  two  countries.  The  colonies  had 
reached  a  point  in  their  development  where  they  could  govern  them 
selves  better  than  they  could  be  governed  by  a  power  beyond  the 
sea.  Writers  who  find  in  the  Stamp  Act,  the  tax  on  tea,  and  the  like, 
the  sole  cause  of  the  Revolution,  fail  to  look  beneath  the  surface. 
These  were  but  the  occasion  ;  they  hastened  its  coming,  but  the  true 
causes  of  the  separation  had  their  roots  in  the  far  past. 

Again,  the  conquest  of  Canada  changed  the  relations  between 
England  and  the  colonies.  So  long  as  this  old  enemy  hung  on  the 
north,  both  England  and  her  colonies  were  held  in  check :  theTolo- 
nies  felt  a  certain  need  of  protection ;  England  felt  that  a  contest 
with  the  colonies  might  drive  them  to  a  coalition  with  the  French. 
But  now  as  this  obstacle  was  removed  both  could  be  natural  in  their 
relations  with  one  another;  and  this  normal  relationship  soon  re 
vealed  how  far  apart  they  stood.  England  then  failed  to  recognize 
this  divergence ;  she  attempted  to  deal  with  America,  not  as  a  part 
of  the  empire,  which  it  was,  but  as  a  part  of  the  British  realm, 
which  it  was  not.1  But  for  this  false  assumption  by  the  British 
government  and  an  attempt  to  act  in  accordance  with  it,  the  old 
relations  might  have  continued  for  years  to  come. 

But  an  evil  day  came.     The  sky  had  been  specked  with  a  little 
cloud  here  and  there  for  many  years.     Why  should  so  many  crimi 
nals  from  the  British  prisons  be  forced  upon  the  colonists  ?     This 
was  irritating,  and  had  been  so  from  the  earliest  period  of  their  colo- 
1  Snow's  "  Administration  of  Dependencies,"  p.  149. 


222  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

nization.  Why  was  the  attempt  of  various  colonies  to  preserve 
society  by  checking  the  African  slave  trade  summarily  crushed  by 
the  Crown,  in  order  simply  to  enrich  the  English  trader  ?  This  did 
not  indicate  a  mother's  affection  for  a  child.  Again,  the  overbearing 
hauteur  of  many  of  the  royal  governors,  who  were  supposed  to  repre 
sent  the  king,  was  distasteful  to  a  people  who  believed  themselves 
as  good  as  any  other  Englishmen.  Still  again,  during  the  late  war 
with  the  French,  the  British  officers  were  ever  ready  to  show  their 
contempt  for  the  provincial  troops,  and  colonial  officers  were  often 
replaced  by  British  officers.  All  these  things  were  at  least  unpleas 
ant  for  the  American-Englishman  to  contemplate  ;  but  they  were  not 
serious,  and  their  effects  would  have  passed  away  like  a  morning 
mist  but  for  the  greater  events  that  were  to  follow. 

OTIS   AND   HENRY 

The  long  war  was  nearing  its  close ;  Quebec  had  fallen  and  Brit 
ish  arms  were  triumphant  in  all  parts  of  the  earth,  but  withal,  the 
British  debt  had  risen  to  alarming  proportions.  The  colonies  also 
had  incurred  heavy  debts  by  the  war,  and  a  small  portion  of  them 
had  been  paid  from  the  English  treasury.  There  was  now  a  general 
feeling  among  British  statesmen  that  the  colonies  should,  in  some 
regular  and  systematic  way,  be  made  to  bear  a  portion  of  the  burdens 
of  the  empire. 

(George  Grenville  now  became  head  of  the  English  government ; 
and,  no  doubt  with  good  intentions,  he  decided  on  a  threefold  policy 
in  relation  to  the  colonies.  First,  the  Navigation  Acts  must  be  en 
forced.  The  high  duties  of  the  Molasses  Act  of  1733,  which  had 
always  been  evaded,  were  lowered  in  the  Sugar  Act  of  April,  1764, 
after  which  it  was  determined  to  enforce  them.  Second,  a  standing 
army  must  be  maintained  in  America ;  and  third,  the  colonies  should 
be  taxed. 

In  order  to  enforce  the  navigation  laws  custom  officers  were  to 
be  armed  with  "  Writs  of  Assistance,"  or  general  search  warrants, 
which  authorized  them  to  enter  any  store,  warehouse,  or  private 
dwelling  to  search  for  smuggled  goods.  This  system  of  spying  was 
very  distasteful  to  the  people,  and  their  resentment  was  intensified 
by  the  genius  of  James  Otis,  a  brilliant  young  Boston  lawyer,  who 
must  be  considered  the  pioneer  of  the  Revolution.  Otis  was  an 
advocate  of  the  king,  but  he  resigned  the  office  and  took  up  the 


CAUSES   OF  THE   REVOLUTION  223 

cause  of  the  people.  In  a  fiery,  passionate  address  before  the  Supe 
rior  Court  he  sounded  a  clarion  note,  declaring  that  the  power  used 
in  issuing  the  writs  was  the  kind  of  power,  the  exercise  of  which  had 
"  cost  one  king  of  England  his  head  and  another  his  throne/'  and 
calling  upon  the  people  to  resist.  The  people  took  up  the  cry,  and  it 
spread  from  the  New  England  hills  to  the  valleys  of  the  Hudson, 
the  Delaware,  and  the  James.  In  a  short  time  the  whole  country 
was  roused  to  resistance  against  the  infringement  of  their  liberties. 
Otis  based  his  argument  on  the  broad  ground  of  the  rights  of  the 
colonists  as  Englishmen.1  The  speech  of  Otis  was  an  epoch-making 
one ;  it  sounded  the  first  note  of  resistance  to  British  authority 
heard  in  colonial  British  America,  and  has  been  called  the  opening 
scene  of  the  Revolution.  John  Adams,  then  a  young  law  student, 
listened  to  the  passionate  eloquence  of  Otis,  and  wrote,  fifty-six  years 
later,  "  Then  and  there  the  child  Independence  was  born." 2 

Scarcely  had  the  sound  of  Otis's  eloquence  ceased  to  reverberate 
when  a  second  note  of  warning  arose.  It  came  from  Patrick  Henry 
of  Virginia.  Henry  was  a  young  lawyer  of  Scotch 
parentage.  As  a  youth  he  was  shiftless  and  gave  little 
promise  for  the  future,  though  he  had  a  fair  education. 
Three  years  before  attaining  his  majority  he  was  married  ;  he  became 
a  storekeeper  and  failed ;  then  he  went  to  live  with  his  father-in- 
law,  an  innkeeper,  and  became  his  assistant.  The  future  seemed  to 
promise  him  little,  but  he  played  the  violin  and  seemed  contented 
with  his  lot.  At  length  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  law,  and  after 
six  weeks'  reading  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  For  several  years  his 
clients  were  few  and  he  barely  earned  his  daily  bread,  but  still  he 
was  happy  with  his  violin.  It  was  after  ten  years  of  married  life, 
when  in  his  twenty-eighth  year,  that  his  remarkable  genius  was  dis 
covered.  He  burst  forth  suddenly  upon  the  public;  he  became  the 
most  eloquent  public  speaker  of  his  generation. 

The  matter  that  brought  Henry  to  the  front  is  known  as  the 
Parson's  Cause.     It  had   no  connection  with    navigation  acts  nor 

1  Channing's  "  United  States,"  p.  43. 

2  Otis  soon  after  was  elected  to  the  Massachusetts  assembly,  became  the  leader 
of  the  popular  party,  and  wrote  several  vigorous  pamphlets.     Some  years  later, 
in  an  altercation  with  a  customs  official,  the  latter  struck  him  on  the  head  with  a 
cane,  inflicting  a  wound  that  impaired  his  health  for  life.    He  fought  as  a  private 
in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.    Otis  retired  from  public  life  long  before  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1783.    He  had  often  expressed  a  desire  to  die  by  a  lightning  stroke, 
and  one  day,  as  he  stood  in  his  door  during  a  thunder  shower,  his  wish  was  gratified ; 
he  was  instantly  killed  by  lightning. 


224  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

with  writs  of  assistance  ;  but  the  principle  involved  was  one  and 
the  same.  Virginia  still  paid  its  clergy  in  tobacco ;  but  back  in  the 
fifties,  under  pressure  of  the  war,  the  assembly  passed  an  act  permit 
ting  the  payment  of  public  dues,  including  the  salaries  of  the  clergy, 
in  provincial  money.  All  went  well  for  several  years, 
Cause11'8  when  the  clergy,  feeling  themselves  defrauded,  com 
plained  to  the  bishop  of  London,  who  laid  the  matter 
before  the  king,  and  the  king  summarily  vetoed  the  Virginia  law. 
Rev.  James  Maury  now  made  a  test  case,  sued  in  the  court  for 
damages,  or  back  salary,  and  won  his  suit.  A  jury  was  to  fix  the 
amount  of  damages,  and  it  was  before  this  jury  that  Patrick  Henry 
blossomed  forth  to  the  world,  transformed  from  a  shiftless  mediocre 
to  one  of  the  leading  men  of  his  age. 

Henry  was  in  the  wrong,  or  rather  the  Virginia  assembly  had 
done  wrong,  for  it  partially  repudiated  an  honest  debt  by  forcing 
payment  in  a  depreciated  currency.  But  that  was  not  the  chief  ques 
tion  dealt  with  by  Henry.  The  question  was,  What  right  has  a  king 
three  thousand  miles  away  to  interfere  in  the  private,  internal  affairs 
of  Virginia  ?  Virginia  has  the  right  to  make  her  own  laws,  was  the 
burden  of  his  speech;  in  annulling  a  law  at  the  request  of  a  class, 
aa  king,  from  being  a  father  to  his  people,  degenerates  into  a  tyrant, 
and  forfeits  all  right  to  obedience."  The  friends  of  his  Majesty 
cried  "treason,"  but  the  people  were  ripe  for  such  a  prophet  and 
heard  him  gladly;  so  with  the  jury,  for  they  awarded  the  par 
son  only  a  penny.  The  fame  of  the  orator  spread  far  and  wide. 
The  people  admired  the  rising  genius,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  Otis, 
their  admiration  was  inseparably  linked  with  what  he  had  said 
about  their  rights  and  the  infringement  of  those  rights  by  the 
king;  and  thus  were  sown  in  the  American  heart  the  seeds  of 
discontent. 

THE  STAMP  ACT  AND  OTHER  ACTS 

No  crisis  had  yet  been  reached.  Otis  and  Henry  had  each  made 
more  than  a  local  reputation  at  the  expense  of  British  authority, 
and  they  had  both  won.  The  writs  of  assistance  had  fallen  still 
born,  and  the  king  had  yielded  in  the  Parson's  Cause.  A  shadow 
was  thus  cast  over  the  royal  prerogative,  but  it  was  not  threaten 
ing;  American  loyalty  was  too  deep-seated  to  be  seriously  shaken 
by  such  trifles.  But  greater  events  were  soon  to  follow. 

Every  source  of  English  revenue  was  drained  on  account  of  the 


CAUSES  OF  THE   REVOLUTION  225 

great  war  debt,  and  it  was  proposed  to  lay  a  tax  on  the  colonies,  not 
to  pay  the  interest  on  the  national  debt,  nor  to  be  expended  in  Eng 
land  in  any  way,  but  solely  for  the  protection  and  defense  of  the 
colonies.  It  was  thought  necessary  to  maintain  a  standing  array  in 
the  colonies  to  preserve  order  and  to  prevent  Indian  outbreaks,  and 
this  belief  was  confirmed  by  the  great  conspiracy  of  Pontiac.  The 
colonists,  however,  strenuously  denied  the  need  of  British  troops  on 
American  soil  in  time  of  peace.  They  believed  that  the  true  reason 
was  to  hold  them  in  awe.  Franklin,  who  was  then  in  London,  stated 
to  a  committee  of  Parliament  that  there  was  no  occasion  whatever  to 
inaugurate  such  a  movement,  that  the  colonists  when  but  a  handful 
had  defended  themselves  against  the  Indians,  and  that  they  were 
more  competent  to  do  so  now.  But  all  protest  was  unavailing,  and 
the  government  decided  to  quarter  an  army  of  ten  thousand  men 
among  the  Americans,  and  to  tax  the  latter  for  its  partial  support. 
Lord  Grenville  sought  how  to  raise  the  revenue  by  the  easiest 
method  without  offending  the  colonists.  There  is  little  doubt  that 
he  was  sincere  and  that  he  did  not  mean  to  offend  them.  A  stamp 
tax  suggested  itself;  but  the  idea  was  not  original  with  Gren 
ville.  As  early  as  1728  Governor  Keith  of  Pennsylvania  had  pro 
posed  a  stamp  tax  for  America.  Governors  Shirley  and  Dinwiddie 
had  again  proposed  it  about  1755,  but  the  oncoming  war  had  deferred 
the  matter.1 

Grenville  proposed  the  stamp  duties  in  the  spring  of  1764,  a  year 
before  the  act  was  to  be  passed.  His  object,  as  he  said,  was  to  con 
sult  the  colonial  agents  and  even  the  colonial  assem 
blies,  requesting  them  to  propose  some  better  method, 
if  possible,  for  raising  the  necessary  revenue.  No  doubt  Grenville, 
like  most  British  statesmen,  felt  piqued  at  the  evasion  of  the  navi 
gation  laws  in  America  and  at  the  failure  of  the  writs  of  assistance ; 
but  there  is  no  proof  that  he  desired  to  humble  the  colonists  with  an 
army  and  with  stamps.  He  doubtless  meant  it  all  for  the  best,  but 
with  all  his  sincerity,  he  was  narrow-minded,  and  never  perhaps 
dreamed  of  the  storm  he  was  about  to  raise.  The  year  passed,  and 
a  majority  of  the  colonial  assemblies  spoke  against  the  proposed  law, 
none  offering  an  alternative;  the  universal  voice  from  America  was 

1  Pitt  was  not  in  favor  of  it.  "I  will  never  burn  ray  fingers  with  an  American 
stamp  tax,"  said  he.  As  early  as  1732,  when  a  stamp  tax  for  America  was  proposed 
to  Premier  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  he  answered,  "  I  will  leave  the  taxation  of  America 
to  some  of  my  successors  who  have  more  courage  than  I  have."  See  Lossing's  "  Cy 
clopedia  of  United  States  History,"  p.  1334. 
Q 


226  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

against  it.  But  this  warning  was  not  heeded ;  and  in  March,  1765, 
the  Stamp  Act  became  a  law  and  was  to  go  into  operation  on  the 
first  of  the  following  November.  The  colonies  were  not  without 
friends  in  the  Commons  during  the  debate  that  preceded  the  passage 
of  the  law,  the  foremost  of  whom  was  Colonel  Barre,1  who  had  fought 
by  the  side  of  Wolfe  at  Louisburg  and  Quebec.  In  a  sudden  burst  of 
eloquence,  in  answer  to  the  statement  that  the  colonies  were  "  children 
planted  by  our  care,  nourished  by  our  indulgence,  and 
Colonel  protected  by  our  arms,"  Barre  made  his  famous  reply : 

"  They  planted  by  your  care !  No ;  your  oppression 
planted  them  in  America.  Nourished  by  your  indulgence !  They 
grew  up  by  your  neglect  of  them.  They  protected  by  your  arms ! 
Those  sons  of  liberty  have  nobly  taken  up  arms  in  your  defense."  2 

The  stamps,  ranging  in  value  from  a  few  pence  to  several  pounds, 
were  to  be  placed  on  newspapers,  marriage  licenses,  deeds,  shipping 
bills,  and  many  kinds  of  legal  papers  —  fifty-four  kinds  of  documents 
in  all. 

The  promoters  of  this  law  in  Parliament  doubtless  expected  some 
protest  from  America,  but  they  were  not  prepared  for  the  violence 
of  the  opposition  that  was  awakened.  A  few  weeks  after  the  news 
of  the  act  reached  the  colonies  the  storm  broke  forth  in  all  its  fury. 
The  Virginia  legislature  was  then  in  session,  and  Patrick  Henry,  who 
The  Virginia  was  now  a  mem^er>  offered  a  series  of  resolutions  in 
resolutions,  which  he  declared  that  the  people  of  that  colony  were 
May  30,  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  natural-born  subjects  of 

England ;  that  they,  through  their  assembly,  had  the  ex 
clusive  right  to  tax  the  colony ;  that  they  were  not  bound  to  yield  obe 
dience  to  any  law,  except  of  their  own  making,  designed  to  impose  any 
taxation  whatsoever  upon  them ;  and  that  any  person  or  persons  who 
assert  or  maintain  such  right  "  shall  be  deemed  an  enemy  to  his 
Majesty's  colony."  In  supporting  his  resolutions  Henry  made  one 
of  his  great  speeches,  in  which  the  well-known  passage  occurs, 
"Caesar  had  his  Brutus,  Charles  I  his  Cromwell,  and  George 
III" —  "Treason,"  shouted  the  speaker,  and  the  cry  was  echoed 
from  the  chamber.  "George  III,"  continued  Henry  firmly,  "may 
profit  by  their  example.  If  that  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it." 
The  old  conservative  members  opposed  the  resolutions,  but  Henry's 

1  Pitt  was  absent  with  the  gout. 

2  The  expression  "  Sons  of  Liberty  "  was  soon  caught  up  in  America,  and  made 
the  party  name  of  a  patriotic  society  that  spread  through  all  the  colonies. 


STAMP  ACT   RIOTS  227 


impetuous  eloquence  carried  them  through  by  a  narrow  margin.1 
These  ringing  resolutions  were  sent  over  the  land  to  the  North  and 
to  the  South,  and  by  midsummer  they  had  been  published  in  all  the 
leading  newspapers  in  America. 

Massachusetts  again  joined  hands  with  Virginia  in  upholding 
colonial  liberty.  The  legislature,  led  by  Otis,  issued  a  circular 
letter  to  all  the  colonies,  calling  for  a  general  congress  stamp  Act 
to  meet  the  following  autumn.  The  Stamp  Act  Con-  Congress,  Oc- 
gress,  in  response  to  this  call,  met  in  the  city  of  New  tober7,1765. 
York.  Nine  of  the  colonies  were  represented,  while  the  remaining 
four  sent  their  expressions  of  good  will.  This  congress  sat  but  three 
weeks.  Otis  was  its  leading  spirit,  ably  seconded  by  Christopher 
Gadsden  of  South  Carolina.2  It  framed  a  Declaration  of  Rights,  and 
respectfully  petitioned  the  king  and  both  houses  of  Parliament.  Gads- 
den,  in  a  notable  speech  used  the  significant  words,  "  There  ought  to 
be  no  New  England  men,  no  New  Yorkers,  known  on  the  continent, 
but  all  of  us  Americans."  This  congress  was  important  in  that  it 
fostered  concerted  action  and  established  a  precedent  for  union. 

Meantime,  during  the  summer,  the  opposition  to  the  Stamp  Law 
grew  in  intensity.  The  Sons  of  Liberty  organized  in  every  colony, 
determined  to  prevent  the  operation  of  the  law.  Most  of  the  colonial 
legislatures  took  action  against  it,  and  as  the  time  drew  near,  riots 
occurred  in  various  sections,  and  mass  meetings  were  held  to  de 
nounce  the  odious  law.  As  the  first  installments  of  stamps  began  to 
arrive  and  the  names  of  the  distributors  were  made  known,  the  riot 
ing  increased  and  reached  its  culmination  in  Boston,  where  the 
usual  meeting  place,  Faneuil  Hall,  became  known  as  the  Cradle  of 
Liberty.  Boxes  of  stamps  were  seized  and  destroyed  by  the  mob ; 
distributors  were  burned  in  effigy.  The  fine  residence  of  Chief 
Justice  Hutchinson  of  Massachusetts  was  sacked  and  his  valuable 
library  destroyed.  In  New  York  Lieutenant  Governor  Golden 
attempted  to  enforce  the  act,  but  the  people  were  furious.  He 
threatened  to  fire  on  the  crowd,  and  was  informed  that  if  he  did  so 
he  would  speedily  be  hanged  to  a  lamp-post.3  Colden's  best  chariot 

1  Next  day,  in  the  absence  of  Henry,  the  resolutions  were  reconsidered,  and  modi 
fied,  and  the  most  violent  one  was  struck  out.    But  they  had  been  given  to  the  public 
in  their  original  form,  and  in  this  form  they  were  published  broadcast  over  the  land. 

2  In   the   Stamp  Act  Congress  we  find  Livingston  of  New  York,  Dickinson  of 
Pennsylvania,  Rodney  of  Delaware,  and  Rutledge  of  South  Carolina,  who  was  chosen 
president;  all  were  leading  men  of  the  Revolution. 

3  Fiske's  "  American  Revolution,"  Vol.  I,  p.  24. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES 


was  seized,  dragged  through  the  streets  with  the  images  of  him 
self  and  of  the  devil  sitting  side  by  side  in  it,  and  burned  in  the 
open  square  in  view  of  his  own  house.  Merchants  and  business  men 
banded  together  and  agreed  not  to  import  goods  from  England  until 
the  law  was  repealed ;  newspapers  came  out  with  a  death's-head 
and  crossbones  where  the  stamps  were  required  to  be.  In  short,  the 
opposition  was  so  determined  and  widespread  that  it  was  evident 
that  the  law  could  not  be  enforced  except  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet. 

Viewing  the  matter  calmly  from  this  distance,  it  must  be  con 
fessed  that  no  better  or  more  equitable  method  of  taxing  the  colonies 
could  have  been  found  than  by  means  of  stamps,  if  it  be  conceded 
that  England  had  the  right  to  tax  them  at  all.  But  this  was  exactly 
what  the  colonists  denied.  "  Taxation  without  representation  is 
tyranny,"  became  their  battle  cry.  Lord  Mansfield  and  others 
explained  that  the  colonies  were  represented  in  Parliament,  as  every 
member  of  the  Commons  represents  in  a  broad  sense  the  whole 
British  Empire,  and  that  the  colonists  were  as  truly  represented  as 
were  eight  ninths  of  the  inhabitants  of  England,  who  had  no  vote 
for  members  of  Parliament  and  yet  were  taxed  by  them.  The  Ameri 
cans  answered  that  there  was  a  great  difference  between  the  Eng 
lishman  who  had  no  vote  and  the  colonist ;  as  the  former  was  a  part 
of  the  British  public  to  which  the  member  of  Parliament  was  re 
sponsible,  while  the  latter,  three  thousand  miles  away,  could  not 
appeal  to  his  interests  or  his  fears.1  If  we  agree  that  America  was 
not  represented  in  Parliament,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  colonists 
were  clearly  in  the  right.  It  is  a  badge  of  slavery  to  be  taxed 
by  a  foreign  power.  The  men  that  lay  a  tax  should  be  a  part  of 
the  people  that  pay  the  tax.  Thus  they  are  taxing  themselves 
as  well  as  their  fellows,  and  the  danger  of  abuse  is  reduced  to  a 
minimum. 

The  British  Parliament  heard  the  wild  clamor  from  the  American 
wilderness.  Under  a  new  ministry,  with  the  Marquis  of  Rocking- 
ham  at  its  head,  the  subject  of  repealing  the  Stamp  Act  became  the 
principal  business.  William  Pitt,  now  Earl  of  Chatham,  rose  from 
a  sick  bed  to  make  one  of  his  great  speeches  in  favor  of  the  colonists, 
rejoicing,  as  he  said,  that  America  had  resisted.  Pitt  took  the  mod 
erate  ground  that  while  Parliament  had  a  right  to  lay  external  taxes, 
as  in  the  navigation  laws,  she  had  no  right  to  lay  internal  taxes. 

1  See  Channing's  "  United  States  of  America,"  p.  30. 


THE   TOWNSHEND   DUTIES 


The  other  side  was  presented  by  Grenville  with  candor  and  abil 
ity,  but  Pitt  carried  the  day,  and  the  law  was  repealed 
in   February,  1766.     With   the  repeal  was  passed  the   Declaratory 
"Declaratory    Act,"    a    declaration    that    Parliament 
had  the  right  to  tax  the  colonies  "in  all  cases  whatsoever." 

The  Americans  gave  little  heed  to  the  Declaratory  Act.  They 
rejoiced  in  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  and  were  ready  to  return  to 
their  former  allegiance.  But  the  very  next  year  Parliament,  with 
a  foolhardy  rashness  that  admits  of  no  explanation,  wantonly  probed 
into  the  half-healed  wound.  The  Kockingham  ministry  soon  fell, 
and  the  Great  Commoner  was  called  again  to  take  the  helm.  He 
became  nominal  premier,  but  his  health  was  broken  and  he  retired 
to  the  country.  The  ministry  was  composed  of  men  of  various 
shades  of  political  doctrine,  and  each  became  practically  the  master 
of  his  own  department.  Against  the  wishes  of  Pitt,  Charles  Town- 
shend  became  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  and  held  in  his  hands 
the  matter  of  taxing  the  colonies.  He  was  a  man  of  brilliant  talents, 
but  without  the  conservatism  and  foresight  necessary  to  statesman 
ship.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  right  of  Parliament  to  tax  the 
colonies,  nor  was  he  willing  that  the  Declaratory  Act  be  left  on  the 
statutes  a  dead  letter.  No ;  he  would  tax  the  colonists  again  without 
delay  and  show  them  who  was  their  master.  It  was  Townshend, 
above  all  men  except  his  sovereign,  who  was  responsible  for  the 
Revolution.  Through  his  guidance  Parliament  laid  an  To^s^a 
import  duty  on  tea,  glass,  paper,  lead,  and  a  few  other  acts,  June, 
articles  imported  into  the  colonies.  The  revenue  thus  1767- 
raised  was  to  be  used  in  paying  the  royal  governors  and  the  other 
officials  appointed  by  the  Crown.  This  form  of  taxation,  known  as 
"  external,"  as  contrasted  with  the  "  internal "  taxation  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  had  been  acknowledged  to  be  legal  by  the  colonists..  But  they 
could  not  escape  the  belief  that  the  act  was  meant  to  annoy  and 
humble  them.  The  same  Parliament  had  pronounced  the  writs  of 
assistance  legal,  and  had  suspended  the  functions  of  the  New  York 
legislature  for  refusing  to  make  certain  required  appropriations. 
This  was  a  blow  at  the  independence  of  colonial  assemblies.  More 
over,  the  colonists  had  always  insisted  on  paying  the  salaries  of 
their  own  governors,  and  thus  making  them  feel  responsible  to  the 
respective  assemblies ;  and  to  have  this  privilege  taken  out  of  their 
hands  without  their  consent  was  not  conducive  to  harmony.  All 
this  was  irritating  in  the  extreme,  and  the  colonists,  who  had  dis- 


230  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

covered  their  strength,  in  opposing  the  Stamp  Act,  were  in  no  con 
dition  to  be  thus  dealt  with.  Their  fury  rose  again,  and  for  the 
third  time  within  six  years  colonial  America,  from  the  mountains 
to  the  sea,  was  aflame  with  indignation  against  the  mother  country. 

A  new  light  now  arose  in  the  Massachusetts  assembly  in  the  person 
of  Samuel  Adams,  who  became  the  most  powerful  political  leader 
during  the  early  years  of  the  Revolution.  John  Dickinson,  of  the 
Pennsylvania  assembly,  in  a  series  of  able  "  Letters  from  a  Farmer/7 
attacked  the  British  position  with  great  force,  while  George  Wash 
ington  led  the  planters  of  Virginia  to  resistance.  Led  by  such  men, 
the  colonists  determined  to  purchase  no  English  goods  on  which  the 
import  duties  had  been  laid. 

Important  events  now  followed  rapidly  upon  one  another.  The 
Massachusetts  assembly  sent  a  circular  letter  to  the  other  colonies, 
setting  forth  the  rights  of  the  colonists  as  Englishmen  and 
'  m'ginS  a  united  petition  to  the  king.  The  English  govern 
ment  demanded  that  the  letter  be  withdrawn,  though  it 
had  expressly  disavowed  a  desire  for  independence ;  the  assembly 
refused,  and  was  dissolved  by  Governor  Bernard.  The  Virginia  bur 
gesses  issued  a  still  bolder  circular,  calling  for  union.  This  circular, 
the  "  Virginia  Resolutions,"  1769,  condemned  the  Towiishend  acts,  and 
declared  that  the  people  of  Virginia  could  be  taxed  only  by  their  own 
representatives.  The  governor  then  dissolved  the  assembly;  but  the 
members  met  again,  in  the  Raleigh  tavern,  and  pledged  themselves 
to  the  non-importation  policy. 

Regiments  of  British  troops  had  been  sent  to  Boston  to  enforce 
the  Townshend  acts,  and  a  few  of  their  number,  in  answer  to  the 
taunts  and  jeers  of  the  people,  fired  on  the  latter,  several  of  whom  were 
Boston  killed.1  This  became  known  as  the  "  Boston  Massacre." 

Massacre,  .  The  people  were  maddened  by  the  massacre;  a  great 
1770.  meeting  was  held  in  Old  South  Church,  and  through 

Samuel  Adams  they  demanded  that  the  troops  be  instantly  removed 
from  the  town.  The  lieutenant  governor,  acting  for  the  absent  gov 
ernor,  saw  that  the  temper  of  the  people  was  such  that  he  dare  not 
refuse,  and  the  soldiers  were  removed  to  Castle  William,  on  a  little 
island  in  the  harbor.  In  1771  Governor  Tryon  of  North  Caro 
lina,  with  fifteen  hundred  troops,  fired  upon  the  people  who  had 
organized  as  "regulators"  to  maintain  public  order. 

&  The  offending  soldiers  were  tried  in  a  Boston  court  and  acquitted.  They  were 
defended  by_John_Adams  and  Josiah  Cjuincy^ 


CAUSES   OF  THE   REVOLUTION  231 

The   coast  of   Ehode   Island   had  been   menaced  by  an  armed 
British  schooner,  the  Gaspee,  whose  captain,  in  pretense  of  enforc 
ing  the  revenue  laws,  committed  many  outrages  upon  the  people, 
until,  in  June,  1772,  it  was  burned  to  the  water's  edge 
by  a  band  of  infuriated  citizens.     The  ministry  then 
ordered   that  the   offenders  be   sent  to  England  for  trial,  but  the 
Ehode  Island  authorities  declined  to  obey  the  order. 

This  rapid  succession  of  events  showed  plainly  that  the  breach 
was  widening,  and  that  the  signs  of  the  times  pointed  to  still  more 
serious  differences  between  England  and  America.  Meanwhile 
Parliament  had  receded  a  little ;  it  had  repealed  the  Townshend 
duties,1  all  but  one,  the  duty  on  tea,  and  that  was  retained  in 
order  to  maintain  the  principle  at  stake  —  the  right  to  tax  the 
colonies.  This  duty  was  retained  at  the  instance  of  one  man,  the 
man  who  had  now  become  the  real  as  well  as  the  nominal  master 
of  the  British  realm. 

KING  GEORGE  III 

In  1760  occurred  the  death  of  the  second  of  the  Hanoverian  sov 
ereigns  of  England ;  and  his  grandson,  a  youth  of  twenty-two  years, 
ascended  the  throne  as  George  III.  The  young  sovereign  was 
received  with  universal  applause  throughout  the  empire,  includ 
ing  America.  Fair  and  promising  were  his  prospects  for  a  long 
and  successful  reign.  For  two  generations  England  had  been  gov 
erned  by  Parliament,  and  Parliament  had  been  in  the  hands  of  a 
few  great  Whig  families.  The  first  two  Georges  had  little  to  do  in 
the  management  of  the  empire,  but  the  third  was  not  long  in  his 
high  station  before  he  determined  to  take  the  reins  of  government 
into  his  own  hands  —  to  obey  the  frequent  mandate  of  his  mother, 
"  George,  be  king  ! " 

The  times  were  specially  favorable  for  his  purpose.  The  Old 
Whigs,  who  had  retained  their  power  in  large  part  by  the  open  pur 
chase  of  seats  in  Parliament,  were  fast  losing  the  confidence  of  the 
people.  For  two  hundred  years  there  had  been  no  redistribution  of 
seats,  and  many  old  towns,  known  as  "  rotten  boroughs,"  which  had 
dwindled  to  almost  nothing,  were  still  represented,  while  growing 
cities  like  Manchester  and  Leeds  had  no  representation  in  Parliament. 

1  The  Townshend  duties  had  produced  but  £295,  owing  to  the  non-importation 
agreement,  while  the  expenses  incident  to  their  attempted  enforcement  reached 
£170,000.  Channing's  "  United  States,"  p.  60. 


232  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

The  Tory  party,  after  a  long  exile  from  power,  owing  to  its  adherence 
to  the  pretending  Stuarts,  was  now  rapidly  gaining  ground.  George 
III  took  advantage  of  these  conditions,  and,  putting  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  Tories,  soon  became  the  real  master  in  English  politics. 
The  vast  power  of  patronage,  amounting  to  many  million  pounds  a 
year,  which  had  been  wielded  by  the  Whigs  for  many  years,  was 
soon  in  the  hands  of  the  king,  and  in  the  purchase  of  seats  "in  the 
Commons  for  his  favorites  he  outdid  the  Whigs  in  the  worst  days 
of  their  corruption. 

It  was  a  sad  day  for  the  British  Empire  when  King  George 
became  its  political  master.  He  was  a  man  of  narrow  intellect,  and 
lacked  every  element  of  the  greatness  of  statesmanship.  "  He  had 
a  smaller  mind,"  says  the  British  historian,  Green,  "  than  any  Eng 
lish  king  before  him  save  James  II."  He  showered 
favors  on  his  obsequious  followers,  while  men  of  in 
dependent  character  whom  he  could  not  bend  to  his 
will  became  the  objects  of  his  hatred.  Pitt  he  pronounced  a 
"trumpeter  of  sedition";  Burke  and  Camden  were  the  objects  of 
his  wrath.  He  had  not  the  capacity  to  shield  his  natural  littleness 
by  surrounding  himself  with  great  men,  as  many  a  mediocre  sov 
ereign  has  done.  He  despised  Grenville  for  his  independence  and 
got  rid  of  him  as  soon  as  he  could.  He  recalled  Chatham  to  the 
premiership  because  he  could  not  help  doing  so,  but  he  rejoiced 
that  the  old  Commoner  was  broken  with  age  and  infirmity,  and  even 
expressed  a  wish  that  he  would  die.  At  length,  in  1770,  the  king, 
having  become  supreme  in  the  government,  chose  as  his  chief 
minister  a  man  that  he  could  mold  as  the  potter  molds  his  clay, 
a  man  of  many  noble  impulses,  but  of  the  class  who 
believed  that  the  king  could  do  no  wrong.1  This  man, 
whose  "  lazy  good  nature  and  Tory  principles  "  led  him  to  defer 
to  the  king's  judgment  rather  than  to  his  own,  was  kept  at  the 
head  of  the  government,  even  against  his  own  will,  for  twelve 
years  —  until  the  Revolution  had  been  accomplished  and  America 
was  free.  Yet  withal,  King  George  has  his  redeeming  traits  :  he 
was  a  man  of  prodigious  industry,  he  was  devoid  of  hypocrisy,  and 
he  led  a  moral  life  in  the  midst  of  a  corrupt  court. 

At  the  door  of  George  III  must  be  laid  the  American  Revolu 
tion.     What  the  future  might  have  unfolded  had  not  this  union 
been  broken  when  it  was  must  be  relegated  to  the  field  of   con- 
1  But  after  the  Revolution  we  find  North  allied  with  the  king's  opponents. 


KING   GEORGE   AND   THE   TEA 


jecture ;  but  that  this  union  was  severed  between  the  "  beautiful 
mother  and  the  more  beautiful  daughter"  in  the  last  half '  of  the 
eighteenth  century  was  chiefly  the  work  of  George  III.  He  had 
little  to  do,  perhaps,  with  the  beginnings  —  with  the  enforcement 
of  the  navigation  laws  and  the  writs  of  assistance  of  1761.  But 
after  the  colonies  had  once  offended  him  by  defying  British  au 
thority,  he  pursued  them  with  the  same  vindictive  spirit  which  he 
exhibited  toward  Pitt  and  other  statesmen  that  he  could  not  control 
—  he  determined  to  humble  them  at  all  hazards.  He  opposed  the 
repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  but  his  power  was  not  yet  great  enough  to 
prevent  it.  When  the  English  merchants  made  an  outcry  against 
the  Townshend  duties,  on  account  of  their  loss  of  trade,  it  was 
the  king,  as  stated  above,  who  retained  the  duty  on  tea  and  thus 
kept  alive  the  embers  until  they  burst  forth  into  the  flame  of 
war. 

The  Americans  now  refused  to  purchase  tea  from  England ;  they 
smuggled  it  from  Holland.  The  English  then,  by  an  ingenious  trick, 
made  their  tea  cheaper  in  America  than  it  was  in  England,  or  than 
that  smuggled  from  Holland.  They  did  this  by  removing  the  duty 
always  paid  at  an  English  port  by  the  tea  merchant  on  his  way  from 
the  Orient  to  America.  But  the  colonists  still  refused  to  buy  the 
tea.  The  principle  was  at  stake, — the  right  of  Parliament  to  tax 
them  at  all,  —  and  they  were  as  determined  as  the  English  king. 
Tea-laden  ships  reached  Charleston,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and 
Boston  late  in  the  autumn  of  1773.  Excited  meetings  of  citizens 
were  held  in  all  these  cities.  In  Charleston  the  tea  was  landed,  only 
to  rot  in  storage  ;  the  Philadelphians  refused  to  permit  the  ships  to 
land. 

Three  ships  lay  in  the  harbor  at  Boston,  but  the  people  kept 
watch  day  and  night  to  prevent  the  landing  of  the  tea.  The  owner 
of  the  vessels  was  informed  by  the  excited  people  that  he  must  take 
back  his  tea  to  London ;  but  this  he  could  not  do,  as  the  governor 
refused  him  permission  to  sail  and  two  of  the  king's  ships  guarded 
the  harbor.  Meetings  were  held  nightly  in  Faneuil  Hall,  or  Old 
South  Church,  and  at  length,  on  December  16,  after  every  legal 
method  for  returning  the  tea  had  been  exhausted,  a  body  of  seven 
thousand  men  resolved  that  it  should  not  be  landed;  Boston  Tea 
and  half  a  hundred  men,  in  the  disguise  of  Mohawk  Party,  Decem- 
Indians,  after  giving  a  war  whoop,  ran  silently  to  the  har-  ber'  1773- 
bor,  boarded  the  ships,  broke  open  the  tea  chests,  about  three  hundred 


234  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

and  forty  in  number,  and  threw  the  contents  into  the  sea.  The 
people  looked  on  from  the  shore,  taking  the  proceedings  as  a  matter 
of  course.  Boston  slept  that  night  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 
Who  these  fifty  Indian-garbed  king-defiers  were  is  not  known ;  but 
it  is  known  who  instigated  the  mob,  who  was  the  mouthpiece  of 
Boston  at  this  moment,  and  of  Massachusetts,  of  New  England,  of 
America  —  it  was  Samuel  Adams,  the  "  Palinurus  of  the  Kevolution." 

England  stood  aghast  at  the  temerity  of  her  sometime  docile 
colonists.  The  irate  king,  with  monumental  obstinacy  and  ina 
bility  to  discern  the  signs  of  the  times,  resolved  to  humble  the 
Americans  once  for  all;  nor  did  his  short-sighted  Majesty  seem  to 
doubt  for  a  moment  his  ability  to  do  so.  Of  the  colonists  he  writes, 
"  They  will  be  lions  while  we  are  lambs  :  but  if  we  take  the  resolute 
part,  they  will  undoubtedly  prove  very  meek." l  King  George  now 
led  his  Parliament  to  pass  in  quick  succession  four  drastic  measures 
against  the  people  of  Massachusetts.  First,  the  Boston  Port  Bill, 
which  removed  the  capital  from  that  city  to  Salem  and  closed  the 
port  of  Boston  to  the  commerce  of  the  world ;  second, 
*ke  Regulating  Act,  which  annulled  the  Massachusetts 
charter  and  transformed  the  colony  to  an  absolute  des 
potism  ;hird,  an  act  providing  that  persons  accused  of  certain  crimes 
in  connection  with  riots  be  transported  to  England,  or  to  some  place 
outside  of  the  colony  for  trial ;  while  the  fourth  made  it  legal  to  quar 
ter  troops  in  any  town  in  Massachusetts.  These  were  soon  followed 
by  the  Quebec  Act,  which  extended  the  province  of  Quebec  to  include 
A  a^  ^e  territory  west  °f  the  Alleghanies  and  north  of 
the  Ohio  River  to  the  Mississippi  —  except  what  had 
been  granted  by  royal  charter.  It  is  supposed  that  the  act  was 
intended  to  prevent  pioneers  from  settling  in  the  Ohio  country,  and 
to  win  the  favor  of  the  French  Catholics. 

Two  years  before  these  acts  were  passed  (1772),  Massachusetts, 
led  by  Samuel  Adams,  had  made  an  important  move  toward  con 
certed  action.  "  Committees  of  Correspondence  "  had  been  appointed 
in  every  town  in  the  colony  for  the  purpose  of  guarding  the  interests 
of  liberty.  The  next  year  Virginia  suggested  the  forming  of  a  per 
manent  Committee  of  Correspondence  to  extend  to  all  the  colo 
nies.  This  was  gradually  done,  and  the  system  was  very  effective  in 
spreading  the  doctrine  of  resistance. 

Against  the  drastic  British  measures  Massachusetts  now  made  an 
1  This  was  quoted  by  the  king  fi'om  General  Gage.  See  Knight,  Vol.  VI,  p.  58. 


FIRST   CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS  235 

appeal  for  aid,  and  through  these  committees  the  people  were  pre 
pared  for  an  immediate  response.  From  Maine  to  Georgia  they 
made  common  cause  with  their  brethren  of  the  Bay  colony,  and 
South  Carolina  sounded  the  keynote  in  these  ringing  words,  "  The 
whole  country  must  be  animated  with  one  great  soul,  and  all  Ameri 
cans  must  stand  by  one  another,  even  unto  death."  Washington 
offered  to  arm  and  equip  a  thousand  men  at  his  own  expense  and  to 
lead  them  to  the  relief  of  Boston.  Thomas  Jefferson  set  forth  the 
view  in  a  pamphlet,  the  "  Summary  View,"  that  Parliament  had  no 
right  to  any  authority  whatever  in  the  colonies.  Nearly  all  the 
colonies  joined  in  an  agreement  of  non-intercourse  with  England. 
As  the  day  approached  for  the  Port  Bill  to  take  effect,  cattle,  grain, 
and  produce  from  the  other  colonies  began  to  pour  into  Boston.  The 
day  came,  and  throughout  the  country  it  was  generally  kept  as  a  day 
of  fasting  and  prayer  ;  the  church  bells  were  tolled,  and  flags  were  put 
at  half-mast  on  the  ships  in  the  harbors.  Had  the  English  king 
been  able  to  glance  over  America  on  that  day,  he  must  have  aban 
doned  every  thought  of  punishing  a  single  colony  without  having  to 
deal  with  them  all ;  he  must  have  seen  that  but  two  courses  lay 
before  him  —  to  recede  from  his  position,  or  to  make  war  upon  a 
continent. 


THE    CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS;    LEXINGTON 

The  events  above  noted  gave  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  unity 
of  American  sentiment  against  British  oppression ;  but  something 
more  must  be  done  to  bring  about  united  action.  There  must  be 
some  central  authority  to  which  all  the  colonies  could  turn  for 
guidance.  This  political  union  came  about  in  the  formation  of  a 
Continental  Congress.  This  Congress  was  the  result  of  a  spontaneous 
and  almost  simultaneous  movement  throughout  the  country.  From 
New  York  came  the  first  call.  Paul  Revere  had  been  sent  from 
Boston  on  a  fleet  horse  to  rouse  the  people  of  New  York  and  Phila 
delphia,  but  ere  he  reached  the  former  the  Sons  of  Liberty  had 
taken  action  for  a  congress.  The  Massachusetts  legislature  added 
its  voice  in  June.  Delegates  were  chosen  in  all  the  colo 
nies  except  Georgia,  and  they  met  in  Carpenter's  Hall, 
Philadelphia.  Among  them  we  find  such  leaders  as  Wash 
ington,  Lee,  and  Henry  of  Virginia,  Dickinson  of  Pennsylvania,  Sam 
uel  and  John  Adams  of  Massachusetts,  Roger  Sherman  of  Connecticut. 


236  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

The  Congress  was  not  a  constitutional  body ;  many  of  its  members 
had  been  chosen  irregularly.  Its  authority  was  limited  to  the 
willingness  of  the  people  to  respect  and  obey  its  suggestions  and  man 
dates.  The  very  fact  of  its  existence  had  a  meaning  of  great  signifi 
cance,  but  it  was  too  profound  for  the  comprehension  of  George  III. 
It  was  less  a  congress  than  a  national  committee,  an  advisory  council 
of  continental  magnitude.  It  attempted  no  national  legislation.  It 
was  controlled  by  conservative  men  who  counseled  moderation. 
They  made  a  declaration  of  rights,  mild  but  deeply  sincere ;  they 
prepared  an  address  to  the  king,  disavowing  a  desire  for  indepen 
dence,  another  to  the  people  of  England,  and  still  another  to  the  peo 
ple  of  Canada.  They  also  approved  the  policy  of  non-intercourse  with 
Great  Britain,  and  formed  an  association  to  carry  it  out.  The  form 
ing  of  this  association,  which  at  first  constituted  the  revolutionary 
machinery,  was  an  act  of  great  importance.  Its  object  was  to  secure 
a  redress  of  .grievances  by  peaceful  methods,  by  enforcing  the  non 
importation  and  non-consumption  agreement.  To  carry  out  this  pur 
pose  committees  were  to  be  formed  in  every  county  or  township  in 
the  colonies.  These  worked  under  the  guidance  of  the  Committees 
of  Correspondence.  The  local  committees  marked  out  for  persecution 
every  loyalist  who  refused  to  comply  with  the  recommendations  of 
the  Congress.  The  loyalists  made  a  feeble  effort  at  counter  organiza 
tion  ;  but  the  patriots  were  so  furious  in  their  opposition  that  little 
came  of  it.  Not  until  the  next  year,  1775,  did  the  patriots  begin  to 
form  associations  pledged  to  oppose  the  aggressions  of  the  king  by 
force  of  arms.1 

Among  other  things  this  Congress  indorsed  a  set  of  resolutions 

from  Suffolk  County,  Massachusetts,  drawn  up  by  Joseph  Warren. 

By  these  it  was  declared  that  the  king  who  violates  the 

chartered  rights  of  the  people  forfeits  their  allegiance, 

that  the  Regulating  Act  was  null  and  void,  and  so  on.    After  Congress 

had  adopted  them,  Massachusetts,  in  accordance  with  their  spirit, 

proceeded  to  set  up  a  provisional  government. 

This  Congress  sat  for  about  seven  weeks  and  then  adjourned,  after 

appointing  the  10th  of  the  following  May  for  a  second  Congress,  in 

case  it  was  needed.     When  the  addresses  issued  by  this 

Congress  reached  England,  Chatham  paid  the  following 

remarkable  tribute  to  the  men  who  framed  them  :  — 

"  When  your  lordships  look  at  the  papers  transmitted  us  from 
1  Van  Tyne's  "  Loyalists  in  the  Revolution,"  p.  75. 


AFFAIRS  IN   MASSACHUSETTS  237 

America  —  when  you  consider  their  decency,  firmness,  and  wisdom, 

you  cannot  but  respect  their  cause.  .  .  .     For  myself  I 

must   declare   and  avow,  that  in  all  my  reading   and  tribute*11  8 

observation  .  .  .  that  for   solidity  of   reasoning,  force 

of  sagacity,  and  wisdom  of  conclusion  ...  no  nation  or   body  of 

men  can  stand  in  preference  to  the  Congress  at   Philadelphia.     I 

trust  that  it  is  obvious  to  your  lordships,  that  all  attempts  to  impose 

servitude  upon  such  men,  to  establish  despotism  over  such  a  mighty 

continental  nation,  must  be  vain,  must  be  fatal." 

In  ^Massachusetts  the  summer  had  been  one  of  unusual  excite 
ment.  The  people  set  the  Regulation  Act  at  defiance  and  banded 
together  in  thousands  to  prevent  its  operation.  They  surrounded 
the  courthouses  and  forced  the  king's  officers  to  resign  ;  they  refused 
to  serve  as  jurymen  ;  they  met  for  military  drill  on  the  village  green 
of  every  town.  The  leaders  of  the  people,  in  the  absence  of  Samuel 
Adams,  were  John  Hancock,  a  man  of  refinement  and  culture  and 
the  richest  merchant  in  New  England,  and  Joseph  Warren,  a  promi 
nent  physician,  a  man  of  unsullied  patriotism,  and  the  bosom  friend 
of  Adams. 

General  Gage  had  returned  to  Massachusetts  with  an  army  with 
which  to  awe  the  people,  and  he  was  made  civil  as  well  as  military 
governor.  The  people  answered  these  proceedings  by  organizing 
into  bands  of  "  minutemen,"  ready  to  move  on  a  minute's  notice. 
On  one  occasion  Gage  sent  a  party  of  soldiers  to  seize  some  powder 
at  Charlestown  ;  the  rumor  spread  that  they  had  fired  on  the  citizens, 
and  in  less  than  two  days  twenty  thousand  farmers  were  under 
arms,  marching  toward  Boston.  But  the  rumor  proved  false,  and 
they  returned  to  their  homes.  Late  in  October  a  provincial  congress 
met  at  Concord,  with  Hancock  as  president  and  Warren 
the  chairman  of  a  committee  appointed  to  collect  mili 
tary  stores.  This  congress  dissolved  in  December,  and  another  met 
at  Cambridge  in  February  and  proceeded  to  organize  the  militia  and 
to  appoint  officers. 

During  the  winter  and  spring  of  1775  the  estrangement  continued 
to  increase,  and  every  index  pointed  to  a  conflict  of  arms.  The  king 
and  Parliament  and  Gage  had  miscalculated  when  they  believed 
that  the  presence  of  an  army  would  awe  the  colonists  and  change 
them  from  roaring  lions  into  fawning  lambs.  Nor  were  the  colonists 
making  a  leap  in  the  dark ;  they  were  strong,  and  they  knew  that 
they  were  strong.  Their  bodies  had  been  developed  in  clearing  away 


238  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  forest,  in  tilling  the  soil,  in  fishing  and  shipbuilding ;  they  had 
become  expert  marksmen  in  fighting  Indians  and  wild  animals,  and 
many  of  them  had  gained  an  excellent  military  training  in  the  late 
war  with  France.  *Gage  issued  a  proclamation  offering  full  pardon 
to  all  the  people,  except  Samuel  Adams  and  John  Hancock,  if  they 
would  yield  to  his  authority  ;  but  the  people  did  not  heed  him  ;  they 
only  kept  on  organizing,  drilling,  and  collecting  military  stores  in  the 
towns.  Gage  had  been  ordered  to  arrest  Adams  and  Hancock,  who 
had  been  elected  to  the  Second  Continental  Congress,  and  to  send 
them  to  England  for  trial.  The  two  patriot  leaders,  fearing  arrest, 
were  at  Lexington  in  hiding.  The  British  general  discovered  their 
hiding  place,  and,  on  the  night  of  the  18th  of  April,  sent  a  body  of 
eight  hundred  regulars  to  make  the  arrest  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
move  on  a  few  miles  farther  and  destroy  the  military  stores  at  Con 
cord.  Silently  in  the  darkness  the  troops  were  rowed  across  the 
Charles  River,  and  by  midnight  they  were  well  on  the  way  to  Lex 
ington.  Every  precaution  for  secrecy  had  been  taken,  but  the  vigi 
lance  of  the  patriots  was  too  keen  to  be  eluded. 

Paul  Revere,  one  of  the  noblest  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  stood  by 
the  river,  his  steed  by  his  side,  waiting  for  a  lantern  signal  from  the 
belfry  of  the  North  Church,  which  would  inform  him  of  the  direc 
tion  the  troops  had  taken.  The  signal  appeared,  and  a  moment  later 
he  was  galloping  through  the  night  toward  Lexington.  At  every 
door,  as  he  dashed  along,  he  shouted  the  thrilling  news 
tnat  the  Britisn  were  coming.  Reaching  Lexington,  he 
came  to  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Jonas  Clark,  where  Han 
cock  and  Adams  were  sleeping.  The  door  was  guarded  by  minute- 
men,  who  warned  him  not  to  disturb  the  inmates  with  his  noise. 
"Noise!"  cried  Revere,  "you'll  soon  have  noise  enough;  the  regulars 
are  coming!"1  Hancock,  at  an  upper  window,  knew  his  voice  and 
invited  him  in ;  and  a  few  hours  later,  when  the  enemy  came  up,  the 
two  patriots  had  quietly  proceeded  on  their  way  to  the  Congress  at 
Philadelphia. 

The  news  of  the  approaching  enemy  sped  on  to  Concord,  and  to 
the  surrounding  towns  and  farmhouses ;  and  the  men  arose,  seized 
their  guns,  and  hastened  to  the  scene  of  the  coming  conflict.  Colonel 
Smith,  in  command  of  the  English,  saw  but  too  plainly,  by  the 
flickering  lights  on  the  hills,  by  the  sound  of  bells  and  of  signal 
guns,  that  his  movements  were  known,  and  he  sent  back  to  Gage 

i  Fiske,  Vol.  I,  p.  121. 


LEXINGTON   AND   CONCORD  239 

for  reinforcements  while  he  dispatched  Major  Pitcairn  forward  with 
six  companies  of  infantry  to  secure  the  bridge  at  Concord.  Pitcairn 
reached  Lexington  at  sunrise,  and  found  himself  confronted  by 
some  forty  minutemen  under  Captain  John  Parker.1  With  an  oath 
he  called  upon  them  to  disperse,  but  they  stood  as  motionless  as  a 
wall,  and  he  ordered  his  men  to  fire.  The  soldiers  hesitated,  and 
Pitcairn  discharged  his  own  pistol,  and  thus  fired  the  first  shot  of  the 
war  of  the  Revolution.  Again  he  ordered  the  men  to  fire ;  they  now 
did  so,  and  the  volley  laid  seven  of  the  patriots  dead  and  ten  wounded 
upon  the  village  green.  Parker  was  greatly  outnumbered,  and,  after 
making  a  feeble  resistance,  ordered  his  men  to  retire.  But  the  day's 
business  was  only  begun.  The  British  troops  hastened  on  to  Con 
cord  and  entered  the  town  unopposed,  as  the  minutemen,  to  the 
number  of  two  hundred,  had  withdrawn  to  the  top  of  the  hill  beyond 
the  river,  taking  with  them  or  hiding  most  of  the  cannon  and  stores. 
The  regulars  destroyed  the  little  they  found,  cut  down  the  liberty 
pole,  and  set  fire  to  the  courthouse.  But  their  work  came  to  an 
abrupt  close.  Two  hundred  of  their  number  had  been  left  to  guard 
the  North  Bridge  that  spanned  the  little  river  near  the  village,  and 
on  these  the  patriots,  now  increased  to  four  hundred,  made  a  descent 
and  opened  fire.  The  firing  of  both  sides,  the  river  flowing  between 
them,  was  brisk  for  some  minutes  and  a  few  of  each  were  slain. 
This  was  the  first  encounter  after  that  on  the  greensward  at  Lexing 
ton  some  hours  before. 

Colonel  Smith  now  understood  the  peril  of  his  position,  and 
determined  to  retire.  But  it  was  already  too  late.  The  whole  sur 
rounding  country  was  roused;  the  farmers  and  villagers  swarmed 
to  the  scene,  and,  without  a  leader,  without  order,  from  every  hiding 
place  —  trees,  fences,  thickets,  and  hillocks,  in  true  Battie  of  Lex- 
Indian  fashion  —  they  poured  an  incessant  fire  into  the  ington.  April 
retreating  British.  The  latter  were  not  wanting  in  19' 1775 
courage;  they  made  a  brave  effort  to  retreat  in  order,  but  the 
retreat  became  a  rout,  and  every  attempt  to  halt  and  form  into 
line  was  thwarted  by  the  deadly  hail  of  patriot  bullets  from  every 
side.  Many  of  them  fell  dead  or  dying  on  the  road  ;  the  rout  be 
came  a  race  with  death.  They  had  inarched  all  the  night  before  ;  the 
day  was  hot,  and  they  were  well-nigh  exhausted.  The  whole  force 

1  Parker  had  said  to  his  men,  "  Don't  fire  unless  you  are  fired  on;  but  if  they 
want  war,  it  may  as  well  begin  here."  Parker  was  the  grandfather  of  the  great 
New  England  preacher  and  abolitionist,  Theodore  Parker. 


240  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

would  have  been  killed  or  captured  but  for  the  coming  of  reenforce- 
ments.  When  they  reached  Lexington,  they  were  met  by  Lord 
Percy  with  twelve  hundred  men  coming  to  their  rescue.  Percy 
opened  his  ranks  to  admit  the  fugitive  soldiers ;  and  they  ran  in,  as  a 
hunted  fox  finds  his  den  in  the  mountains,  and  fell  to  the  ground, 
with  their  tongues  hanging  from  their  mouths  in  sheer  exhaustion. 
Percy  planted  his  cannon,  and  for  a  time  held  the  Americans  at  bay ; 
but  as  he  began  his  march  toward  Boston  they  attacked  him  in  ever 
increasing  numbers,  and  the  battle  ceased  only  at  nightfall  when  the 
British  found  shelter  under  the  guns  of  the  royal  ships  in  the 
harbor.  The  British  loss  was  273  and  the  American  loss  93. 

Thus  ended  the  first  armed  conflict  of  the  Revolution.1  That 
night  was  one  of  intense  commotion  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston.  The 
patriots  did  not  return  to  their  homes ;  they  encamped  on  the  ground, 
and  their  numbers  were  rapidly  augmented  from  every  hill  and 
valley  of  New  England.  Israel  Putnam  of  Connecticut  left  his 
plow  in  the  furrow  to  lead  a  band  of  fellow-farmers  to  Cambridge ; 
Benedict  Arnold  brought  a  company  from  New  Haven ;  John  Stark 
arrived  from  New  Hampshire  with  twelve  hundred  men,  and  Na- 
thanael  Greene  from  Ehode  Island  with  a  thousand.  Within  a  few 
days  after  the  affair  at  Lexington  and  Concord,  Boston  was  beset  by 
an  untrained  army  of  sixteen  thousand  men. 

The  news  of  the  battle  soon  spread  beyond  the  confines  of  New 
England,  and  the  whole  country  was  aroused.  The  people  rose  in 
general  rebeUion_j,gainsttheir_rulers,  and  within  a  short  time  ej^y 
~_royaT^overnment  in  America~had~fallen72  In  New  York  the  patriots 
set  the  royal  officials  at  defiance,  and  seized  the  munitions  of  war;  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  rejected  all  overtures  of  reconciliation  and 
began  to  train  their  militia ;  Governor  Dunmore  fled  from  the  infuri 
ated  people  of  Virginia ;  and  from  the  far  South  the  voice  of  Georgia 
joined  in  the  general  chorus.  Exactly  three  weeks  after  the  Lex 
ington  fight  the  fine  fortress  of  Ticonderoga,  which  guarded  with 
its  two  hundred  cannon  the  watershed  between  the  great  valleys  of 
Surrender  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Hudson,  was  surrendered 
Ticonderoga,  "  in  the  name  of  the  great  Jehovah  and  the  Continental 
May  10, 1775.  Congress"  (which  met  on  that  day)  to  Ethan  Allen 
with  less  than  a  hundred  "  Green  Mountain  Boys  "  ;  and  on  the  same 

1  In  the  wilderness  of  Kentucky  the  pioneers  were  founding  a  town  when  the 
news  of  the  battle  reached  them,  and  they  named  the  town  Lexington. 

2  Governors  Tryon  of  New  York  and  Franklin  of  New  Jersey  maintained  a 
semblance  of  power  for  some  months  longer. 


TICONDEROGA  AND   CROWN  POINT  241 

expedition  the  fortress  of  Crown  Point  fell  into  the  hands  of  another 
Vermonter,  Seth  Warner. 

Every  indication  now  pointed  to  a  long  and  bloody  war.  Frank 
lin,  just  returned  from  England,  declared  that  the  colonies  were 
lost  forever  to  the  British  Crown.  Yet  the  thought  of  independence 
had  scarcely  at  that  date  entered  the  colonial  heart ;  reconciliation 
was  still  possible,  but  only  on  the  ground  that  England  would 
yield  every  point  at  issue.  This  the  proud,  obstinate  monarch  could 
not  do,  and  events  moved  rapidly  on  till  the  opportunity  was  lost. 


NOTES 

The  Hutchinson  Letters. — Among  the  interesting  occurrences  of  this  period, 
not  mentioned  in  the  text,  was  the  Hutchinson  letter  episode.  Hutchinson  was 
the  royal  governor  of  Massachusetts,  and,  though  a  native  of  the  colony,  his 
sympathies  were  with  the  king.  In  a  series  of  private  letters  written  by  him 
and  other  royal  officials  (1773-1774)  to  an  under  secretary,  Whately,  of  London, 
the  colonial  leaders  and  charters  were  attacked.  Copies  of  these  letters  fell  into 
the  possession  of  Franklin,  then  in  London,  and  he  saw  in  them  a  conspiracy 
against  his  country,  and  sent  them  to  the  Massachusetts  assembly.  The  tempest 
raised  by  their  publication  resulted  in  a  petition  for  Hutchinson's  recall.  Frank 
lin  was  arraigned  before  the  Privy  Council  for  treachery  in  disclosing  private 
letters,  and  was  denounced  by  Solicitor  Wedderburn  with  the  most  abusive 
and  coarse  invective.  Franklin  listened  with  apparent  indifference  and  never 
regretted  his  action,  though  English  writers  to  this  day  denounce  it  as  dis 
honorable. 

Burke  on  the  Tea  Tax.  —  The  principle  for  which  the  colonies  contended 
was  not  misunderstood  in  England.  In  reply  to  the  statement  that  the  tax  on 
tea  was  trifling,  Edmund  Burke  (April  19,  1768)  replied:  "Could  anything  be 
a  subject  of  more  just  claim  to  America,  than  to  see  you  go  out  of  the  plain 
high  road  of  finance  .  .  .  merely  for  the  sake  of  insulting  your  colonies  ?  No 
man  ever  doubted  that  the  commodity  of  tea  could  bear  an  imposition  of  three 
pence.  But  no  commodity  will  bear  threepence,  or  will  bear  a  penny,  when 
the  general  feelings  of  men  are  irritated,  and  two  millions  of  people  are  resolved 
not  to  pay.  The  feelings  of  the  colonists  are  the  same  as  those  of  Mr.  Hampden 
when  called  on  for  the  payment  of  twenty  shillings.  Would  twenty  shillings 
have  ruined  Mr.  Harnpden's  fortune  ?  No  !  but  the  payment  of  half  twenty 
shillings,  on  the  principle  it  was  demanded,  would  have  made  him  a  slave." 

Samuel  Adams  and  the  Election  of  the  First  Congress. — The  Massachu 
setts  assembly  was  very  anxious  to  choose  delegates  to  the  Congress  to  meet  in 
September  at  Philadelphia  ;  but  it  was  known  that  at  the  first  hint  at  such  busi 
ness  the  governor  would  dissolve  the  assembly.  On  June  17,  1774  (made  famous 
a  year  later  at  Bunker  Hill),  the  favorable  moment  came.  The  door  was  locked 
and  delegates  were  nominated.  Some  of  the  members  were  frightened  and  sought 
to  go  out,  but  Adams  pocketed  the  key.  At  length  one  of  the  loyalist  members 


242  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

pretended  to  be  very  ill  and  was  allowed  to  go.  He  ran  to  the  governor  and 
told  the  news.  Governor  Gage  instantly  sent  his  secretary  with  a  writ  dissolv 
ing  the  assembly,  but  the  secretary  found  the  door  locked.  He  then  read  the 
writ  in  a  loud  voice  from  the  steps  outside.  Meantime  the  assembly  had  elected 
four  delegates  —  the  two  Adamses,  Kobert  Treat  Paine,  and  Thomas  Gushing  — 
by  a  vote  of  117  to  12.  —  See  Fiske,  Vol.  I,  pp.  104-105. 

The  Mecklenburg  Declaration.  —  The  county  committee  of  Mecklenburg 
County,  North  Carolina,  on  May  31,  1775,  resolved  that  as  the  king  and  Parlia 
ment  had  "  annulled  and  vacated  all  civil  and  military  commissions  granted  by 
the  Crown,"  etc.,  the  provincial  congresses,  directed  by  the  Continental  Con 
gress  are  invested  with  all  legislative  and  executive  power,  independent  of  the 
Crown,  until  Parliament  should  resign  its  arbitrary  pretensions.  This  was  a 
bold  and  admirable  resolution,  and  it  formed  the  basis  many  years  later  of  the 
so-called  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence,  very  similar  to  the  great 
Declaration  of  1776.  This  spurious  Mecklenburg  Declaration  was  never  pub 
lished  till  1819. 

Paul  Revere.  —  One  of  the  most  heroic  minor  figures  of  the  early  years  of 
the  Revolutionary  War  was  Paul  Revere,  and  his  name  has  received  a  perma 
nent  historic  setting  in  the  poem  of  Longfellow.  He  was  of  Huguenot  descent ; 
he  served  in  the  French  War  as  lieutenant  of  artillery.  By  profession  he  was  a 
goldsmith  and  copperplate  engraver,  and  he  engraved  the  plates  for  the  "  Con 
tinental  money."  In  1775  he  was  sent  to  Philadelphia  to  learn  to  make  powder, 
and  on  his  return  he  set  up  a  powder  mill.  He  also  became  a  manufacturer  of 
church  bells  and  cannon.  Revere  was  forty  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  famous 
midnight  ride.  He  was  captured  by  the  British  while  on  that  ride,  between 
Lexington  and  Concord,  but  he  was  soon  set  free.  He  lived  nearly  forty  years 
after  the  Revolution,  dying  in  1818,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  REVOLUTION  — WAR  AND   INDEPENDENCE 
SECOND   CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS 

IT  was  on  May  10,  1775,  the  day  that  had  witnessed  the  capture 
of  the  powerful  fortress  at  the  base  of  the  Adirondacks  by  the  in 
trepid  Allen,  that  the  Second  Continental  Congress  met  in  Indepen 
dence  Hall,  Philadelphia.  It  was  composed  of  the  best  brains  of  the 
land.  Most  of  the  old  members  of  the  preceding  Congress  were 
present,  but  some  of  the  strongest  men  in  the  body  now  took  their  seats 
for  the  first  time.  Among  these  were  Thomas  Jefferson,  a  youthful 
Virginian  whose  powers  were  beginning  to  unfold;  Benjamin  Franklin, 
the  only  American  who  enjoyed  a  world-wide  fame;  and  John  Han 
cock,  who  was  chosen  president  in  defiance  of  the  king's  proscription.1 

The  Congress  was  a  conservative  body.  Only  a  few  of  the  mem 
bers  —  the  two  Adamses,  Franklin,  and  possibly  Jefferson  and 
Hancock  —  honestly  believed  that  a  reconciliation  with  England  was 
past  all  hope  ;  but  even  these  were  agreed  that  any  consideration  of 
the  subject  was  not  then  in  place.  This  Congress,  like  its  predeces 
sor  of  the  year  before,  was  only  a  great  committee,  or  a  combination 
of  committees,  met  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  seeking  and,  it  may  be 
said,  demanding  a  redress  of  grievances.  Yet  it  was  forced  by  exist 
ing  conditions  to  assume  some  of  the  functions  of  a  national  govern 
ment.  Its  most  important  act  was  to  adopt  the  straggling  army 
around  Boston  as  the  "  Continental  Army,"  and  to  appoint  for  it  a 
commander  in  chief.  George  Washington,  at  the  suggestion  of  John 
Adams,  was  chosen  to  be  commander  of  the  army.  As  -washing-ton 
Adams  described,  in  an  elaborate  speech,  the  high  quali-  chosen  com- 
fications  necessary  to  the  position  and  reserved  mention-  mander. 
ing  the  name  of  his  choice  to  the  close,  Washington  sat  near  and 
watched  his  face  intently,  and  hearing  his  own  name  mentioned,  per- 

i  Peyton  Randolph  was  again  chosen  president,  but  he  was  called  to  Virginia: 
and  Jefferson,  who  had  heen  elected  as  an  alternate,  occupied  his  seat  while  Hancock 
was  made  president. 

243 


244  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

haps  without  any  expectation  of  it,  he  quickly  arose  and  went  into  an 
adjoining  room.  A  recess  was  then  taken  that  the  members  might 
talk  the  matter  over  privately ;  and  when  they  reassembled ;  Wash 
ington  was  elected  unanimously.1  This  choice  was  made  for  two 
reasons.  First,  the  Continental  army  was  thus  far  a  purely  New  Eng 
land  army,  and  it  was  felt  that  a  commander  must  be  chosen  from 
the  South  in  order  to  secure  the  more  firmly  the  aid  and  sympathy 
of  that  section  and  to  allay  any  feeling  of  jealousy  that  might  arise. 
Second,  Washington  was  honestly  believed  to  be  the  best  choice  that 
could  be  made.  His  military  reputation  was  second  to  none  in  the 
country.  The  remarkable  journey  he  had  made  while  still  a  youth 
through  the  wilderness  of  Pennsylvania  at  the  behest  of  Governor 
Dinwiddie  had  not  been  forgotten ;  nor  his  saving  of  Braddock's 
defeated  army  just  twenty  years  before  the  meeting  of  this  Congress. 
He  was  now  commander  of  the  Virginia  militia,  and  moreover  he 
was  noted  for  his  stanch  character,  his  stalwart,  commanding  appear 
ance,  his  marvelous  self-control,  and  above  all  for  his  extraordinarily 
sound  judgment. 

This  Congress,  while  recognizing  a  state  of  war  and  preparing 
for  its  vigorous  prosecution,  disclaimed  any  intention  of  casting 
off  allegiance  to  the  Crown  of  England.  On  the  contrary,  led  by 
Dickinson  and  Jay,  it  prepared  a  new  petition  to  the  king,  almost 
fulsome  in  its  tone,  and  sent  it  to  London  by  a  special  messenger, 
Richard  Penn,  who  was  himself  a  Tory.  Addresses  were  sent  to  the 
people  of  Great  Britain,  to  Ireland,  and  to  Canada.  Congress  also 
authorized  the  issue  of  two  million  dollars  in  bills  of  credit,  or  paper 
money,  set  apart  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  authorized  various  colo 
nies  to  form  local  governments,  and  did  many  other  things.  Thus 
gradually,  as  circumstances  required,  Congress  was  forced  to  assume 
sovereign  powers.  Meanwhile  matters  had  reached  a  crisis  at  Bos 
ton,  and  before  the  coming  of  midsummer,  before  the  arrival  of  the 
newly  appointed  commander,  the  most  famous  of  all  the  battles  of 
the  Revolutionary  War  had  been  fought. 

BUNKER  HILL 

Notwithstanding  the  Lexington  disaster,  British  hopes  again 
ran  high  in  Boston  harbor  during  the  spring  of  1775.  The  arrival 

1  Hancock  had  expected  and  desired  the  appointment.  Congress  at  the  same 
time  appointed  four  major  generals,  Artemas  Ward,  Charles  Lee,  Philip  Schuyler,  and 
Israel  Putnam,  and  eight  brigadiers. 


BATTLE   OF   BUNKER    HILL 


245 


in  May  of  Howe,  Clinton,  and  Burgoyne,  with  another  army,  raised 
the  British  force  to  ten  thousand  men.  Gage  seemed  no  longer  to 
doubt  his  ability  to  put  down  the  rebellion ;  and  yet,  to  show  his 
moderation,  he  issued  a  proclamation,  offering  a  free  pardon  to  all, 
except  Adams  and  Hancock,  who  would  lay  down  their  arms  and 
return  to  their  allegiance,  while  those  taken  in  arms  were  to  be  put 
to  death.  Gage  had  possession  of  Boston,  and  he  might  have  felt 
secure  but  for  the  menace  of  the  surrounding  hilltops  from  which 
the  enemy  might  throw  shells  into  his  camp  and  shipping.  He 
therefore  determined  to  occupy  some  of  these  hills. 

Boston,  a  city  of  some  seventeen  thousand  people,  was  situated  on 
a  peninsula  jutting  northward,  while  farther  to  the  north,  across  a 
narrow  channel  of  water, 
was  the  Chaiiestown  penin 
sula,  connected  with  the 
mainland  by  an  isthmus 
known  as  Charlestown 
Keck.  On  the  point  of  this 
peninsula  lay  the  village  of 
Charlestown,  and  back  of 
the  village  rose  an  elevation 
called  Breed's  Hill,  while 
farther  back  was  situated  a 
higher  elevation  known  as 
Bunker  Hill. 

The  American  army  oc 
cupied  the  mainland  and 
extended  in  a  grand  semicircle  for  sixteen  miles  — from  Cambridge  to 
the  Mystic  River.  It  was  under  the  general  command  of  an  honored 
veteran  of  the  late  war,  General  Artemas  Ward,  whose  headquarters 
were  at  Cambridge.  Hearing  of  Gage's  intention  to  occupy  the  hills 
above  Charlestown,  Ward  sent  a  force  of  twelve  hundred 1  men  on  the 
night  of  the  16th  of  June  to  fortify  and  possess  Bunker  Hill  and  thus 
to  forestall  the  English.  Under  Colonel  William  Prescott,  who  had 
witnessed  the  dispersion  of  the  Acadians  twenty  years  before,  this 
band  of  men  marched  silently  to  the  place.  Passing  Bunker  Hill, 
for  some  cause  unknown,  they  reached  Breed's  Hill  at  midnight  and 
began  to  throw  up  embankments.  Faithfully  they  toiled  on  till 
break  of  day  revealed  their  work  to  the  gaze  of  the  astonished  British. 
1  These  figures  are  given  by  Frothiugham,  "  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,"  pp.  17  and  40. 


246  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

The  English  guns  were  soon  trained  on  the  works,  and  the  sleeping 
city  was  awakened  by  the  boom  of  cannon.  But  the  men  on  the  hill 
toiled  on,  and  by  noon  they  were  well  intrenched  behind  a  strong  re 
doubt.  The  British  meanwhile  decided  to  storm  the  American  works. 

The  British  landed  —  three  thousand  of  them,  led  by  Howe  — 
about  three  in  the  afternoon,  and  began  the  ascent  of  the  hill  toward 
the  American  breastworks.  It  was  a  daring  thing  to  do  —  and  not 
only  daring,  it  was  foolish  and  suicidal.  They  might  have  gone 
round  to  Charlestown  Neck  and  cut  Prescott  off  from  supplies  and 
reinforcements,  and  eventually  have  forced  his  surrender.  But  here 
was  a  sample  of  the  bulldog  courage  of  the  Englishman.  Up  they 
inarched,  in  line  of  battle,  with  undaunted  courage.  Not  a  shot  was 
tired  from  the  top  of  the  hill ;  the  Americans  were  coolly  reserving 
their  fire.  General  Putnam  rode  along  the  lines  and  ordered  the 
men  not  to  fire  until  they  could  see  the  whites  of  their  enemy's  eyes. 
When  the  British  had  come  within  a  few  rods,  a  flame  of  fire  swept 
along  the  American  lines  and  the  front  ranks  of  the  enemy  were  cut 
to  pieces.  Another  volley  followed,  and  another,  until  the  British 
fell  back  in  disorder,  leaving  the  hillside  strewn  with  dead  and 
wounded.1  Scarcely  fifteen  minutes  elapsed  before  they  had  re-formed 
their  lines  and  made  another  dash  up  the  hill,  only  to  receive  again 
such  a  murderous  fire  from,  the  breastworks  as  no  army,  however 
brave,  could  have  endured.  Again  they  rolled  down  the  hill  in  con 
fusion —  except  the  hundreds  who  lay  dead  or  wounded  on  the  slope. 

More  than  an  hour  now  elapsed  before  the  English  could  rally  to 
a  third  attack,  and  it  was  only  a  blind  tenacity  of  purpose,  untem- 
pered  by  wisdom,  that  led  them  to  make  it  at  all.  They  had  lost 
near  a  thousand  men,  while  the  Americans  had  suffered  but  little.  It 
is  true  that  the  latter  had  almost  exhausted  their  supply  of  powder, 
but  this  the  British  did  not  know ;  and  but  for  this  fact  any  number 
of  assaults  would  have  resulted  as  did  the  first  two — until  the  British 
army  would  have  been  annihilated.  With  wonderful  courage  they 
now  made  a  third  charge  up  the  hill.  The  first  volleys  of  the  Ameri 
cans  swept  down  their  front  ranks  as  before.  But  as  the  assailants 
neared  the  crest  of  the  hill,  they  noted  the  slackening  of  the 
American  fire,  and  Howe  determined  to  charge  with  the  bayonet. 
Madly  the  English  rushed  forward  and  leaped  over  the  parapet. 
The  Americans  were  without  bayonets  to  their  muskets,  and  the 
fight  was  now  an  unequal  one ;  but  with  clubbed  muskets  and  stones 

1  Fiske's  "American  Revolution,"  Vol.  I,  p.  141. 


BEGINNING   OF   THE   WAR  247 

they  made  a  valiant  stand  against  the  oncoming  enemy.  Scores  of 
them  were  cut  down,  until  Prescott,  seeing  the  folly  of  continuing 
the  struggle,  ordered  a  retreat,  and  the  British  were  left  in  posses 
sion  of  the  field. 

One  of  the  last  to  leave  the  redoubt  was  General  Joseph  Warren, 
who  lingered  in  the  rear  as  though  he  disdained  to  fly,  and  this 
cost  him  his  life.  He  had  joined  the  ranks  as  a  volun 
teer  and  had  fought  bravely  during  the  day,  but  with 
the  last  English  volley  he  fell  dead  with  a  bullet  in  his 
brain.  Through  his  death  the  American  cause  suffered  the  most 
serious  loss  in  a  single  life  during  the  war. 

The  victory  won  by  the  British  at  Bunker  Hill l  was  a  costly  one. 
They  lost  in  killed  and  wounded  1054  men,  one  tenth  of  whom  were 
officers.  Pitcairn  was  among  the  dead.  Howe  was  wounded  in  the 
foot.  The  victory  enabled  the  English  to  hold  Boston  for  nine 
months  longer,  but  the  moral  effect  lay  wholly  with  the  Americans, 
whose  loss  was  449.  At  Bunker  Hill  they  had  discovered  their  own 
prowess,  their  ability  to  stand  before  the  regulars ;  and  Bunker  Hill 
became  a  rallying  cry  of  the  patriots  in  every  contest  of  the  war. 

WASHINGTON   AND   THE   ARMY 

After  an  overland  journey  from  Philadelphia,  that  partook  of  the 
nature  of  an  ovation,  Washington  arrived  in  Cambridge  two  weeks 
after  the  Bunker  Hill  battle,  and  the  next  day,  beneath  the  shade  of 
a  great  elm  tree  that  still  stands  as  a  living  monument  of  that  heroic 
age,  he  formally  assumed  command  of  the  Continental  army.  The 
new  commander  was  warmly  welcomed  by  the  army.  The  local 
officers  yielded  gracefully  to  his  superior  authority.  Some  of  them 
were  men  destined  to  achieve  abiding  fame  in  the  coming  war. 
By  far  the  ablest  man  among  them  was  Nathanael  Greene  of  Rhode 
Island.  As  a  farmer  boy,  and  later  a  blacksmith,  he  had  lacked  the 
means  of  a  classical  education,  but  being  fond  of  books,  he  acquired 
much  knowledge  by  private  study.  He  read  law,  general  literature, 
and  especially  military  tactics.  He  was  a  born  soldier,  and  before 
he  knew  that  he  was  to  spend  a  portion  of  his  life  in  the  field  he 
was  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  theory  of  warfare.  He  was  in 
most  of  the  battles  of  the  war,  and  was  implicitly  trusted  by  Wash- 

1  Most  of  the  fighting  was  done  at  Breed's  Hill,  but  the  higher  eminence  near  by 
gave  its  name  to  the  battle. 


248  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

ington,  to  whom  he  was  scarcely  inferior  in  generalship.  Greene 
was  a  man  of  rare  sweetness  of  character  and  purity  of  morals.  In 
the  later  years  of  the  war  he  became  the  savior  of  the  Southern 
states  ;  and  after  peace  had  come  to  the  newborn  republic,  he  left 
his  native  state  to  spend  the  evening  of  his  days  among  the  people 
of  Georgia,  who,  in  grateful  remembrance  of  his  services,  had  pre 
sented  him  with  a  fine  plantation.  From  the  hills  of  New  Hamp 
shire  had  come  two  men,  opposite  in  characteristics,  both  of  whom 
have  left  a  permanent  name  in  the  annals  of  their  country  —  John 
Sullivan,  who  represented  wealth,  refinement,  and  culture,  and  John 
Stark,  who  had  shown  his  mettle  at  Bunker  Hill,  and  whose  dashing 
vigor,  undaunted  courage,  and  almost  fierce  patriotism  mark  him  as 
one  of  the  most  heroic  figures  of  the  war.  Here  also  was  Henry 
Knox,  a  Boston  bookseller,  a  corpulent  man  with  a  winning  smile 
and  a  jolly  laugh,  who  soon  won  his  way  into  Washington's  heart, 
and  who  many  years  later  became  a  member  of  his  first  Cabinet.  But 
the  most  picturesque  figure  of  all  was  Daniel  Morgan,  the  leader  of 
the  Virginia  sharpshooters.  Morgan  was  a  giant  in  size,  genial  and 
affable,  but  fierce  and  recklessly  daring  in  battle.  In  youth  he  had 
received  five  hundred  lashes  for  insulting  a  British  officer,  but  his 
spirit  was  unsubdued.  He  had  escaped  a  murderous  band  of  Indians 
on  horseback  after  a  musket  ball  had  passed  through  his  neck.  He 
now  joined  the  army  of  Washington  and  did  valiant  service  for 
liberty  throughout  the  war.  These  and  many  other  Sons  of  Liberty 
now  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  commander  in  chief  on  the  Cam 
bridge  Common. 

Sir  William  Howe  had  succeeded  Gage  as  commander  of  the 
British  army,  and  his  brother,  Lord  Richard  Howe,  was  made 
admiral  of  the  fleet.  The  contempt  that  Gage  had  felt 
ier,  77  .  £or  ^  Americans  had  worked  to  their  benefit  at  Lex 
ington  and  Bunker  Hill.  Howe  seemed  now  to  entertain  the  oppo 
site  opinion  of  his  enemy ;  he  remained  inactive  during  the  summer 
and  autumn,  and  this  again  proved  a  great  advantage  to  the  Ameri 
cans,  for  Washington  needed  the  time  to  drill  and  reorganize  his 
army  and  to  secure  an  adequate  supply  of  ammunition.  The  new- 
made  soldiers  soon  grew  tired  of  warfare,  and  as  their  terms  of  enlist 
ment  expired  they  departed  for  their  homes  by  hundreds.  Eeenlist- 
ments  were  slow,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  Washington 
kept  an  army  about  him.  He  practically  disbanded  one  army  and 
enlisted  another  —  all  within  musket  shot  of  the  British  regiments. 


EXPEDITION  TO   CANADA  249 

Within  this  period  a  remarkable  expedition  to  Canada  had  been 
undertaken  by  General  Richard  Montgomery.     From  Ticonderoga 
Montgomery  pressed   northward  in  September  with  two  thousand 
men,  and  two  months  later  he  had  possession  of  Montreal.     The  ex 
pedition  promised  success.     To  join  this  army  in  Can 
ada  Washington   had  dispatched  eleven  hundred  men   Canada*0*  ^ 
under  Benedict  Arnold,  who,  after  a  march  of  incredible 
hardships  through  the  Maine  wilderness,  reached  the  valley  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  in  November.     Arnold,  whose  name  in  our  history  was 
to  become  famous,  then  infamous,  was  a  man  of  military  skill  and 
intrepid  courage.     With  Arnold  on  this  perilous  journey  was  another 
whose  name,  like  his.  was  yet  to  be  honored,  then  dis 
honored,  by  his  countrymen.     The  fragments  of  the  two 
armies  met  in  the  valley  of  the  great  Canadian  river,  and  together 
they  made  a  desperate  and  fruitless  assault  on  Quebec,1  on  the  last 
day  of  the  year  1775.     Montgomery  was  shot  dead,  and  Arnold  was 
wounded ;  Ethan  Allen  had  been  taken  prisoner  and  sent  in  irons  to 
England;  hundreds  of  the  brave  Americans  perished  through  cold 
and  hunger  and  the  ravages  of  smallpox  ;  and,  on  the  whole,  the  expe 
dition  ended  the  following  spring  in  disastrous  failure. 

Washington  was  severely  criticised  for  his  long  delay  before  Bos 
ton;  but  he  was  wiser  than  his  critics.   He  spent  every  day  in  perfect 
ing  his  army  and  preparing  to  strike  a  blow.     By  the  1st  of  March, 
1776,  a  great  many  of  the  cannon  captured  at  Ticonderoga  the  year  be 
fore  had  been  drawn  on  sledges  all  those  hundreds  of  miles  to  the 
Continental  army  at  Cambridge.     The  commander  now  determined  to 
wait  no  longer.     He  sent  two  thousand  men  on  the  night  of  the  4th  of 
March  to  fortify  the  peninsula  south  of  Boston,  known  as  Dorchester 
Heights,  which  commanded  the  city  and  harbor  even  better  than  did 
Bunker  Hill.     During  the  night  the  Americans  kept  up 
an  unceasing  cannonade  from  Eoxbury  and  other  points  Heights*61 
for  the  purpose  of  drowning  the  sound  of  the  pick  and 
the  hammer,  the  noise  of  the  moving  wagons,  and  of  the  dragging 
of  siege  guns ;   and  Howe,  all  unwittingly,  aided  him  in  the  good 
work  by  replying  with  his  cannon. 

At  the  dawn  of  day  the  British  general  opened  his  eyes  in  aston 
ishment  upon  the  work  that  had  been  wrought  in  the  night  on  the 
heights  of  Dorchester.     What  could  be  done  ?     Washington  could 
now  destroy  every  ship  in  the  harbor  with  shells.     Howe  determined 
1  The  city  was  defended  by  Sir  Guy  Carleton. 


250  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

to  storm  the  works  ;  but  his  men  remembered  Bunker  Hill,  and  the 
memory  left  them  spiritless.  Yet  something  had  to  be  done,  and 
Howe  in  desperation  set  apart  three  thousand  men  under  Lord 
Percy  to  undertake  the  perilous  business ;  but  a  terrific  storm  swept 
over  the  harbor  and  delayed  the  project  until  the  morrow.  Then 
it  was  too  late :  for  the  American  works  had  been  made  so  strong 
that  only  suicidal  folly  would  attempt  their  reduction  by  storm. 
There  was  but  one  thing  left  for  the  English  to  do  —  to  abandon 
Boston  and  the  Boston  harbor;  and  ere  the  end  of  the  month 
General  Howe,  with  all  the  British  ships,  bearing  eight  thousand 
soldiers  and  nearly  two  thousand  American  loyalists,  launched  out 
Evacuation  upon  the  deep  and  sailed  away  to  Halifax.  Thus  the 
of  Boston,  old  Bay  colony,  the  home  of  the  Pilgrims  and  the  Puri- 
March,  1776-  tans,  the  scene  of  the  opening  acts  of  the  Revolution, 
after  six  years  of  incessant  annoyance,1  was  set  free  from  the  enemy  ; 
and  never  again,  from  that  day  to  the  present,  has  a  foreign  army 
trod  the  soil  of  Massachusetts.2 

This  was  Washington's  first  stroke  in  the  war,  and  it  was  one  of 
his  most  brilliant.  With  little  loss  he  had  cleared  New  England  of 
the  enemy,  and  had  sent  a  thrill  of  joy  over  the  whole  country. 
In  their  haste  the  British  left  behind  more  than  two  hundred  cannon 
and  great  quantities  of  muskets  and  ammunition,  all  of  which  became 
the  property  of  Washington's  army.  Furthermore,  the  news  of 
Howe's  departure  did  not  reach  England  for  several  weeks,  and 
meantime  vessels  were  being  sent  to  Boston  to  supply  the  wants  of 
the  army  —  and  so  they  did,  but  not  of  the  British  army.  They 
sailed  innocently  into  the  harbor,  and  were  captured,  and  their  con 
tents  went  to  increase  the  stores  of  the  Continental  army. 


THE   GREAT  DECLARATION 

Let  us  now  go  back  for  half  a  year  and  shift  the  scene  again  to 
Philadelphia,  and  the  scene,  covering  some  eight  months,  is  the 
most  dramatic  of  all  the  scenes  in  the  drama.  Early  in  the  autumn 
of  1775  Congress  was  waiting  to  hear  from  the  king.  In  deference 
to  his  Majesty,  who  would  not  recognize  Congress  as  a  legal  body, 
the  members  had  signed  their  humble  petition,  not  as  a  body,  but 
separately,  as  individuals  representing  their  respective  colonies. 

1  It  was  exactly  six  years  (March  5)  since  the  Boston  Massacre. 

2  Except  in  the  district  of  Maine  in  the  War  of  1812. 


DRIFTING  TOWARD   INDEPENDENCE  251 

This  alone  proves  their  sincerity,  and  absolutely  disproves  any  inten 
tion  to  strike  for  independence  at  that  time.  The  petition  reached 
London  in  August.  The  answer  came  late  in  October,  and  it  was  a 
stunning  blow,  even  to  the  most  sanguine.  King  George  had  declined 
to  receive  the  petition,  or  to  see  the  messenger  that  bore  it !  But 
the  king  made  answer  in  another  way.  He  thundered  forth  a 
proclamation  declaring  the  colonists  in  a  state  of  re 
bellion  and  no  longer  under  his  protection.  And  this 
was  not  all.  The  irate  monarch,  unable  to  secure  at 
home  the  troops  needed  in  America,  hired  a  large  number  of  soldiers 
from  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse-Cassel  and  other  German  princes,  to 
fight  his  subjects  in  America.1  These  Hessians,  as  they  were  called, 
were  for  the  most  part  honest,  sincere  men,  and  they  came  to 
America  only  because  they  were  sold  by  their  inhuman  masters. 

The  news  of  the  rejection  of  their  "  Olive  Branch  "  petition,  of 
the  king's  proclamation,  and  of  the  hiring  of  foreign  mercenaries, 
reached  America  at  about  the  same  time, — the  last  days  of  October, 
—  and  the  sensation  created  was  profound  and  widespread.  It  was 
evident  that  the  king  meant  to  awe  the  colonists  into  submission, 
but  this  he  could  not  do.  He  only  deepened  the  resentment  against 
him,  and  thousands  who  had  been  lukewarm  were  now  converted  to 
the  cause  of  the  patriots.  From  this  moment  Congress  assumed  a 
bolder  tone.  It  appointed  committees  to  correspond  with  foreign 
nations,  advised  various  colonies  to  set  up  governments  for  them 
selves,  and  urged  South  Carolina  to  seize  all  English  vessels  within 
its  waters.  It  also  opened  the  American  ports  to  all  nations  (March, 
1776),  and  advised  the  colonies  to  disarm  the  Tories.  No  more 
disclaimers  of  a  desire  for  independence  do  we  hear,  no  more  talk  of 
reconciliation  with  the  king. 

This  change  of  attitude  toward  the  mother  land  was  not  confined 
to  Congress.  The  majority  of  the  people  were  soon  convinced  that 
their  sovereign  did  not  love  them,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  sub 
ject  of  independence,  which  before  had  been  only  whispered  in  the 
corner,  began  to  be  proclaimed  from  the  housetop.  The  subject  was 
debated  on  all  sides,  and  the  idea  of  independence  grew  steadily  during 

1  King  George  had  first  applied  to  Catherine  II  of  Russia  for  troops,  hut  she 
declined,  and  sarcastically  asked  the  king  if  he  thought  it  compatible  with  his  dignity 
to  employ  foreign  troops  against  his  own  subjects.  (See  Fiske,  Vol.  I,  p.  161.)  The 
whole  number  of  "  Hessians  "  employed  during  the  war  was  about  thirty  thousand. 
Congress  offered  them  grants  of  land  if  they  would  desert  the  British,  and  many  of 
them  did  so. 


252  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  following  winter.  But  the  people  were  not  unanimous.  A  large 
minority,  probably  one  third  of  the  people,  were  in  sympathy  with  the 
English  cause  to  the  end,  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  in  New  England 
and  the  South  the  tendency  to  make  a  final  break  with  the  king  was 
more  pronounced  than  in  the  middle  colonies.  In  January,  1776, 
appeared  a  remarkable  pamphlet  entitled  "  Common  Sense,"  from 
the  pen  of  Thomas  Paine.  This  was  published  broadcast,  and  its 
concise,  simple,  and  unanswerable  style  won  thousands  to  the  cause. 

Up  to  April,  1776,  all  the  talk  of  independence  had  been  private 
talk.  This  showed  the  drift  of  popular  feeling,  but  something  more 
must  be  done  to  achieve  it.  North  Carolina  won  the  honor  of  being 
first  to  make  an  official  move.1  On  the  12th  of  April  that  colony 
instructed  its  delegates  in  Congress  "  to  concur  with  the  delegates  of 
the  other  colonies  in  declaring  independence  and  forming  foreign 
State  move-  alliances."  This  was  a  move  of  the  greatest  importance, 
ments  toward  and  it  was  but  a  short  time  until  Rhode  Island  and 
independence,  faeji  Massachusetts  followed  the  example  of  their 
southern  sister.  The  fourth  colony  to  pronounce  for  independence 
was  Virginia,  which  went  farther  than  the  others  by  instructing  its 
delegates  to  propose  independence  to  the  Continental  Congress. 
This  bold  resolution  was  sent  by  special  messenger  to  Philadelphia. 

Congress  during  this  time  was  making  history  rapidly.  It  had 
practically  assumed  sovereign  power  in  its  conduct  of  the  war.  On 
the  loth  of  May,  1776,  it  passed  a  set  of  resolutions,  offered  by 
John  Adams,  authorizing  the  several  colonies  to  set  up  state  govern 
ments  independent  of  the  Crown,  and  several  of  them,  as  Virginia 
and  New  Jersey,  proceeded  to  do  so.2  This  was  altogether  an  act  of 
sovereignty,  and  it  rendered  necessary,  as  a  logical  consequence,  a 
declaration  of  independence  of  the  Crown.  But  so  vast  and  so  vital 
did  this  subject  seem  — the  founding  of  a  nation  —  that  Congress  felt 
that  it  could  not  grapple  with  it  alone;  on  this  one  subject  it  could 
act  only  at  the  mandate  of  its  master  —  the  People.  The  majority 
of  the  members  had  come  to  favor  a  final  break  with  England.  The 
leader  of  this  party  was  Samuel  Adams,  who,  like  Otis  and  Warren, 
was  among  the  few  that  had  aimed  at  independence  from  the  be 
ginning.  The  opposite  party,  led  by  Dickinson,  was  equally  patri 
otic,  but  it  counseled  delay  and  a  further  effort  toward  reconciliation. 

1  Frothingham's  "  Rise  of  the  Republic,"  p.  504. 

2  New  Hampshire  and  South  Carolina  had  framed  constitutions  on  the  advice  of 
Congress  (November,  1775)  that  the  colonies  set  up  temporary  governments. 


INDEPENDENCE    DECLARED  253 

The  messenger  from  Virginia  arrived  early  in  June.  What  his 
message  was  we  have  seen.  On  the  7th  of  that  month  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  one  of  the  foremost  delegates  from  that  colony,  rose 
before  Congress  and  solemnly  offered  the  resolution,  in  obedience  to 
his  constituents,  "  That  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought 
to  be,  free  and  independent  states,  and  that  they  are 
absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown."  The  ^solution 
colonies  had  not  all  been  heard  from,  and  Lee's  resolu 
tion,  after  a  brief  debate,  was  laid  on  the  table  for  three  weeks.  A 
committee  was  then  chosen  to  prepare  a  declaration  in  a  suitable 
form  to  be  sent  forth  to  the  world.  This  committee  was  chosen  by 
ballot,  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  receiving  the  highest  number,  became 
the  chairman  of  the  committee  and  the  writer  of  the  immortal  docu 
ment.  By  the  1st  of  July  all  the  colonies  except  New  York  had 
granted  the  necessary  authority  to  their  respective  delegations,  and 
on  that  morning  Lee's  resolution  was  taken  up.  For  two  days  the 
subject  was  debated  with  great  vigor,  the  chief  speaker  being  John 
Adams.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  speech  he  made  on  this  occasion 
was  the  most  powerful  delivered  on  the  floor  of  Congress  during  the 
Revolutionary  period.  Dickinson  answered  him  as  best  he  could, 
but  years  afterward  he  acknowledged  that  he  had  been  on  the  wrong 
side.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  2d  the  resolution  was  passed  by 
the  unanimous  vote  of  twelve  colonies>  New  York  not  voting.  Each 
colony  had  but  one  vote,  the  majority  of  the  delegation  casting  it. 

Jefferson  had  ere  this  put  the  sentiments  of  Congress  into  a  terse 
and  fitting  form  ;  in  other  words,  he  had  written  the  "  Declaration  of 
Independence  "  as  we  know  it.  This  document  was  now  taken  up, 
and,  with  a  few  slight  changes,1  was  adopted  by  the  vote  of  the 
twelve  colonies  on  the  evening  of  the  4th ;  and  this  day  became  the 
recognized  national  holiday  of  the  newly  founded  nation.2  New 
York  joined  with  the  twelve  on  the  ninth,  and  the  thirteen  colonies 
were  then  unanimous.  This  Declaration  practically  ignored  Parlia 
ment  and  the  English  people,  and  laid  the  entire  blame  for  the  dis 
sension  on  the  king.3  In  short,  nervous,  almost  passionate  sentences, 
it  recounted  the  political  crimes  of  his  Majesty  and  characterized 

1  Congress  made  but  two  changes  of  importance ;  a  clause  condemning  the  slave 
trade  and  another   censuring   the    English    people   were  struck  out.      The  other 
members  of  the  committee  that  framed  the  Declaration  were  Franklin,  John  Adams, 
Roger  Sherman,  and  Robert  R.  Livingston  —  no  two  from  the  same  colony. 

2  The  Declaration  was  signed  by  the  members  at  a  later  date. 

3  Winsor,  Vol.  VI,  p.  246. 


254  HISTORY    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

him  as  a  despot  and  a  tyrant.  It  pronounced  the  colonies  absolved 
from  all  allegiance  to  the  Crown,  and  invested  them  with  imperial 
power.  The  Declaration,  whatever  its  defects  (and  it  is  not  above 
criticism),  was  a  true  expression  of  the  popular  will.  The  people 
were  not  unmindful  of  the  gravity  of  the  step  they  were  taking,  of 
the  vastness  of  the  responsibility  they  were  assuming.  They  knew 
that  a  long  and  bloody  war  must  follow  —  that  it  meant  untold 
suffering  and  sacrifice,  vacant  chairs  at  the  family  fireside,  widowed 
mothers  and  fatherless  children.  But  they  took  no  step  backward; 
they  saw  in  the  dim  future  a  new  nation  born,  commercial  and 
political  freedom,  self-government.  "America  was  never  so  great," 
says  a  famous  English  writer,  "as  011  the  day  when  she  declared 
her  independence." 

The  news  of  the  great  act  rang  forth  to  the  expectant  city  in 
joyful  peals  of  the  old  bell  in  the  tower  of  the  statehouse,  and  the 
people  were  thrown  into  a  state  of  delirious  joy.  Post  riders  were 
sent  in  all  directions  with  the  great  news,  and  in  many  places  people 
abandoned  themselves  to  the  most  unrestrained  enthusiasm.  In 
New  York  a  leaden  statue  of  George  III  was  torn  from  its  pedestal 
in  the  public  square  and  melted  into  bullets.  The  Declaration  was 
read  at  the  head  of  each  brigade  in  the  army,  from  the  pulpit  and 
the  public  platform ;  and  it  was  welcomed  everywhere  with  shouts 
and  processions,  with  the  firing  of  guns  and  the  ringing  of  bells, 
with  bonfires  and  illuminations.  For  fifteen  years  —  since  the 
granting  of  the  writs  of  assistance  in  1761  —  the  people  had  borne 
one  indignity  upon  another ;  they  had  groped  in  the  dark,  unable  to 
divine  the  next  move  on  the  great  chessboard.  Now  there  was  a  goal, 
a  prize  for  which  they  were  willing  to  stake  their  all  —  their  "  lives, 
their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor." 


FORT  MOULTRIE  AND  LONG  ISLAND 

The  first  day  of  the  memorable  year  1776  was  marked  by 
two  events  that  are  still  remembered  in  Revolutionary  annals  — 
the  burning  of  Norfolk  by  the  fleet  of  Governor  Dunmore,  who  had 
been  driven  to  the  sea  by  the  infuriated  people  of  Virginia;  and  the 
unfurling  of  the  flag  over  the  Continental  army  at  Cambridge. 
Before  the  close  of  this  same  month,  January,  General  Clinton  was 
sent  from  Boston  to  hold  the  colonies  of  the  South.  In  May  he  was 
joined  in  southern  waters  by  Sir  Peter  Parker  with  an  English  fleet 


BRITISH   REPULSE   BEFORE    CHARLESTON  255 

of  ten  warships,  bearing  a  body  of  troops  under  the  command  of 
Lord  Cornwallis,  who  was  destined  later  to  be  a  leading  figure  in  the 
war.  Meantime,  in  February,  a  fierce  battle  had  occurred  in  North 
Carolina  at  the  mouth  of  Moore's  Creek  between  a  thousand  patriots, 
led  by  Colonel  Richard  Caswell,  and  sixteen  hundred  Tories,  mostly 
Scots,  under  the  leadership  of  Donald  Macdonald,  who  had  fought 
for  the  young  Stuart  Pretender  at  the  battle  of  Culloden  thirty 
years  before.  The  patriots  were  completely  successful,  routing  the 
enemy  and  taking  nine  hundred  prisoners,  including  the  commander.1 
The  fight  at  Moore's  Creek  worked  like  magic  on  the  people  of 
North  Carolina,  and  in  a  few  days  ten  thousand  men  were  armed  and 
ready  to  expel  the  invaders  of  their  soil.  Clinton  now  decided  not 
to  land  his  troops,  as  he  had  intended.  After  the  arrival  of  Parker 
and  Cornwallis  they  moved  southward  for  the  purpose  of  capturing 
Charleston.  But  in  front  of  the  city  on  Sullivan's  Island  the 
Americans  had  made  a  strong  breastwork  of  palmetto  logs  and 
sandbags,  and  this  was  defended  by  several  hundred  men  commanded 
by  one  of  the  leading  heroes  of  the  war,  William  Moultrie.2  The 
English  fleet  attacked  the  rude  fort  on  the  28th  of  June ;  but  the 
elastic  palmetto  logs  proved  an  admirable  defense,  and  a  terrific  bom 
bardment  of  ten  hours  did  little  damage.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
American  fire  was  well  aimed,  and  nearly  every  shot  took  effect. 
The  flagship  received  more  than  twenty  shots  and  was  almost 
wrecked,  while  every  other  ship  but  one  was  seriously  crippled.  The 
heroism  displayed  in  the  defense  of  the  fort,  afterward  called  Fort 
Moultrie,  was  equal  to  that  of  Bunker  Hill  or  of  any  other  engage 
ment  in  the  war.  It  was  011  this  day  that  Sergeant  William  Jasper, 
an  illiterate  youth  who  could  not  even  read,  made  a  name  for  himself 
in  the  history  of  his  country  by  an  act  of  momentary  reckless  heroism. 
The  flagstaff  was  broken  by  a  cannon  ball,  and  the  flag  fell  outside 
the  fort.  Jasper  leaped  down  the  embrasure  in  the  face  of  the 
enemy's  fire,  gathered  up  the  fallen  banner,  and  planted  it  in  the  sand 
on  the  bastion.  And  the  story  is  still  related  at  the  American  fire 
side  as  an  example  of  the  heroic  valor  of  the  men  of  the  Revolution. 

1  Among  the  prisoners  was  also  Allan  Macdonald,  kinsman  of  the  commander 
and  husband  of  the  famous  Flora  Macdonald  who  had  aided  the  Pretender's  escape 
from  Scotland. 

2  Congress  had  appointed  General  Charles  Lee  to  take  general  command  at  the 
South,  but  Lee  did  little  else  than  find  fault.  He  would  have  stopped  the  proceedings 
of  Moultrie  but  for  the  determined  interference  of  Rutledge,  the  president  of  the  pro 
vincial  congress. 


250  HISTOliY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

After  spending  three  weeks  in  repairing  his  ships,  Clinton  sailed 
for  New  York,  and  the  South  was  free  from  invasion  for  nearly  three 
years,  when  it  became  the  scene  of  the  final  conflict  of  the  war. 

The  success  of  Washington  at  Boston  and  of  Moultrie  at  Charles 
ton  sent  a  wave  of  exultation  over  the  land ;  but  this  was  followed  by 
a  feeling  of  depression  caused  by  half  a  year  of  unbroken  disasters. 
The  British  had  decided  to  sever  the  colonies  in  twain  —  to  cut  off 
New  England  from  the  South — by  occupying  New  York  City  and  con 
quering  the  Hudson  Valley.  General  William  Howe  came  down  from 
Halifax,  and  was  joined  by  his  brother,  Admiral  Howe,  with  a  power 
ful  fleet  from  England ;  and  these  were  joined  in  the  New  York  harbor 
by  Clinton  and  Cornwallis  from  the  South.  At  the  same  time  Sir 
Guy  Carleton  was  ordered  to  descend  with  an  army  from  Canada, 
to  capture  Ticonderoga,  and  to  hold  possession  of  the  upper  Hudson. 
In  August  the  British  had  thirty  two  thousand  veterans  on  Staten 
Island.  To  oppose  this  force  Washington,  who,  divining  the  intention 
of  the  enemy  to  strike  New  York,  had  moved  his  army  thither  in  the 
early  spring,  could  muster  but  eighteen  thousand  men,  and  many  of 
these  were  new  recruits  and  in  no  sense  to  be  compared  with  veteran 
soldiers.  Before  opening  hostilities  Admiral  Howe  offered  the  olive 
branch,  which  he  had  fresh  from  Lord  North,  a  gracious  offer  from 
the  king  to  pardon  all  rebels  who  would  lay  down  their  arms  and  as 
sist  in  restoring  order.  It  was  sent  by  special  messenger  to  "  George 
Washington,  Esq."  But  as  "  George  "  Washington,  the  citizen  and 
planter,  had  no  authority  to  deal  with  national  questions,  and  as 
"General"  Washington  had  not  been  addressed,  he  declined  to 
receive  the  communication.  The  next  act  in  the  drama  was  the 
opening  of  hostilities.  Washington  occupied  Manhattan  Island, 
and  Brooklyn  Heights,  which  commanded  the  city.  He  had  sent 
Greene  to  fortify  the  latter,  and  now  he  manned  it  with  half  his 
army  under  the  command  of  Putnam.  Howe  determined 
^°  assau^  Brooklyn  Heights.  WTith  twenty  thousand 
men  the  English  advanced  on  the  American  position  by 
different  roads,  and  in  the  early  morning  of  August  27,  they  en 
countered  the  Americans  whom  Putnam  had  sent  out  under  Sullivan, 
who  had  taken  the  place  of  Greene,  owing  to  the  illness  of  the  latter. 
Sullivan  was  first  attacked  by  a  large  body  of  Hessians  under  Von 
Heister,  and  scarcely  had  the  fight  begun  when  he  was  assailed  in  the 
rear  by  the  main  force.  Between  two  galling  fires,  it  was  not  possible 
for  the  Americans  to  hold  their  ground,  and  nearly  the  whole  force,  in- 


BATTLE   OF   LONG   ISLAND 


257 


eluding  the  commander,  were  made  prisoners  of  war.  Another  divi 
sion  of  fifteen  hundred  American  troops,  under  Lord  Stirling,1  was 
now  assaulted  by  General  Grant  and  a  little  later  by  Cornwallis. 
After  four  hours  of  desperate  resistance,  Stirling  succeeded  in  getting 
his  men  across  a  marshy  stream  to  a  place  of  safety,  while  he  himself 
was  taken  prisoner,  and  the  struggle  known  as  the  battle  of  Long 
Island  was  over. 
About  four  hundred 
had  been  killed  and 
wounded  on  each 
side,  and  the  British 
had  taken  some 
eleven  hundred 
prisoners. 

Washington  had 
witnessed  the  dis 
aster  from  a  distance 
with  deep  emotion. 
"  My  God,"  he  cried, 
"  what  brave  fellows 
I  must  lose  this  day." 
Howe  closed  in 
around  the  American  fortress,  and  \Yashington,  expecting  an  immedi 
ate  storming  of  the  works,  brought  troops  from  Manhattan  and 
raised  the  defense  to  ten  thousand  men.  But  Howe  decided  to 
settle  down  to  a  siege.  The  American  commander  seeing  that 
he  could  not  stand  a  siege,  determined  to  elude  his  enemy  by 
night,  and  this  he  did  with  remarkable  skill.  The 
night  was  -favorable,  as  a  dense  fog  enveloped  the  ugus 
moving  army.  Every  manner  of  craft  on  the  East  Biver,  from 
the  yacht  to  the  scow  and  rowboat,  was  pressed  into  the  service ; 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  30th,  the  entire  army  with  its  stores 
and  artillery  was  safe  in  New  York,  and  Howe  had  lost  the  rarest 
opportunity  of  his  life  of  crushing  the  rebellion  and  ending  the 
war.  Had  he  been  quick  to  surround  Washington  he  could  have 
captured  him  and  his  ten  thousand ;  but  the  delay  was  fatal.2 

-This  American  "Lord"  was  William  Alexander  of  New  Jersey.  He  had 
inherited  a  lapsed  Scotch  title  and  was  always  known  as  Lord  Stirling. 

2  The  opinion  is  held  that  Howe  sympathized  with  the  Americans  and  did  not 
wish  to  defeat  them.  See  reference  to  the  subject  on  a  later  page. 


258  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

Lord  Howe  again  made  overtures  for  peace.  He  sent  the  cap 
tured  Sullivan  to  Philadelphia  to  make  proposals  to  members  of 
Congress  and  to  request  a  committee  of  conference.  Franklin,  Rut- 
ledge,  and  John  Adams  were  appointed;  they  met  Howe  on  Staten 
Island,  but  as  they  refused  to  treat  with  him,  except  on  the  ground 
of  independent  America,  the  conference  came  to  nothing. 

After  losing  Brooklyn  Heights,  Washington  could  no  longer  hold 
New  York,  and  his  next  move  was  to  fall  back  with  the  army  to  the 
heights  along  the  Harlem  River.  But  before  Putnam,  with  the  rear 
guard  of  four  thousand  men,  could  leave  New  York,  Howe  had  crossed 
the  East  River,  and  occupied  the  city.  Putnam  was  in  imminent 
danger  of  capture,  and  was  saved  by  the  clever  strategy  of  a  woman. 
As  Howe  reached  Murray  Hill,  the  fine  country  seat  of  Mrs.  Murray, 
—  now  a  fashionable  portion  of  New  York  City,  —  that  lady  sent 
him  a  pressing  invitation  to  stop  for  luncheon.  Howe  accepted 
the  kind  offer,  and  while  he  and  his  officers  spent  two  hours  with 
their  hostess,  whom  they  no  doubt  supposed  to  be  a  loyalist,  Put 
nam  made  his  escape  up  the  Hudson  to  the  main  army;  but  in 
his  haste  he  left  behind  his  heavy  guns  and  many  of  his  army 
equipments. 

The  great  object  of  the  British  was  now  to  get  in  the  rear  of 
Washington  and  to  cut  off  his  retreat  northward.  But  the  Hudson 
was  guarded  by  two  strong  forts  —  Fort  Washington  on  the  upper 
end  of  Manhattan  Island  and  Fort  Lee  across  the  river  on  the  Pali 
sades  —  and  for  nearly  a  month  the  two  armies  lay  glaring  at  each 
other.  After  a  skirmish  on  Harlem  Plains  in  September,  Washing- 
White  Plains  ton  moved  his  main  army  to  White  Plains.  Howe  fol- 
October28,  '  lowed  him,  and,  despairing  of  gaining  his  rear,  made  an 
17?6-  attack  in  front.  This  skirmish,  known  as  the  battle  of 

White  Plains,  took  place  on  Chatterton's  Hill  near  the  American 
camp,  and  resulted  in  an  American  loss  of  nearly  one  hundred  and 
fifty  men,  and  a  British  loss  of  over  two  hundred.  Howe  refused  to 
make  a  second  attack,  and  retired  down  the  Hudson  after  Washington 
had  taken  a  strong  position  at  North  Castle,  near  the  scene  of  the 
battle. 

NEW  JERSEY   AND   TRENTON 

The  remaining  two  months  of  this  memorable  year  —  save  only 
the  final  week  —  must  be  pronounced  the  darkest  days  of  the  Revo 
lution.  A  chain  of  unfortunate  events  came  near  bringing  ruin  upon 


AMERICAN   DISASTERS  259 

the  cause  of  American  independence.1  The  officious  interference  of 
Congress,  a  serious  blunder  by  General  Greene,  and  the  disobedience 
of  Charles  Lee,  who  had  arrived  from  the  South,  brought  about  the 
famous  retreat  across  New  Jersey  and  produced  an  appalling  depres 
sion  of  spirits  throughout  the  land. 

Washington,  seeing  that  the  fort  called  by  his  name  could  not 
prevent  the  enemy's  vessels  from  passing  up  the  Hudson,  decided  to 
abandon  it.  He  urged  the  matter  on  General  Greene,  but  left  the 
ultimate  decision  to  the  latter' s  discretion  while  he  made  a  trip 
to  West  Point,  which  was  being  fortified  by  General  Heath.  Con 
gress  now  interposed,  and  resolved  that  Fort  Washington2  should 
not  be  given  up  unless  through  dire  necessity.  Greene  for  once 
distrusted  the  judgment  of  his  commander  and  followed  the  advice 
of  Congress.  The  mistake  was  a  disastrous  and  costly  one.  To 
hold  the  fort  was  impossible ;  the  British  army  was  closing  around 
it  and  the  garrison  could  not  now  be  withdrawn.  On  surrender  of 
November  17  Howe  stormed  the  fort  with  almost  his  Fort 
entire  army,  and,  after  losing  five  hundred  men,  forced  Washington, 
the  surrender.  Colonel  Magaw,  the  commandant,  had  made  a  val 
iant  stand,  but  he  was  compelled  to  surrender  to  superior  numbers; 
and  he,  with  three  thousand  men,  together  with  a  great  quantity  of 
cannon,  muskets,  and  military  stores,  so  much  needed  by  the  Con 
tinental  army,  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.3  The  fall  of 
Fort  Washington  was  a  terrible  blow  to  the  patriots,  and  Greene 
never  forgot  the  costly  lesson  it  taught  him. 

It  was  now  determined  to  abandon  Fort  Lee,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Hudson.  Ere  this  was  done,  however,  five  thousand  British  sol 
diers  had  scaled  the  rocky  walls  of  the  Palisades,  and  were  ready  to 
dash  upon  the  fort;  and  the  garrison  under  Greene  retreated  with 
such  haste  as  to  leave  their  cannon  behind.  This  was  not  a  serious 
disaster,  but  it  was  the  last  straw  to  the  disheartened  patriot  army. 
For  several  months  one  misfortune  had  borne  upon  another,  and 
thousands  of  people  now  came  to  believe  that  the  patriot  cause 

1  See  Fiske,  Vol.  I,  p.  219. 

2  Fort  Washington  had  been  built  early  in  the  spring  by  Ruf us  Putnam,  after 
ward  "Father  of  Ohio,"  a  cousin  of  General  Putnam. 

3  Howe  had  made  a  threat  that  he  would  put  the  garrison  to  the  sword  if  they 
did  not  yield  without  resistance.     Magaw  answered  defiantly  and  opened  the  battle. 
Howe  was  a  humane  man  and  probably  had  no  intention  of  carrying  out  his  threat. 
On  gaining  the  fort,  however,  the  Hessians,  exasperated  at  the  determined  resistance, 
put  a  few  of  the  men  to  the  sword,  and  Washington,  viewing  the  spectacle  from 
beyond  the  river,  burst  into  tears  and  sobbed  like  a  child.    Fiske,  I,  p.  220. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


was  lost.  Amid  the  general  discouragement  one  cannot  but  note  the 
extraordinary  fortitude  of  Washington.  His  soul  was  wrung  with 
grief,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  his  faith  in  ultimate  success 
was  shaken.  His  ability  as  a  soldier  was  of  a  very  high  order. 
Seldom  was  his  army  in  a  condition  to  meet  the  enemy  in  the  open 
field  ;  but  equal  if  not  greater  skill  is  required  in  conducting  a 
retreat,  and  in  wearing  out  a  large  army  with  a  small  one ;  and  in 
this  Washington  was  a  master  with  few  equals  in  history.  Washing 
ton's  diminished  and  discouraged  army  now  lay  at  Hackensack, 
New  Jersey,  and  the  troops  were  leaving  for  their  homes  as  fast  as 
their  brief  enlistments  expired.  The  commander  had  urged  upon 
Congress  the  importance  of  long  enlistments,  and  that  body  had 
complied,  but  their  action  had  not  yet  borne  fruit. 

He  had  with  him  but  six  thousand  men,  having  left  seven  thou 
sand  with  Lee  at  North  Castle,  in  New  York,  with  orders  to  cross 
the  Hudson  and  join  him  as  soon  as  practicable.  But  Lee  hesitated; 
and  Washington,  moving  on  to  Newark  with  Cornwallis  in  pursuit, 
sent  messengers  again  and  again,  urging  Lee  to  join  him  with  all 
possible  haste.  Lee  sent  excuses,  argued,  dissembled,  pretended  to 
misunderstand,  and  refused  to  move ;  and  the  commander  in  chief 
was  forced  to  his  inglorious  retreat  across  New  Jersey  with  but  a 
fragment  of  his  army. 

Charles  Lee  requires  a  little  special  attention  at  this  point.  He 
was  English  born,  the  son  of  a  British  officer,  and  had  entered  the 
army  when  only  a  boy.  He  served  in  various  European 
ar  es  ee.  warg  an(^  .Q  ^  French  and  Indian  War  in  America. 
Having  returned -to  Europe,  he  again  came  to  America  when  he  saw 
that  the  people  were  about  to  grapple  with  the  mother  country,  and 
offered  his  services  to  the  patriot  cause.  But  there  is  nothing  in 
his  career  to  show  that  he  cared  for  the  cause  or  that  he  possessed 
any  special  ability  as  a  commander.  Nevertheless  he  succeeded,  by 
constant  boasting,  and  by  reckless  criticisms  of  military  affairs,  in 
making  the  American  people  believe  that  he  was  a  great  military 
genius.  Tall,  hollow-cheeked,  and  uncomely,  he  was  irascible,  selfish, 
pompous,  and  censorious ;  but  these  qualities  were  regarded  as  but 
pardonable  eccentricities  of  a  great  man.  All  classes,  including 
Congress  and  the  commander  in  chief,  at  first  greatly  overrated  Lee. 
In  truth,  he  was  an  adventurer,  a  seeker  of  fame  and  fortune,  and, 
as  revealed  by  his  private  letters  unearthed  in  London  nearly  a 
hundred  years  later,  a  traitor  to  the  American  cause. 


CHARACTER  OF  CHARLES   LEE  201 

While  Washington  was  fleeing  before  the  British  regulars  and 
appealing  to  Lee  for  the  other  half  of  the  army,  the  latter  was  plot 
ting  for  the  overthrow  of  his  chief,  whispering  slanders,  and  writing 
to  governors  of  states  and  members  of  Congress,  asserting  that  the 
recent  disasters  were  due  to  Washington's  incompetency,  and  that  it 
would  all  have  turned  out  differently  if  his  advice  had  been  heeded. 
To  Dr.  Rush  of  Philadelphia  Lee  declared  in  substance  that  he 
could  bring  order  out  of  chaos  if  he  were  made  dictator  for  one  week. 
Many  of  the  uncritical,  in  whose  minds  Washington's  star  had 
recently  waned,  firmly  believed  Lee  to  be  the  greater  general  of  the 
two.  Lee  was  still  lauded  throughout  the  North  as  the  hero  and 
victor  of  Fort  Moultrie,  whereas  he  had  done  nothing  in  that  noble 
defense  but  scold  and  find  fault  while  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
British  guns.  Such  was  Charles  Lee,  the  senior  major  general  of  the 
army  since  the  retirement  of  Artemas  Ward. 

The  hour  was  dark  and  threatening  indeed.  Half  the  army  was 
fleeing  like  a  hunted  fox  across  the  Jersey  plains,  while  the  men  were 
departing  for  their  homes  by  hundreds,  believing  the  cause  to  be  a 
lost  one ;  the  other  half  was  held  inactive  by  a  traitor  a  hundred 
miles  away.  Furthermore,  the  gloomy  outlook  had  led  some  three 
thousand  of  the  leading  Jersey  farmers  to  accept  Howe's  latest 
offer  and  to  swear  allegiance  to  the  Crown.  Surely  the  infant  life 
of  the  republic  quivered  in  the  balance.  At  this  dark  hour  Con 
gress  canie  to  the  rescue.  Silver  and  gold  it  had  none ;  but  it  could 
do  something,  and  so  it  did.  It  made  a  master  stroke  for  liberty,  and 
in  the  same  act  answered  Lee's  intrigue  and  gave  to  the  country  its 
opinion  of  Washington.  It  made  him  military  dictator  for  six  months.1 

Washington  had  reached  the  bank  of  the  Delaware  before  Lee 
moved  hand  or  foot  to  join  him.  Then  Lee  crossed  the  Hudson  and 
leisurely  proceeded  westward.  But  ere  the  middle  of  December, 
after  he  had  spent  a  night  at  a  village  tavern,  and  just  as  he  was 
finishing  a  letter  to  Gates  in  which  he  spoke  of  Washington  as 
"  damnably  deficient,"  a  band  of  British  riders  did  the 
American  people  a  lasting  service  by  making  General 
Lee  a  prisoner.  Thus  a  large  portion  of  the  army, 
released  from  the  baneful  influence  of  this  designing  self-seeker, 
became  again  useful  to  the  commander  in  chief. 

Howe  had  fully  expected  to  catch  his  prey  in  West  Jersey;  but 

1  This  action  was  taken  the  day  after  Washington's  success  at  Trenton,  to  be 
noticed  later,  though  Congress  had  iiot  yet  heard  of  the  victory. 


262 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


the  unwearied  vigilance  of  Washington  had  saved  the  American 
army  from  capture,  and  landed  it  safely  on  the  western  bank  of  the 
Delaware.  Intense  was  the  excitement  in  Philadelphia  when  it 
was  learned  that  the  patriot  army  was  fleeing  before  the  enemy 
toward  the  city.  Congress  fled  to  Baltimore,  all  business  was  sus 
pended,  and  the  stores  and  schools  were  closed ;  excited  multitudes 
gathered  in  the  streets,  and  a  few  days  later  the  roads  leading  from 
the  city  were  crowded  with  all  sorts  of  vehicles  bearing  women  and 


children  and  household  goods  to  places  of  refuge.1  A  great  mass 
meeting,  held  in  the  statehouse  yard,  was  addressed  by  Thomas 
Mifflin,  and  the  result  was  that  several  hundred  men  shouldered 
their  muskets  and  set  out  to  join  the  army. 

The  patriot  cause  had  now  reached  its  lowest  ebb.  Howe  be 
lieved  that  armed  resistance  had  collapsed,  and  retired  to  New 
York,  while  Cornwallis  prepared  to  take  ship  for  England.  New 
Jersey  was  held  in  the  firm  grasp  of  the  British.  Count  Donop 
was  at  Bordentown  with  a  body  of  men ;  a  small  force  was  stationed 
1  Winsor,  Vol.  VI,  p.  371. 


WASHINGTON   CROSSES   THE   DELAWARE  263 

at  Princeton,  another  at  New  Brunswick;  while  a  larger  body,  some 
twelve  hundred  Hessians  under  Colonel  Ball,  occupied  Trenton. 

But  the  dawn  was  beginning  to  break  upon  the  darkness.  The 
volunteers  from  Philadelphia  arrived  in  camp;  Sullivan  came 
with  the  troops  that  Lee  had  held  so  long  at  North  Castle;  and 
Horatio  Gates  joined  the  army  with  two  thousand  men,  sent  by 
Schuyler  from  the  upper  Hudson.  Washington  now  determined  on 
a  bold  stroke.  He  would  recross  the  Delaware  by  night  and  attack 
the  Hessians  at  Trenton.  He  chose  the  most  opportune  time, — 
the  day  after  Christmas,  —  judging  wisely  that  after  the  festivities 
of  the  holiday  the  soldiers  would  be  ill  prepared  for  defense.  The 
whole  project  was  planned  and  executed  by  Washington.  Gates, 
who  was  expected  to  assist,  had  gone  off  to  Baltimore  to  intrigue 
with  Congress ;  Putnam,  who  was  guarding  Philadelphia,  could 
spare  no  men  for  the  enterprise.  Ewing  and  Cadwalader,  who  were 
ordered  to  cross  the  river  at  a  lower  point  and  cut  off  the  enemy's 
retreat,  failed  to  do  so  on  account  of  the  floating  ice.  But  no  obsta 
cle  could  daunt  the  commander  in  chief.  At  the  twilight  hour,  as 
the  earliest  stars  began  twinkling  from  a  clear  sky  on  that  cold 
Christmas  night,  the  little  army  of  twenty-four  hundred  men  began 
their  struggle  with  the  ice  floes  and  the  rapid  current.  Encumbered 
with  their  cannon  and  baggage  they  occupied  many  hours  in  cross 
ing.  By  midnight  the  sky  was  overcast  with  clouds  and  the  snow 
was  falling,  and  the  remaining  hours  were  intensely  dark.  But  the 
men  labored  on  with  brave  hearts  and  at  four  o'clock,  without  the 
loss  of  a  man,  the  army  was  safely  landed  on  the  Jersey 
shore.  This  was  at  Mackoiikey's  Ferry,  nine  miles 
above  Trenton,  and  the  march  down  the  river  was  one 
of  extreme  suffering,  for  the  snow  had  turned  to  rain  and  hail,  and 
the  roads  were  in  a  dreadful  condition.  In  two  divisions,  com 
manded  by  Sullivan  and  Greene,  the  army  reached  the  little  capital 
by  converging  roads  almost  at  the  same  moment,  and  began  a  simul 
taneous  attack.  The  enemy  was  wholly  unprepared.  Eall  was 
roused  from  his  bed  to  take  command,  but  he  soon  fell  mortally 
wounded.  The  battle  was  sharp  and  decisive,  and  was  all  over  in 
three  quarters  of  an  hour.  The  American  victory  was 
complete.  Less  than  two  hundred  Hessians  made 
their  escape ;  a  hundred  or  more  were  killed  and  wounded,  while 
about  nine  hundred  and  fifty  were  made  prisoners.  Six  cannon, 
twelve  hundred  muskets,  and  other  stores  were  also  taken.  The 


264  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

American  loss  was  two  killed,  two  frozen  to  death,  and  a  few  dozen 
wounded. 

The  victory  at  Trenton  astonished  everybody,  so  closely  had 
Washington  guarded  the  secret  of  his  intentions.  As  the  news 
spread  through  the  country  the  rejoicing  was  loud  and  unrestrained. 
The  captured  Hessians  were  marched  through  the  streets  of  Phila 
delphia  to  give  the  people  ocular  proof  of  the  American  triumph. 
The  people  thanked  God  for  the  victory,  and  took  courage  to  renew 
the  struggle  for  liberty.  "  The  Lord  of  hosts  has  heard  the  cry  of 
the  distressed,"  exclaimed  the  Lutheran  patriarch,  Mlihlenberg,  "  and 
sent  his  angel  to  their  assistance." l 

Cornwallis,  on  hearing  of  the  American  victory,  gave  up  his  visit 
to  England  and  hastened  to  Trenton.  Washington  had  recrossed 
the  swollen  river  with  his  spoils,  but  a  week  later  we  find  him  again 
at  Trenton  with  a  larger  and  more  hopeful  army.  The  terms  of 
enlistment  of  a  large  number  of  his  men  expired  with  the  year  1776, 
but  by  pledging  to  them  his  private  fortune  (an  example  followed 
by  John  Stark  and  others)  and  by  the  use  of  $50,000  placed  in  his 
hands  by  Robert  Morris,  the  great  financier  of  the  Revolution,  he 
induced  them  to  remain.  Cornwallis  had  reached  Princeton,  and  on 
the  2d  of  January  he  began  his  march  upon  Trenton  with  eight  thou 
sand  of  his  best  troops.  Washington  had  taken  a  stand  on  the  banks 
of  a  little  river  south  of  the  town,  the  Assunpink.  But  he  saw  that 
his  force  was  much  inferior  to  that  of  his  antagonist,  and  he  dared 
not  risk  a  battle.  The  British  reached  Trenton  late  in  the  afternoon. 
Cornwallis  now  determined  to  throw  his  entire  force  against  Wash 
ington,  crowd  him  to  the  bank  of  the  Delaware,  and  capture  his 
whole  army.  But  his  men  were  weary  and  it  was  evening.  He 
decided  to  wait  till  morning,  never  doubting  the  success  of  his  plans. 
He  retired  in  high  spirits,  saying,  "  At  last  we  have  run  down  the 
old  fox  and  will  bag  him  in  the  morning."  2  But  the  fox  was  too 
Washington  W^J  to  ^e  caught.  Keeping  his  camp-fires  brightly 
escapes  burning  all  night,  and  a  few  men  busily  throwing  up 

Cornwallis.  embankments  within  hearing  of  the  British  sentinels, 
Washington  silently  removed  his  entire  army  around  the  left  wing 
and  to  the  rear  of  his  enemy,  and  by  daylight  they  were  marching 
happily  toward  Princeton.  As  the  army  neared  the  town  a  detach 
ment  under  General  Hugh  Mercer  encountered  some  two  thousand 

1  Winsor,  Vol.  VI,  p.  376. 

2  Fiske,  Vol.  I,  p.  232. 


TRENTON  AND   PRINCETON  265 

British  under  Colonel  Mawhood  on  their  way  to  join  Cornwallis. 
An  immediate  conflict  ensued.  After  a  fierce  opening  fire,  the  Brit 
ish  rushed  upon  the  patriots  with  the  bayonet ;  and  the  latter,  being 
without  bayonets,  fled  through  an  orchard,  leaving  their 
valiant  commander  mortally  wounded  on  the  ground. 
As  the  English  were  pursuing  the  fugitives  they  came 
to  the  brow  of  a  hill  where  they  met  the  main  army  under  Washing 
ton,  who  had  heard  the  firing  and  was  hastening  to  the  spot.  The 
British  halted,  and  the  battle  became  general. 

At  this  battle  of  Princeton  Washington  signally  displayed  that 
marvelous  physical  courage  which  characterized  him.  The  Penn 
sylvania  militia  wavered  and  seemed  on  the  point  of 
breaking,  when  the  commander,  to  encourage  them,  rode 
to  the  front  in  the  very  midst  of  the  flying  bullets  and 
drew  rein  within  thirty  yards  of  the  enemy's  lines.  One  of  his  aids 
drew  his  cap  over  his  eyes  that  he  might  not  see  his  chieftain  die. 
Next  moment  a  cloud  of  smoke  enveloped  rider  and  horse  and  hid 
them  from  view.  A  shiver  of  dread  ran  through  the  patriot  ranks, 
but  as  the  smoke  cleared  away  and  the  commander  sat  unhurt,  a  wild 
shout  of  joy  arose  from  the  army. 

The  British  were  soon  put  to  flight,  and  the  battle  was  over. 
Cornwallis  was  amazed  to  discover,  on  the  morning  of  January  3, 
that  his  prey  had  again  escaped  him.  The  distant  boom  of  cannon 
at  sunrise  told  the  story.  He  broke  camp  and  made  a  dash  for 
Brunswick  to  save  his  stores  collected  there,  while  Washington 
moved  northward  to  Morristown  and  went  iuto  winter  quarters  in  a 
strong  position. 

In  three  weeks  Washington  had  done  a  marvelous  work  for  lib 
erty.  Frederick  the  Great  is  said  to  have  pronounced  his  achieve 
ments  in  those  three  weeks  the  most  brilliant  in  military  history. 
In  that  time  Washington,  with  a  small,  half-trained,  half-hearted* 
army,  had  won  two  victories,  had  taken  a  large  number  of  prisoners, 
had  greatly  increased  the  size  of  his  army,  and,  above  all,  had  turned 
the  tide  of  popular  feeling  and  infused  a  new  and  living  hope  into 
the  hearts  of  the  patriots  from  Maine  to  Georgia  and  from  the  moun 
tains  to  the  sea.  The  star  of  Liberty,  that  had  seemed  so  near  its 
setting,  was  mounting  again  toward  the  zenith. 


266  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 


NOTES   AND    ANECDOTES 

The  Loyalists.  —  As  noted  in  the  text,  probably  one  third  of  the  people  of 
the  thirteen  colonies  remained  faithful  to  the  king  and  opposed  armed  resistance 
from  the  beginning.  These  are  often  called  Tories,  but  the  term  ''loyalists"  is 
better,  as  they  were  not  in  full  sympathy  with  the  Tory  party  in  England. 
Usually  they  were  headed  by  the  Episcopal  clergy  and  the  officers  appointed  by 
the  Crown.  A  large  majority  of  them  were  native  born  and  were  sincere  lovers  of 
their  country  ;  but  their  love  for  the  king  and  their  pride  in  being  a  part  of  the 
British  Empire  led  them  to  oppose  independence.  There  were  loyalists  in  every 
part  of  the  country.  In  New  England  they  were  few ;  in  Central  New  York  they 
were  many,  but  still  in  the  minority  ;  so  in  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  while 
in  the  South,  especially  in  the  newly  settled  parts  of  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia, 
at  least  half  the  people  remained  loyal  to  the  king.  Many  of  the  loyalists  were 
passive  ;  they  wished  to  be  let  alone ;  their  attitude  was  a  negative  one.  But 
the  patriots  were  aggressive  and  often  violent.  In  the  early  years  of  the  war 
they  were  usually  content  with  disarming  the  loyalists  and  forcing  them  to 
make  a  public  disavowal  of  their  allegiance  to  the  king  ;  but  as  the  years  passed 
they  became  more  violent,  drove  the  loyalists  from  their  homes,  treated  them 
to  tar  and  feathers,  and  so  on.  In  Philadelphia  two  were  hanged  ;  in  New  Jersey 
several  were  sentenced  to  death,  but  were  pardoned  by  the  governor.  The 
loyalists  were  aggressive  also  at  times.  On  one  occasion  they  made  a  plot 
against  the  life  of  Washington.  (See  Van  Tyne's  "  Loyalists  in  the  Revolution," 
p.  127. )  The  Congress  and  the  commander  in  chief  took  measures  to  suppress 
the  enemies  of  the  country,  as  they  were  called,  and  various  state  legislatures 
passed  test  acts  requiring  all  "suspects  "  to.  take  an  oath  to  aid  the  cause  of  the 
patriots.  The  states  also  passed  confiscation  acts.  In  New  York  alone  property 
to  the  amount  of  $3,600,000  came  into  the  possession  of  the  state  through  the 
confiscation  law.  Ibid.,  p.  280. 

Nathan  Hale.  —  After  the  Continental  army  had  reached  Harlem  Heights 
above  New  York,  Washington,  desiring  to  be  made  acquainted  with  the  force 
and  probable  purpose  of  the  enemy,  applied  to  Colonel  Knowlton  for  some 
capable  man  who  would  be  willing  to  attempt  the  dangerous  task.  Knowlton 
chose  Nathan  Hale,  a  brilliant  young  captain,  aged  twenty-one,  a  graduate  of 
Yale  and,  before  the  war,  a  Connecticut  school-teacher.  Hale  volunteered  his 
services  and  crossed  the  sound  at  Fairfield  in  September,  1776,  disguised  as  a 
school-teacher.  He  reached  New  York,  made  a  careful  study  of  the  enemy's 
fortifications,  drew  plans,  and  was  waiting  for  the  ferry  to  return  by  way  of 
Brooklyn  when  he  was  betrayed  by  a  Tory  kinsman  who  recognized  him.  His 
arrest  followed,  and  Howe  turned  him  over  to  the  inhuman  provost  marshal, 
Cunningham,  who  hanged  him  the  next  day  without  a  trial,  and  even  refused 
him  the  services  of  a  clergyman  or  the  use  of  a  Bible.  Kale's  dying  utterance 
is  well  known:  "I  regret  that  I  have  but  one  life  to  give  for  my  country." 
While  Hale  was  engaged  in  this  business,  Colonel  Knowlton,  who  had  sent  him, 
was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Harlem  Plains. 

Washington  in  Love.  —  While  encamped  at  Harlem  Heights,  Washington 
occupied  a  house  that  must  have  brought  him  a  train  of  recollections.  In  1756 


NOTES  267 


he  had  been  sent  from  Virginia  to  Boston  to  confer  with  Governor  Shirley,  and 
he  was  received  with  great  respect  along  the  route,  for  his  exploits  under  Din- 
widdie  and  Braddock  were  everywhere  known.  When  he  reached  New  York  he 
became  the  guest  of  a  Mr.  Kobinson  at  the  latter's  mansion.  Mrs.  Robinson's 
sister,  Mary  Phillipse,  a  beautiful  heiress,  was  staying  at  the  house,  and  the 
future  father  of  his  country  was  greatly  smitten  with  her  charms.  On  his  return 
he  again  stopped  at  the  mansion  and  remained  as  long  as  duty  would  permit. 
He  wished  to  make  her  his  bride,  but  lacked  the  courage  to  make  the  pro 
posal.  He  confided  his  secret  to  a  friend  in  New  York,  and  this  friend  kept  him 
informed  by  mail  of  the  movements  of  the  young  lady,  and  at  length  informed 
him  that  she  was  to  be  married  to  Colonel  Morris.  Three  years  later  Washing 
ton  married  Mrs.  Martha  Custis,  nee  Miss  Dandridge.  With  the  coming  of  the 
Revolution,  Colonel  Morris,  whose  country  seat  was  on  Harlem  Heights,  went 
with  the  Tories,  and  Washington  now  occupied  his  vacated  house  as  head 
quarters. 

Israel  Putnam.  —  General  Putnam,  farmer,  innkeeper,  and  soldier,  though 
almost  threescore  at  the  opening  of  the  war,  and  never  a  master  of  military 
science,  was  yet  one  of  the  most  heroic  and  picturesque  figures  of  the  war.  He 
commanded  a  body  of  rangers  in  the  French  and  Indian  War,  was  present  at 
the  capture  of  Montreal,  and  of  Havana,  Cuba,  and  was  a  colonel  in  Bradstreet's 
Western  expedition  against  Pontiac  in  1764.  In  the  French  War  he  was  taken 
captive  by  the  Indians,  bound  to  a  tree  till  the  battle  had  ceased,  and  then  taken 
into  the  forest  to  be  tortured  to  death.  He  was  stripped  and  tied  to  a  sapling  ; 
and  the  fagots  piled  at  his  feet  were  already  ablaze  when  a  French  officer  dashed 
through  the  savage  horde,  rescued  Putnam,  and  carried  him  to  Montreal,  whence 
he  was  exchanged. 

The  best  known  and  perhaps  the  most  daring  feat  in  Putnam's  checkered  life 
was  his  riding  down  a  precipice  at  West  Greenwich,  New  York.  He  had  but 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  and  was  attacked  by  Governor  Tryon  with  ten  times 
that  number.  Ordering  his  men  to  retire  to  a  swamp  inaccessible  to  cavalry, 
he,  on  the  near  approach  of  the  enemy,  rode  down  a  hundred  stone  steps  that 
had  been  cut  into  the  solid  rock  for  foot  passengers. 

Captivity  of  Ethan  Allen.  —  In  the  early  part  of  the  war,  and  not  long  after 
his  bold  capture  of  Ticonderoga,  Ethan  Allen,  as  stated  in  the  text,  was  made 
prisoner  and  carried  in  irons  to  England.  His  treatment  was  brutal  in  the 
extreme,  but  his  spirit  was  unconquered.  On  one  occasion  he  knocked  an 
officer  down  for  spitting  in  his  face.  .  The  captain  who  brought  him  back  to 
New  York,  however,  was  a  humane  man,  and  Allen  became  greatly  attached  to 
him,  and  saved  his  life  by  preventing  a  mutiny  among  the  prisoners  on  the  ship. 
Allen  was  released  on  parole,  the  condition  being  that  he  must  not  leave  New 
York.  Meantime  every  effort  was  made  to  induce  him  to  join  the  British  ranks, 
but  no  power  could  move  him.  Among  other  things  he  was  offered  a  large  tract 
of  land  in  New  Hampshire  or  Connecticut,  when  the  country  should  be  con 
quered.  His  answer  was  characteristic.  He  said  it  reminded  him  of  an  incident 
related  in  Scripture,  where  the  devil  took  Christ  to  the  top  of  a  high  mountain 
and  offered  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  "  when  all  the  while  the  damned 
soul  had  not  one  foot  of  land  on  earth." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   REVOLUTION  — FROM   SARATOGA   TO   MONMOUTH 

THE  episode  in  New  Jersey,  resulting  in  the  retreat  of  Washing 
ton  across  the  state  and  his  later  success  at  Trenton  and  Princeton, 
did  not  belong  to  the  immediate  general  plan  of  the  British  ministry. 
That  body,  of  which  Lord  George  Germain,  the  secretary  of  state, 
was  the  mouthpiece  and  one  of  the  leading  spirits,  had  set  its  heart 
on  dividing  the  colonies  into  two  parts  by  conquering  the  great 
valley  of  the  Hudson  River.  A  year  had  passed  since  this  work 
begun,  and  the  conquest  of  Manhattan  Island  alone  had  been  accom 
plished,  while  all  the  vast  region  to  the  north,  even  to  the  Canadian 
border,  was  still  held  by  the  Americans.  The  British  now  deter 
mined  on  a  desperate  and  final 

STRUGGLE   FOR  THE   HUDSON  VALLEY 

It  was  decided  that  an  army  should  invade  New  York  from 
Canada,  and  that  it  should  be  commanded  by  Lieutenant  General 
John  Burgoyne,  who  had  succeeded  Guy  Carleton,  the  governor  of 
Canada,  in  command  at  the  north.  From  this  army  a  detachment  of 
a  thousand  men  under  St.  Leger  was  sent  by  way  of  Lake  Ontario 
to  land  at  Oswego,  to  proceed  inland,  capture  Fort  Stanwix  on  the 
upper  Mohawk,  sweep  down  the  Mohawk  Valley,  and  eventually 
join  Burgoyne  at  Albany.  From  the  south,  General  Howe  was  to 
move  up  the  Hudson,  destroying  every  vestige  of  opposition  to  the 
Crown,  and  at  length  to  join  his  brethren  in  the  general  festivities  at 
Albany.  This  was  the  plan  for  the  summer  of  1777.  It  would 
divide  colonial  America ;  it  would  sever  New  England  from  the 
south,  break  down  the  rebellion,  and  bring  back  the  erring  colonists 
to  their  former  allegiance.  And  it  was  perfectly  easy  to  carry  out  — 
on  paper. 

The  defeat  of  the  whole  enterprise  had  its  origin  in  a  little  slip 

268 


GERMAIN'S   BLUNDER 


of  the  memory  amounting  to  criminal  negligence  on  the  part  of  the 
one  who,  above  all  men,  except  his  sovereign,  desired  the  conquest  of 
America  —  Lord  George  Germain.  He  had  sent  Burgoyne  peremptory 
instructions  -  to  proceed  down  the  Hudson,  and  the  instructions  to 
Howe  to  move  up  that  river  were  equally  peremptory.  But  before  the 
latter  order  was  signed  he  made  a  holiday  excursion  to  the  country, 
and  on  his  return  he  forgot  all  about  the  paper,  which  lay  in  a  pigeon 
hole  for  several  weeks.  The  delay  was  fatal.  At  length  the  mistake 
was  discovered  and  the  order  sent ;  but  when  it  reached  Howe,  late 
in  August,  he  was  far  from  New  York, — he  had  sailed  to  the  Chesa 
peake,  and  was  moving  northward  to  meet  Washington  on  the  banks 
of  the  Brandywine.  Who  can  measure  the  importance  to  American 
liberty  of  this  little  blunder  ?  The  fate  of  Burgoyne  hung  on  the 
cooperation  of  Howe,  and  the  fate  of  the  Eevolution  hung  on  the 
success  or  failure  of  this  campaign. 

During  the  closing  days  of  June,  1777,  General  Burgoyne,  with  a 
well-trained  army  of  eight  thousand  men,  was  sailing  in  high  spirits 
up  Lake  Champlain  toward  Fort  Ticonderoga.  Four  thousand  of 
these  were  British  regulars,  three  thousand  were  Hessians  or  Ger 
mans,  a  few  were  Canadians,  and  some  five  hundred  were  Indians. 

Burgoyne  was  a  gentleman  of  culture  and  education,  eloquent, 
generous,  and  brave.  He  was  a  member  of  the  British  Parliament, 
as  were  several  others  in  his  army.  Among  his  sub 
ordinates  were,  General  Phillips,  an  artillerist  with 
an  enviable  reputation;  General  Fraser,  a  veteran  commander  of 
much  ability ;  and,  not  inferior  to  either,  Baron  Riedesel,  who  com 
manded  the  Germans.  The  American  commander  at  the  north 
was  General  Schuyler,  who  had  recently  placed  Arthur  St.  Clair  in 
command  of  Ticonderoga.  The  garrison  numbered  three  thousand 
men,  and  the  fort  was  considered  impregnable.  But  scarcely  had  the 
British  landed  near  the  fort  when  they  scaled  a  rocky  height  — 
Mount  Defiance,  as  it  was  afterward  called  —  which  commanded  the 
fort,  and  which  had  been  considered  inaccessible.  The  Americans 
were  completely  surprised  when  they  beheld  the  British  and  the 
frowning  cannon  on  the  brow  of  the  hill  overlooking 
the  fort.  The  only  thing  to  do  was  to  abandon  the 
place  with  all  speed.  In  the  darkness  of  that  night  St. 
Clair  embarked  his  little  army  upon  the  lake,  and  they  might  have 
escaped  untouched  but  for  the  light  of  a  burning  house  that  told 
the  story  of  the  flight.  Before  the  coming  of  dawn  Fraser  and 


270  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

Biedesel  were  in  hot  pursuit,  and  the  British  flag  was  waving  again 
over  the  walls  of  the  noble  fort  from  which  it  had  been  so  uncere 
moniously  dragged  by  Ethan  Allen  two  years  before.  After  several 
days  of  flight  and  a  few  sharp  encounters  with  their  pursuers,  the 
Americans  joined  Schuyler  with  the  main  army  at  Fort  Edward. 

The  news  of  the  fall  of  this  citadel  of  the  Hudson  Valley  soon 
reached  England,  and  occasioned  the  greatest  rejoicing  among  the 
Tory  party.  The  end  of  the  rebellion  was  believed  to  be  at  hand. 
The  king  lost  his  self-control  and,  rushing  into  the  queen's  apart 
ment,  clapped  his  hands  and  shouted,  "  I  have  beat  them !  I  have 
beat  all  the  Americans  ! " 1  On  the  other  hand,  the  Americans  were 
deeply  depressed  by  the  news.  Schuyler  and  St.  Glair  were  fiercely 
denounced  for  not  having  fortified  Mount  Defiance,  and  St.  Glair 
was  tried  the  next  year  by  court-martial,  but  acquitted. 

The  strange  fact  remained,  which  neither  the  English  nor  the 
Americans  at  that  moment  saw,  that  Burgoyne  had  done  nothing 
toward  conquering  the  Hudson  Valley.  He  had  done  himself  injury 
rather  than  good.  He  had  captured  the  great  fort,  but  the  Ameri 
cans  did  not  need  it ;  and  it  became  a  burden  to  its  possessor,  as  a 
goodly  portion  of  his  army  was  required  to  hold  it.2 

But,  what  was  still  more  important,  the  people  of  New  York  and 
New  England  were  aroused  as  never  before  since  the  battle  of  Lexing 
ton,  and  they  soon  began  pouring  into  Schuyler's  camp  by  hundreds. 
Washington  sent  Arnold  and  Lincoln  with  reinforcements  and  Daniel 
Morgan  with  his  five  hundred  Virginia  sharpshooters.  Schuyler 
rose  to  the  occasion.  He  removed  all  the  cattle  and  provisions  from 
the  country  round  and  forced  the  enemy  to  draw  his  daily  bread  from 
Canada  and  England ;  he  felled  trees  and  otherwise  obstructed  the 
roads,  destroyed  all  bridges,  and  placed  great  stones  and  logs  in  the 
fords  of  the  streams.  Thus  he  obstructed  the  progress  of  the  enemy, 
while  his  own  army  was  daily  increasing.  Burgoyne  was  twenty- 
four  days  marching  twenty-six  miles,  and  every  soldier  that  fell  by 
the  way  —  and  they  were  many  —  was  a  net  loss,  for  none  could  be 
replaced.  It  was  now  the  middle  of  August,  and  ere  the  close  of 
that  month  an  irreparable  double  calamity  befell  the  British  in  the 
battles  of  Oriskany  and  Bennington. 

Oriskany  was,  without  exception,  the  bloodiest  single  conflict  in 
the  war  of  the  Revolution.  It  occurred  near  Fort  Stanwix,  at  the 
head  waters  of  the  Mohawk,  and  General  Nicholas  Herkimer  was  its 

i  Fiske's  ''American  Revolution,"  Vol.  I,  p.  271.  2  Ibid.,  p.  272. 


SCENE   OF   WAR   IN  THE   NORTHERN   AND   MIDDLE   STATES. 


ORISKANY   AND   BENNINGTON  271 

hero.  Herkimer  was  an  aged  German  resident  of  that  country,  a 
veteran  of  the  French  War  and  now  commander  of  the  county 
militia.  Hearing  of  the  approach  of  St.  Leger,  he  raised  an  army  of 
eight  hundred  men  for  the  relief  of  Fort  Stanwix.  He  started  toward 
the  fort  and  fell  into  an  ambush  at  Oriskany,  about  eight  miles  from 
the  place.  It  was  in  a  deep  ravine  crossing  the  road.  Here  the 
army  of  St.  Leger,  led  by  Sir  John  Johnson,  son  of  the  famous  Sir 
William  of  earlier  days,  and  Joseph  Brant,  the  great  Oriskany 
Mohawk  chieftain,  met  the  army  of  Herkimer.  Noth-  August  6, 
ing  more  horrible  than  the  carnage  of  that  battle  has  1777- 
ever  occurred  in  the  history  of  warfare.  Men  grappled  and  shot 
and  stabbed  and  cursed  and  dashed  out  one  another's  brains.  To 
add  to  the  lurid  horror  of  the  scene,  a  terrific  electric  storm  broke 
forth,  and  the  thunders  of  heaven  pealed  answers  to  the  booming 
artillery  below.  The  livid  lightning  lit  up  the  scene  in  quick  flashes, 
and  the  rain  poured  in  torrents ;  but  the  men  fought  on  like  demons. 
A  ball  killed  Herkimer's  horse  and  gave  him  a  mortal  wound ;  but 
he  placed  his  saddle  at  the  root  of  a  tree,  sat  on  it,  and  continued 
shouting  his  orders  to  the  end  of  the  battle.1 

At  length,  when  both  armies  were  exhausted  and  one  third  of 
each  had  been  cut  down,  the  British  and  Indians  left  the  Americans 
in  possession  of  the  field.  Two  weeks  later  Benedict  Arnold  came 
to  the  rescue  of  the  fort,  and,  by  a  most  clever  ruse,  frightened  St. 
Leger  and  his  Indian  allies  from  the  country.  So  scared  they  were,  it 
was  said,  that  they  scarcely  stopped  running  till  they  reached  Canada. 

Burgoyne's  army  was  beginning  to  suffer  from  hunger.  At  the 
foot  of  the  Green  Mountains,  in  the  village  of  Bennington,  were 
patriot  stores  and  ammunition,  and  the  British  commander  decided 
that  he  must  have  them.  On  August  13th  he  sent  five  hundred 
Germans  and  one  hundred  Indians  with  two  cannon  to  make  the 
capture.  Perhaps  Burgoyne  did  not  know  that  John  Stark  was  in  the 
neighborhood.  Stark  had  done  valiant  service  at  Bunker  Hill  and 
Trenton,  but  he  had  retired  to  his  Vermont  home  because  Congress  had 
promoted  others  and  not  him,  as  it  should  have  done.  But  now  he 
redeemed  himself,  and  posterity  remembers  him  more  for  Benuington 
than  for  anything  else.  His  speech  to  his  men  is  well  known,  "  They 
are  ours  to-night,  or  Molly  Stark  is  a  widow  " —  and  so  they  were, 
and  Molly  Stark's  husband  survived  the  battle  for  forty-five  years. 

The  British  troops  were  attacked  on  three  sides,  Baum,  their 

i  Ibid.,  p.  290. 


272  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

commander,  was  mortally  wounded,  and  the  whole  force  was  made 
captive  after  a  desperate  battle.  Meanwhile  Colonel  Breymaii  had 
been  sent  with  several  hundred  men  to  the  rescue  of  Baum.  But  at 
the  moment  of  his  arrival  Colonel  Seth  Warner  reached 
^e  scene  with  five  hundred  more  Green  Mountain  boys 
eager  for  battle.  The  fight  was  renewed  and  lasted  till 
night,  when  Breyman,  with  but  sixty  or  seventy  men,  escaped  in  the 
darkness.  The  Americans  captured  in  all  seven  hundred  men  and  a 
thousand  stand  of  arms.  Forty  Americans  and  two  hundred  of  the 
enemy  were  killed. 

Burgoyne's  difficulties  were  now  multiplying.  His  provisions 
were  well-nigh  exhausted,  and  his  ranks  were  diminishing  while 
those  of  his  enemy  were  increasing.  Now  came  the  news  of  the 
disaster  at  Bennington,  and  ere  he  had  recovered  from  the  shock  he 
heard  of  Oriskany  and  of  the  disgraceful  flight  of  St.  Leger.  His 
only  salvation  lay  in  cooperation  from  the  South,  and  for  news  from 
that  quarter  he  waited  daily,  but  he  waited  in  vain. 

With  sincere  regret  we  must  now  record  an  act  of  Congress  by 
which  Schuyler  was  superseded  by  Gates  in  command  of  the  army. 
Gates  sue-  ^ne  latter  was  a  self-seeker,  and  his  intrigues  in  Conv 
ceeds  gress  had  at  last  been  successful.  Schuyler  was  a  truer 

Schuyler.  patriot,  an  abler  soldier ;  but  he  had  enemies,  and  they 
now  gained  the  object  they  had  sought.  So  perfectly  had  Schuyler 
managed  that  the  Americans  must  have  won,  even  without  a  com 
mander,  and  Gates  came  only  to  receive  the  laurels  that  had  been 
gathered  by  other  hands.  Schuyler  bore  the  humiliation  like  a  true 
patriot  and  offered  to  serve  Gates  in  any  capacity. 

Burgoyne's  condition  grew  worse  day  by  day.  Lincoln  harassed 
him  from  the  rear,  the  main  army  of  the  patriots  confronted  him, 
while  the  men  of  New  Hampshire  "  hung,"  to  use  his  own  words, 
"  like  a  gathering  storm  on  the  left."  To  retreat  to  Canada  was 
impossible;  to  risk  a  battle  was  perilous,  as  the  Americans  now 
numbered  fifteen  thousand ;  and  he  longed  for  Howe,  —  but  Howe 
was  far  away  on  the  banks  of  the  Brandy  wine.  At  length,  in  despera 
tion,  the  gallant  Burgoyne  determined  to  hazard  a  battle.  He  led 
his  army  across  the  Hudson  in  mid-September,  and  on  the  19th  a  des 
perate  battle  was  fought.  The  Americans  were  strongly  intrenched 
at  Bends  Heights,  which  had  been  fortified  by  the  Polish  patriot, 
Kosciusko.  Gates  had  intended  to  act  wholly  on  the  defensive,  but 
the  dashing  Arnold  begged  and  received  permission  to  advance 


BATTLES   AT   SARATOGA 


273 


upon  the  enemy.  With  three  thousand  men 
he  met  the  British,  at  Freeman's  Farm.1 
After  a  sharp  fight  Fraser  attacked  Arnold 
fiercely,  and  later  in  the  day  Riedesel  joined 
First  battle  him.  Arnold  sent  to  Gates  for 
of  Saratoga,  reinforcements,  but  the  latter, 
September  19.  ^^  more  tjian  ten  thousand 

idle  troops  about  him,  refused ;  and  Arnold, 
though  with  inferior  numbers,  again  dashed 
into  the  battle  and  kept  it  up  till  nightfall. 
Neither  side  could  claim  a  victory;  but  the 
advantage  lay  with  the  Americans,  who  had 
lost  but  three  hundred  men,  while  the  enemy's 
loss  was  nearly  twice  that  number.2 

The  conduct  of  Gates  in  refusing  Arnold 
reinforcements  was  outrageous,  and  can  be 
explained  only  on  the  ground  of  jealousy. 
In  the  account  of  the  battle  he  sent  to  Con 
gress,  Gates  took  the  entire  credit  to  him 
self,  and  did  not  even  mention  Arnold's 
name !  The  army,  however,  sounded  his 
praises,  and  this  awakened  the  envy  of  Gates. 
A  quarrel  arose  between  the  two,  and  Gates 
dismissed  Arnold  from  his  command.  The 
latter  was  about  to  leave  for  Pennsylvania, 
but  his  brother  officers  begged  him  to  remain, 
and  he  did  so. 

Eighteen  days  after  this  battle  a  second 
took  place  on  the  same  ground  as  the  first. 
Burgoyne  found  that  he  must  cut  his  way 
out  of  the  trap  in  which  he  was  placed,  or 
perish,  and  he  had  a  little  hope  of  success. 
He  had  heard  that  the  dashing  Arnold  was 
now  without  a  command,  and  he  had  little 
respect  for  Gates,  whom  he  called  "an  old 
midwife."  With  fifteen  hundred  picked  men 
he  attempted  to  turn  the  American  left,  but 


FT.  TICONOEROGAi 


w. 


Saratoga 


Albany. 


1  Of  the  four  names  by  which  this  battle  is  known  the  reader  can  take  his  choice 
Saratoga,  Still  water,  Bemis  Heights,  and  Freeman's  Farm. 

2  Some  writers  make  the  losses  much  greater. 


274  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

was  driven  back  at  every  point  by  Morgan's  sharpshooters  and  the 
New  England  regulars. 

Arnold  was  watching  the  conflict  from  a  distance  and  could 
endure  being  a  spectator  no  longer ;  he  leaped  upon  his  charger  and 
was  soon  in  the  midst  of  the  battle.  The  men  shouted 
for  joy  at  the  sight  of  their  old  commander,  and  from 
then  to  the  end  of  the  day  it  was  Arnold's  voice  that  they  obeyed. 
The  British  were  thoroughly  defeated,  and  General  Fraser,  one  of 
Burgoyne's  ablest  commanders,  was  mortally  wounded.  As  evening 
was  closing  the  battle,  a  wounded  German  soldier  lying  on  the 
ground  fired  at  Arnold  and  shattered  his  left  leg, 
Arnold0  ^e  same  that  had  been  wounded  at  Quebec.  A 

rifleman  who  saw  the  incident  rushed  upon  the  Ger 
man  with  his  bayonet  and  would  have  run  him  through  the  body, 
but  Arnold  cried,  "  For  God's  sake,  don't  hurt  him !  he's  a  fine 
fellow ! "  and  the  man  was  spared.  It  has  been  well  said  that  this 
was  the  hour  when  Benedict  Arnold  should  have  died.1  Had  it  been 
so,  what  a  name  he  would  have  left  in  the  annals  of  America !  but 
how  painful  for  the  historian  to  record  the  later  career  of  this  dar 
ing,  brilliant  soldier. 

The  British  army  was  now  weary  unto  death,  and  a  braver  army 
never  wielded  the  sword.  The  Hudson  was  guarded  at  every  point 
by  the  Americans,  who  were  fast  closing  around  their  intrepid  foes. 
The  wife  of  General  Riedesel,  with  her  three  little  children,  had 
followed  the  fortunes  of  her  husband  through  the  war.  For  six 
days  she  crouched  in  the  cellar  of  a  large  house  with  her  children, 
her  maids,  and  several  wounded  officers,  while  the  Americans,  think 
ing  the  place  a  lodging  for  officers,  trained  their  guns  on  the  house, 
and  eleven  cannon  balls  passed  through  it  in  one  night. 

General  Fraser  died  soon  after  the  battle.  He  had  requested 
that  his  body  be  buried  at  the  twilight  hour  on  a  green  hill  not  far 
from  the  river.  This  was  done,  and  as  the  little  group  of  officers 
stood  sadly  around  the  grave  of  their  fallen  comrade,  the  scene  was 
rendered  more  solemn  and  awful  by  the  peals  of  the  American  artil 
lery  that  mingled  with  the  broken  voice  of  the  chaplain.2 

What  now  could  the  British  army  do  but  surrender?  It  was 
practically  surrounded  by  the  Americans,  whose  cannonade  was 
incessant,  day  and  night ;  its  supplies  were  cut  off,  and  there  was  no 

1 1  have  borrowed  the  account  of  this  incident  from  Fiske. 
2  Baroness  Riedesel's  diary. 


FOREIGN  AID  275 


hope  of  rescue.  Sir  Henry  Clinton1  was  at  last  moving  up  the  Hud 
son  with  a  small  army,  and  had  won  some  successes ;  but  it  was  not 
possible  for  him  to  reach  Burgoyne  before  the  surrender.  Had  he 
done  so  the  result  might  have  been  the  surrender  of  two  British 
armies  instead  of  one,  for  the  patriots  were  now  twenty  thousand 
strong  and  were  still  swarming  in  from  the  valleys  and  the  hills. 

Burgoyne  asked  for  a  conference  with  Gates  on  October  12.    The 
latter  at  first  demanded  unconditional  surrender,  but  the  English 
general  refused  and  declared  that  his  men  would  first  fall  upon  their 
foe  and  accept  no  quarter.2    Gates  then  gave  better  terms.    The  Brit 
ish  were  permitted  to  stack  their  own  arms  and  were   Surrender  of 
promised   transportation  to  England  on  the  condition   Burgoyne, 
that  they  must  not  serve  again  during  the  war.3     The   October  17, 
number  of  men  surrendered  was  5799,  with  all  the  can-   177'- 
non,  muskets,  and  munitions  of  war ;  but  the  entire  British  losses 
from  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  exceeded  ten  thousand  men. 

After  the  surrender  the  American  army  melted  away  as  rapidly 
as  it  had  assembled,  leaving  but  an  nucleus  of  regulars.  The  militia 
returned  to  their  homes,  feeling  confident  (and  this  feeling  was  shared 
throughout  the  country)  that  the  crisis  of  the  war  was  past  and  that 
the  complete  independence  of  America  must  in  the  end  be  achieved. 

FOREIGN  AID 

The  crisis  of  the  Revolution  had  passed  before  the  colonists 
received  any  substantial  military  aid  from  abroad,  and  they  would 
probably  have  won  their  independence  had  they  been  left  wholly  to 
themselves.  Nevertheless  the  help  that  at  length  came  was  received 
most  gratefully.  France  was  the  first  to  stretch  forth  a  helping  hand. 
But  the  motive  of  the  French  was  not  the  noblest  of  motives.  It 
was  not  a  feeling  of  friendliness  that  prompted  their  action ;  they 
scarcely  knew  the  Americans  except  as  a  foe  whom  they  had  met 
on  the  field  of  battle.  Nor  was  it  a  desire  to  strike  a  blow  in  the 
cause  of  Liberty  struggling  to  be  born ;  France  was  at  that  moment 

1  Clinton  had  sent  a  messenger  to  Burgoyne  with  a  letter  written  on  very  thin 
paper  and  encased  in  a  silver  bullet.     At  Kingston  the  messenger  was  caught.     He 
swallowed  the  bullet,  but  it  was  recovered  by  means  of  an  emetic.    The  messenger 
was  hanged,  and  Burgoyne  waited  in  vain  for  the  news  from  Clinton. 

2  See  Creasy's  "  Fifteen  Decisive  Battles,"  "  Saratoga." 

3  Congress  declined  to  carry  out  these  terms  fully.    See  note  at  the    end  of 
the  chapter. 


276  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  most  king-ridden  country  in  Europe.  What  prompted  the  French 
government  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the  patriot  cause  in  America 
was  chiefly  a  desire  to  cripple  and  wound  her  old  enemy,  who  had 
robbed  her  of  her  own  fair  dominion  in  the  New  World. 

This  was  the  chief  motive  of  the  French ;  but  there  was  another. 
In  addition  to  a  certain  romantic  interest  in  the  American  struggle, 
felt  in  the  higher  circles  of  French  society,  there  was  a  spirit  of 
unrest  throughout  the  nation  that  only  waited  an  opportunity  to 
vent  itself.  Taught  by  such  men  as  Voltaire  and  Rousseau,  Montes 
quieu  and  Turgot,  the  French  people  had  come  to  that  state  of 
discontent  which  first  found  expression  in  a  desire  to  aid  the  strug 
gling  Americans,  and  later  in  the  violent  Revolution  that  swept  over 
their  own  land. 

Scarcely  had  the  breach  between  England  and  her  colonies  begun 
when  the  French  sought  to  widen  it.  Early  in  the  contest  Arthur 
Lee,  then  living  in  London  as  the  agent  of  Virginia, 
secured  from  the  French  government,  under  the  name  of 
a  fictitious  business  firm,  military  stores  to  the  amount 
of  $200,000.  Congress  then  sent  Silas  Deane  to  join  Lee,  and  it  was 
not  long  until  French  vessels  had  landed  in  America  two  hundred 
heavy  guns,  four  thousand  tents,  a  large  supply  of  small  arms,  and 
clothing  for  thirty  thousand  men.  This  was  done  secretly,  as  France 
was  not  yet  ready  to  break  with  England. 

Soon  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had  been  adopted 
Congress  sent  Franklin  to  join  Lee  and  Deane  in  Paris.  Before  the 
opening  of  the  war  Benjamin  Franklin  alone,  of  all  the 
American  people,  enjoyed  a  fame  bounded  only  by  civil 
ization.  He  had  won  a  great  name  as  a  philosopher 
and  a  writer  of  epigrams,  and  now  he  was  about  to  prove  himself 
one  of  the  leading  diplomats  of  his  generation.  Every  class  of 
French  society,  from  the  nobility  to  the  peasant,  now  paid  homage  to 
the  genius  who  could  "  snatch  the  lightning  from  the  sky  and  the 
scepter  from  tyrants."1  It  was  certainly  a  fortunate  hour  for 
America  when  Franklin  was  chosen  for  this  important  mission. 

For  more  than  a  year  he  labored  with  unwearied  zeal  at  the 
French  court  to  secure  the  recognition  of  the  United  States.  At 
first  the  French  were  unwilling  to  go  to  such  lengths,  but  Ver- 
gennes,  the  foreign  minister,  made  a  secret  arrangement  to  convey 
to  America  two  million  francs  a  year  in  quarterly  payments,  to  be 
1  It  was  Turgot  who  said  of  Franklin,  Eripuit  cwlofulmen  sceptrumque  tyrannis. 


TREATY   WITH   FRANCE  277 

repaid  eventually  in  merchandise. .  Three  ships  laden  with  army 
stores  were  also  sent ;  two  of  them  arrived  in  safety,  but  the  third 
was  captured  by  the  British. 

A  year  passed,  and  during  this  time  Franklin  and  his  com 
panions  were  steadily  molding  French  opinion  in  favor  of  America. 
At  length,  late  in  the  autumn  of  1777,  the  news  of  the  surrender  of 
Burgoyne  reached  Paris,  and  the  excitement  was  scarcely  less  there 
than  in  America.  The  popular  enthusiasm  reached  the  court,  and 
ere  the  close  of  December  the  king  sent  word  to  Franklin  that  he 
was  ready  to  acknowledge  the  independence  of  the  United  States. 
His  haste  was  doubtless  caused  by  a  fear  that  the  English  would 
now  offer  terms  acceptable  to  the  Americans.  Negotiations  were 
immediately  begun,  and  on  February  6,  1778,  a  secret  treaty  was 
concluded  between  the  two  countries  —  a  compact  of  friendship  to 
be  made  public,  and  a  treaty  of  alliance  to  be  made  public  only 
when  England  declared  war  against  France.  By  this  treaty  the 
United  States  made  a  solemn  agreement  not  to  make  terms  with 
England  until  that  country  had  acknowledged  its  independence. 

And  France  won  the  American  heart.  For  long  years  before  the 
Kevolution,  the  filial  love  of  the  colonists  for  Great  Britain  was 
unbroken,  while  there  was  a  feeling  of  dislike  toward  France,  the 
rival  claimant  of  the  soil  of  North  America,  and  toward  Frenchmen, 
whom  they  had  often  met  on  the  field  of  battle.  But  in  the  fifteen 
years  following  the  Stamp  Act,  this  feeling  was  reversed,  and  the 
effects  of  that  change  have  not  been  eradicated  to  this  day.1  It  is 
true  that  America  has  come  to  love  old  England  again,  as  it  should; 
but  France  has  never  been  forgotten  for  her  timely  aid  in  this  trying 
hour.  And  this  sympathetic  bond  is  strengthened  by  the  remem 
brance  of  the  personal  service  of  that  brilliant  young  French  noble 
man,  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette. 

At  a  dinner  party  in  Germany  he  heard  of  the  revolted  colonies 
battling  for  freedom  in  America.      His  inborn  love  of  liberty  was 
aroused,  and  he  determined  to  offer  his  life  and  his  for 
tune  in  the  glorious  cause,  believing,  as  he  said,  that 
"  the  welfare  of  America  is  closely  bound  up  with  the  welfare  of 
mankind."     He  had  inherited  a  great  fortune,  and,  fitting  out  a  ves 
sel  secretly  at  his  own  expense,  he  embarked  on  the  sea  and  reached 
the  shore  of  South  Carolina  —  two  years  to  the  day  after  the  battle 

1  A  monument  was  recently  erected  in  Washington  to  commemorate  French  aid 
in  the  Revolution. 


278  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

of  Lexington.  Proceeding  to  Philadelphia,  he  offered  to  Congress 
his  services  without  pay,  was  made  a  major  general  by  that  body, 
became  a  member  of  the  military  family  of  Washington,  and  soon 
entered  the  depths  of  that  great  man's  heart.  Valiantly  he  served 
through  the  war ;  and  he  returned,  rejoicing  at  its  close,  to  rejoin  his 
youthful  wife  in  his  native  land.  In  the  course  of  our  history  many 
other  foreigners  have  won  the  applause  and  homage  of  the  American 
people ;  but  the  name  of  no  other  stands,  or  can  ever  stand,  so  high 
as  the  name  of  Lafayette. 

There  were  a  few  others  also  from  foreign  shores  whose  services 
in  the  War  for  Independence  cannot  be  forgotten  by  a  grateful  peo 
ple.    Among  these  was  another  liberty-loving  Frenchman,  the  Baron 
de  Kalb,  who  came  in  the  same  ship  with  Lafayette.     Faithfully  he 
served  as  a  major  general  in  New  Jersey  and  Maryland  and  later  in 
the  South,  where  he  fell  at  Camden  with  eleven  wounds,  and  died 
soon  after  the  battle.     Among  the  names  not  to  be  forgotten  is  that 
of  the  Polish  patriot,  Thaddeus  Kosciusko.     A  youth 
of  twenty  years,  he  joined  the  army  in  1776,  and  as  an 
engineer  became  one  of  the  most  useful  men  in  the  service.     At  the 
close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  his  native  land  and  became  the  leader 
of  his  countrymen  against  the  combined  attack  of  the  powers  that  had 
determined  on   the  division   of   Poland.     But   his   little   band  was 
routed  at  Macieowice  by  a  vast  army,  and  Kosciusko  fell,  covered 
with  wounds,  uttering  the  sadly  prophetic  words,  "  This  is  the  end 
of  Poland." *     Still  another  brave  defender  of  liberty  we  must  note 
from  this   same   unhappy  Poland,  Count  Pulaski,  the 
son  of  a  rich  nobleman  who  perished  in  the  defense  of 
his  country.     Pulaski  made  his  way  to  America,  became  an  effective 
leader  of  cavalry,  and  at  last,  in  the  siege  of  Savannah,  gave  his  life 
to  the  cause  that  he  loved  above  all  things  —  the  cause  of  Liberty. 
One  of  the  most  useful  of  our  foreign  helpers  was  the  German  noble 
man,  Baron  Steuben.     He  joined  the  army  late  in  1777, 
was  made  inspector  general,  and  greatly  raised  the  effec 
tiveness  of  the  army,  by  introducing  discipline  and  drill  according 
to  the  best  European  standards.     At  the  close  of  the  war  Steuben 

1  To  this  fall  the  poet  Campbell  refers  in  his  couplet :  — 

"  Hope  for  a  season  bade  the  earth  farewell, 
And  Freedom  shrieked  when  Kosciusko  fell." 

After  the  downfall  of  his  nation  Kosciusko  lived  quietly  in  France.     He  visited 
the  United  States  in  1797  and  received  a  pension  and  a  grant  of  land  from  Congress. 


DEATH   OF   CHATHAM  279 

was  granted  a  pension  by  Congress,  and  a  large  tract  of  land  near 
the  site  of  the  battle  of  Oriskany  by  the  state  of  New  York.  On 
this  tract  he  built  a  house  and  lived  happily  among  his  servants  and 
tenants  until  his  death  in  1794.  Among  the  friends  of  America  at 
this  period  we  cannot  omit  the  name  of  Frederick  the  Great,  king  of 
Prussia.1  Frederick  was  then  the  most  powerful  personage  in  Europe. 
He  had  been  greatly  aided  by  England  during  the  Seven  Years'  War; 
but  he  could  not  conceal  his  sympathy  with  the  patriots,  and  he 
proved  it  by  opening  the  port  of  Dantzig  to  American  cruisers  and 
by  refusing  to  permit  any  more  Hessians  to  pass  through  his  do 
minions  en  route  to  America.  He  refused,  however,  to  negotiate  a 
treaty  at  that  time  with  the  United  States. 

Another  item  of  foreign  news  is  very  interesting  at  this  point. 
The  astonishing  tidings  of  Burgoyne's  surrender  spread  dismay  in  the 
royal  party  in  England,  and  in  February,  1778,  Lord  North  arose  in 
the  Commons  and  proposed  that  every  point  for  which  the  Ameri 
cans  contended  in  the  beginning  be  yielded  by  Parliament.  This 
humiliating  act  passed  both  houses  and  was  signed  by  the  king  in 
March.  But  it  was  too  late,  and  the  commissioners  sent  to  treat  with 
Congress  were  received  with  scorn,  as  America  refused  all  overtures 
except  on  the  ground  of  independence. 

Two  days  after  King  George  had  signed  this  act,  the  news  of  the 
French  treaty  with  America  was  made  known  to  England,  and  war 
was  soon  declared  against  France.  Lord  North  then  determined  to 
resign  his  office,  and  the  nation,  in  its  distress,  turned  to  the  Great 
Commoner.  It  was  believed  that  he  and  he  alone  could  yet  concili 
ate  America.  The  king,  with  his  usual  obstinacy,  hesitated  to  put  the 
government  into  the  hands  of  his  old  enemy.  He  would  probably 
have  been  forced  to  do  so  by  public  opinion  had  not  death  come  to 
his  rescue  by  removing  Chatham.  The  Great  Commoner  was  mak 
ing  his  last  speech  before  the  Lords,  and  his  subject  was  that  Amer 
ica  must  not  be  lost  to  England.  Bandaged  in  flannels  and  leaning 
on  crutches,  he  awakened  to  his  theme,  and  the  light  of  other  days 
shone  from  his  eyes.  He  finished,  but  soon  rose  again  to  answer  a 
reply,  when  he  fell  to  the  floor  in  a  swoon.  He  was  carried  to  his 
home  by  loving  hands,  and  a  few  weeks  later  he  passed  away,  at  the 
age  of  threescore  years  and  ten.  North  was  now  prevailed  on  to  con 
tinue  as  premier,  and  the  war  went  on. 

1  The  long-current  story  that  Frederick  sent  Washington  a  sword  is  now  believed 
to  be  mythical.  See  Century  Magazine,  Vol.  XIX,  p.  945. 


280  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 


FROM   MORRISTOWN   TO   GERMANTOWN 

We  must  now  go  back  and  take  up  the  thread  of  the  story  of  the 
war  in  America.  During  the  year  1777  the  military  operations 
were  carried  on  in  two  parallel  lines.  The  one  we  have  traced  to 
its  culmination  in  the  surrender  at  Saratoga.  The  other  lay  in  a 
different  field  and  with  different  surroundings,  and  although  no 
brilliant  victory  rewarded  the  American  commander,  his  general 
ship  was  this  year,  as  usual,  superior  to  that  of  any  of  his  fellow- 
commanders. 

We  left  Washington  encamped  for  the  winter  at  Morristown. 
With  the  opening  of  spring  new  recruits  began  to  arrive,  and  when 
the  commander  broke  camp  on  the  28th  of  May  his  army  numbered 
some  eight  thousand  men.  General  Howe  had  spent  the  winter  at 
New  York,  and  his  plan  now  seemed  to  be  to  dash  across  New  Jer 
sey,  capture  Philadelphia,  and  return  in  time  to  assist  Burgoyne. 
Washington,  divining  this,  planted  his  army  stubbornly  in  the  way. 
His  army  was  but  half  the  size  of  Howe's,  and  he  refused  to  be 
drawn  into  open  battle;  but  he  harassed  his  enemy  from  every 
side,  and  after  eighteen  days  of  this  watchdog  policy,  actually  drove 
Howe  back  to  Staten  Island.1  Washington,  supposing  that  Howe 
would  proceed  up  the  Hudson,  prepared  to  cooperate  with  Schuy- 
ler.  But  Howe  embarked  upon  the  sea  and  sailed  for  the  mouth  of 
the  Delaware.  Finding  that  river  too  well  guarded,  as  he  supposed, 
he  sailed  around  the  peninsula  and  up  Chesapeake  Bay,  landing  near 
Elkton,  Maryland,  the  last  of  August. 

Washington  was  amazed  to  discover  that  Howe  had  abandoned 
Burgoyne ;  such  a  military  blunder  was  almost  inconceivable.  And 
besides,  the  possession  of  Philadelphia  could  be  of  little  advantage  to 
the  British,  as  the  city  was  not  a  military,  nor  even  an  administra 
tive,  center.  Congress  could  easily  fly  to  a  neighboring  town  and 
continue  its  business.  But  Howe  acted  as  though  the  goal  of  the 
war  was  to  take  the  "  rebel  capital."  Soon  after  he  landed  at  the 
head  of  the  Chesapeake,  however,  Washington  was  there  to  confront 
him  with  an  army  now  raised  to  eleven  thousand.  Howe's  army 
was  much  larger  and  better  drilled,  but  Washington  determined 
to  risk  a  battle.  He  was  driven  to  this,  it  may  be  said,  by  public 
sentiment.  The  people  could  not  understand  the  Fabian  policy,  of 

1  John  Fiske,  our  ablest  writer  on  the  Revolution,  pronounces  this  feat  of  Wash 
ington's  as  remarkable  as  anything  he  ever  did,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  agree  with  him, 


CAPTURE   OF   PHILADELPHIA 


281 


which  he  was  such  a  master ;  and  had  he  given  up  Philadelphia 
without  striking  a  blow,  he  would  have  been  severely  censured  by 
the  public.  As  Fiske  says,  he  saw  that  it  was  better  to  suffer  a 
defeat  than  to  yield  the  city  without  a  struggle,  and  he  met  Howe 
in  southern  Pennsylvania,  on  the  banks  of  the  Brandy  wine. 

Washington  took  a  strong  position  at  Chadd's  Ford,  his  center 
protected  in  front  by  artillery  under  General  Anthony  Wayne,  while 
Greene  remained  in  the  background  as  a  reserve.  The  right  wing 


VA  LLEY  FOROE ,  PHIT, ADELPHIA , 

AND 
BRA  JST>  Y^'XNE . 


Borma,  JtC;..S.T. 


under  Sullivan  was  then  thrown  up  the  stream  for  two  miles.     A 
portion  of  the  British  army,  under  Knyphausen,  the  ablest  of  the 
Hessian  commanders  except  Riedesel,  occupied  Washington's  front, 
while   Cornwallis,   with   great   skill,  made   a   flank   movement  by 
marching  up  the  Lancaster  road,  crossing  the  Brandywine,  and  strik 
ing  Sullivan  in  the  rear.      Washington  had  expected   Battle  of 
this  movement,  but  was  thrown  off  his  guard  by  a  false   Brandywine, 
report.     Sullivan  made  a  desperate  fight  at  the  church,   September 
but  was  slowly  forced  back.     Knyphausen  then  crossed       ' 
the  creek  to  attack  Wayne,  who,  fighting  as  he  went,  made  an  orderly 


282  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

retreat  upon  Chester,  as  Sullivan  and  Greene  had  done.  The  loss  on 
the  American  side  exceeded  one  thousand  men,  while  the  enemy  lost 
nearly  six  hundred.  The  British  were  justified  in  claiming  a  victory, 
as  they  drove  the  patriot  army  from  the  field. 

Brandywine  decided  the  fate  of  Philadelphia.  Washington 
knew  that  the  capital  must  be  given  up,  but  he  determined  to  harass 
and  detain  the  enemy  as  much  as  possible,  his  chief  object  being  to 
prevent  aid  being  sent  to  Burgoyne  on  the  Hudson.  There  were 
frequent  skirmishes,  in  one  of  which  Wayne  lost  three  hundred  men, 
and  a  regular  battle  was  prevented  at  Chester  Valley 
onl^  b^  a  violent  storm.  So  vigilant  was  Washington 
in  retarding  the  British  that  it  required  fifteen  days 
for  them  to  march  twenty-five  miles.  They  entered  the  capital 
on  September  26.  Congress  had  fled  to  Lancaster,  after  again  mak 
ing  Washington  dictator  —  this  time  for  sixty  days.  Howe  encamped 
his  main  army  at  Germantown,  then  a  village  of  one  long  street  a 
few  miles -north  of  Philadelphia;  and  here,  on  the  4th  of  October, 
Washington  again  gave  battle. 

This  battle  might  have  proved  a  glorious  victory  for  the  Ameri 
cans  but  for  an  unfortunate  accident  caused  by  a  dense  fog.  Wash 
ington  had  planned  the  battle  admirably.  His  army  was  to  advance 
by  four  different  roads,  and  to  meet  at  daybreak  and  open  the  battle 
at  different  points.  Sullivan,  in  command  of  the  main  army,  swept 
down  from  Chestnut  Hill  and  met  the  British  advance  guard  at  Mount 
Airy,  a  slight  elevation  between  Chestnut  Hill  and  Germantown. 
Joining  with  Wayne  at  this  point,  Sullivan  charged  the  guard, 
Germantown  Passing  them  back  on  the  light  infantry,  and  both  were 
October  4,  soon  put  to  flight.  A  portion  of  the  British  took  refuge 
1777-  in  Judge  Chew's  stone  mansion,  which  the  Americans 

bombarded  for  some  hours  without  effect.'  Sullivan  had  passed  on 
down  the  main  street,  and  was  now  supported  by  Greene,  who  had 
come  up  with  the  American  left  wing.  The  British  were  thrown 
into  confusion,  and  there  was  every  promise  of  a  brilliant  American 
victory,  when,  in  the  dense  fog  that  enveloped  the  entire  surrounding 
country,  General  Stephen,  who  commanded  a  brigade  of  Greene's 
division,  fired  on  Wayne's  men,  mistaking  them  for  the  enemy.  A 
panic  soon  spread  through  the  army,  and  a  general  retreat  was 
ordered.  The  British  saw  their  sudden  advantage,  re-formed,  and 
pursued  the  Americans  for  several  miles.  The  latter,  however,  re 
treated  in  good  order,  saving  their  wounded  and  their  artillery. 


SUFFERING   AT   VALLEY   FORGE  283 


The  respective  losses  were   nearly  the   same   as   at   the   battle   of 
Brandy  wine.1 

This  battle,  which  occurred  thirteen  days  before  the  surrender  of 
Burgoyne  at  Saratoga,  though  resulting  in  a  defeat,  came  so  near  being 
a  victory  that  the  American  army  was  rather  elated  than  depressed 
by  the  result.  The  British  general,  after  opening  the  Delaware  to  his 
brother's  fleet  by  reducing  forts  Mercer  and  Mifflin  at  the  cost  of 
half  a  thousand  men,  settled  snugly  in  Philadelphia  for  the  winter ; 
while  Washington,  after  hovering  threateningly  about  for  some 
weeks,  led  his  army  to  Valley  Forge. 

VALLEY   FORGE   AND   MONMOUTH 

Every  American  reader  is  familiar  with  the  story  of  the  sufferings 
of  the  patriot  army  at  Valley  Forge.  To  this  valley  among  the  hills 
that  border  the  winding  Schuylkill,  some  twenty  miles  from  Phila 
delphia,  Washington  led  his  half-clad  army  of  eleven  thousand  men 
about  the  middle  of  December,  1777.  As  the  men  marched  to  this 
retreat  their  route  could  be  traced  in  the  snow  by  the  blood  that  had 
oozed  from  broken  shoes.  On  reaching  the  place  they  found  it 
shelterless,  and  for  two  weeks  they  toiled  in  the  bitter  weather,  build 
ing  huts  in  which  to  spend  the  winter.  Many  were  without  blankets, 
and  had  to  sit  by  the  fire  all  night  to  keep  from  freezing.  Washing 
ton  informed  Congress,  on  December  23,  that  he  had  in  camp  2898 
men  "unfit  for  duty  because  they  are  barefoot,  and  otherwise 
naked."  The  rudely  built  hospitals  were  soon  crowded  with  the 
sick  and  dying.  Some  died  for  want  of  straw  to  make  a  bed  on  the 
frozen  ground,  others  for  want  of  sufficient  nourishment.  "The 
unfortunate  soldiers  were  in  want  of  everything,"  wrote  Lafayette 
years  afterward ;  "  they  had  neither  coats,  hats,  shirts,  nor  shoes, 
their  feet  and  legs  froze  till  they  became  black,  and  it  was  often 
necessary  to  amputate  them."  Thus  that  long  and  dreary  winter  was 
spent  by  the  patriots  who  won  for  us  the  independence  of  America, 
and  the  fewness  of  the  desertions  of  that  trying  hour  attest  the 
depths  of  their  patriotism. 

But  our  pity  is  mingled  with  indignation  when  we  consider  that 
most  of  this  suffering  arose  from  mismanagement  and  the  incom- 

1  General  Stephen  was  accused  of  drunkenness  during  the  battle,  was  tried  by 
court-martial,  and  was  dismissed  from  the  service.  As  to  the  losses  at  Germantown, 
as  in  most  of  the  battles,  the  records  are  incomplete,  and  it  is  difficult  to  get  at  the 
exact  truth. 


284  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

petency  of  Congress.  The  country  was  full  of  clothing  and  provi 
sions  ;  "  hogsheads  of  shoes,  stockings,  and  clothing  were  lying  at 
different  places  on  the  roads  and  in  the  woods,  perishing  for  want 
of  teams,  or  of  money  to  pay  the  teamsters."  Congress  had  degen 
erated  woefully  since  the  passing  of  the  great  Declaration.  Franklin 
was  in  Paris,  Henry  was  governor  of  Virginia,  Jefferson,  Rutledge, 
and  Jay  were  no  longer  on  the  roll.  The  wily  politician  was  too 
often  chosen  instead  of  the  statesman  and  the  patriot,  and  his  bane 
ful  influence  has  not  ceased  to  be  felt  from  that  time  to  the  present. 
Incompetent  men  were  promoted  in  the  army  by  Congress,  in 
spite  of  the  protests  of  the  commander  in  chief,  and  the  result 
was  mismanagement  and  widespread  demoralization. 

It  was  during  this  fateful  winter  also  that  the  detestable  plot 
known  as  the  "  Conway  Cabal  "  took  place.  Thomas  Conway  was 
an  Irishman  who  had  long  been  in  the  service  of  France, 
anc^  was  an  on^cer  °f  some  reputation.  He  had  been  in 
the  battles  of  Brandy  wine  and  Germantown,  and  was 
about  to  be  promoted  when  Washington,  believing  the  movement 
unwise,  protested.  Conway  was  highly  offended,  and  in  a  short 
time  he  had  co'ncocted  a  scheme  to  overthrow  Washington,  and 
to  elevate  Gates  to  his  place.  Conway's  chief  fellow-conspirators 
were  Thomas  Mifflin  and  Dr.  Rush  of  Pennsylvania,  and  James 
Lovell,  a  member  of  Congress  from  Massachusetts.  Anonymous 
letters,  attacking  Washington  and  comparing  his  failure  in  Penn 
sylvania  with  the  success  of  Gates  at  Saratoga,  were  spread  about, 
and  many  of  the  uncritical  were  won  over.  Even  Congress  seemed 
to  favor  the  plotters ;  it  reorganized  the  Board  of  War,  made  Gates 
its  president,  Mifflin  a  member,  and  Conway  inspector  general 
of  the  army.  This  board  was  given  much  power  that  properly 
belonged  to  the  commander  in  chief.  Thus  matters  seemed  to  be 
moving  to  a  focus,  when  suddenly  the  whole  scheme  exploded  and 
came  to  naught.  Young  James  Wilkinson,  a  member  of  Gates's  staff, 
while  merry  with  wine,  disclosed  the  secret  correspondence  between 
Conway  and  Gates ;  and  the  information  reached  the  ears  of  Wash 
ington,  who  set  about  probing  the  scheme  with  a  quiet  dignity  that 
won  the  admiration  of  all.  In  a  few  weeks  public  sentiment  was  so 
changed  that  no  one  could  be  found  who  would  acknowledge  having 
had  anything  to  do  with  the  plot.  Even  Conway,  being  wounded  in 
a  duel  and  expecting  to  die,  wrote  Washington  a  letter  expressing 
his  sincere  grief  at  what  he  had  done. 


CLINTON   LEAVES   PHILADELPHIA  285 

One  thing  more  must  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  this  'winter 
at  Valley  Forge  —  the  coining  of  Steuben.  The  army  was  but  half 
trained  until  it  was  taken  in  hand  by  this  noble  old  Ger 
man,  who  had  been  schooled  on  the  staff  of  Frederick  the  y^ 6  For  e 
Great.  With  infinite  pains  he  drilled  the  men  day  after 
day.  Losing  his  patience  at  times,  it  is  said  that  he  would  exhaust 
his  vocabulary  of  French  and  German  oaths,  and  then  call  on  his  aid 
to  curse  the  blockheads  in  English.1  He  acknowledged  afterward, 
however,  that  the  Americans  were  wonderfully  quick  to  learn ;  and 
it  is  certain  that  from  this  time  to  the  end  of  the  war  the  patriot 
soldiers  could  measure  up  almost,  if  not  fully,  to  the  standard  of 
the  British  regulars. 

While  the  Americans  were  enduring  the  hardships  of  Valley 
Forge,  the  British  were  living  in  luxury  in  Philadelphia.  Most  of 
the  patriots  had  fled  from  the  city,  arid  the  loyalists  and  the  soldiers 
spent  the  winter  in  a  round  of  gayeties,  —  theaters,  balls,  and  parties, 
—  and  to  these  were  added  gambling,  cockfighting,  and  horse  racing. 
Franklin  wrote  from  Paris  that  Howe  had  not  taken  Philadelphia, 
but  Philadelphia  had  taken  Howe.  While  the  army  at  Valley  Forge 
was  drilling  and  becoming  more  inured  to  the  hardships  of  war,  that 
at  Philadelphia  was  deteriorating  through  luxury  and  idleness  j  and 
their  relative  efficiency  was  greatly  changed  when  they  met  again 
on  the  battlefield. 

General  Howe  had  undertaken  the  task  of  subjugating  the 
colonies  with  much  reluctance,  and  he  never  proved  himself  a 
vigorous,  dashing  commander.  Neither  his  operations  during  the 
preceding  summer  nor  his  winter  of  pleasure  in  Philadelphia  was 
pleasing  to  the  authorities,  and  his  recall  was  determined  upon.  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  was  chosen  to  succeed  him,  and  he  at  once  decided  to 
evacuate  Philadelphia  and  move  his  army  to  New  York.  Three  thou 
sand  loyalist  residents,  afraid  to  face  their  countrymen,  The  British 
begged  to  be  taken  away,  and  Clinton  sent  them  to  New  leave 
York  by  sea,  while  he  proceeded  to  cross  New  Jersey  Philadelphia, 
with  his  army.  The  ever-vigilant  Washington  was  on  the  alert,  and 
his  army,  after  the  long  winter  of  privation,  took  courage  with  the 
dawning  of  spring  and  with  the  glorious  news  of  the  French  alliance, 
and  came  forth  with  the  vigor  of  a  well-trained  athlete.  It  was  the 
18th  of  June  when  Clinton's  rear  guard  left  Philadelphia,  and  before 
sunset  of  that  day  the  Americans  occupied  it;  two  weeks  later  Con- 

1  Fiske,  Vol.  II,  p.  54. 


286  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

gress  had  returned  and  was  sitting  in  its  accustomed  place.  But 
Washington  was  not  content  to  occupy  the  city;  he  determined  to 
strike  the  British  ere  they  reached  New  York. 

Clinton  was  greatly  encumbered  with  a  baggage  train  twelve 
miles  long,  and  Washington  soon  overtook  him.  The  two  armies 
were  about  equal  in  strength,  each  containing  some  fifteen  thousand 
men ;  and  for  once  —  thanks  to  Baron  Steuben  —  the  Americans 
were  equal  to  the  enemy  in  fighting  qualities.  Clinton  would  gladly 
have  avoided  an  engagement,  but  Washington  was  eager  to  attack 
him.  The  battle  would  probably  have  been  the  greatest  of  the  war 
—  a  fight  to  the  finish  between  two  armies  of  equal  strength  —  but 
for  the  disobedience  and  treachery  of  one  man,  Charles  Lee,  who 
had  lately  been  exchanged.  As  stated  before,  Lee  was  a  traitor  to 
the  patriot  cause  ;  but  Washington,  not  suspecting  this,  gave  him  his 
old  command  as  senior  major  general.  Lee  now  opposed  an  attack 
on  Clinton  and,  being  overruled,  he  sullenly  refused  to  lead  the 
attack.  Lafayette  was  appointed  to  take  his  place,  but  next  day 
Lee,  professing  to  have  changed  his  mind,  requested  to  be  allowed  to 
lead  the  charge,  as  his  rank  entitled  him  to  do.  Washington,  with 
the  consent  of  Lafayette,  magnanimously,  but  very  unfortunately, 
granted  the  request. 

The  28th  of  June,  1778,  became  the  fateful  day  of  the  com 
ing  together  of  the  two  armies.  The  British  left  wing  under 
Cornwallis  had  encamped  the  preceding  night  near 
M^nmouth  Monmouth  Courthouse,  while  the  right  wing  under 
Knyphausen  lay  near  on  the  road  toward  Middletown. 
In  the  early  morning  Washington  sent  Lee  forward  to  attack  Corn 
wallis  in  flank,  while  he,  with  the  main  army,  would  come  up  and 
make  the  attack  general.  Lee  advanced  and  took  a  strong  position, 
partially  surrounding  Cornwallis,  when,  to  the  astonishment  of  the 
enemy  as  well  as  of  his  own  men,  Lee  ordered  a  retreat  across  a 
swamp.  Wayne,  who  had  already  begun  the  attack,  was  thunder 
struck  at  this  command,  but  could  do  nothing  but  obey  his  superior. 
Clinton  saw  the  strange  movement  and  was  quick  to  follow  up  the 
advantage  it  gave  him.  Lafayette  was  about  to  dash  his  force 
against  Clinton  when  Lee  stopped  the  movement.  Everything  now 
pointed  to  a  complete  English  victory,  and  so  it  would  have  been  but 
for  the  arrival  of  the  commander  in  chief.  Washington,  amazed  at 
hearing  of  Lee's  retreat,  galloped  to  the  front,  and,  meeting  Lee  at 
the  head  of  the  retreating  column,  demanded  in  a  terrific  voice  an 


MONMOUTH  287 


explanation  of  his  conduct.  Lee  quailed  at  the  impetuous  a'nger  of 
his  chief,  who  was  usually  so  calm  and  self-contained.  He  muttered 
something  about  his  not  having  favored  a  general  engagement,  when 
Washington,  losing  all  self-restraint,  shouted  that  he  must  be  obeyed. 
He  then  wheeled  about  and  put  a  stop  to  the  disgraceful  retreat,  and, 
meeting  Lee  again,  ordered  him  to  the  rear  and  himself  took  imme 
diate  command  of  the  battle. 

The  mercury  mounted  to  ninety-six  degrees  in  the  shade  on  that 
scorching  Sunday  when  the  battle  of  Monmouth  was  fought,  and 
more  than  fifty  men  on  each  side  who  escaped  the  enemy's  bullets 
fell  by  sunstroke.  -Scarcely  fifteen  minutes  elapsed  after  Washing 
ton  reached  the  front,  before  the  Americans,  while  under  fire,  had 
formed  into  line  of  battle.  Greene  commanded  the  right  wing  and 
Lord  Stirling  the  left,  while  Wayne  held  the  center,  and  Kuox 
managed  the  artillery.  The  British  were  soon  checked,  and  then 
steadily  pushed  back  until  the  Americans  occupied  the  high  ground 
from  which  Lee  had  retreated  in  the  morning.  At  one  time  during 
the  conflict  the  British  colonel,  Monckton,  seeing  the  necessity  of 
dislodging  Wayne,  advanced  at  the  head  of  his  troops  for  a  des 
perate  charge  with  the  bayonet ;  but  Wayne's  bullets  flew  like  hail, 
the  column  was  driven  back,  and  nearly  every  officer,  including 
Monckton,  was  slain.  The  battle  raged  until  nightfall,  when  the 
darkness  ended  it.  Washington  determined  to  renew  the  attack 
at  daybreak ;  but  Clinton  silently  withdrew  in  the  night,  and  at  the 
coming  of  dawn  was  far  on  his  way  toward  the  seacoast. 

The  battle  of  Monmouth  was  the  last  general  engagement  on 
northern  soil.  English  historians  have  usually  pronounced  this  a 
drawn  battle ;  but  while  it  was  not  a  decisive  victory,  the  advantage 
lay  clearly  with  the  Americans.  The  British  loss  was  over  four 
hundred,  and  exceeded  the  American  loss  by  nearly  a  hundred. 
Within  a  week  after  the  battle  some  two  thousand  of  Clinton's 
soldiers,  mostly  Germans,  deserted  him,  and  most  of  them  became 
substantial  American  citizens. 

The  extraordinary  conduct  of  Lee  at  this  battle  can  be  explained 
only  on  the  assumption  that  he  was  a  traitor  to  his  adopted  country. 
Most  historians  have  sought  to  condone  Lee's  action  and  to  claim 
him  still  among  the  patriots.  This  view  we  would  gladly  accept 
were  it  not  for  the  discovery,  many  years  later,  of  his  private  cor 
respondence  with  Howe,  in  which  he  advises  the  latter  as  to  the  best 
means  of  conquering  the  colonies.  His  aim.  at  Monmouth  was,  doubt- 


288  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

less,  to  compass  the  defeat  of  the  Americans  and  to  throw  the  blaine 
on  Washington  for  not  taking  his  advice.  If  then  Congress  had 
honored  him  for  his  superior  wisdom  with  the  chief  command,  he 
would  probably  have  opened  peace  negotiations  with 
Clinton.  But  Lee's  plan  was  frustrated,  and  he  soon 
found  himself  under  arrest  for  writing  an  impertinent  letter  to  his 
chief.  A  court-martial  suspended  him  from  command  for  a  year, 
and  ere  its  close  he  got  into  a  broil  with  Congress  and  was  expelled 
'from  the  army.  Lee  retired  to  a  plantation  which  he  had  in  Virginia, 
surrounded  himself  with  pet  dogs,  and  lived  among  them,  apart  from 
humanity,  until  1782,  when  he  made  a  trip  to  Philadelphia,  where 
he  suddenly  died  of  fever.  He  was  buried  at  Christ  Church,  and 
thus  his  last  wish,  that  he  might  not  be  buried  within  a  mile  of  a 
church,  was  disregarded. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  battle  of  Monmouth  we  find  Washington 
encamped  at  White  Plains,  east  of  the  Hudson,  while  Clinton  occu 
pied  the  city  of  New  York ;  and  here  the  two  commanders  remained 
watching  each  other  for  three  years  while  the  seat  of  war  was 
transferred  to  the  South. 

NOTES  AND  ANECDOTES 

The  Baroness  Riedesel.  —  The  wife  of  Baron  Riedesel,  one  of  Burgoyne's 
ablest  generals,  who  accompanied  her  husband  throughout  the  memorable  Sara 
toga  campaign,  was  a  woman  of  rare  beauty  and  accomplishments.  She  kept 
an  elaborate  diary  that  gives  a  remarkable  insight  into  the  daily  life  of  the 
army.  She  tells  how  the  soldiers  at  first  were  "  very  merry,  singing  songs,  and 
panting  for  action,"  and  how  terrible  was  the  suffering  just  before  the  surrender. 
From  this  diary,  describing  incidents  of  the  surrender,  we  take  the  following : 
"As  I  passed  through  the  American  [lines]  I  observed,  and  this  was  a  great  con 
solation  to  me,  that  no  one  eyed  us  with  looks  of  resentment ;  but  they  all 
greeted  us  and  even  showed  compassion.  When  I  drew  near  the  tents,  a  hand 
some  man  approached  me,  took  my  children  and  hugged  and  kissed  them. 
'You  tremble,'  said  he,  addressing  himself  to  me,  'be  not  afraid.  .  .  .  You 
will  be  very  much  embarrassed  to  eat  with  all  these  gentlemen  ;  come  with  your 
children  to  my  tent.  .  .  .'  '  You  are  certainly  a  husband  and  a  father,'  I  an 
swered  ;  'you  have  shown  me  so  much  kindness.'  I  now  found  that  he  was 
General  Schuyler.  Some  days  after  this  we  arrived  at  Albany,  where  we  so 
often  wished  ourselves  ;  but  we  did  not  enter  it  as  we  expected  we  should  — 
victors !  We  were  received  by  the  good  General  Schuyler,  his  wife,  and  daugh 
ters,  not  as  enemies,  but  kind  friends  ;  and  they  treated  us  with  the  most 
marked  attention  and  politeness,  as  they  did  General  Burgoyne,  who  had  caused 
General  Schuyler's  beautifully  finished  house  to  be  burnt.  In  fact,  they  behaved 
like  persons  of  exalted  minds,  who  determined  to  bury  all  recollections  of  their 


NOTES  289 


own  injuries  in  the  contemplation  of  our  misfortunes.  General  Burgoyne  was 
struck  with  General  Schuyler's  generosity,  and  said  to  him,  '  You  show  me  great 
kindness,  though  I  have  done  you  much  injury.'  'That  was  the  fate  of  war,' 
replied  the  brave  man  ;  '  let  us  say  no  more  about  it.'  ' 

Arnold's  Strategy.  —  Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Oriskany,  Schuyler 
sent  Benedict  Arnold  with  twelve  hundred  men  to  the  rescue  of  Fort  Stanwix. 
While  en  route  he  captured  several  Tory  spies,  among  whom  was  a  half-witted 
fellow  named  Yan  Yost  Cuyler.  All  were  condemned  to  death.  The  mother 
and  brother  of  Cuyler,  hearing  of  this,  hastened  to  the  camp  to  plead  for  his 
life.  At  length  Arnold  offered  him  his  freedom  if  he  would  go  to  the  camp  of 
St.  Leger  and  spread  the  report  that  Burgoyne  was. totally  defeated  and  that  a 
great  American  army  was  coining  to  the  rescue  of  Fort  Stanwix.  Cuyler  agreed, 
and  his  brother  was  detained  as  a  hostage  to  be  put  to  death  in  case  of  his 
failure.  Cuyler  did  his  part  well.  With  a  dozen  bullet  holes  in  his  coat  he  ran 
into  the  British  camp  and  declared  that  a  great  American  host  was  close  at 
hand,  and  that  he  had  barely  escaped  with  his  life.  He  was  known  to  many  of 
the  British  as  a  Tory,  and  they  readily  believed  his  story.  The  Indians  instantly 
took  fright  and  began  to  desert.  The  panic  soon  spread  to  the  regulars,  the 
camp  became  a  pandemonium,  and,  ere  noon  of  next  day,  the  whole  army  was 
in  full  flight  to  Canada.  See  Fiske,  Vol.  I,  p.  294. 

The  Surrendered  Army.  —  In  the  convention  between  Gates  and  Burgoyne, 
the  former  agreed  that  the  British  soldiers  be  transported  to  England  on  the 
condition  that  they  were  not  to  serve  again  during  the  war.  But  erelong  the 
belief  gained  ground  that  they  would  be  used  in  Europe  to  take  the  place  of 
other  troops  who  would  be  sent  to  America.  Congress,  therefore,  found  one 
excuse  after  another  for  not  carrying  out  the  convention.  First,  it  demanded 
pay  for  the  soldiers'  subsistence  since  the  surrender,  not  in  Continental  money, 
but  in  British  gold.  Congress  thus  made  a  spectacle  to  the  world  by  refusing  to 
accept  its  own  money.  It  next  imposed  an  impossible  condition  by  demanding 
that  Burgoyne  make  out  a  descriptive  list  of  all  the  officers  and  men  of  the 
army.  So  in  various  ways  Congress  evaded  carrying  out  the  agreement.  The 
British  soldiers  were  in  fact  never  sent  home.  After  being  kept  a  year  in  New 
England  they  were  sent  to  Charlotteville  in  Virginia,  making  the  overland  march 
of  seven  hundred  miles  in  midwinter.  Here  a  village  of  cottages  was  built  for 
them.  When,  in  1780,  Virginia  became  the  seat  of  war,  they  were  scattered, 
some  being  sent  to  Maryland,  and  others  to  Pennsylvania.  Meantime  their 
number  had  constantly  diminished  by  desertion,  death,  and  exchange.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  most  of  the  Germans  remained  in  America.  Burgoyne  was  per 
mitted  to  return  to  England  soon  after  the  surrender.  He  resumed  his  seat  in 
Parliament,  where  he  proved  himself  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  honor.  If  not 
an  open  friend  of  the  Americans,  he  at  least  never  failed  to  do  them  justice. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  REVOLUTION  —  THE  FRONTIER,  THE  OCEAN,  AND  THE 

SOUTH 

THE  story  of  the  Revolution  would  be  incomplete  without  some 
notice  of  the  border  warfare  that  raged  at  intervals  through  the  half- 
settled  wilderness  of  the  frontier.  The  dreadful  massacre  of  the 
innocents  during  that  period  by  the  savage  natives  of  the  forest 
is  usually  laid  at  the  door  of  George  III,  and  it  is  certain  that 
the  bloody  work  was  approved  by  him  and  instigated  by  his  still 
more  heartless  minister.  Lord  George  Germain ;  but  in  fairness  to  the 
British  people  it  must  be  said  that  most  of  them,  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic,  were  not  in  sympathy  with  this  cruel  business.  Nor 
can  we  believe  that  the  hellish  work  was  carried  on  usually  from  a 
spirit  of  vindictive  cruelty,  as  many  think,  but  rather  to  terrify  the 
patriots  into  submission  and  to  break  the  spirit  of  rebellion.1  The 
result,  however,  was  favorable  to  the  Americans,  for  it  unified  them, 
and  even  turned  many  loyalists  against  the  English  cause. 

.       BORDER   WAR   IN  THE   SOUTH  AND   WEST 

At  the  very  threshold  of  the  long  war,  even  before  the  battle  of 
Lexington,  there  occurred  at  Point  Pleasant,  on  the  Great  Kanawha 
River,  near  its  junction  with  the  Ohio,  one  of  the  most  desperate 
battles  with  the  Indians  ever  fought  on  American  soil.  A  thousand 
Virginians  lay  sleeping  under  the  trees,  when  at  daybreak  they  were 
surprised  by  a  larger  body  of  Indians  who  had  crept  with  catlike 
tread  upon  the  sleeping  army.  They  were  led  by  the  fierce  warrior, 
Cornstalk,  and  his  lieutenant,  the  famous  and  eloquent  Logan,2  chief 

1  The  patriots  enlisted  some  Indians  also  in  the  war;  but  in  no  case  are  they 
known  to  have  aided  or  encouraged  the  massacre  of  women  and  children,  as  was 
frequently  done  by  the  enemy. 

2  Logan's   famous  speech  is  well  known.     It  was  not  Colonel  Cresap,  as  he 
believed,  that  murdered  his  family,  but  a  heartless  wretch  named  Greathouse. 

290 


WAR   WITH  THE   INDIANS  291 

of  the  Mingos.  The  battle  raged  till  toward  evening,  when  a  detach 
ment  of  the  whites  gained  the  rear  of  the  Indians  and  opened  a 
deadly  fire.  The  Indians,  panic-stricken,  broke  and  fled  in  every 
direction.  About  one  fifth  of  each  army  was  slain ;  but  the  rout  of 
the  red  men  was  complete. 

The  Indians  were  now  willing  to  make  peace,  and  five  months 
after  the  battle,  on  a  sunny  day  in  March,  twelve  hundred  warriors 
gathered  on  the  green  at  the  white  settlement  of  Watauga;  and 
here  they  were  met  by  some  hundreds  of  white  men,  among  whom 
were  John  Sevier  and  James  Robertson,  the  great  colony  builders  of 
the  Southwest,  and  Daniel  Boone,  the  most  famous  of  American 
pioneers.1  Here  again  the  children  of  the  forest  promised  to  live  at 
peace  with  their  pale-faced  brethren,  arid  they  ceded  to  the  latter  the 
broad  and  beautiful  tract  south  of  the  Ohio,  the  paradise  of  the 
buffalo,  Kentucky.  But  the  peace  was  short-lived.  A  month  after 
it  was  made  came  the  fight  at  Lexington;  the  royal  governor  of 
North  Carolina  declared  the  treaty  illegal,  and  soon  again  the  Indians 
were  on  the  warpath.  A  desperate  attack  was  made  on  the  Watauga 
settlement  by  the  Cherokees  and  loyalists  in  1777,  but  Sevier  and 
Robertson  saved  the  colony  from  destruction,  and  at  length  forced 
the  Indians  to  give  up  all  their  lands  between  the  Tennessee  and 
Cumberland  rivers.  A  stream  of  emigration  soon  began  to  pour  into 
the  great  Tennessee  Valley,  and  the  memory  of  General  Nash,  who 
perished  in  the  battle  of  Germantown,  has  been  kept  green  by  the 
beautiful  town  founded  on  the  Cumberland,  and  called,  after  him, 
Nashville. 

The  temporary  peace  after  the  Point  Pleasant  affair  enabled 
Daniel  Boone  to  move  into  Kentucky  with  his  family,  where  he 
founded  a  settlement  and  built  the  fort  called  Boones- 
borough.  Born  and  reared  in  the  forest,  Boone  loved 
above  all  things  a  wild  life  in  the  wilderness,  untrarnmeled  by  the 
restraints  of  civilization.  The  roaring  of  the  wild  beast  and  the 
yells  of  the  Indian  had  no  terrors  for  Boone,  and  the  screaming 
of  the  wild  bird  in  the  lonely  night  was  music  to  his  ears.  He 
lived  in  the  wilderness  because  he  loved  it;  and  when  civilized 
society  grew  up  about  him,  he  moved  farther  into  the  vast  solitudes 
of  the  unbroken  forest.  Boone  was  not  a  colony  builder  nor  a  state 
founder  in  the  true  sense,  nor  had  he  a  thought,  perhaps,  of  leaving 
a  name  in  history.  He  was  simply  a  frontiersman,  a  hunter,  an  In- 
1  See  Gilmore's  "  Rearguard  of  the  Revolution,"  p.  97. 


292  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

dian  fighter ;  and  in  these  respects,  and  in  woodcraft,  his  skill  was  so 
marvelous  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  world.  During  the  last 
years  of  the  Eevolution  Boone  figured  in  various  battles  with  the 
Indians,  the  most  destructive  of  which  was  the  battle  of  the  Blue 
Licks,  fought  on  the  banks  of  the  Licking  River,  in 
August,  1782.  Soon  after  this  George  Rogers  Clark  led 
a  thousand  men  into  the  Indian  country  of  western  Ohio  and  spread 
havoc  on  every  hand.  So  weakened  were  the  Indians  by  this  raid 
that  they  never  again  led  an  army  into  Kentucky.  But  the  greatest 
achievement  of  Clark,  and  that  which  gave  him  a  permanent  name 
in  our  history,  had  already  been  won.  Late  in  the  autumn  of  1777 
the  thrilling  news  of  Burgoyne's  surrender  spread  through  the 
South.  At  this  time,  George  Rogers  Clark,  a  young  surveyor,  a 
member  of  the  Virginia  assembly,  stalwart,  brave,  and  patriotic, 
conceived  the  plan  of  conquering  the  Illinois  country  from  the  Brit 
ish.  His  plan  was  approved  by  Patrick  Henry,  then  governor  of 
Virginia ;  and  in  the  following  May  Clark  floated  down  the  Ohio, 
from  Pittsburg  to  its  mouth,  with  one  hundred  and  eighty  picked 
riflemen.  After  an  incredible  march  across  the  prairie  and  through 
swamps,  this  little  band  captured,  without  bloodshed,  Kaskaskia, 
Vincennes,  and  adjacent  posts,  and  the  country  was  annexed  to  Vir 
ginia  as  the  county  of  Illinois.  The  inhabitants  were  chiefly  French, 
and  they  welcomed  the  change  of  rulers  when  they  learned  of  the 
American  alliance  with  France.  This  achievement  of  Clark  was  of 
the  greatest  importance,  for  it  enabled  the  Americans  at  the  close  of 
the  war  to  claim  successfully  the  vast  prairie  region  of  Illinois  as  a 
possession  of  the  United  States. 


THE  WYOMING  VALLEY  AND  OTHER  VALLEYS 

In  north-central  Pennsylvania  there  lies  a  beautiful  valley, 
nestled  between  two  mountain  ranges  that  rise  high  on  either  side, 
as  if  nature  had  chosen  to  guard  the  lovely  spot  from  the  outer 
world.  This  valley  of  Wyoming,  watered  by  the  sparkling  Susque- 
hanna  that  winds  among  the  hills  like  a  belt  of  silver,  seems  from 
a  distant  view  like  a  dream  of  Eden ;  and  yet  this  beautiful  spot, 
where  "  all  save  the  spirit  of  man  was  divine,"  became  the  scene  of 
the  most  fiendish  massacre  of  the  long  and  bloody  war. 

The  Wyoming  Valley  was  claimed  by  Connecticut  by  right  of 
her  charter  of  1662,  and  her  people  had  begun  settling  there  more 


THE   VALLEY    OF    WYOMING 


than  a  decade  before  the  war  with  England  began.  Pennsylvania 
also  claimed  this  territory,  and  there  was  strife  between  the  sister 
colonies ;  but  the  family  quarrel  was  hushed  for  a  season  in  the  pres 
ence  of  a  common  foe. 

It  was  midsummer,  1778,  less  than  a  week  after  the  battle  of 
Monmouth,  when  a  force  of  eight  hundred  Tories  and  Indians l  under 
Colonel  John  Butler  swooped  down  from  Xew  York  upon  the  settle 
ment  of  New  Englanders  in  the  Wyoming  Valley.  The  settlers, 
dwelling  mostly  in  peaceful  hamlets  with  their  schools  and  churches, 
numbered  something  more  than  three  thousand  souls  ;  but  they  were 
ill  prepared  for  defense,  as  most  of  their  young  men  had  joined  the 
Continental  army.  Nevertheless,  a  force  of  some  three  hundred 
men,  commanded  by  Colonel  Zebulon  Butler,  a  resident  of  the  valley, 
offered  battle  on  July  3,  near  the  site  of  Wilkesbarre.  After  an  hour 
of  fierce  fighting,  the  Americans  broke  and  fled  for  their  lives,  but 
more  than  half  of  them  were  slain  in  the  battle  or  in  Wyoming- 
the  massacre  that  followed.  The  British  commander  Massacre, 
afterward  reported  the  taking  of  "227  scalps,"  and  of  Julr  4'  1778- 
course  laid  all  the  blame  on  the  Indians.  During  the  night  the 
Indian  thirst  for  blood  seemed  to  increase,  and  next  day  they  began 
anew  the  massacre.  Dreadful  was  the  scene  in  the  Wyoming  Val 
ley  on  that  fateful  day.  The  fort  in  which  many  had  taken  refuge 
surrendered,  and  the  lives  of  the  occupants  were  spared  by  the  Eng 
lish  commander ;  but  the  savages  put  many  of  the  others  to  the  toma 
hawk.  All  who  could  do  so  fled  to  the  woods,  and  a  large  number 
perished  in  crossing  a  swamp,  which  has  since  been  called  the 
"  Shades  of  Death."  Others  perished  of  starvation  in  the  moun 
tains.  The  country  was  abandoned  for  the  season,  and  the  blooming 
valley  became  a  field  of  desolation. 

The  barbarities  of  Wyoming  were  long  attributed  to  the  great 
Mohawk  chieftain,  Joseph  Brant,  whom  we  have  already  met  at  the 
battle  of  Oriskany.  But  he  was  not  present  at  the 
Wyoming  massacre.  Brant,  who  was  known  to  his 
own  race  as  Tha-yen-dan-e-gea,  was  a  very  remarkable 
character,2  a  full-blooded  Mohawk,  a  man  of  powerful  physique, 
handsome,  affable,  and  well  educated.  He  was  a  devoted  Episcopa 
lian,  served  for  a  time  as  missionary  among  his  own  people,  and 

1  Some  historians  say  a  thousand  or  more. 

2  Fiske  pronounces  Brant  the  greatest  Indian  of  whom  we  have  any  knowledge ; 
but  I  cannot  agree  to  place  him  above,  or  even  equal  to,  Pontiac  or  Tecumseh. 


294  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

translated  the  prayer  book  into  his  native  tongue.  Brant  was  pas 
sionately  devoted  to  the  British  cause  in  the  Revolution,  but  the 
stories  of  his  heartless  cruelty  are  not  generally  true.  In  fact,  he 
spared  women  and  children  from  the  scalping-knife  when  it  was  in 
his  power  to  do  so.  While  Brant  was  not  at  the  Wyoming  massacre, 
he  figured  in  another  scarcely  less  dreadful  at  Cherry  Valley,  Otsego 
County,  New  York,  in  November  of  the  same  year.  During  a  heavy 
storm,  a  band  of  Indians  led  by  Brant  and  of  Tories  led  by  Walter 
Butler,  son  of  the  Butler  who  commanded  at  Wyoming,  fell  upon 
the  peaceful  settlement  without  warning.  Brant  endeavored  to  save 
the  helpless,  but  the  fiend  Butler  encouraged  the  massacre,  and 
thirty-two  of  the  inhabitants,  mostly  women  and  children,  were 
barbarously  put  to  death,  while  sixteen  of  the  garrison  had  fallen 
during  the  siege.  After  this  bloody  work  was  over,  the  invaders 
burned  the  village,  drove  away  the  cattle,  and  carried  forty  of  the 
people  into  captivity. 

General  Washington  was  exasperated  at  these  continued  outrages, 
and  he  determined  to  strike  a  blow  in  defense  of  the  northern  set 
tlers.  He  sent  General  Sullivan  into  the  Indian  country 
w^  ^ve  thousand  men.  Late  in  August,  1779,  this 
army  met  fifteen  thousand  Tories  and  Indians,  led  by 
Sir  John  Johnson,  the  two  Butlers,  and  Brant,  at  Newtown,  on  the 
site  of  the  present  city  of  Elmira.  A  terrific  battle  ensued,  and  the 
Tories  and  Indians  suffered  a  fearful  defeat,  while  the  American 
loss  was  slight.  Sullivan  then  laid  waste  the  country,  destroyed 
the  growing  crops  on  all  sides,  laid  more  than  forty  Indian  vil 
lages  in  ashes,  and  returned  after  a  march  of  seven  hundred  miles. 
For  two  years  longer  the  settlers  were  harassed  by  prowling  Indian 
bands,  but  the  Iroquois  as  a  nation  never  recovered  from  the  scourge 
of  Sullivan's  raid.  A  similar  raid  in  the  Alleghany  Valley  by  Colo 
nel  Brodhead,  with  six  hundred  men,  curbed  the  Indian  power  in 
western  Pennsylvania,  and  henceforth  the  country  was  compara 
tively  free  from  border  warfare. 

WAR   ON  THE   SEA 

Let  us  now  take  a  glance  at  the  naval  operations.  The  United 
States  at  first  had  no  navy,  but  many  private  vessels  were  employed 
as  privateers,  and  the  destruction  of  British  merchant  shipping  was 
enormous.  From  nearly  all  the  states  privateers  were  sent  against 


FIGHTING   ON  THE   SEA  295 

the  enemy,  Massachusetts  leading  with  over  five  hundred,  Pennsyl 
vania  following  with  nearly  that  number.  It  is  estimated  that 
seventy  thousand  Americans  were  at  one  time  engaged  on  the  sea 
against  the  enemy.1  In  1775  Congress  ordered  the  building  of  a 
national  navy,  and  the  following  year  thirteen  vessels  were  com 
pleted.  Some  of  these  never  succeeded  in  getting  out  to  sea ;  most 
of  the  rest  were  captured  or  burned  before  the  end  of  the  war,  but 
not  until  after  they  had  done  great  service  for  the  country. 

The  men  who  achieved  the  greatest  success  for  America  were: 
Lambert  Wickes,  who  made  many  prizes  off  the  Irish  and  English 
coasts,  and  who  was  himself  drowned  off  the  coast  of  Newfoundland ; 
Gustavus  Conyngham,  whose  bold  captures  in  the  English  Channel 
astonished  everybody  ;  and  John  Paul  Jones,  who  alone  of  all  the 
naval  heroes  of  the  war  has  left  a  permanent  and  conspicuous  name 
in  our  history.  Jones 2  was  a  native  of  Scotland  and  a  resident  of 
Virginia.  He  became  the  hero  of  one  of  the  most 
famous  naval  duels  in  history.  With  a  squadron  of 
three  ships  led  by  the  Bonhomme  Richard3  he  met  Cap 
tain  Pearson  with  the  Sera2ris  and  Scarborough  convoying  a  fleet  of 
merchant  vessels  off  the  coast  of  Flamborough  Head,  Scotland,  and 
at  once  the  two  flagships  engaged  in  a  desperate  conflict.  It  was 
the  evening  of  September  25,  1779,  when  the  battle  opened,  and 
during  the  long  hours  of  the  night  the  boom  of  cannon  rolled  across 
the  waters.  In  the  midst  of  the  battle  Jones  ran  his  vessel  into 
her  antagonist  and  ceased  firing  for  the  moment,  when  Captain  Pear 
son  called  out,  "  Have  you  struck  your  colors  ?  "  "I  have  not  yet 
begun  to  fight,"  was  the  now  famous  answer  of  Jones.  At  length 
the  two  ships  were  lashed  together  by  the  commander  of  the  Richard, 
and  the  bloody  fight  went  on  until  the  decks  of  both  were  covered 
with  dead  and  dying.  The  crisis  came  about  ten  o'clock,  when  a 
hand  grenade  from  the  Richard  was  thrown  into  the  hatchway  of 
the  Serapis,  where  it  ignited  a  row  of  cartridges,  and  in  the  frightful 
explosion  that  followed  twenty  men  were  blown  to  pieces.  Still  the 
two  commanders  doggedly  continued  the  battle  until  both  ships  were 
on  fire,  and  half  their  crews  were  dead  or  wounded,  when  at  last  the 

1  Sloane,  p.  373. 

2  His  name  was  John  Paul  and  he  added  the  name  Jones  in  honor  of  General 
Jones  of  North  Carolina.     After  the  Revolution  he  entered  the  service  of  Russia, 
became  an  admiral,  and  was  knighted.    He  died  in  Paris  in  1799.     His  burial  place 
is  unknown. 

3  French  for  "  Poor  Richard  "  of  Franklin's  almanac. 


296  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED    STATES 


Serapis  surrendered.1  Both  vessels  were  ruined,  and  the  Bonhomme 
Richard  sank  the  next  morning.  Meantime  the  Pallas  had  captured 
the  Scarborough,  and  the  American  victory  was  complete.  The  news 
of  the  victory  made  a  profound  sensation  on  the  continent,  as  it 
was  told  and  retold  in  every  language  in  Europe.  Nothing  before, 
except  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  had  called  the  world's  attention 
to  the  rising  nation  in  the  West  as  did  this  signal  victory  in  sight 
of  the  British  coast. 

The  American  privateers  did  immeasurable  damage  to  British 
shipping,  many  hundred  merchantmen  being  captured.  After  the 
alliance  with  France  the  powerful  navy  of  that  nation  was  employed 
in  the  patriot  cause,  and  to  this  was  added  the  navy  of  Spain,  for 
Spain  declared  war  against  England  in  the  summer  of  1779.  This 

action  of  the  Spanish  government  was  not  taken  out 
-  °f  l°ve  f°r  the  Americans  and  their  cause,  nor  did  Spain 
dare  war  make  a  treaty  with  the  United  States.  Indeed,  a  self- 
agamst  governing  people  in  North  America  would  forever  be  a 

menace  to  the  peaceful  possession  of  Mexico  and  South 
America  by  Spain;  nor  had  the  Spaniards  the  slightest  sympathy  with 
the  spirit  of  religious  freedom  that  prevailed  in  the  United  States. 
Spain  declared  war  in  the  hope  of  regaining  possession  of  Gibraltar, 
and  from  a  feeling  of  revenge  cherished  for  two  hundred  years  against 
the  island  kingdom  that  had  robbed  her  of  her  proud  eminence  as 
mistress  of  the  seas.  Still  another  was  to  be  added  to  the  enemies 
of  England.  Late  in  the  year  1780  war  was  declared  between  that 
country  and  Holland,  and  henceforth  the  Britons  had  to  fight  three 
of  the  great  European  powers  in  addition  to  America.  It  was  not 
possible  for  England  to  win  against  such  odds,  nor  to  regain  her 
colonies  in  America,  but  the  courage  the  British  displayed  must  elicit 
the  admiration  of  the  world. 


THE   TREASON   OF  ARNOLD 

Two  years  have  elapsed  since  we  lef-t  Washington  at  "White 
Plains,  where  he  encamped  soon  after  the  battle  of  Monmouth. 
During  the  two  years  little  was  done  in  the  North  but  watch  Clinton, 
who  held  the  city  of  New  York.  A  few  minor  operations,  however, 
were  not  without  significance.  Sullivan's  raid  into  the  Indian 

1  The  Bonhomme  Richard  carried  forty  guns  and  the  Serapis  forty-four.  Jones 
towed  his  prize  to  Holland. 


CAPTURE   OF   STONY   POINT  297 

country  we  have  noticed.  Another  exploit  of  this  same  general, 
occurring  at  an  earlier  date,  was  less  successful.  The  only  part  of  the 
United  States  held  by  the  British  in  the  autumn  of 
1778,  aside  from  Manhattan  Island  and  a  few  western 
posts  on  the  frontier,  was  Newport,  with  the  island  on  which  it  stands. 
This  was  occupied  by  Sir  Robert  Pigott  with  a  garrison  of  six 
thousand  men,  and  Washington  determined  to  make  an  effort  for  its 
recovery.  He  sent  Sullivan  with  fifteen  hundred  picked  men,  who 
were  to  cooperate  with  a  French  fleet  under  Count  d'Estaing,  lately 
arrived  in  American  waters.  Sullivan's  army  was  increased  to 
several  thousand  by  Xew  England  volunteers,  and  success  seemed 
to  be  in  reach  when  a  terrific  storm  crippled  and  scattered  the  fleet, 
and  the  project  came  to  naught. 

Far  more  picturesque  was  the  capture  of  Stony  Point  the  follow 
ing  year  by  Anthony  Wayne.     Stony  Point  is  a  bold,  rocky  prom 
ontory  within  a  sharp  curve  of  the  Hudson  River  a  few 
miles  below  West  Point.     The  Americans  had  deter 
mined  to  fortify  this  gateway  to  the  Highlands,  and  while  they  were 
engaged  in  doing  this  Clinton  came  up  the  river  in  May,  1779,  and 
captured  it.     He  then  erected  powerful  fortifications,  manned  them 
with  six  hundred  men,  and  believed  the  place  impregnable.     So  it 
might  have  been  by  regular  sieges ;  but  the  Yankee  finds  the  way, 
if  there  is  a  way. 

At  midnight  on  July  15,  1779,  "  Mad  Anthony "  Wayne,  with 
twelve  hundred  light  infantry,  crept  stealthily  along  the  causeway 
that  led  from  the  mainland  to  Stony  Point.  The  assault  was  to 
be  a  pure  bayonet  charge,  and  to  prevent  a  possible  betrayal  by  a 
random  shot,  Wayne  did  not  permit  his  men  to  load  their  muskets. 
To  guard  further  against  noise,  every  dog  for  miles  around  was 
killed.1  The  sleeping  garrison  was  awakened  by  the  impetuous  rush 
of  the  Americans.  The  British  sprang  to  arms,  but  scarcely  did 
they  fire  the  first  volley  when  the  Americans  were  at  their  throats. 
A  fierce  encounter  ensued,  in  which  fifteen  of  Wayne's  men  and  over 
sixty  of  the  enemy  were  killed.  But  the  British  soon  gave  way,  and 
the  fort  was  surrendered.  Washington  did  not,  however,  choose  to 
hold  the  place  against  an  attack  that  Clinton  prepared  to  make.  He 
ordered  the  fortifications  destroyed  and  the  prisoners,  stores,  and  can 
non  removed  to  the  Highlands,  and  Clinton  was  left  to  occupy  the 
demolished  works  at  his  leisure.  Xow,  with  the  mere  mention  of 
i  Fiske,  Vol.  II,  p.  112. 


298  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  bold  dash  of  "  Light  Horse  Harry  "  Lee  upon  the  British  fort  at 
Paulus  Hook,  and  his  capture  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine  pris 
oners,  the  mutiny  and  desertion  of  thirteen  hundred  Pennsylvania 
troops,  afterward  pacified  and  sent  back  to  the  army, 
and  a  similar  movement  of  the  New  Jersey  troops 
which  resulted  in  the  execution  of  two  of  the  ringleaders,  we  pass 
on  to  the  most  painful  episode  of  the  Revolution. 

We  have  seen  and  admired  the  intrepid  Arnold  at  Quebec  and 
Saratoga.  The  wound  he  received  at  the  latter  place  incapacitated 
him  for  a  season ;  but  by  the  time  the  British  evacuated  Philadelphia, 
in  the  spring  of  1778,  Arnold  had  recovered,  and  he  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  city.  From  this  moment  his  downward  course 
seems  to  have  begun.  He  soon  had  a  quarrel  with  the  state  govern 
ment  and  another  with  Congress.  He  was  accused  of  extravagant 
living,  and  even  of  fraudulent  transactions,  and  was  censured  for  in 
viting  loyalists  to  his  entertainments.  Arnold  was  a  high-spirited, 
sensitive  soul,  and  he  chafed  under  public  criticism.  At  length 
formal  charges  were  brought  against  him.  He  demanded  an  investi 
gation,  which  was  granted,  and  he  was  acquitted  by  a  committee  of 
Congress.  But  the  charges  were  renewed,  other  evidence  was  adduced, 
and  at  a  second  trial  by  a  court-martial  he  was  sentenced  to  a  repri 
mand  from  the  commander  in  chief  for  "  imprudence."  Washington 
was  a  true  friend  of  Arnold,  and  he  carried  out  the  sentence  in  the 
mildest  manner  consistent  with  the  dignity  that  the  case  required. 

Up  to  this  point  our  sympathies  are  with  Arnold.  We  regret 
with  his  friends  that  he  did  not  receive  the  promotion  that  was 
his  due;  we  feel  indignant  at  his  enemies  that  they  could  so 
readily  forget  his  noble  service  to  his  country,  and  pursue  him  with 
such  hatred,  when  a  rigorous  court-martial,  sitting  for  five  weeks, 
could  find  him  guilty  of  only  a  little  imprudence  ;  we  rejoice  with 
his  friends  that  Washington  administered  the  reprimand  so  gra 
ciously  as  to  show  his  confidence  at  the  same  moment. 
But  here  we  must  part  company  with  Benedict  Arnold. 
Whatever  his  grievances,  his  means  of  .revenge  were  altogether  un 
warranted  and  utterly  to  be  condemned.  His  crime  is  one  of  the 
blackest  in  history.  He  sought  to  betray  his  country  into  the  hands 
of  its  enemy,  and  to  do  this  he  must  first  betray  the  confidence  of  the 
one  unswerving  friend  who  had  ever  trusted  him,  —  the  commander 
in  chief. 

At  what  time  Arnold  contemplated  treason  is  not  known,  nor  can 


TREASON   OF   ARNOLD  299 

it  be  proved  that  his  beautiful  loyalist  wife,  whom  he  had  married  in 
Philadelphia,  had  anything  to  do  with  his  perfidy ;  but  it  is  quite 
possible  that  she  unconsciously  influenced  him  to  take  this  step. 
His  correspondence  with  Clinton,  under  an  assumed  name,  began 
early  in  the  spring  of  1780,  and  in  midsummer  he  received,  at  his 
own  urgent  request,  the  command  of  the  powerful  fortress  of  West 
Point,  the  gateway  of  the  Hudson  Valley.  This  he  determined  to 
hand  over  to  the  enemy,  together  with  the  great  valley  for  which 
Burgoyne  had  fought  and  lost.  No  doubt  Arnold  believed  that  the 
possession  of  the  Hudson,  with  the  foothold  the  British  had  gained 
in  the  South,  would  speedily  terminate  the  war  in  their  favor,  and 
that  he  would  be  the  hero  of  the  hour. 

On  a  dark  night  in  September,  1780,  Benedict  Arnold  lay  crouch 
ing  beneath  the  trees  on  the  bank  of  the  Hudson  a  few  miles  below 
Stony  Point,  just  outside  the  American  lines.  Pres 
ently  the  plash  of  oars  from  the  dark,  silent  river  broke 
the  stillness,  and  a  little  boat  bearing  four  men  came  to 
the  shore.  T\vo  were  ignorant  oarsmen  who  knew  not  what  they 
did,  the  third  was  the  steersman,  one  Joshua  Smith,  who  lived 
in1  the  neighborhood,  while  the  fourth  was  a  young  and  handsome 
man  who  concealed  beneath  his  great  overcoat  the  brilliant  uniform 
of  a  British  officer.  The  young  man,  Major  John  Andre,  adjutant 
general  of  the  British  army,  was  put  ashore,  and  he  and  Arnold, 
who  had  long  been  secret  correspondents,  spent  the  night  in  the 
dense  darkness  beneath  the  trees.  Here  the  plot  to  place  West 
Point  into  British  hands  was  consummated ;  and  at  the  coming  of 
dawn  Andre  did  not  return,  as  at  first  intended,  to  the  English  sloop 
of  war,  the  Vulture,  which  was  lying  in  the  river  waiting  for  him, 
but  accompanied  Arnold  to  the  house  of  Smith,  the  steersman, 
a  few  miles  away.  Arnold  returned  to  West  Point,  and  Andre 
waited  his  opportunity  to  reach  the  Vulture  ;  but  shore  batteries 
began  firing  on  her,  and  Smith  refused  to  venture  out  in  his  little 
boat.  At  length  it  was  decided  that  Andre  return  to  New  York  by 
land.  It  was  a  perilous  journey,  but  the  first  part  was  made  in 
safety.  The  lonely  traveler  was  nearing  Tarrytown  and  his  hopes 
were  rising,  when  suddenly  three  men  with  muskets  sprang  from 
the  thicket,  stood  in  his  path,  and  ordered  him  to  stop.  One  of 
the  men  wore  a  Hessian  coat,  and  Andre,  thinking  them  his  country 
men,  frankly  informed  them  that  he  was  a  British  officer.  To  his 
dismay  he  then  discovered  that  the  men  were  Americans  and  that 


.300  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 


he,  was  under  arrest.1  No  offers  of  money,  threats,  nor  entreaties 
could  move  the  men,  and  Andre  was  disarmed  and  searched ;  and 
beneath  his  feet,  within  the  soles  of  his  stockings,  were 
found  important  papers  in  the  handwriting  of  Arnold. 
The  prisoner  was  taken  up  the  river  to  Colonel  Jameson, 
who,  all  unsuspicious  of  Arnold,  decided  to  send  Andre  to  him  with 
an  explanatory  letter,  while  the  papers  found  on  Andre  were  sent 
to  Washington,  who  had  gone  to  Connecticut  for  a  conference  with 
liochambeau.  Before  Andre  under  an  escort  had  reached  West 
Point,  Jameson  was  persuaded  to  recall  him.  This  was  done,  but  the 
letter  to  Arnold  was  allowed  to  go  on  its  way,  and  it  was  this  letter 
that  saved  the  traitor's  life.  Washington  returned  from  Connecticut 
sooner  than  was  expected.  Near  Fishkill  he  sat  down  to  supper  at  an 
inn  and  chatted  with  the  same  Joshua  Smith  who  had  but  the  day  be 
fore  sent  Andre  down  the  river;  and  he  sent  to  Arnold  at  the  Robinson 
house  near  West  Point,  stating  that  he  and  his  staff  would  be  there 
for  breakfast  next  morning.  In  the  morning,  however,  Washington 
sent  Alexander  Hamilton  and  others  of  his  staff  to  take  breakfast 
with  Arnold,  while  he  stopped  to  examine  some  redoubts.  Arnold 
was  annoyed  at  the  near  approach  of  Washington,  but  his  counte 
nance  remained  unperturbed.  As  they  sat  at  the  table  a  messenger 
entered  and  handed  Arnold  a  letter.  It  was  the  one  sent  by  Colonel 
Jameson  stating  that  a  British  officer  had  been  caught  with  certain 
papers  in  his  possession,  which  had  been  forwarded  to  Washington. 
Arnold  showed  little  emotion  ;  he  quietly  folded  the  paper  and  put 
it  into  his  pocket  without  betraying  to  any  of  the  company  that  there 
was  anything  wrong.  He  then  rose  and  left  the  room,  saying  that 
he  was  suddenly  called  to  West  Point,  but  that  he  would  soon  be 
back  to  meet  Washington. 

The  quick  eye  of  his  wife  detected  something  wrong,  and  she 
followed  him.  Going  to  their  bedroom,  he  informed  her  that  he  was 
ruined  and  must  fly  for  his  life.  She  swooned  and  fell  fainting  in 

1  The  names  of  these  men  were  John  Paulding,  David  AVilliams,  and  Isaac  Van 
Wort.  Paulding  alone  could  read.  Each  was  rewarded  by  Congress  with  a  silver 
medal  and  an  annual  pension  of  ift'JOO,  and  the  name  of  each  was  given  to  a  county 
in  Ohio.  Mr.  S.  (4.  Fisher,  in  his  "True  History  of  the  Revolution,"  asserts  that 
these  men  were  stragglers  devoid  of  true  patriotism,  and  that  they  held  Andre  only 
because  they  saw  no  way  of  his  paying  the  large  sum  he  offered  for  his  release.  Andre 
testified  at  the  trial  that  the  men  searched  him  for  the  purpose  of  robbing  him.  The 
matter  was  fully  discussed  in  Congress  in  1817,  when  Paulding,  then  an  aged  man, 
was  denied  an  increased  pension  for  which  he  had  applied.  See  Sargent's  "Life  of 
Major  Andre,"  p.  402. 


EXECUTION    OF   ANDKfi  301 


his  arms.     He  laid  her  across  the  bed,  called  a  maid  to  care  for  her, 
kissed  their  sleeping  babe,  and  a  minute  later  was  galloping  toward 
the  river.1     In  a  few  hours  he  had  boarded  the  British  sloop  of  war, 
the  Vulture,  having  protected  himself  from  the  Ameri 
can  shore  batteries  with  a  white  flag  made  of  a  handker-  Arnokl  ° 
chief  tied  to  a  cane.      The  stupid  blunder  of  Colonel 
Jameson  had  saved  Arnold  from  the  most  ignominious  death  that  can 
come  to  a  soldier  —  the  death  of  the  gallows. 

"  Arnold  is  a  traitor,  and  has  fled  to  the  British  !  Whom  can  we 
trust  now  ? "  said  Washington  to  his  officers  a  few  hours  later, 
while  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks.  He  soon  recovered  from  his 
emotion  and  sent  officers  to  intercept  Arnold ;  but  it  was  too  late,  and 
the  following  morning  the  traitor  was  safely  landed  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  He  received  the  price  of  his  perfidy  —  six  thousand 
pounds  sterling  and  a  command  in  the  British  army. 

Andre  was  duly  tried  by  a  court-martial  of  which  General  Greene 
was  president,  was  convicted  as  a  spy,  and  was  sentenced  to  be  hanged. 
Clinton  exhausted  every  method  in  trying  to  save  his  brilliant  young 
subordinate.  It  was  intimated  that  in  one  way  only  could  Andre  be 
saved  — that  he  would  be  exchanged  for  Arnold.  But  this  Clinton 
could  not  in  honor  consent  to,  and  Andre*  was  executed.  Clinton 
had  instructed  Andre  not  to  go  within  the  Americans  lines  and  not 
to  carry  compromising  papers  of  any  sort,  but  Andre  disobeyed  and 
did  both,  and  the  forfeit  of  his  life  was  the  penalty.  His  death  was 
deplored  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  but  even  British 
writers  generally  agree  that  the  sentence  was  just  and  Andre  ° 
necessary.  Andre  died  like  a  hero,  calling  on  those  about 
him  to  witness  that  he  faced  death  without  a  tremor.  We  admire 
physical  courage,  especially  in  a  soldier;  yet  how  meaningless  and 
insipid  the  final  request  of  Andre  when  compared  with  the  dying  words 
of  Nathan  Hale. 

WAR   IN  THE   SOUTH 

The  seat  of  war  was  transferred  to  the  South  late  in  the  year 
1778.  Even  before  the  battle  of  Lexington  the  strife  had  begun  south 
of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  There  was  Dunmore's  War,  and  the  battle 
at  Moore's  Creek,  and  the  valiant  defense  of  Fort  Moultrie.  But  the 
foe  soon  departed  and  the  Southland  had  rest  for  nearly  three  years, 
when  he  came  again  and  made  it  the  scene  of  the  final  conflict. 

1  See  the  fuller  account  of  Fiske  (Vol.  II,  p.  210  sq.)  from  which  a  number  of 
these  incidents  have  been  taken.  See  also  Winsor,  VI,  p.  458  sq. 


302  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 


For  nearly  four  years  the  power  of  the  British  had  been  thrown 
against  the  great  states  of  the  North.  They  had  destroyed  much 
property  and  taken  many  lives ;  they  had  overrun  vast  tracts.  But 
the  game  had  been  a  losing  one ;  a  fine  army  had  been  sacrificed  in 
the  Hudson  Valley,  and  now  at  the  end  of  the  four  years  the  British 
commander  had  not  possession  of  a  single  foot  of  territory  except 
Manhattan  Island  and  Newport.  He  therefore  determined,  while 
still  holding  New  York  as  his  base,  to  send  his  legions  to  the  weaker 
communities  of  the  South,  to  conquer  Georgia,  then  the  Carolinas, 
and  perchance  the  Old  Dominion,  and  to  hold  these  until  terms  could 
be  made  with  their  powerful  neighbors  to  the  North.  The  plan  is 
supposed  to  have  originated  in  the  brain  of  Lord  George  Germain. 

In  December,  1778,  a  force  of  thirty-five  hundred  British  regulars 
under  Colonel  Campbell  landed  near  Savannah,  Georgia.  The 
American  force  there,  commanded  by  General  Robert 
Savannah  °  Howe,  was  less  than  twelve  hundred  in  number.  The 
two  forces  met  in  battle;  the  Americans  were  routed, 
losing  five  hundred  in  prisoners,  and  the  city  of  Savannah  sur 
rendered  with  its  guns  and  stores.  General  Prevost  soon  arrived 
with  British  reinforcements  from  Florida,  and  he  and  Campbell 
pressed  their  advantage  with  vigor;  they  captured  Augusta  and 
other  points,  and  within  ten  days  proclaimed  their  conquest  of  the 
state  of  Georgia.  General  Benjamin  Lincoln  was  now  made  com 
mander  in  the  South,  instead  of  Howe.  General  Moultrie  had  just 
won  a  signal  victory  in  defending  Fort  Royal,  but  the  advantage  was 
soon  lost,  for  fifteen  hundred  men  under  General  Ashe,  who  were 
sent  by  Lincoln  against  Augusta,  suffered  a  crushing  defeat  at  Briar 
Creek  at  the  hands  of  the  English.  Prevost  then  crossed  the  Savan 
nah  River  and  began  a  march  toward  Charleston,  spreading  devasta 
tion  in  his  trail ;  but  his  course  was  checked  in  a  skirmish  with 
Lincoln,  and  he  turned  back.  The  summer  of  1779  passed,  and  the 
British  as  yet  had  no  foothold  north  of  Georgia. 

Early  in  September  D'Estaing  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Savannah  from  the  West  Indies  with  a  powerful  French  fleet,  and 
American  hopes  in  the  South  rose  with  a  bound.  The  first  thought 
was  to  recapture  Savannah,  and  the  siege  was  begun  on  Septem 
ber  23.  For  three  weeks,  day  and  night,  Lincoln's  artillery  from  the 
shore  joined  with  that  of  the  French  commander  from  the  harbor. 
But  Prevost  gave  no  sign  of  surrendering  the  city,  and  D'Estaing 
proposed  a  combined  assault.  This  was  made  with  desperate  valor 


SURRENDER   OF   CHARLESTON 


303 


on  October  9,  but  it  failed.  The  French  and  Americans  lost  heavily, 
and,  saddest  of  all,  the  brave  Pulaski  was  numbered  with  the  slain. 
D'Estaing,  fearing  the  October  gales,  sailed  away,  and  the  coast  was 
clear  for  two  months,  when  another  fleet  hove  into  view.  This  fleet 
was  not  that  of  a  friend ;  it  bore  Sir  Henry  Clinton  from  New  York 
and  Earl  Charles  Cornwallis  with  eight  thousand  soldiers  for  the 
subjugation  of  the  South. 

Clinton  landed  at  Savannah,  but  his  aim  was  to  capture  Charles 
ton,  the  chief  seaport  of  the  South.  Adding  the  force  of  Prevost  to 
his  own,  he  began  the  march  overland  to  Charleston,  which  was  now 
occupied  by  Lincoln  with  7000  men.  Clinton  began  engirdling  the 
city  about  the  1st  of  April,  1780,  and  a  week  later  the  British  fleet  ran 
by  Fort  Moultrie  and  entered  the  harbor.  Soon  after  this  Lord  Raw- 


SIEGE  OP 

CHARLESTON 


don  arrived  from  New  York  with  three  thousand  more  troops,  and 
the  doom  of  the  southern  metropolis  was  sealed.      Lincoln  should 
have  fled  and  saved  his  army,  but  he  lacked  the  sagacity  of  a  Wash 
ington  or  a  Greene ;  he  prepared  for  defense,  while  day  by  day  the 
coil  of  the  anaconda  tightened  about  the  doomed  city.   Fall  of 
Lincoln  surrendered,  and  Charleston,  with  its  stores,  its   Charleston, 
advantages,  and  the  army  that  defended  it,  fell  into  the  May  12, 1780. 
hands  of  the  British  commander.1 

The  fall  of  Charleston  was  a  sad  blow  to  the  patriot  cause  —  the 
most  disastrous  event  of  the  war,  except  the  fall  of  Fort  Washington 

1  One  regiment,  not  present  at  the  surrender,  was  soon  afterward  captured  by 
Colonel  Bauastre  Tarleton. 


304  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

on  the  Hudson  four  years  before.  It  gave  Clinton  control  of  South 
Carolina  as  well  as  of  Georgia,  and  that  officer  now  sailed  away  for 
New  York,  leaving  Cornwallis  in  command  with  five  thousand  men. 
During  the  following  months  the  scene  in  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia 
was  one  of  wild  disorder  and  anarchy.  A  large  portion  of  the 
people  were  loyalists,  and  scarcely  a  day  passed  without  hand  to  hand 
encounters,  bloodshed,  and  murder.  The  patriots  were  without  an 
army,  but  bands  of  roving  volunteers  annoyed  the  British  incessantly. 

The  most  daring  and  successful  leader  of  these  bands  was  Francis 
Marion,  the  "Swamp  Fox."  With  a  handful  of  followers  he  would 
creep  like  a  tiger  from  the  coverts  of  the  woods  or  the  fastnesses 
of  the  mountains,  strike  a  deadly  blow,  and  disappear  again  like 
Marion  a  shadow.  Scarcely  inferior  to  Marion  was  Thomas 

Sumter',  and  Sumter,  the  "  South  Carolina  Gamecock,"  who  was  to 
Pickens.  outlive  all  his  fellow-officers  of  the  Revolution,  and  to 

leave  his  name  upon  that  famous  fort  which  was  destined  to  be  the 
scene  of  the  opening  of  that  greater  war,  to  be  fought  by  a  later 
generation  of  Americans.  After  the  war  Sumter  became  a  states 
man,  sat  in  the  United  States  Senate,  was  minister  to  Brazil,  and 
died  in  1832  at  the  great  age  of  ninety-eight  years.  Next  to  Sumter 
must  be  ranked  Andrew  Pickens,  who  also  lived  many  years  under 
the  Constitution,  and  served  his  state  in  Congress.  These  and  a  few 
other  kindred  spirits  kept  alive  the  patriot  cause  in  the  South  after 
the  fall  of  Charleston,  until  a  new  army  could  be  organized. 

The  summer  had  not  passed  before  the  clouds  began  to  break 
away.  Washington  had  sent  De  Kalb,  who  was  hastening  south 
ward  with  over  fifteen  hundred  veterans ;  the  call  for  militia  from 
Maryland,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina  met  with  a  considerable 
response ;  and  a  commander  to  succeed  Lincoln  was  to  be  sent  from 
the  North.  Washington  preferred  Greene  for  this  responsible  duty, 
but  the  people  called  for  Gates,  "  the  hero  of  Saratoga,"  whom  pub 
lic  opinion  still  clothed  with  the  glamour  of  a  great  genius.  Gates 
arrived  upon  the  scene  late  in  July,  and  again  the  hopes 
of  the  lovers  of  liberty  rose  —  to  be  ruthlessly  dashed 
to  the  ground  once  more  —  only  once  more. 

This  final  disaster  was  to  occur  at  Camden,  South  Carolina, 
whither  Gates  hastened  by  forced  marches.  Reaching  a  point  near 
the  town,  he  found  Lord  Rawdon  blocking  his  way  with  a  force 
smaller  than  his  own.  Gates  should  have  struck  an  immediate 
blow,  but  he  hesitated  for  two  days,  and  by  that  time  Cornwallis  with 


WAR   IN   THE   SOUTH  305 


the  main  army  had  joined  Rawdon.  Now  occurred  an  unusual  coin 
cidence.  On  the  night  of  the  15th  of  August,  Gates  decided  to  march 
through  a  wood  for  ten  miles  and  surprise  the  enemy  at  daybreak. 
It  happened  that  Cornwallis,  011  the  same  night  and  at  the  same 
hour,  began  a  march  over  the  same  route  for  the  purpose  Battie  of 
of  surprising  Gates.  The  two  armies  met  midway  and  Camden. 
both  were  equally  surprised.  They  waited  till  daylight,  Au§mst  16. 
and  then  came  the  battle  of  Camden.  The  American  force  was  largely 
composed  of  raw  militia,  who  broke  and  fled  at  the  first  fire,  throwing 
their  loaded  muskets  to  the  ground.  The  regulars  fought  with  great 
bravery,  but  the  odds  were  against  them,  and  the  American  army  was 
totally  routed.  The  noble  De  Kalb,  bleeding  from  eleven  wounds,  fell 
into  the  enemy's  hands  and  died  soon  afterward.  Gates  was  borne  from 
the  field  in  the  mad  retreat,  and  he  kept  on  galloping,  and  by  night  he 
had  covered  sixty  miles.  But  he  did  not  stop  here;  three  days  later 
he  was  at  Hillsborough,  North  Carolina,  nearly  two  hundred  miles 
from  the  scene  of  the  battle.  His  "  northern  laurels  were  changed  to 
southern  willows,"  as  the  cynical  Charles  Lee  put  it.  Gates  made 
an  effort  to  recruit  an  army,  but  with  little  success.  He  saw  that  his 
career  was  over,  and  he  made  a  piteous  appeal  to  the  commander  in 
chief.  Washington  wrote  him  a  consoling  letter,  expressing  confi 
dence,  and  even  suggesting  that  he  might  be  able  to  place  Gates  in 
command  of  one  wing  of  the  Continental  army.  The  broken  old  general 
cherished  this  letter  to  the  end  of  his  days.  The  writing  of  this  by 
Washington,  in  the  face  of  the  memory  of  the  Conway  Cabal,  dis 
played  a  magnanimity  with  which  few  of  the  human  race  are  gifted. 

A  few  days  after  the  crushing  defeat  of  the  Americans  at  Cam 
den,  another  disaster,  but  of  minor  importance,  was  added  to  it. 
Sumter,  with  four  hundred  men,  had  captured  a  British  baggage 
train,  but  Tarleton  overtook  him,  recaptured  the  baggage,  and  made 
prisoners  of  three  hundred  of  his  men. 

These  were  the  darkest  hours  of  the  Revolution,  save  only  the 
few  weeks  preceding  the  battle  of  Trenton. 

But  soon  the  light  began  to  dawn;  and  never  again,  from  that 
hour  until  now,  has  it  been  so  nearly  obscured  as  in  the  dark  days 
that  followed  the  battle  of  Camden.  Scarcely  had  Tarleton  won 
his  victory,  when  Colonel  Williams  defeated  five  hundred  British 
and  Tories  with  great  slaughter ;  and  a  few  days  later,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Santee,  Marion,  with  a  handful  of  men,  dashed  upon  a  portion 
of  the  British  army,  captured  twenty-six,  set  one  hundred  and  fifty 


306  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

prisoners  free,  and  darted  into  the  forest  without  losing  a  man.1 
This  was  a  beginning ;  King's  Mountain  was  soon  to  follow. 

Cornwallis  sent  Major  Ferguson,  one  of  his  best  officers,  with 
twelve  hundred  men,  five  sixths  of  whom  were  loyalists,  to  scour 
the  back  country,  gather  recruits,  and  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of 
the  patriots.  The  news  of  his  raid  spread  beyond  the  mountains, 
and  the  frontier  settlements  were  soon  roused  to  fury ;  and,  like  the 
farmers  at  Lexington  and  Bennington,  these  hardy  backwoodsmen 
seized  their  muskets,  and  hastened  to  meet  the  foe.  Without  orders, 
without  hope  of  reward,  these  men,  led  by  such  heroes  as  John  Sevier 
and  Isaac  Shelby,  William  Campbell  and  James  Williams,  poured 
like  a  torrent  from  the  slopes  and  glens  of  the  mountains,  more  than 
a  thousand  strong.  A  motley  crowd  they  were,  Indian  fighters  and 
hunters,  farmers  and  mountain  rangers,  dressed  in  their  hunting  shirts, 
with  sprigs  of  hemlock  in  their  hats,  fearless  and  patriotic,  and  every 
man  a  dead  shot  with  the  rifle.  So  eager  were  they  for  the  fray 
that  the  few  hundred  that  were  needed  to  guard  the  settlements  had 
to  be  drafted  for  the  purpose.2  Ferguson  heard  of  the  coming  of  the 
"  dirty  mongrels,"  as  he  called  them,  and  he  planted  his  army  on  a 
spur  of  King's  Mountain  near  the  boundary  between  the  Carolinas. 

The  mountaineers,  now  numbering  over  thirteen  hundred,  came 
upon  Ferguson  on  the  afternoon  of  October  7,  hungry  and  worn  with 
an  all-night  march.  They  chose  Campbell  as  their  leader,  but  in 
truth  the  battle,  like  that  at  Lexington,  was  fought  without  a  leader. 
Ferguson  had  chosen  a  strong  position,  but  the  pioneers  were  used 
to  mountain  climbing.  They  chose  the  only  plan  that  could  have 
B  ttle  of  succeeded :  they  surrounded  the  hill  and,  pressing  up  the 
King's  slopes,  attacked  the  British  from  every  side.  The  latter 

Mountain,  fought  with  a  courage  worthy  of  a  better  cause.  They 
178°-  fired  volley  after  volley,  they  rushed  upon  the  foe  with 

the  bayonet  and  pressed  them  down  the  hillside.  But  the  Americans 
instantly  re-formed  and  renewed  the  attack.  At  one  moment  the 
false  cry  ran  along  the  American  line  that  Tarleton  was  in  the  rear, 
and  about  to  attack  them.  It  created  a  panic  and  several  hundred 
started  to  run,  when  John  Sevier,  whose  "  eyes  were  flames  of  fire, 
and  his  words  electric  bolts,"  rode  among  the  fleeing  men,  and,  with 
the  magnetic  power  of  a  Sheridan,  turned  them  back  to  duty  and  to 
victory.  Three  times  the  assaulting  columns  surged  up  the  hill  only 
to  be  driven  back  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  But  they  always 
1  Gilmore's  "  Rearguard  of  the  Revolution,"  p.  210.  2  Ibid. 


SCEXE  OF  WAR  IN  THE  SOUTH. 


WAR   IN  THE   SOUTH  307 

came  again,  and  at  length  the  British  were  exhausted;  they  huddled 
together  on  the  hill,  their  ranks  melting  before  the  sharpshooters' 
bullets  like  snow  beneath  a  summer's  sun.  Ferguson  was  a  man  of 
desperate  valor.  He  refused  to  surrender.  A  white  flag,  raised  by 
one  of  his  men,  he  struck  down  with  his  sword.  Then  with  fool 
hardy  daring  he  made  a  dash  through  the  encircling  columns  for 
liberty.  Five  sharpshooters  leveled  their  pieces,  and  the  British 
officer  fell  with  five  mortal  wounds  in  his  body.  The  remnant  of  the 
force  surrendered;  456 J  of  their  number  lay  dead  upon  the  field,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  wounded,  while  but  28  of  the  Americans  were  slain. 

The  battle  over,  the  men  who  had  won  it,  taking  their  prisoners 
with  them,  hied  away  again  to  their  crude  civilization  beyond  the 
Alleghanies,  disappearing  as  suddenly  and  noiselessly  as  they  came. 
This  was  their  only  service  in  the  war,  but  it  was  a  noble  service. 
At  King's  Mountain  they  turned  the  tide  of  the  war,  and  insured 
the  ultimate  independence  of  America. 

During  the  following  months  Marion  and  Sumter  were  extremely 
energetic  in  their  peculiar  mode  of  warfare,  and  the  latter  gained  a 
victory  over  Tarleton.  But  this  was  not  all;  Daniel  Morgan  came 
down  from  the  North,  —  Morgan,  whose  romantic  career  we  have 
noticed,  —  and  at  his  hands  the  scourge  of  the  South,  Tarleton,  was 
to  suffer  the  most  crushing  defeat  of  his  life.  General  jSTathanael 
Greene  was  appointed  to  succeed  Gates  at  the  South.  He  arrived  in 
December,  1780,  and  with  the  aid  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  Governor  of 
Virginia,  raised  some  two  thousand  men  from  that  state,  and  these, 
with  fifteen  hundred  whom  Gates  had  collected  after  Cam  den,  gave 
him  a  respectable  army.  Greene's  first  important  move  was  to  send 
the  free  lance,  Daniel  Morgan,  to  raid  the  back  country.  Morgan,  with 
nine  hundred  men,  was  soon  confronted  by  eleven  hundred  under  Tarle 
ton.  The  two  met  at  the  Cowpens,  not  far  from  King's 
Mountain.  Morgan's  tactics  were  perfect ;  the  battle  ^^  ®^ 
was  furious,  and  Tarleton's  army  was  almost  anni 
hilated,  he  and  a  few  followers  alone  escaping  through  the  swamps 
on  horseback.  Greene  had  the  services  of  some  of  the  best  men  of 
the  Continental  army  —  Steuben,  whom  he  left  in  Virginia  to  watch 
the  traitor  Arnold,  Kosciusko,  and  the  brilliant  cavalry  leaders,  Henry 
Lee  and  William  Washington,  the  latter  a  distant  relative  of  the  com 
mander  in  chief.  Cornwallis  was  greatly  weakened  by  the  defeat 
1  Sloane  gives  this  number. 


308  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

at  the  Cowpens,  and  he  determined  to  strike  Greene  as  soon  as 
possible  and  revive  the  waning  spirits  of  the  regulars  and  loyalists. 
Perceiving  this,  Greene  decided  to  lure  the  British  general  as  far  as 
possible  from  his  base  of  supplies,  and  then  to  give  him  battle.  He 
began  an  apparent  retreat  northward.  Cornwallis  fell  into  the  trap, 
destroyed  his  heavy  baggage,  and  followed.  The  chase  continued  for 
two  hundred  miles.  At  Guilford  Courthouse,  but  thirty  miles  from 
the  Virginia  border,  Greene,  having  joined  Morgan's  forces  with  his 
own,  wheeled  about,  and,  after  some  days  of  sparring  for  position, 
offered  battle.1  Greene  placed  his  raw  militia  in  front  with  orders  to 
fire  two  or  three  volleys  before  giving  way,  after  which  the  brunt  of 

the  battle  was  to  be  borne  by  the  regulars.  This  plan 
Courthouse  ^ad  been  adopted  by  Morgan  at  the  Cowpens  with  great 

success,  and  Greene  found  it  highly  useful.  At  one  time 
during  the  battle  the  Americans  were  on  the  point  of  being  routed 
when  they  were  saved  by  a  cavalry  charge  of  Colonel  Washington. 
After  the  battle  had  continued  for  some  hours  the  British  planted 
their  columns  on  a  hill,  from  which  they  fought  with  great  valor  and 
could  not  be  dislodged,  and  at  nightfall  they  were  left  in  possession 
of  the  field.  From  this  cause  the  battle  of  Guilford  has  been  con 
sidered  a  British  victory.  But  the  real  victory  lay  with  Greene. 
He  had  lured  his  enemy  far  from  his  base  of  supplies,  and  had 
destroyed  one  fourth  of  his  army,  six  hundred  men,  himself  losing  but 
four  hundred.  Cornwallis  saw  that  he  was  entrapped,  refused  Greene's 
challenge  for  a  second  battle,  and  marched  in  all  haste  to  the  sea- 
coast,  leaving  his  wounded  behind. 

By  the  flight  of  Cornwallis  North  Carolina  was  left  in  the  hands  of 
the  Americans,  and  South  Carolina  was  soon  to  share  the  same  good 
fortune;  for  Greene,  instead  of  pursuing  the  enemy  toward  Wil 
mington,  turned  to  the  latter  state,  and  in  three  months  he  and  his 
subordinates  had  driven  the  enemy  from  every  stronghold  —  Cam- 
den,  Augusta,  Forte  Motte,  Orangeburg,  Ninety-six  —  all  except 
Charleston ; 2  and  all  the  energy  that  the  British  had  expended  in 
two  and  a  half  years  to  possess  those  states  came  to  naught. 

1  Greene's  flight  was  prompted  also  by  the  fact  that  he  did  not  feel  able,  without 
reinforcements,  to  fight  Cornwallis.    He  offered  battle  only  after  making  a  detour 
into  Virginia  and  gathering  several  hundred  recruits. 

2  Colonel  Stewart,  however,  who  succeeded  Lord  Rawdon,  remained  in  South 
Carolina  till  September  8,  when   occurred  the  battle  of  Eutaw  Springs.    This  has 
been  pronounced  a  British  victory ;  but,  strange  to  say,  the  victors  fled  and  were 
pursued  for  thirty  miles  by  the  vanquished. 


THE   FINAL   SCENES  309 


YORKTOWN 

On  reaching  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  Cornwallis  did  not  go 
southward  and  begin  a  reconquest  of  the  state  he  had  lost ;  he  pro 
ceeded,  without  orders  from  Clinton,  into  Virginia,  in  the  hope  of 
conquering  that  state,  and  in  the  belief  that  if  he  did  so  the  Caro- 
linas  would  easily  fall  again  into  his  possession.  Lafayette,  with  a 
thousand  men,  had  come  down  from  the  North  to  join  Steuben  and 
watch  Arnold  and  Phillips,  while  Wayne,  with  an  equal  number, 
was  moving  south  from  Pennsylvania.  With  great  skill  the  young 
French  marquis,  with  an  inferior  army,  held  the  enemy  in  check  for 
a  month,  when  he  was  joined  by  Wayne.  Cornwallis  arrived  on 
May  20.  Arnold  was  sent  back  to  New  York,  and  Phillips  died  of 
fever.  Then  began  a  long  series  of  maneuvers,  marches,  and  coun 
termarches,  Lafayette  harassing  the  enemy  in  every  way,  but  avoid 
ing  an  engagement.  The  British  general  expected  to  make  a 
brilliant  stroke.  "  The  boy  cannot  escape  me,"  said  he ;  but  the  boy 
had  been  schooled  under  Washington  for  four  years,  and  no  strategy 
of  Cornwallis  could  entrap  him.  In  one  of  Tarleton's  raids  Gov 
ernor  Jefferson  was  barely  able  to  escape  from  his  house  at  Monti- 
cello  before  it  was  surrounded  by  cavalry.  Lafayette's  army  steadily 
increased.  Early  in  August  Cornwallis  moved  down  the  York  River 
and  occupied  Yorktown,  while  the  marquis  stationed  his  army  at 
Malvern  Hill ;  and  here  they  remained  until  the  inaugurating  of  a 
great  and  unexpected  movement  that  was  to  end  the  campaign  and 
the  war. 

For  three  years,  since  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  Washington  had 
held  his  army  as  a  watchdog,  guarding  the  great  valley  of  the  Hud 
son,  while  Clinton,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  was  ever  threatening  to 
invade  it.  Washington  longed  to  attack  the  enemy  in  his  strong 
hold,  and  would  have  done  so  during  Clinton's  brief  absence  in  the 
South,  but  for  the  fact  that  he  had  weakened  his  own  army  by  send 
ing  troops  southward.  During  the  spring  of  1781  this  scheme  of 
attacking  the  city  was  revived.  Count  Rochambeau  had  arrived  in 
Rhode  Island  the  year  before  with  six  thousand  French  troops,  and 
now,  after  nearly  a  year  of  enforced  idleness,  this  army  was  to  be 
joined  to  that  of  Washington  for  a  combined  attack.  The  two  com 
manders  conferred  with  this  end  in  view,  when  suddenly  the  news 
reached  them  that  Count  de  Grasse,  with  a  powerful  French  fleet  of 
twenty-eight  ships  of  the  line  and  six  frigates,  bearing  twenty 


310  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

thousand  men,  was  about  to  sail  from  the  West  Indies  to  Chesa 
peake  Bay.  The  whole  plan  was  at  once  changed.  Washington 
determined  to  take  a  French-American  army  to  Virginia,  and  to 
endeavor  with  the  support  of  the  fleet  to  capture  the  British  army. 

So  necessary  was  it  to  deceive  Clinton  that  Washington  and 
Rochambeau  kept  their  plan  secret  even  from  their  officers  until 
Washington  secrecy  was  no  longer  possible.  Leaving  General  Heath 
moves  south-  with  four  thousand  men  to  guard  the  Hudson,  they 
ward.  crossed  that  river  with  four  thousand  Frenchmen  and 

two  thousand  Americans  on  the  19th  of  August.  Moving  down  the 
Jersey  shore,  they  made  a  feint  on  Staten  Island  and  led  Clinton  to 
believe  that  the  intention  was  to  attack  it;  but  suddenly  the  army 
wheeled  to  the  west,  and  it  almost  reached  the  Delaware  before  the 
object  of  the  expedition  was  known.  By  the  time  the  army  reached 
Philadelphia  it  was  generally  known  that  the  aim  was  to  capture 
Cornwallis,  and  the  rejoicing  of  the  people  of  the  city  was  loud  and 
long.  While  en  route  to  the  South,  Washington  made  a  flying  visit 
to  his  home  at  Mt.  Vernon,  which  he  had  not  seen  for  six  years. 

Meantime  De  Grasse  reached  the  mouth  of  the  York  River  and 
sent  four  thousand  men  ashore  to  augment  the  army  of  Lafayette. 
The  British  also  had  a  powerful  fleet  in  the  West  Indies, 
under  the  command  of  Admiral  Rodney,  a  very  able 
man ;  but  Rodney  returned  to  England,  owing  to  sickness,  and  sent 
the  fleet  northward  under  Admiral  Hood.  Reaching  Sandy  Hook, 
Hood  joined  his  fleet  to  that  of  Admiral  Graves,  and  the  two  sailed 
for  the  Chesapeake  to  meet  De  Grasse.  An  action  took  place  on 
September  5  in  which  several  of  the  English  vessels  were  so  dam 
aged  that  Graves  and  Hood  sailed  to  New  York  for  repairs  and  left 
De  Grasse  complete  master  in  the  Chesapeake.  This  was  a  matter 
of  vital  importance  to  Washington,  as  it  prevented  the  escape  of 
Cornwallis  by  sea.  His  only  escape  lay  in  a  retreat  upon  North 
Carolina,  but  this  was  prevented  by  Lafayette,  who  lay  across  the 
peninsula  with  eight  thousand  men.  Clinton,  hearing  of  Washington's 
departure  for  the  South,  was  deeply  perplexed.  In  the  hope  of  luring 
Washington  back,  he  sent  Arnold  to  harass  the  coast  of  Connecticut, 
but  the  traitor  was  driven  away  by  the  swarming  minute  men. 

The  allied  armies  reached  the  vicinity  of  Yorktown  late  in 
August.  The  approaches  were  made  by  means  of  parallel  trenches, 
the  first  of  which  was  completed  on  October  6,  when  the  bombard 
ment  of  the  city  began.  Side  by  side  labored  the  French  chasseurs 


THE   FINAL   SCENES 


311 


THE  SIEGE  OF    %\ 

YORKTOWN    \\ 


U  C  E  S'T  E  R 


and  the   American  continentals   and   militia,  tightening   the    coils 
about  the  imprisoned  British  army.     On  the  river  bank  below  the 
town  were  two  strong  redoubts.     One  of  these  was  cap 
tured  by  Baron    de  Viomenil,  and   the  other   by  the   yofktown 
youthful  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  was  destined  yet  to 
play  a  great  part  in  American  history.      Day  by  day  the  British 
works  crumbled  beneath  the  incessant  fire  of  the  allied  cannon,  and 
on  the  17th  of  October,  four  years  to  a  day  after  the  surrender  of 
Burgoyne,  the  white  flag  was  seen  waving  above  the  parapet  at  York- 
town.     The  cannonade  ceased  and  the  surrender  was  effected  two 
days  later,  the  terms  being  exactly  those  accorded  to  Lin-   surrender 
coin  at  Charleston.     And  it  was  Lincoln  who  was  now  October  19, 
sent  to  receive  the  sword  of  Cornwallis,  who,  playing   1781. 
sick,  sent  it  by  the  hand  of  General  O'Hara.     The  British  arms 
were  soon  stacked,  and  the  entire  army  of  more  than  eight  thousand 
men,    including 
a  few   hundred 
seamen,  became 
prisoners  of  war. 
Everybody 
knew,   on    both 
sides  of  the  At 
lantic,  that  this 
master      stroke 
had   ended    the 
war     and    that 
America       had 
won.        Clinton 
held  New  York 
for    two    years 
longer ;  but  hos- 
tilities    had 
ceased,   and   he 

only  waited  for  peace  to  be  arranged  by  treaty.1  The  rejoicing  over 
the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  was  unbounded  throughout  America. 
The  news  reached  Philadelphia  in  the  early  morning  hours  of  the 
24th,  and  the  German  watchman,  continuing  his  rounds,  added  to 

1  Soon  after  the  surrender  Washington  returned  to  the  Hudson  Valley.  The 
French  array  embarked  for  France  in  December.  Guerrilla  warfare  continued  in 
parts  of  the  South  and  on  the  frontier  for  some  time,  but  Yorktown  ended  hostilities 
between  the  regular  armies. 


General  Wath 

Headquarter* 


312  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

his  "  Basht  dree  o'glock,"  the  further  information,  "  und  Gorn-val- 
lis  ist  da-ken."1  Wild  scenes  of  rejoicing  greeted  the  coming  day, 
and  Congress  repaired  to  the  Lutheran  Church  to  thank  God  for  the 
deliverance.  When  the  news  reached  Paris  the  victory  was  cele 
brated  with  a  brilliant  illumination  of  the  city.  Even  in  England 
many  of  the  anti-war  party  rejoiced;  but  Lord  North,  on  hearing 
the  news,  paced  the  floor  of  his  room,  threw  his  arms  wildly  about, 
and  repeated  again  and  again,  "  0  God,  it  is  all  over,  it  is  all  over." 

It  was  not  until  April  19,  1783,  exactly  eight  years  after  Lexing 
ton,  that  Washington  proclaimed  the  war  at  an  end,  and  discharged 
the  army.  Some  time  later  he  took  impressive  leave  of  his  officers 
and  retired  to  his  Mt.  Vernon  home,  a  private  citizen. 

The  very  important  business  of  concluding  a  treaty  of  peace 
was  now  in  progress.  The  treaty  was  arranged  in  Paris,  and  the 
American  commissioners  were  Benjamin  Franklin,  John  Jay,  and 
John  Adams.  Franklin  was  already  in  Paris,  Jay  was  at  Madrid, 
and  Adams  was  in  Holland  trying  to  place  a  loan.  American  inde 
pendence  was  a  foregone  conclusion,  and  every  country  in  Europe 
was  pleased  with  this  outcome,  except  Spain,  which  foresaw  that 
the  United  States  as  an  independent  power  would  become  a  menace 
to  her  American  possessions.  The  North  ministry  had  fallen,  and 
the  Marquis  of  Rockingham  was  now  premier,  with  Shelburne  and 
Charles  James  Fox  as  members  of  his  Cabinet.  All  of  these  had 
been  the  friends  of  America  from  the  beginning.  In  July,  1782, 
Rockingham  died,  and  Shelburne,  succeeding  him  as  premier,  became 
the  one  who,  through  his  agents,  treated  with  the  Americans.  Our 
commissioners  had  been  instructed  not  to  deal  separately  with  Eng 
land  without  the  consent  of  France,  and  by  these  instructions  Frank 
lin  was  ready  to  abide.  But  Jay  discovered,  or  thought  he -discovered, 
that  the  French  minister,  Vergennes,  had  proposed  secretly  to  Eng 
land  that  the  United  States  be  deprived  of  all  the  region  between 
the  Alleghany  Mountains  and  the  Mississippi  River  in  the  inter 
ests  of  Spain,  and  also  that  American  fishermen  be  prohibited  from 
Canadian  waters,  and  he  offered  to  treat  with  England  secretly  with 
out  the  consent  of  France. 

The  proposition  was  gladly  accepted  by  Shelburne. 
Franklin  did  not  approve  of  Jay's  course,  but  Adams, 
arriving  from  Holland  about  this  time,  sided  with  Jay, 
and  Franklin  yielded.     They  therefore  arranged  with  Shelburne  a 
i  Fiske,  Vol.  II,  p.  285. 


THE  UNITED  STATES 

At  the  Close  of  the  Revolution, 

Showing  Western  Land  Claims  of  States., 

SCALE  OF  MILES.         

0  100  200  SOU  400  500 

92°       Longitude         West        87°      from         Greenwich  2<= 


OBSERVATIONS   ON  THE   WAR  313 

preliminary  treaty,  which  was  signed  November  30,  1782,  while  the 
definitive  treaty  was  not  signed  until  the  3d  of  September,  1783,  the 
long  delay  being  caused  by  the  European  situation. 

By  the  treaty  the  independence  of  the  United  States  was  acknowl 
edged,  and  the  boundaries  were  Florida  on  the  south,  the  Mississippi 
on  the  west,  and  the  southern  boundary  of  Canada  on  the  north. 
The  northern  boundary  could  not  be  absolutely  fixed,  owing  to  im 
perfect  geographical  knowledge.     This  was  done  sixty  years  later, 
and  a  child  born  among  the  New  Hampshire  hills  the 
same  year  that  marked  the  signing  of  the  preliminary 
treaty  became  the  American  agent  in  completing  this  work  that  was 
left  unfinished. 

The  Mississippi  was  left  open  to  both  American   and   British 
shipping ;  the  right  of  the  Americans  to  fish  on  the  coast  of  New 
foundland  and  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  was  continued,  while 
British  subjects  were  not  granted  fishing  rights  on  the 
coasts  of  the  United  States.     The  other  two  questions   ^  traity!  ° 
to  be  disposed  of  were  those  relating  to  the  loyalists 
and  to  the  payment  of  private  debts  to  British  subjects,  contracted 
by  Americans  before  the  war.     Of  these  the  former  is  the  subject 
of  a  note  at  the  end  of  this  chapter ;  the  latter  was  decided  in  the 
only  right  way  to  decide  such  a  question  —  every  debt  must  be  paid 
to  its  full  extent  in  sterling  money. 

The  treaty  on  the  whole  was  a  great  diplomatic  victory  for  the 
United  States.  As  Mr.  Lecky  says,  nothing  that  we  could  reasonably 
have  expected  was  denied  us.  Aside  from  independence,  the  one 
abiding  triumph  of  incalculable  importance  was  the  securing  the 
Mississippi,  instead  of  the  Alleghanies,  as  the  western  boundary  of 
the  United  States.  Of  scarcely  greater  importance  was  the  purchase 
of  Louisiana,  twenty  years  later,  than  was  this  first  step  toward  the 
expansion  of  the  new  republic  to  the  western  ocean. 


OBSERVATIONS 

To  the  "Revolution,"  by  which  the  war  as  well  as  the  change 
of  government  is  often  designated,  I  have  given  considerable  space 
because  of  its  great  importance  in  the  world's  history.  It  gave  birth 
to  the  greatest  of  modern  nations.  It  also  ended  a  long  and  blood 
less  strife  in  England  between  two  political  parties,  or  opposing 
principles  of  government,  and  resulted  in  the  restoration  of  Parlia- 


314  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED    STATES 

mentary  rule  as  distinguished  from  that  of  the  royal  prerogative. 
During  the  war  the  belief  was  widespread  that  the  success  of  the 
Americans  would  bring  ruin  to  the  British  Empire  and  relegate  it  to 
a  second  place  among  the  powers,  but  such  a  result  did  not  follow. 
England,  now  in  the  hands  of  Parliament  and  not  of  the  king,  rose 
like  a  wounded  giant  and  smote  her  enemies  right  and  left.  Admiral 
Kodney,  the  greatest  of  English  seamen  except  Nelson  and  Blake,1 
in  a  tremendous  naval  battle  in  the  West  Indies  in  1782,  destroyed 
the  French  fleet  and  made  a  prisoner  of  De  Grasse ;  and  before  the 
end  of  the  year  the  English  won  a  great  victory  over  the  Spaniards 
at  Gibraltar.  England  now  became  the  mother  of  nations  and  rose 
to  a  greater  height  than  ever  before,  reaching  the  acme  of  her  power 
a  generation  later  at  Waterloo. 

America  was  not  greatly  weakened  by  the  Revolution.  It  is 
true  that  the  fishing  industry  and  the  shipping  business  were  tem 
porarily  destroyed,  but  in  spite  of  this  fact  the  country  continued  to 
prosper  during  the  war,  and  gained  three  hundred  thousand  inhabit 
ants.2  In  fact,  the  war  did  not  continue  long  in  any  one  place.  The 
wealth  of  the  country  lay  chiefly  in  its  farm  products,  and  so  exten 
sive  was  the  territory  that  the  invading  armies  overran  less  than  one 
tenth  of  it  during  the  whole  war.  When  a  foreign  army  was  quartered 
for  a  long  season  in  any  place,  it  was  a  benefit  rather  than  a  detriment 
to  the  community,  as  the  farmers  received  better  prices,  and  usually 
in  specie,  for  their  products.  In  short,  the  country  was  richer  and 
stronger  in  resources  at  the  end  of  the  war  than  at  its  beginning. 
Nevertheless,  the  patriot  armies  were  often  barefoot,  but  half  clothed, 
and  actually  suffering  for  food.  This  arose  wholly  from  a  want  of 
government.  The  country  was  laden  with  harvests  and  fruits,  with 
shoes  and  clothing ;  but  Congress  was  powerless, —  it  could  not  supply 
the  army,  it  had  no  power  of  taxation.  In  one  way  alone,  the 
worst  way  of  all,  could  Congress  tax  the  people  —  by  issuing  paper 
money ;  and  this  it  did  lavishly.  This  Continental  money  depreci 
ated  in  the  hands  of  the  people  until  it  became  valueless.  A  pound 
of  sugar  sold  for  $10,  and  a  barrel  of  flour  for  $1500.  To  say 
that  a  thing  was  "not  worth  a  continental"  was  to  express  the 
utmost  contempt  for  its  value.  This  inflation  of  the  currency 

1  Greene. 

2  Rhode  Island  and  Georgia  alone  lost  in  population.     See  Channing's  "United 
States  of  America,"  p.  105. 

3  The  various  issues  by  Congress   (all  before  the  close  of   1779)    aggregated 
$242,000,000.    Lossing's  "  Cyclopedia,"  Vol.  II,  p.  321. 


OBSERVATIONS   ON  THE   WAR  315 

caused  much  annoyance  in  business,  but  the  people  deserved  it  for 
their  tardy  support  of  the  war.  Had  Congress  wielded  true  govern 
mental  powers,  or  had  the  people  acted  all  through  with  the  vigor 
displayed  at  Lexington,  at  Saratoga,  and  at  King's  Mountain,  the 
war  would  have  been  short  and  the  result  never  doubtful. 

As  to  foreign  aid,  aside  from  the  moral  effect  of  the  French 
alliance  _and  the  individual  services  of  such  men  as  Lafayette  and 
Steuben,  it  amounted  to  little  until  the  last  campaign.  Twice  did 
the  French  make  an  honest  effort  —  at  Newport  and  at  Savannah  — 
to  assist  the  Americans,  but  in  each  case  the  result  was  failure.  At 
Yorktown,  however,  the  aid  of  the  French  was  necessary  to  success. 
But  for  the  fleet  of  De  Grasse,  Cornwallis  would  have  escaped  by 
sea;  and  but  for  the  French  land  forces  he  might  have  broken 
through  the  encircling  lines.  For  this  service  the  Americans  should 
never  cease  to  be  profoundly  grateful  to  France. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  mistake  made  by  the  British  was  presuming 
too  much  on  the  strength  of  the  loyalists.  There  were  many,  it  is 
true,  in  northern  New  York  and  in  the  South,  but  in  both  sections 
the  patriots  outnumbered  them,  while  in  New  England  and  Penn 
sylvania  the  Tory  element  was  insignificant.  Burgoyne  seriously 
miscalculated  in  expecting  the  people  of  the  Hudson  Valley  to  rise 
up  for  the  king,  and  the  same  mistake  was  made  by  Cornwallis  in 
his  hapless,  final  campaign  in  Virginia. 

Among  the  British  commanders  we  find  no  really  great  soldier. 
The  ablest  of  them  all  was  Cornwallis,  a  man  of  much  vigor,  honest, 
conscientious,  and  not  without  strategic  ability.  Had  Cornwallis 
been  made  commander  in  chief  from  the  beginning,  the  history  of 
the  war  might  have  been  different  from  what  it  is.  Next  to  him 
stands  Lord  Rawdon ;  and  both  of  these  men  afterward  rose  high  in 
the  councils  of  their  nation,  each  becoming  governor  of  India. 
Tarleton  exhibited  much  dash  and  brilliancy,  but  he  was  wanting 
in  the  humane  qualities  that  usually  characterize  modern  warfare. 
Gage  was  incompetent,  as  British  writers  acknowledge.  Howe  was 
abler,  but  he  was  dilatory  and  never  seemed  to  have  heart  in  the 
work.1  Burgoyne  and  Clinton  were  men  of  considerable  ability,  and 

1  General  Howe  was  accused  by  his  political  enemies  of  not  trying  to  conquer 
the  Americans  because  of  his  sympathy  with  them.  To  these  accusations  he  made 
a  sweeping  denial.  Mr.  S.  G.  Fisher,  in  his  "True  History  of  the  Revolution'' 
(p.  296  sq.),  makes  a  strong  argument  that  Howe  was  not  true  to  the  British  cause: 
that  his  sailing  to  Halifax  on  leaving  Boston,  instead  of  going  direct  to  the  vicinity 
of  New  York;  his  leaving  great  stores  and  many  cannon  at  Boston,  when  he  could 


316  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

of  the  most  honorable  instincts ;  but  while  the  former  in  his  single 
campaign  had  little  opportunity  to  exhibit  any  great  qualities,  the 
latter  was  usually  just  too  late  in  making  any  important  movement. 
Long  after  the  war  was  over  Clinton  and  Cornwallis  had  a  sharp 
controversy  concerning  the  Virginia  campaign,  the  sympathy  of 
Parliament  remaining  chiefly  with  the  latter. 

Turning  to  the  American  side,  we  find  in  George  Washington  a 
great  military  commander.  It  is  true  that  he  actually  won  but  few 
battles,  but  this  fact  will  not  affect  his  reputation  when  one  consid 
ers  the  conditions.  An  army  of  regulars,  of  professional  soldiers,  is 
worth  at  least  three  times  its  number  of  untrained  militia;  and  not 
only  was  Washington's  army  composed  largely  of  militia,  as  against 
the  British  regulars,  but  it  was  also  usually  far  inferior  in  numbers, 
and  was  badly  equipped  in  comparison.  We  do  not  class  Washing 
ton  among  the  greatest  warriors  of  history  ;  he  lacked  the  brilliant 
genius  of  a  Hannibal,  a  Caesar,  or  a  Napoleon.  He  is  especially 
remembered  for  his  Fabian  policy ;  and  yet  his  operations  at  Tren 
ton  and  Princeton,  his  well-planned  attack  at  Germantown,  so  soon 
after  the  defeat  at  Brandywine,  and  his  stealthy  march  upon  York- 
town, —  all  must  be  classed  among  the  most  brilliant  military  move 
ments  in  the  history  of  warfare.  Other  valiant  leaders  there  were 
in  the  field  and  in  the  State,  but  any  one  of  them  could  have  been 
spared.  Not  so  with  Washington.  Without  him  —  judging  from  a 
human  standpoint  —  the  Revolution  could  not  have  succeeded. 

Next  to  Washington  stands  Nathanael  Greene.  Singular  it  is 
that  Greene  never  won  a  battle ;  but  he  always  won  the  campaign, 
which  was  the  vital  thing  after  all.  Lafayette  made  a  name  for 
himself  in  American  history,  and  his  fame  will  endure  for  many  gen 
erations;  but  he  never  displayed,  in  this  war  or  later  in  life,  the 
qualities  of  a  great  military  genius.  A  few  of  the  commanders  are 
famous  for  some  single  act  —  Ethan  Allen  for  the  capture  of  Ticon- 
deroga,  Stark  for  Bennington,  and  Wayne  for  his  capture  of  Stony 
Point ;  while  others,  equally  deserving,  are  scarcely  remembered 

have  destroyed  them;  his  failure  to  capture  the  American  army  on  Long  Island; 
his  loitering  on  Murray  Hill  and  losing  a  great  opportunity  in  New  York  ;  his  sailing 
for  the  Chesapeake,  when  he  should  have  cooperated  with  Burgoyne,  even  without 
instructions,  —  abundantly  prove  this.  The  argument  is  strong,  hut  as  Howe  was 
always  known  to  he  a  man  of  the  highest  honor  and  probity,  and  as  such  a  theory 
impeaches  his  character  and  makes  him  a  traitor  to  his  country  while  pretending  to 
be  its  friend  and  defender,  the  theory  is  impossible  to  accept.  And  yet,  as  General 
Howe  was  a  stanch  Whig,  it  can  easily  be  believed  that  his  campaigns  were  less 
vigorous  than  they  would  have  been  had  he  belonged  to  the  opposite  party. 


OBSERVATIONS   ON   THE   WAR  317 

by  the  masses.  Among  these  are  Schuyler,  who  was  robbed  of  his 
laurels  at  Saratoga ;  Knox,  whose  name  was  redeemed  by  his  being 
chosen  to  sit  in  the  first  Cabinet ;  Daniel  Morgan,  the  hero  of  many 
battles  and  especially  of  the  Cowpens;  and  Sullivan,  who  was  a  con 
spicuous  figure  in  nearly  every  battle  fought  on  northern  soiL 


NOTES 

Washington's  Farewell.  —  On  November  25,  1783,  the  British  army  under 
Sir  Guy  Carleton,  who  had  succeeded  Clinton,  departed  from  New  York,  and 
the  same  day  the  American  army  entered  the  city.  The  day  was  celebrated  for 
many  years  as  Evacuation  Day.  Nine  days  after  the  entrance  of  the  army 
Washington  gathered  his  officers  about  him  at  Fraunce's  Tavern  and  gave  them 
an  affectionate  farewell.  In  deep  emotion  he  raised  a  glass  of  water  with  trem 
bling  hand  to  his  lips,  drank  to  their  health,  and  said  :  "  With  a  heart  full  of 
love  and  gratitude  I  now  take  leave  of  you,  and  most  devoutly  wish  your  latter 
days  may  be  as  prosperous  and  happy  as  your  former  ones  have  been  glorious 
and  honorable."  He  then  invited  each  to  shake  him  by  the  hand,  and  as  they 
did  so  he  kissed  each  one  on  the  forehead.  From  New  York  he  went  to  Phila 
delphia  and  deposited  with  the  comptroller  an  account  of  his  expenses  during 
the  war  (some  $64,000),  and  then  proceeded  to  Annapolis,  where  Congress  was 
sitting.  In  the  towns  along  the  route  great  numbers  of  people  gathered  to 
do  honor  to  the  hero  and  to  assure  him  of  their  undying  devotion.  In  the  state- 
house  at  Annapolis,  at  noon  on  December  23,  Washington  appeared  before  Con 
gress  in  special  session  for  the  purpose,  returned  his  commission  as  commander 
of  the  army  to  General  Mifflin,  the  president,  and  uttered  a  speech  full  of  feeling 
and  wisdom.  Two  days  later,  on  Christmas,  this  "  Cincinnatus  of  the  West" 
was  resting  amid  the  rural  scenes  of  his  Mt.  Vernon  home. 

The  Treaty  and  the  Loyalists. — The  most  serious  immediate  question 
before  the  American  people  after  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  was  what  to  do 
with  the  Tories  or  loyalists.  In  framing  the  treaty,  England  had  insisted  on 
favorable  terms  for  them ;  but  our  commissioners,  Franklin,  Jay,  and  John 
Adams,  were  inexorable  in  their  refusal.  They  agreed,  however,  that  Congress 
recommend  that  the  states  deal  mildly  with  the  loyalists.  Congress  did  this, 
but  the  states  paid  no  heed  to  the  request.  Many  of  them  fled  the  country  at 
the  close  of  the  war,  some  to  England,  some  to  Canada,  while  others  found  refuge 
in  Florida.  Many  were  reduced  to  poverty  by  confiscation.  Some  in  New 
Jersey  were  tarred  and  feathered,  while  numbers  in  the  South  were  put  to  death. 
One  man,  named  Love,  who  had  been  notorious  for  killing  wounded  patriots,  was 
tried  in  Georgia  and  was  acquitted  ;  but  the  people  seized  him  as  he  walked  out 
of  the  court  room  and  hanged  him  to  the  nearest  tree.  A  great  many  of  the 
milder  Tories  were  permitted  to  remain  in  the  country,  and  they  eventually 
became  useful  citizens.  It  is  claimed  that  about  60,000  fled  the  country  and 
made  their  homes  in  England  or  Canada.  For  those  who  had  lost  their  property 
and  left  the  country,  Parliament  appropriated  a  large  sum  of  money,  $16, 000, 000. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  TEMPORARY  GOVERNMENT 

THE  war  of  the  Revolution  was  now  over,  and  the  people  rejoiced 
in  their  newly  won  independence ;  but  the  more  serious  problem  of 
self-government  was  yet  unsolved.  We  have  seen  how  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  war  the  people  came  together  in  the  common  defense, 
how  they  created  a  Congress  with  undefined  powers  and  through 
it  declared  their  independence,  and  how  at  length  they  lost  interest 
in  it  and  refused  to  obey  its  mandates.  It  is  true  that  Congress  had 
degenerated ;  some  of  the  best  men  of  the  first  Congress  had  gone  into 
the  army,  others  had  become  ministers  abroad,  while  still  others  had 
accepted  office  in  their  respective  states.  No  longer  was  that  body 
composed  of  the  best  men  of  the  country,  nor  were  its  motives 
always  above  suspicion.  The  people  had  learned,  through  their  long 
experience  in  colonial  days,  how  to  govern  their  states;  but  to  join 
them  together  into  a  nation  was  the  vital  question  that  had  not  yet 
reached  a  solution. 

Nevertheless  Congress  made  an  honest  effort  to  form  a  permanent 
union.  On  the  same  day  that  the  committee  was  appointed  to  draw 
up  a  Declaration  of  Independence  another  committee  was  intrusted 
with  the  more  arduous  duty  of  preparing  a  form  of  government. 
The  leading  man  in  this  committee  was  John  Dickinson,  who,  one 
week  after  the  great  Declaration  had  been  passed,  reported  a  plan 
of  government.  This  instrument  was  taken  up  and  debated  at 
intervals  for  some  weeks,  when  it  was  laid  upon  the  table ;  and  there 
it  rested  for  eight  months.  In  the  early  spring  of  1777  these  articles 
were  again  taken  up,  and,  after  a  desultory  discussion  covering  half 
a  year,  they  were  adopted  by  Congress.  This  plan  of  government, 
or  constitution,  is  known  in  history  as  the  Articles  of  Confed 
eration. 

The  Articles  as  finally  adopted  were  much  weaker  than  was  the 
original  draft  of  Dickinson,  and  the  weak  and  inefficient  govern 
ment  created  by  them  was  little  better  than  a  "  rope  of  sand,"  as  it 

318 


THE    ARTICLES   OF   CONFEDERATION  319 

has  frequently  been  called.  The  causes  which  contributed  to  this  result 
were  various.  The  outburst  of  national  feeling  at  the  opening  of 
the  Revolution,  born  of  necessity  and  of  the  spirit  of  rebellion  against 
England,  had  now  subsided,  while  the  feeling  of  state  pride,  which 
had  its  roots  in  the  far  past,  was  again  in  the  ascendency.  The 
states  had  moreover  formed  governments  and  assumed  governmental 
powers,  and  they  were  loath  to  yield  these  powers  to  a  general  govern 
ment.  They  were  also  jealous  of  one  another,  and  this  jealousy  of 
states  and  sections  played  its  part  in  preventing  their  union  into  a 
stronger  government.  To  these  causes  —  excessive  state  pride  and 
a  dearth  of  national  patriotism,  the  jealousy  of  the  states  and  un 
willingness  to  yield  any  of  their  powers  —  another  must  be  added, 
namely,  a  widespread  fear  that  a  strong  central  government  would 
become  tyrannical  and  oppressive  and  would  eventually  subvert  the 
liberties  of  the  people.  From  these  causes  our  first  attempt  at 
national  government,  under  a  written  constitution,  ended  almost  in 
failure. 

THE    "ARTICLES"   AND   THE  LAND   CESSIONS 

Immediately  on  adopting  the  Articles  Congress  sent  them  to  the 
various  states  for  ratification.  Most  of  the  states  ratified  them  within 
a  year,  but  a  few  hesitated,  and  three  and  a  half  years  passed  before 
the  union  was  formed.  The  chief  cause  for  delay  is  found  in  the 
possession  of  western  lands  by  some  of  the  states  and  not  by  the 
others.  Anticipating  the  cession  by  Great  Britain  of  all  the  territory 
east  of  the  Mississippi  from  Florida  to  the  Great  Lakes,  the  various 
states  laid  claim  to  it,  mostly  on  the  ground  of  their  royal  charters.1 
Massachusetts  claimed  all  the  lands  westward  from  New  York,  and 
Connecticut  laid  claim  to  a  broad  strip  south  of  the  Massachusetts 
line.  Virginia,  by  right  of  her  charters  and  on  the  ground  of  the 
conquest  of  the  Illinois  country  by  George  Rogers  Clark,  laid  claim 
to  almost  the  entire  Ohio  Valley  and  to  parts  of  what  is  now  Wis 
consin  and  Michigan.  The  claims  of  the  southern  states  extended 
from  their  respective  western  boundaries  to  the  Mississippi.  The 
claims  of  New  York,  however,  were  the  most  extravagant  of  all ;  and 
they  were  not  based  on  a  royal  charter,  but  on  the  possession  of  the 

1  These  charters,  extending  to  the  "  South  Sea,"  which  now  became  the  Missis 
sippi  River,  had  nearly  all  been  canceled  by  the  same  power  that  had  issued  them, 
but  the  states  ignored  this  fact  and  stuck  to  their  extravagant  claims  to  the  western 
lauds. 


320  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

Iroquois.  The  Six  Nations  had  deeded  all  their  lands  to  the  gov 
ernor  of  New  York,  and  these  Indians  had  pretended  to  extend  their 
authority  over  nearly  all  the  tribes  between  the  Tennessee  River  and 
the  Great  Lakes.  On  this  ground  New  York  claimed  all  this  vast 
region  as  her  own. 

It  will  be  seen  that  these  claims  frequently  conflict,  and  here  lay. 
the  seeds  of  serious  future  trouble  among  the  states ;  but  happily 
the  discussion  of   the  Articles  of   Confederation   fur- 
cesssions  nished  the  means  of   a   final  settlement.     Six   of   the 

states  —  Rhode  Island,  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Maryland  —  had  no  claim  to  western 
lands,  and  these  now  called  upon  the  others  to  surrender  their  claims 
to  the  general  government.  Maryland,  indeed,  made  a  determined 
stand,  and  refused  to  adopt  the  Articles  and  join  the  Union  until 
the  cessions  were  made.  The  matter  hung  fire  for  several  years 
and  began  to  attract  attention  even  in  Europe ;  but  at  length,  early 
in  1781,  New  York  generously  took  the  lead  and  offered  to  cede  her 
claims  to  the  general  government.  Some  of  the  others  signified  their 
willingness  to  follow  this  example,  and  Maryland  signed  the  Articles 
in  March,  1781. 

This  experiment  in  government  was  the  first  of  its  kind  in  his 
tory,  and  it  was  not  then  known,  as  it  now  is,  that  such  a  confed 
eracy  cannot  endure.  The  Articles  embodied  a  few  good  points, 
such  as  the  provision  that  freemen  of  any  state  should  be  entitled 
to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  freemen  of  any  other  state, 
and  that  the  records,  acts,  and  judicial  decisions  of  one  state  should 
be  valid  in  all.  But  onxthe  whole  the  Articles  were  exceedingly 
defective.  They  left  the  government  without  a  Supreme  Court  to 
interpret  the  laws,  without  an  Executive  to  enforce  them,  and  with 
but  one  House  of  Congress,  in  which  each  state  had  one  vote,  regard 
less  of  its  size,  population,  or  wealth.  Each  state  had  at  least  two 
and  not  more  than  seven  representatives,  the  majority 
the  Articles  casting  the  vote  of  the  state,  and  no  man  could  rep 
resent  his  state  more  than  three  years  out  of  six.  Con 
gress  had  no  power  over  commerce ;  each  state  had  power  to  put  a 
tariff  on  foreign  goods,  or  on  goods  from  the  other  states.  The 
government  acted  on  the  state  and  not  on  the  individual :  thus  a 
citizen  had  no  direct  relations  with  his  government,  which  seemed 
to  him  almost  as  a  foreign  power ;  he  was  responsible  to  his  state, 
and  the  state  to  the  general  government. 


THE   TEMPORARY   GOVERNMENT  321 

The  most  glaring  defect  in  the  Articles  lay  in  the  fact  that  Con 
gress  had  no  power  over  taxation.  It  could  only  apportion  to  the 
states  the  amount  necessary  for  each  to  raise,  and  if  they  refused, 
as  some  of  them  did,  there  was  no  power  to  force  them.  Eighteen 
months  were  required  to  collect  one  fifth  of  the  taxes  laid  by  Con 
gress  in  1783. l  It  is  plain  that  a  government  which  has  not  the 
power  to  tax  its  own  citizens,  or  to  enforce  its  own  laws,  or  to 
regulate  commerce,  lacks  the  vital  essentials  of  sovereignty ;  and  in 
this  condition  was  the  United  States  under  the  Articles  of  Confed 
eration. 

DRIFTING  TOWARD   ANARCHY 

The  Articles  of  Confederation  were  perhaps  the  best  attainable 
at  the  time  of  their  adoption,  as  the  people  were  not  yet  ready  for 
a  solid  union ;  and  they  taught  the  people  as  nothing 
else  could  have  done  that  a  stronger  government  was 
necessary.  But  they  were  truly  "  a  rope  of  sand." 
Any  refractory  state  among  the  thirteen  had  the  power  to  nullify 
a  national  law.  Our  agents  in  Europe  made  treaties  of  commerce 
which  could  be  set  at  naught  by  any  state  in  the  Union.  The  Euro 
pean  powers  did  not  know  whether  they  were  treating  with  one  nation 
or  with  thirteen.  Matters  at  home  were  in  a  still  worse  condition. 
The  states  habitually  violated  the  Articles  and  disobeyed  the  acts 
of  Congress,  and  they  quarreled  with  one  another  like  petulant  chil 
dren.  Pennsylvania  and  Connecticut  came  to  blows  over  the  Wyo 
ming  Valley,  until  at  length  the  matter  was  settled  by  arbitration. 
Pennsylvania  won,  and  Connecticut  went  on  westward  and  took  a 
slice  out  of  northern  Ohio,  now  called  the  Western  Reserve.  New 
York  and  New  Hampshire  quarreled  over  the  territory  of  Vermont. 
Washington  became  peacemaker,  and  Vermont  afterward  joined 
the  Union  as  the  fourteenth  state.  New  York  was  in  dispute  with 
New  Jersey  and  Connecticut  concerning  trade.  Various  states  kept 
troops,  or  entered  into  compacts  in  direct  violation  of  the  Articles. 

The  national  treasury  was  in  a  deplorable  condition.    A  great  war 
debt  hung  over  the  country,  and  the  soldiers  were  clamoring  for  their 
pay;  but  Congress  was  powerless.     In  March,  1783,  the   congress  flees 
army  was  inflamed  by  a  series  of  articles,  known  as  the   from  the 
"  Newburg    Addresses,"    by   Major   John    Armstrong,    soldiers, 
which  set  forth  the  grievances  of  the  army  and  indirectly  counseled 

1  From  November  1,  1781,  to  January  1,  178(5,  Congress  made  requisition  for 
more  than  310,000,000  and  secured  less  than  one  fourth  of  that  sum. 

Y 


322  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

violent  measures  to  obtain  redress.  The  addresses  soon  bore  fruit. 
In  June  of  the  same  year  a  band  of  eighty  soldiers  broke  camp  at 
Lancaster,  marched  upon  Philadelphia,  drew  up  before  the  state- 
house  where  Congress  sat,  and  demanded  their  pay  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet.  Congress  appealed  to  the  state  for  protection,  but 
neither  the  state  nor  the  city  was  able  or  inclined  to  furnish  it ;  and 
this  august  body  of  lawmakers,  which  had  raised  armies  to  grapple 
with  the  British  Empire,  had  issued  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  had  concluded  treaties  with  the  greatest  nations  of  the  earth,  — 
this  body  now  fled  from  a  few  of  its  own  soldiers  and  found  refuge 
in  the  college  at  Princeton.  Bioting  was  rampant  in  many  parts  of 
the  country.  At  Concord,  Massachusetts,  the  judges  were  driven 
from  the  court  by  an  armed  mob,  and  the  same  thing  occurred  at 
Northampton  and  other  towns. 

The  states  were  supreme.  Congress  was  held  in  contempt,  yet 
that  body  made  an  honest  effort  to  manage  the  government  and  to 
pay  the  national  debt.  In  1781  Congress  proposed  an  impost  duty 
of  five  per  cent  on  certain  articles,  in  order  to  raise  money  to  pay 
the  public  debt.  But  the  consent  of  all  the  states  was  necessary. 
Twelve  consented,  but  Rhode  Island  refused,  and  the  project  fell  to 
the  ground.  In  1783  a  strenuous  effort  was  made  to  amend  the 
Articles  so  as  to  give  Congress  the  power  of  laying  imposts.  Twelve 
states  again  consented,  including  Rhode  Island;  but  New  York, 
swayed  by  George  Clinton,  whose  statesmanship  was  too  narrow  to 
expand  beyond  his  own  state,  refused,  and  again  the  project  came  to 
nothing.  A  third  attempt  was  made  in  1784 — an  attempt  to  get  the 
states  to  give  Congress  power  to  exclude  from  our  ports  vessels 
whose  respective  governments  did  not  have  commercial  treaties  with 
us ;  but  this  effort  also  ended  in  failure. 

Deplorable  indeed  was  the  condition  of  the  country  during  the 
years  just  preceding  the  breaking  of  the  dawn.  Our  credit  in  Europe 
was  dead.  Jefferson,  who  had  succeeded  Franklin  as 
reunions  minister  to  France,  labored  in  vain  to  secure  further 
loans  and  more  favorable  trade  conditions  with  that 
country ;  and  John  Adams  and  John  Jay  had  similar  experiences  at 
London  and  Madrid.  The  half-barbarous  hordes  of  North  Africa  in 
sulted  our  flag  with  impunity,  destroyed  our  shipping  in  the  Medi 
terranean,  and  openly  sold  American  citizens  into  slavery  in  the 
markets  of  Tripoli  and  Algiers.  But  Congress  could  not  protect  its 
citizens  at  home  —  how  could  it  do  so  in  lands  beyond  the  seas  ?  One 


A  FEW   YEARS   OF  ANARCHY  323 

of  the  most  serious  menaces  to  the  country  came  from  the  far  South 
west.  Spain,  through  her  envoy,  Gardoqui,  decided  to  close  the  lower 
Mississippi  to  American  shipping  ;  and  John  Jay,  our  foreign  secre 
tary,  after  a  year's  protest,  agreed  to  the  project  in  order  to  win  a 
commercial  treaty  from  Spain.  Instantly  the  settlers  of  the  great 
valley  were  up  in  arms.  The  closing  of  the  great  waterway,  they 
declared,  would  ruin  them,  and  rather  than  submit  to  it,  they  would 
secede  from  the  Union  and  throw  themselves  upon  Great  Britain  for 
protection.  But  New  England  wanted  the  commercial  treaty  and 
cared  little  for  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  That  section  now 
talked  secession,  if  the  Jay-Gardoqui  treaty  were  not  accepted  by 
Congress.  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  were  neutral  and  held  the 
balance  of  power,  but  at  length  they  threw  their  weight  with  the  South, 
and  the  treaty  was  rejected. 

In  1786  the  country  was  again  deluged  with  paper  money,  issued, 
not  by  Congress,  but  by  the  several  states.  The  people  clamored  for 
it  as  Israel  cried  for  quail  in  the  wilderness,  and  the  issue  was  so  pro 
fuse  as  to  ruin  trade  and  business.  Most  of  the  states  yielded  to 
the  demand  of  the  people;  and  the  refusal  of  Massachusetts  to  do  so, 
coupled  with  a  decision  to  pay  her  quota  to  Congress,  caused  an 
uprising  led  by  Daniel  Shays,  known  as  Shays's  Rebellion.  Shays 
had  a  following  of  some  two  thousand  men,  mostly  debtor-farmers, 
and  Governor  Bowdoin  was  obliged  to  send  General  Lincoln  to  dis 
perse  them.  This  rebellion,  perhaps,  did  more  than  anything  else  to 
arouse  in  the  lovers  of  peace  and  order  a  sense  of  the  need  of  a  stronger 
government. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  national  affairs  under  the  Confedera 
tion.  Congress  had  but  the  shadow  of  power,  and  the  national  author 
ity  was  a  dream.  But  the  seeds  of  discontent  were  taking  root  in 
many  hearts.  Wise  men  saw  that  unless  a  stronger  government 
were  formed,  the  fruits  of  the  Revolution  would  be  lost  and  the 
opportunity  of  the  new  civilization  in  the  Western  World  would  be 
fatally  impaired.  Washington  looked  with  dismay  upon  the  drifting 
of  the  people  toward  anarchy.  As  early  as  June,  1783,  he  had  written 
a  long  circular  letter  to  the  governors  of  all  the  states,  in  which  he 
urgently  recommended  "an  indissoluble  union  of  the  states,  under 
one  federal  head."  But  in  one  thing  there  was  already  an  important 
nucleus  of  nationality ;  one  solid  foundation  stone  had  been  laid,  and 
that  consisted  in  the  possession  by  the  general  government  of  the 
western  lands,  a  vast  tract  equal  in  extent  to  all  the  thirteen  states 


324  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

combined.1  In  July,  1787,  an  ordinance  was  passed  by  Congress  to 
govern  the  Northwest  Territory,  between  the  Ohio  River  and  the  lakes. 
This  famous  "  Ordinance  of  1787  "  provided  for  the  government  of 
that  region,  and  for  its  ultimate  division  into  states,  and  above  all,  it 
excluded  slavery  forever  from  the  territory.2  By  this  act  Congress 
exercised  sovereign  power  which  had  not  been  granted  by  the  Articles, 
and  yet  there  was  no  outcry  against  it.  It  was  one  of  the  signs  that 
pointed  to  a  closer  union  and  a  stronger  government.  This  ordinance, 
which  was  ratified  by  the  first  Congress  under  the  Constitution,  has 
been  rightfully  pronounced  next  in  importance  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  the  federal  Constitution  in  its  results  for  the  United 
States.3 

THE   ANNAPOLIS   CONVENTION 

While  governmental  affairs  were  in  this  almost  chaotic  condition, 
while  the  country  was  in  a  state  of  distraction  over  the  New  England 
riots,  the  flood  of  paper  money,  and  the  pending  Jay-Gardoqui  treaty, 
—  early  in  the  year  1786,  —  a  very  important  step  was  taken  in  the 
right  direction.  The  legislature  of  Virginia  called  a  convention  to 
be  held  at  Annapolis  —  or  rather  invited  the  other  states  to  join  in 
such  a  convention,  — for  the  purpose  of  considering  trade  conditions. 
This  call,  occasioned  by  the  commercial  problem,  originated  with 
James  Madison,  one  of  the  ablest  among  the  nation  builders  of  that 
period. 

At  the  little  city  by  the  Chesapeake  the  convention  met  in 
September,  1786.  But  twelve  delegates  were  present,  representing 
five  states,  neither  New  England  nor  the  extreme  South  being  repre 
sented.4  The  convention,  too  small  to  be  truly  a  representation  of 
the  whole  country,  did  not  discuss  the  condition  of  trade,  and  it 
would  scarcely  be  remembered  but  for  the  one  thing  it  did  — it  called 
another  convention,  to  be  held  the  following  spring  in  Philadelphia. 
The  call  was  drawn  up  by  the  brilliant  young  delegate  from  New 
York,  Alexander  Hamilton. 

1  Not  all  the  states  owning  western  lands  had  yet  ceded  them,  but  they  were 
morally  bound  to  do  so,  as  it  was  understood  that  they  would  follow  the  example  of 
New  York  and  Virginia.    The  last  cession,  by  Georgia,  was  made  in  1801. 

2  A  similar  ordinance,  framed  by  Jefferson  in  1784  for  the  government  of  the 
southwestern  territory  also,  was  rejected  by  Congress  on  account  of  an  antislavery 
clause. 

3  Channing's  "  United  States,"  p.  113. 

4  Delegates  from  various  other  states  were  on  their  way  to  Annapolis  when  they 
heard  that  the  convention  had  adjourned. 


THE  TEMPORARY  GOVERNMENT  325 

There  was  much  doubt  as  to  what  would  be  the  response  to  this 
call,  so  widespread  was  the  passion  for  state  rights,  and  so  little  did 
the  masses  realize  that  the  ills  of  the  country  were  largely  due  to  a 
want  of  government.  Congress,  then  sitting  in  New  York,  hesitated 
long  before  sanctioning  the  movement,  and  gave  its  approval  only 
after  six  states  had  elected  delegates.  Virginia  took  the  lead,  and 
Virginia  was  led  by  Madison,  who  made  a  master  stroke  by  having 
Washington  put  first  on  the  list  of  delegates.  This,  it  was  well 
known,  would  give  tone  and  dignity  to  the  movement,  as  Washing 
ton  \yas  the  popular  idol  in  every  state.  But  Virginia  did  nothing 
better  than  to  send  Madison  himself  to  the  convention.  The  other 
states  followed  her  example,  until  twelve  of  them  had  chosen  dele 
gates,  Rhode  Island  alone  refusing  to  take  any  part  in  the  pro 
ceeding. 

The  approach  of  the  time  for  the  Philadelphia  convention  was 
marked  by  a  general  interest  among  the  people.  The  convention  was 
called  ostensibly  to  amend  the  Articles  of  Confederation ;  but  it 
was  generally  felt  that  it  would  go  beyond  its  instructions  and  pro 
pose  a  new  government.  What  would  be  the  outcome  no  one  could 
surmise.  Some  favored  a  monarchy;1  a  larger  number  preferred  that 
three  republics  be  set  up  —  one  comprising  New  England,  a  second 
the  Middle  states,  and  a  third  the  Southern  states ;  but  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  preferred  that  there  be  one  government,  and  that 
a  republic.  The  people  were  in  a  quiver  of  uncertainty  as  to  what 
would  be  done  or  should  be  done;  they  only  knew  that  something  must 
be  done,  and  that  soon,  if  the  country  was  to  be  preserved.  Mean 
time  the  Constitutional  Convention  met,  and  after  a  four  months' 
labor  it  gave  birth  to  that  great  document  which  still  is,  and  will 
doubtless  be  for  many  generations  to  come,  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land  —  a  document  that  the  great  British  statesman,  Gladstone,  pro 
nounced  the  "  greatest  work  ever  struck  off  at  any  one  time  by  the 
mind  and  purpose  of  man  "  ;  and  to  the  story  of  the  making  of  this 
instrument  we  shall  devote  the  next  chapter. 

1  Colonel  Louis  Nicola,  \vho  favored  a  kingdom,  had  written  to  Washington  in 
1782,  urging  him  to  accept  the  crown  at  the  hands  of  the  American  people.  Washing 
ton  answered  that  the  scheme  was  odious  to  him,  and  enjoined  Nicola  as  his  friend 
to  mention  it  no  more. 


326  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 


NOTES 

Society  of  the  Cincinnati.  —  The  society  known  as  the  Cincinnati  was  first 
suggested  by  General  Knox,  and  was  organized  at  the  headquarters  of  Baron 
Steuben,  near  Fishkill,  New  York.  Washington  was  made  the  first  president, 
and  he  continued  to  hold  the  office  until  his  death.  The  society  was  composed  of 
the  officers  of  the  Continental  army,  and  its  object  was  to  promote  friendship 
and  to  aid  any  of  the  members  that  might  be  in  want.  To  perpetuate  the  society 
it  was  provided  that  the  eldest  male  descendant  of  each  of  its  members  should 
be  entitled  to  membership.  The  badge  of  the  order  was  the  figure  of  an  eagle 
in  gold,  on  the  breast  of  which  was  a  medallion  representing  Cincinnatus  at  his 
plow  receiving  the  Roman  senators.  There  was  a  great  outcry  from  the  p'eople 
against  the  Cincinnati.  It  was  believed  that  this  was  the  beginning  of  an  order 
of  nobility,  or  at  least  of  an  aristocracy  that  would  ever  hold  itself  above  the 
common  people.  But  this  fear  was  all  unnecessary,  for  while  the  society  still 
exists,  it  plays  but  a  small  part  in  the  social  life  of  America. 

State  Governments.  —  The  states  had  been  authorized  by  Congress,  as 
stated  before,  to  form  governments  ;  and  each  had  adopted  a  constitution,  except 
Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  which  merely  dropped  the  king's  name  from 
their  public  documents.  The  states,  thus  suddenly  clothed  with  unusual  powers, 
naturally  took  much  pride  in  their  new  condition  ;  and  this  state  pride,  as  noted 
in  the  text,  made  the  forming  of  a  union  exceedingly  difficult.  But  it  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  in  few  cases  was  this  newly  acquired  liberty  so  abused  as 
to  produce  anarchy  or  violence.  The  cause  of  this  cool-headed,  conservative 
manner  in  which  the  states  set  about  governing  themselves  is  twofold  :  first, 
the  fact  that  the  people  had  long  enjoyed  a  large  measure  of  liberty  and 
knew  how  to  use  it ;  second,  the  instinct  for  order  and  the  reign  of  law  that 
characterizes  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  The  legislative  assemblies  of  the  old  days 
were  continued  by  the  states,  the  members  representing  the  counties,  except  in 
New  England,  where  they  represented  the  townships.  There  was  also  an  upper 
House  or  Senate  (added  in  Pennsylvania  and  Georgia  a  few  years  after  the  war) 
in  each  state,  and  a  governor,  except  in  a  few  states  where  an  executive  council 
at  first  took  the  place  of  governor.  But  in  framing  their  first  state  constitutions 
the  people  remembered  their  troubles  with  the  old  royal  governors,  and  gave 
the  new  governors  but  little  power.  The  judicial  systems  remained  much  the 
same  as  under  the  colonies.  In  every  state  a  property  qualification  was  required 
of  voters,  and  in  many  a  religious  test  was  applied.  Universal  manhood  suffrage 
was  a  gradual  growth,  and  came  with  a  later  generation. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE   CONSTITUTION 

THE  Constitutional  Convention  met  in  the  same  city,  the  same 
building,  and  the  same  room  from  which  had  issued  the  great  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  eleven  years  before.  It  was  composed  of  the  best 
brains  of  the  land,  though  a  few  of  the  leading  characters  were  con 
spicuously  absent.  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson  were  serv 
ing  their  country  in  Europe ;  Patrick  Henry  had  been  elected,  but  he 
refused  to  serve,  so  wedded  was  he  to  state  rights  ;  and  we  look  in 
vain  for  Richard  Henry  Lee,  for  Samuel  Adams,  and  for  John  Han 
cock,  all  of  whom  feared  a  stronger  government,  lest  the  sovereignty 
of  the  states  and  the  liberty  of  the  people  be  endangered. 

THE   MEN  THAT   MADE   IT 

An  abler  body  of  statesmen  has  not  assembled  in  modern  times 
than  that  which  made  our  Constitution  in  1787,  nor  has  any  assembly 
met  with  truer  motives,  or  produced  a  grander  result.  The  whole 
number  of  delegates  was  fifty-five,1  and  there  was  scarcely  a  man 
among  them  who  had  not  been  distinguished  in  the  state  or  in  the 
field,  who  had  not  been  a  governor,  a  member  of  Congress,  or  a  com 
mander  in  the  army.  A  few  had  served  in  the  Stamp  Act  Congress 
in  1765,  others  had  set  their  names  to  the  immortal  Declaration  in 
1776,  and  one  had  framed  the  plan  of  union  at  Albany  in  1754. 
Could  these  men  have  looked  into  the  future,  they  would  have  seen 
two  of  their  own  number  become  Presidents  of  the  United  States, 
one  a  Vice  President,  and  many  others  foreign  ministers,  members  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  Cabinet  officials,  and  United  States  senators. 
These  were  the  men  who  founded  the  Republic  and  started  it  upon 
its  marvelous  course  of  prosperity. 

First  among  the  framers  of  our  Constitution  stands  Washington, 
the  soldier-statesman,  and  next  to  him  we  must  place  Franklin,  the 

1  A  few  others  had  been  elected  who  did  not  attend. 
327 


828  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

philosopher  and  diplomat,  and  the  oldest  member  of  the  convention. 
Among  the  most  conspicuous  members  was  John  Dickinson,  who  was 
remembered  for  having  honestly  opposed  the  Declaration  in  1776, 
but  whose  sincere  patriotism  could  never  be  questioned.  The  most 
learned  lawyer  in  the  convention  was  James  Wilson  of  Pennsylvania, 
afterward  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  For  profound  knowledge 
of  constitutional  law  few  surpassed  the  youthful  Madison  of  Virginia, 
who  came  to  be  called  the  "Father  of  the  Constitution"  —  not  that 
he  framed  it,  for  it  was  the  work  of  many,  but  because  he  had 
perhaps  more  to  do  in  making  it  what  it  is  than  any  other  man. 
Scarcely  below  Madison  stood  the  still  more  youthful  Hamilton  of 
New  York,  destined  to  a  brief,  brilliant  political  career,  to  be  ended  in 
its  noonday  at  the  hands  of  the  duelist.  In  this  convention  we  find 
Robert  Morris,  the  financier  of  the  Revolution,  and  Gouverneur  Morris, 
the  author  of  our  decimal  system  of  money.  We  find  here  Edmund 
Randolph,  the  popular  governor  of  Virginia,  who,  as  a  patriot  youth 
with  a  Tory  father,  had  run  away  from  his  home,  joined  the  army, 
and  served  through  the  war,  and  who,  returning  home,  had  found 
himself  one  of  the  most  popular  men  in  the  state.  He  rose  to  the 
governorship,  and  afterward  became  a  member  of  the  first  Cabinet  in 
the  new  government.  Here  also  were  John  Rutledge,  the  brilliant 
orator  of  South  Carolina ;  Charles  C.  Pinckney,  afterward  a  member 
of  the  famous  mission  to  France  and  twice  candidate  of  his  party  for 
the  presidency  of  the  United  States  ;  Roger  Sherman,  the  shoemaker 
statesman  from  Connecticut;  Rufus  King,  who  was  yet  to  spend 
many  years  in  the  forefront  of  political  life  ;  Elbridge  Gerry,  whose 
name  furnished  us  with  the  political  term,  "gerrymander,"  who  spent 
many  later  years  in  public  life,  and  who  held  at  his  death  the  second 
official  position  in  the  United  States.  These  were  the  leaders  of  the 
notable  assemblage  that  gathered  at  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  a  more  perfect  union,  of  laying  the  foundations  of  a  nation. 


BUSINESS   OF  THE   CONVENTION 

On  May  25,  1787,  the  convention  held  its  first  regular  session, 
though  some  of  the  delegates  did  not  arrive  for  several  weeks. 
George  Washington  was  chosen  chairman,  and  the  doors  were  closed 
to  the  public.1  As  was  generally  expected,  the  convention  made  no 

1  The  members  pledged  themselves  to  secrecy,  as  they  wished  to  present  their 
work  to  the  public,  not  in  fragments,  but  as  a  whole.  Madison,  however,  took 


THE   CONSTITUTIONAL   CONVENTION  329 

attempt  to  amend  the  Articles  of  Confederation ;  it  proceeded  at  the 
outstart  to  frame  a  new  instrument. 

Many  of  the  delegates  were  ready  to  temporize,  to  deal  in  half 
measures,  to  produce  an  instrument  that  would  "  please  the  people." 
Others  favored  doing  thorough  work,  of  abolishing  the  Confedera 
tion  and  founding  a  federal  republic.  Among  these  was  Washington  ; 
and  he  carried  the  day  in  a  brief  speech  —  one  of  the  noblest  speeches 
he  or  any  statesman  ever  uttered.  "  If,  to  please  the  people,"  said 
he,  "  we  offer  what  we  ourselves  disapprove,  how  can  we  afterward 
defend  our  work  ?  Let  us  raise  a  standard  to  which  the  wise  and 
the  honest  can  repair ;  the  event  is  in  the  hand  of  God." 

The  Virginia  delegates  had  carefully  framed  a  form  of  govern 
ment,  which  had  been  drawn  up  by  Madison  after  consulting  with 
others,  and  it  was  presented  to  the  convention  by  Governor  Ran 
dolph.  This  "Virginia  Plan"  provided  for  a  complete  change  of 
government,  for  the  formation  of  a  federal  union,  with  three  coordi 
nate  branches  of  government  —  a  legislative,  an  executive,  and  a  judi 
cial  ;  and,  most  radical  of  all,  it  provided  that  the  individual,  and  not 
the  state  as  such,  be  directly  responsible  to  the  general  government. 

So  radical  were  the  changes  proposed  by  this  plan  that  it  called 
forth  another  known  as  the  Xew  Jersey  Plan,  or  the  small  state 
plan.  This  was  presented  by  William  Paterson  of  New  Jersey.1 
It  was  a  mere  proposal  to  amend  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 
It  provided  for  a  plural  executive  and  a  judicial  department,  and 
gave  enlarged  powers  to  Congress.  But  it  gave  the  small  states  equal 
power  in  Congress  with  the  large  ones,  and  continued  the  old  way 
of  making  the  state  instead  of  the  citizen  responsible  to  the  nation. 
This  plan,  however,  was  defeated ;  and  the  Virginia  plan,  after 
many  modifications,  became  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

The  long  debates,  which  it  is  needless  for  us  to  follow,  often 
became  bitter,  and  on  two  or  three  occasions  the  convention  came 
near  breaking  up.  So  unlike  were  the  interests  of  the  various  sec 
tions  represented  that  the  delegates  could  agree  only  by  compromis- 

elaborate  notes  of  the  proceedings,  and  his  notes  were  published  only  after  his  death, 
fifty  years  later.  Many  were  the  speculations  of  the  people  as  to  what  the  convention 
would  do,  and  the  members  were  deluged  with  letters  from  their  constituents. 
Would  they  set  up  a  kingdom?  would  the  country  be  divided?  would  Rhode 
Island  be  cast  out  of  the  Union  for  not  taking  part  ?  and  many  other  such  questions 
came  from  the  people. 

1  Two  or  three  other  plans,  or  partial  plans,  were  presented,  but  not  considered. 
One  of  these,  presented  by  Hamilton,  was  almost  monarchial  in  its  tendencies. 


330  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

irig ;  and  our  Constitution  is  founded  on  three  great  compromises,  the 
first  of  which  was  between  the  great  and  the  small  states. 

Under  the  old  Confederation  the  states  had  each  one  vote  in 
Congress,  regardless  of  size,  wealth,  or  population ;  but  the  Virginia 
plan  now  proposed  that  the  states  be  represented  in  the  Congress, 

consisting  of  two  houses,  according  to  population  or 
compromise  wea^h.  Instantly  the  small  states  were  up  in  arms. 

The  greatest  state,  Virginia,  would  then  have  sixteen 
votes,  while  Georgia  or  Delaware  would  have  but  one.  No,  they 
would  submit  to  nothing  of  the  sort;  the  large  states  would  com 
bine  against  the  small  ones,  and  the  voice  of  the  latter  would  not  be 
heard' in  national  affairs,  and  they  would  be  reduced  to  a  subordinate 
position.  After  a  long,  wrangling  debate  on  this  subject  a  compro 
mise  was  reached.  It  was  agreed  that  in  the  lower  House  the  rep 
resentation  be  based  on  population,  while  in  the  upper  House,  or 
Senate,  each  state  be  equally  represented  without  regard  to  its  popu 
lation,  wealth,  or  its  territorial  extent.1  Thus  each  state  has  two 
senators,  while  in  the  House  of  Representatives  the  number  of  its 
delegates  is  determined  by  its  population.  The  Senate,  therefore, 
was  intended  to  represent  the  states,  and  the  House  the  people. 

The  second  compromise  was  between  free  and  the  slave  states. 
The  Northern  states  all  had  slaves  before  the  Revolution,  but  they 

were  now  obviously  drifting  toward  emancipation,  while 
compromise  ^e  institution  was  strengthening  in  the  far  South ;  and 

the  dispute  that  arose  in  the  convention  over  slavery  was 
the  beginning  of  that  long  and  dreadful  conflict  which  covered  three 
fourths  of  a  century  and  ended  in  a  final  appeal  to  the  sword.  The 
quarrel  over  this  point  was  sharp  and  passionate,  but  it  ended  in  com 
promise.  Before  it  was  decided  whether  to  base  the  lower  House 
on  population  or  on  wealth  the  question  arose,  Are  slaves  population 
or  wealth  ?  The  northern  delegates  contended  that  as  slaves  had  no 
vote  and  were  bought  and  sold  like  other  property,  they  should  not 
be  counted  in  the  census  that  made  up  the  representation  in  Con 
gress,  and  in  laying  direct  taxes.  The  South  objected  to  this,  claim 
ing  that  all  the  slaves  should  be  counted ;  and  there  was  a  deadlock. 
Madison  suggested  that,  by  way  of  compromise,  three  fifths  of  the 
slaves  be  counted.  The  South  agreed  to  this,  and  the  practice  con 
tinued  to  the  Civil  War. 

i  At  this  juncture  Yates  and  Lansing  of  New  York,  and  a  little  later  Luther 
Martin  of  Maryland,  all  of  the  extreme  state  rights  party,  went  home  in  disgust. 


THE   CONSTITUTIONAL   CONVENTION  331 

The  third  compromise,  between  commercial  and  agricultural 
states,  also  touched  upon  the  slavery  question.  New  England  de 
sired  that  Congress  be  given  full  control  over  foreign  and  interstate 
commerce.  The  southern  delegates,  fearing  an  export  tax  on  farm 
products  and  a  prohibition  of  the  slave  trade,  desired  that  each  state 
control  its  own  commerce,  as  under  the  old  regime.  Another  deadlock 
ensued.  Before  this  question  was  settled  another  arose :  Shall  the 
African  slave  trade  be  prohibited  ?  A  large  majority  of  the  dele 
gates  opposed  the  foreign  slave  trade,  and  would  have  shut  it  off 
forever ;  but  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  objected  in  thunder  tones. 
They  must  have  a  constant  supply  of  blacks  for  the  rice  swamps, 
they  said,  and  they  would  not  join  the  Union  if  the  question  were 
decided  against  them.  The  debates  were  fierce  and  the  convention 
seemed  on  the  verge  of  dissolution,  as  it  had  been  several  times 
before.  Could  a  union  really  be  formed?  Some  of  the  wisest  men 
feared  that  their  efforts  would  result  in  failure.  Rhode  Island  had 
taken  no  part  in  the  convention ;  the  New  York  delegates  had  gone 
home  in  anger ;  Massachusetts  was  uncertain.  If  now  the  Southern 
states  refused  to  join,  it  was  certain  that  no  union  could  be  formed. 

Two  important  questions  were  now  before  the  House  and  again 
harmony   was   restored   by   compromise.      The    South    yielded    to 
New  England,  and   Congress   was  given   control  over 
commerce  (except  that  it  was  forbidden  to  lay  an  ex-      ^  romise 
port  tax)  ;  the  North  yielded  to  the  slaveholders,  and 
the  African  trade  was  left  open,  not  forever,  but  until  the  year  1808. 

The  most  arduous  work  of  the  convention  was  now  at  an  end, 
but  many  minor  matters  remained  to  be  settled.  The  creating  of 
a  Supreme  Court;  the  relations  of  the  two  houses  of 
Congress  to  each  other  and  of  both  to  the  executive; 
the  powers  of  Congress,  of  the  executive,  and  of  the 
judiciary  ;  the  length  of  the  various  terms  of  office,  —  these  and  many 
other  things  were  fully  debated,  and  were  at  length  decided  as  we 
have  them  in  the  Constitution.1  It  was  decided  that  there  be  but  one 
executive  (though  some  preferred  a  plural  executive),  and  that  he 
should  be  styled  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
It  was  also  decided  that  he  be  elected  by  Congress  for  a  term  of 
seven  years,  and  that  he  be  ineligible  for  reelection.  Thus  the 
matter  rested  for  several  weeks,  when  it  was  again  taken  up.  Many 

1  Some  of  these  questions,  however,  had  heen  debated  from  time  to  time,  and 
were  decided  before  the  three  great  compromises  were  fully  disposed  of. 


332  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

objected  to  the  electing  of  the  President  by  Congress,  as  he  would 
then  be  but  a  creature  of  that  body  and  subservient  to  its  will.  The 
same  objection  was  urged  against  his  election  by  the  state  legisla 
tures.  An  electing  by  a  general  vote  of  the  people  was  favored  by 
but  one  state  —  Pennsylvania.  At  length  it  was  decided  that  the 
President  be  elected  for  four  years,  that  he  be  eligible  for  reelection, 
and  that  the  choice  be  made  by  an  electoral  college  created  for  the 
purpose,  and  dissolved,  after  doing  its  work,  into  the  great  mass  of 
the  people,  so  that  the  President  would  be  responsible  to  the  people 
alone.  This  feature  was  borrowed  from  the  constitution  of  Maryland. 

No  part  of  the  Constitution  was  more  earnestly  and  honestly 
considered  than  the  method  of  electing  the  President,  and  no  part 
of  it  is  now  carried  out  with  such  an  utter  disregard  of  the  spirit 
and  intention  of  the  framers.  It  was  intended  that  the  electors  use 
their  discretion  in  choosing  a  President ;  but  the  people,  as  they 
grew  more  intelligent  and  divided  into  political  parties,  took  the 
business  of  president-making  into  their  own  hands,  retaining  the 
electoral  college,  now  a  lifeless  piece  of  machinery,  only  to  carry  out 
the  letter  of  the  law. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  by  far  the  most  im 
portant  production  of  its  kind  in  human  history.  It  created,  with 
out  historic  precedent,  a  federal-national  government.  It  combined 
national  strength  with  individual  liberty  in  a  degree  so  remarkable 
as  to  attract  the  world's  admiration.  Never  before  in  the  history 
of  man  had  a  government  struck  so  fine  a  balance  between  liberty 
and  union,  between  state  rights  and  national  sovereignty.  The 
world  had  labored  for  ages  to  solve  this  greatest  of  all  governmental 
problems,  but  it  had  labored  in  vain.  Greece  in  her  mad  clamor 
for  liberty  had  forgotten  the  need  of  the  strength  that  union 
brings,  and  she  perished.  Rome  made  the  opposite  mistake.  Rome 
fostered  union  —  nationality — for  its  strength  until  it  became  a 
tyrant,  and  strangled  the  child  Liberty.  It  was  left  for  our  own 
Revolutionary  fathers  to  strike  the  balance  between  these  opposing 
tendencies,  to  join  them  in  perpetual  wedlock  in  such  a  way  as 
to  secure  the  benefits  of  both.  A  century  of  experience,  it  is  true, 
was  needed  to  adjust  this  balance  as  we  now  have  it,  but  the  whole 
substructure  to  our  national  edifice  was  laid  at  Philadelphia  in  1787. 

Yet  there  is  little  in  our  Constitution  that  was  created  by  its 
framers.  Much  of  it  is  as  old  as  Magna  Charta,  says  Mr.  Bryce.  The 
words  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  that  it  is  the  greatest  work  ever  struck  off 


THE   CONSTITUTIONAL   CONVENTION  333 

at  any  one  time  by  the  mind  and  purpose  of  man,  are  in  one  sense 
misleading.  The  work  was  not  struck  off  at  one  time.  The  framers 
of  the  Constitution  gleaned  from  history,  from  the  mother  land, 
and  especially  from  the  various  state  constitutions.  As  noticed  in  a 
former  chapter,  the  earliest  colonial  governments  were  based  on  the 
charters  of  trading  corporations;  the  colonial  governments  were  then 
transformed  into  the  earliest  state  constitutions,  and  these  became 
the  basis  of  the  federal  Constitution.1 

It  will  be  interesting  here  to  notice  the  sources  of  a  few  of  the 
features  of  the  national  Constitution.  From  the  constitution  of 
Maryland  we  have  a  small  Senate  with  a  long  term  of  service,  and 
the  idea  of  an  electoral  college  for  choosing  a  President  and  a  Vice 
President ; 2  from  the  constitution  of  New  York,  the  periodic  re 
adjustment  of  the  representation  after  each  census,  and 
the  Vice  President's  duty  to  preside  over  the  Senate  and  constitution  6 
to  vote  only  in  case  of  a  tie.3  From  the  constitution  of 
Massachusetts  were  derived  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  two  houses 
with  respect  to  impeachments.4  The  power  of  the  executive  to  veto 
an  act  of  the  legislature  and  the  requirement  of  a  two-thirds  affirma 
tive  vote  for  its  repassage  were  in  use  in  Massachusetts.  A  few  fea 
tures,  as  the  judiciary  system,  the  short  term  for  the  lower  House, 
and  the  single  executive,  were  common  to  nearly  all  the  states. 
Other  features,  as  army  appropriations  limited  to  two  years,  are 
analogous  to  English  customs ; 5  while  the  two-chambered  legislature 
had  its  models  in  Parliament,  and  in  all  but  two  states. 

We  find  in  the  Constitution  a  few  features  original  with  the 
framers,  such  as  the  isolated  position  of  the  President,  the  basing  of 
representation  on  population,  and  many  minor  details.  But  on  the 
whole  the  instrument  was  a  compilation,  not  an  original  production. 
It  was  the  culmination  of  the  institutional  growth  of  two  centuries 
—  a  tree  with  trunk  and  branches  purely  American,  grafted  on  an 
English  root.  The  framers  of  our  Constitution  were  very  wise  — 
too  wise  to  draw  on  their  imagination,  or  to  base  the  government  of 
a  nation  on  theory.  No  man,  or  body  of  men,  can  create  systems  of 

1  This  subject  is  ably  discussed  by  "W.  C.  Morey  in  a  series  of  articles  in   the 
"  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,"  Vols.  I  and  IV 

2  Maryland  chose  her  senators  through  an  electoral  college  composed  of  two 
persons  from  each  county. 

3  New  York's  lieutenant  governor  had  this  power. 

4  J.  H.  Robinson,  in  "  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science,"  Vol.  I,  p.  219.  $  "  Federalist,"  No.  61. 


334  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

government.  They  must  grow.  Had  these  men  attempted  to  create 
a  chimerical  structure,  their  work  would  have  been  valueless.  But 
they  displayed  great  wisdom  in  selecting  the  best  things  that  had 
been  tried  and  proved,  and  in  but  few  points  did  they  choose  un 
wisely.  Hence  their  great  success.  Hence  the  astonishing  fact 
that  this  same  Constitution  is  still  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  and  is 
more  deeply  imbedded  in  the  American  heart  to-day  than  ever  before. 

The  new  instrument  differed  from  the  old  Articles  chiefly  in 
creating  three  great  coordinate  departments  —  legislative,  executive, 
and  judicial ;  in  making  the  citizen  rather  than  the  state  amenable 
to  national  law;,  and  in  withholding  from  the  states,  and  vesting 
in  the  national  government,  powers  the  exercise  of  which  pertain 
to  the  whole  people  —  to  coin  money,  to  wage  war,  to  deal  with 
foreign  nations,  to  lay  a  tariff,  and  the  like.  One  of  the  most 
important  clauses  in  the  Constitution  is  the  "  supreme  law  "  clause, 
by  virtue  of  which  the  Supreme  Court  came  to  exercise  the  power 
to  interpret  the  Constitution,  and  to  pronounce  upon  the  constitu 
tionality  of  the  acts  of  the  legislative  branch  of  the  government,  a 
remarkable  power,  enjoyed  by  no  other  judicial  body  in  the  world. 

The  great  work  of  the  convention  was  completed,  and  the  docu 
ment  was  signed  by  thirty-nine  delegates  on  the  17th  of  September. 
It  did  not  fully  meet  the  ideas  of  anyone;  each  had  yielded  his  con 
victions  at  some  point.  But  it  was  believed  to  be  the  best  attainable 
at  the  time,  and  all  the  delegates  except  sixteen,  all  but  three  of 
whom  had  departed  for  their  homes,1  put  their  names  to  it,  not 
one  of  them  perhaps  believing  that  it  would  stand  for  half  a  century. 

After  providing  for  amending  the  Constitution,  and  for  its  going 
into  operation  when  nine  states  should  ratify  it,  the  delegates  sent 
it  to  Congress,  then  sitting  in  New  York.  That  body  sent  it  forth 
to  the  various  states  without  a  word  of  approval  or  disapproval. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  BEFORE  THE  PEOPLE 

The  ship  Constitution  had  experienced  a  rough  voyage  thus  far ; 
but  the  most  dangerous  breakers  were  still  ahead.  Nearly  half  the 
Federalists  people  opposed  the  new  plan  of  government,  and  a 
and  Anti-  bitter  contest  resulted.  Those  favoring  the  Constitu- 
federalists.  ^jon  cai}e(j  themselves  Federalists,  while  they  dubbed 
their  opponents  Anti-federalists.  The  cry  of  the  Anti-federalists  was 

1  Randolph  and  Masou  of  Virginia  and  Gerry  of  Massachusetts  were  the  three 
remaining  delegates  who  refused  to  sign. 


OPPOSITION  TO   THE   CONSTITUTION  336 

that  the  new  government  would  be  too  strong  and  too  centralizing. 
There  was  a  vague  fear  that  Congress  would  become  a  tyrant,  would 
crush  the  liberties  of  the  people  and  tax  them  without  their  consent, 
as  England  had  attempted  to  do  before  the  war.  The  farmers  cried 
out  that  the  lawyers  and  men  of  wealth  would  control  the  govern 
ment  and  would  swallow  the  common  people  like  a  great  leviathan. 
Among  the  opponents  we  find  such  leaders  as  Patrick  Henry, 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  and  George  Clinton ;  and,  in  a  milder  degree, 
Samuel  Adams  and  John  Hancock.  These  men  were  sincerely 
honest  in  their  opposition;  but  they  labored  at  a  serious  disad 
vantage  in  that  their  position  was  purely  negative  —  they  had 
nothing  to  offer  instead  of  the  plan  they  sought  to  defeat.  The 
Federalists  were  not  very  enthusiastic  in  their  praise  of  the  Consti 
tution  ;  but  they  asserted  that  it  was  the  best  attainable,  that  dis 
union  and  anarchy  would  prevail  if  it  were  rejected,  and  that  the 
fears  of  its  opponents  were  groundless,  as  the  government  would 
still  be  in  the  hands  of  the  people.  The  most  powerful  argument 
for  the  Constitution  was  brought  out  in  a  series  of  papers,  written 
mostly  by  Hamilton,1  and  since  known  collectively  as  "  The  Feder 
alist."  On  the  other  side  Richard  Henry  Lee  was  the  foremost  writer. 

Some  of  the  state  conventions,  chosen  to  consider  the  new  plan, 
wrestled  for  weeks  over  the  subject,  while  others  ratified  it  after  a 
few  days'  debate.  Delaware  won  the  honor  of  being  first  to  ratify  it, 
the  action  being  unanimous.  Pennsylvania  came  second.  In  this  state 
the  people  were  almost  equally  divided,  but  the  Federalists  held  a 
"  snap  "  convention  and  won  the  day,  after  a  fierce  contest.  New 
Jersey  came  third  and,  like  Delaware,  ratified  the  plan  by  a  unanimous 
vote.  These  three  states  had  acted  in  December,  1787,  and  the  new 
year  brought  others,  month  by  month,  into  the  Union.  Georgia  was 
bounded  on  the  south  by  troublesome  Spaniards,  and  on  the  west  by 
hostile  Indians.  The  people  of  the  state  therefore  gladly  accepted 
the  promised  protection  of  a  stronger  government ;  they  ratified  it 
without  division  on  January  2,  and  Connecticut  followed  a  week  later. 

Thus  within  four  months  after  the  breaking  up  of  the  convention 
that  had  framed  it,  the  new  Constitution  was  adopted  by  five  states. 
But  now  came  a  halt.  The  Anti-federalists  had  been  half  asleep. 
Now  they  roused  themselves  and  formed  in  line  of  battle  for  a  more 
determined  opposition ;  and  many  a  time  during  the  coming  months 
it  seemed  that  the  new  Republic  would  die  while  being  born.  It 
1  Madison  wrote  several  of  the  papers  and  John  Jay  a  few. 


336  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

was  left  for  the  great  state  of  Massachusetts  to  turn  the  scale.  Next 
to  Virginia,  her  weight  was  the  greatest  among  the  states.  Her  con 
vention  sat  for  several  weeks  and  discussed  the  Constitution,  article 
by  article,  and  it  would  doubtless  have  been  rejected  but  for  two 
things  —  the  wholesome  lesson  taught%  by  the  insurrection  led  by 
Daniel  Shays,  and  the  ultimate  conversion  of  Samuel  Adams.  Adams 
was  extremely  democratic  in  his  theory  of  government.  He  feared 
too  much  centralization  of  power,  and  at  first  opposed  the  new  plan. 
But  he  was  an  honest  soul ;  he  reflected  that  a  rejection  of  the  Con 
stitution,  with  nothing  to  offer  in  its  place,  might  be  disastrous. 
During  the  early  weeks  of  the  convention  he  sat  meditative  and 
silent.  Many  turned  to  him  as  children  to  a  father,  to  decide  the 
momentous  question.  And  further,  a  committee  from  a  great  meet 
ing  of  artisans,  headed  by  Paul  Revere,  famous  for  his  midnight  ride 
of  years  before,  came  to  Adams  with  a  series  of  resolutions  begging 
him  to  favor  the  new  government.  Adams  was  deeply  moved,  and 
at  length  he  decided  for  the  Constitution.  John  Hancock  experi 
enced  a  similar  conversion,  and  Massachusetts  soon  after  ratified  the 
new  plan  by  a  narrow  majority,  proposing  ,at  the  same 
time  a  series  of  amendments  in  the  nature  of  a  bill  of 
rights.  Maryland  and  South  Carolina  followed  late  in 
the  spring,  and  but  one  state  was  now  wanting  to  insure  the  forma 
tion  of  the  Union.  The  Old  Dominion,  which  had  called  the  Anna 
polis  convention  and  had  taken  the  lead  in  furnishing  the  plan  of 
government  at  Philadelphia,  still  held  aloof.  Even  more  powerful 
than  in  Massachusetts  was  the  opposition  in  Virginia.  Arrayed  on 
the  negative  side  we  find  George  Mason,  who  had  helped  to  frame 
the  Constitution  and  had  then  refused  to  sign  it,  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
who  had  opposed  it  from  the  beginning,  and  Patrick  Henry,  the  orator 
of  the  Revolution.  Against  these  were  the  weighty  influence  of 
Washington,  the  keen  logic  of  Madison,  and  the  powerful  judicial 
mind  of  the  rising  Chief  Justice,  John  Marshall.  Jefferson,  who 
was  then  in  France,  wavered  and  hesitated  to  give  his  support,  and 
the  Anti-federalists  were  quick  to  claim  him  as  their  own ;  but,  like 
the  great  New  England  democrat,  he  at  length  came  to  favor  the 
Constitution  and  gave  it  his  hearty  support,  urging  at  the  same  time 
that  it  be  carefully  amended.1  His  letter  conveying  these  views 
reached  Madison  early  in  June,  while  the  convention  was  in  session, 
and  had  its  weight  in  the  final  decision.  The  vote  was  taken  on  June 
i  Fiske's  "Critical  Period,"  p.  351. 


THE   CONSTITUTION   BEFORE   THE   PEOPLE  337 

25,  and  the  new  plan  received  a  majority  of  ten  in  a  vote  of  one  hun 
dred  and  sixty-eight  delegates.  But  Virginia  did  not  become  the 
ninth  state;  New  Hampshire  preceded  her  by  four  days.  The  Union 
was  now  assured.  The  Federalists  rejoiced  exceedingly.  The  com 
ing  Fourth  of  July  became  a  day  of  jollification,  especially  in  Phila 
delphia,  where  the  street  spectacle  surpassed  any  before  seen  in 
America. 

The  importance  of  New  York  to  the  Union  was  incalculable.  It 
was  the  commercial  center  of  the  country.  It  alone  bordered  the 
great  lakes  and  the  ocean.  A  majority  of  the  people,  led  by  Gover 
nor  George  Clinton,  opposed  the  Union.  Hamilton  led  the  other 
side.  For  many  months  it  seemed  that  the  state  would  refuse  to 
ratify  the  Constitution ;  but  when  she  was  about  to  be  isolated  from 
the  rest  of  the  country,  her  people  began  to  reflect  more  seriously, 
and  late  in  July,  1788,  the  convention  was  carried  by  the  Federalists, 
At  the  same  time  it  called  for  a  new  national  convention  to  frame 
a  better  Constitution ;  but  little  heed  was  paid  to  this  call,  and  it 
came  to  naught. 

Two  states,  North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island,  owing  to  their 
paper  money  heresies,  still  remained  sullenly  out  of  the  Union,  the 
former  adjourning  its  convention  without  action,  the  latter  refusing 
to  call  a  convention.  But  at  length,  after  the  first  amendments 
to  the  Constitution  had  been  assured,  and  after  the  new  government 
had  been  organized,  and  the  President  seated,  and  when  the  United 
States  revenue  laws  were  about  to  be  enforced  against  them,  these 
states  sought  admission  to  the  sisterhood,  and  the  whole  thirteen 
became  united  in  one  strong  government.  Never  before  had  any 
people  wrought  so  great  a  political  revolution  without  bloodshed. 
From  a  loosely  bound  confederacy  that  lacked  the  power  of  govern 
ing,  the  people,  deliberately,  thoughtfully,  without  drawing  a  sword, 
with  no  pressure  from  without,  banded  together  and  founded  a  nation, 
and  based  it  on  a  firm  and  abiding  foundation.  Never  did  the  Ameri 
can  people  so  exhibit  their  moderation,  their  capacity  for  self-govern 
ment,  as  when  they  adopted  the  Constitution. 

THE   FIRST   PRESIDENT 

In  our  days  it  is  not  possible  to  foretell  absolutely  who  will  be 
our  next  President;  only  the  coming  together  at  the  polls  of  the 
great  political  forces  of  the  nation  can  determine  it.  In  1789  the 


338  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

case  was  different.  All  eyes  turned  instinctively  to  the  great  chief 
tain  who  had  led  the  armies  to  victory,  and  who  had  shown  himself 
a  statesman  as  well  as  a  soldier.  The  electoral  colleges  were  made 
up  of  men  chosen  by  the  different  states,  mostly  by  the  legislatures. 
The  old  Congress  had  decided  that  the  electors  be  chosen  on  the  first 
Wednesday  in  January,  1789,  that  they  meet  and  choose  a  President 
and  a  Vice  President  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  February,  and  that  the 
new  government  go  into  operation  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  March 
—  which  happened  that  year  to  be  the  fourth.1  North  Carolina  and 
Rhode  Island  had  not  yet  joined  the  Union ;  New  York  had  trouble 
in  her  legislature  and  failed  to  choose  electors ;  the  first  President 
was  therefore  elected  by  the  votes  of  ten  states.  Washington 
received  the  votes  of  all  —  sixty -nine.  The  rest  of  the  votes  were 
scattered  among  eleven  men,  and  John  Adams,  receiving  the  highest 
number,  thirty-four,  was  declared  Vice  President.2 

Washington  was  doubtless  ambitious,  as  other  men  are ;  but  he 
had  reached  the  goal.  No  other  man  of  his  age  had  won  so  great  a 
fame,  and  now  at  the  approach  of  old  age  he  had  retired  to  his  rural 
home  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  desiring  to  spend  there  the  re 
mainder  of  his  days,  as  his  private  correspondence  shows.  But  the 
call  of  a  whole  people  to  this  new  duty  he  could  not  decline. 

The  4th  of  March  came,  and  the  boom  of  cannon  and  the  ring 
ing  of  bells  sounded  the  knell  of  the  old  government  that 
was  dying,  and  announced  the  ushering  in  of  the  one 
that  was  being  born.  New  York  City  had  been  chosen  as  the  first 
temporary  capital,  and  thither  repaired  the  newly  elected  members 
of  Congress.  But  the  distances  for  many  were  long,  and  the  roads 
at  that  season  were  wretched.  There  was  not  a  quorum  present  on 
the  4th  of  March.  It  was  not  until  the  1st  of  April  that  the  new 
House  held  its  first  session,  the  Senate  meeting  five  days  later. 
The  first  business  was  going  through  the  formality  of  notifying  the 
newly  chosen  President  and  Vice  President  of  their  election.  This 
done,  Congress  fell  to  discussing  a  tariff  measure ;  but  the  discussion 
was  soon  interrupted  by  the  inaugural  ceremonies. 

Adams,    arriving   first,    was   quietly   inaugurated   on   April   18. 

1  A  few  years  later  the  4th  of  March  was  made  the  legal  inauguration  day  by  act 
of  Congress. 

2  The  Constitution  directed  that  each  elector  vote  for  two  persons  without  desig 
nating  which  should  be  President  or  Vice  President.    This  was  changed  by  the  Twelfth 
Amendment,  of  1804,  which  provides  that  the  President  and  Vice  President  be  elected 
separately. 


THE   FIRST   INAUGURATION  339 

Washington's  journey  from  his  Mount  Vernon  home  to  New  York 
was  like  a  triumphal  march.  The  people  gathered  in  uncounted 
numbers  along  the  route  to  do  honor  to  the  hero. 
At  Philadelphia  and  Trenton  the  most  elaborate  prep 
arations  were  made  for  his  reception.1  Reaching 
Elizabeth  Point,  in  New  Jersey,  he  was  met  by  many  distinguished 
citizens,  and  with  an  improvised  fleet,  Washington  in  the  midst  on 
a  barge  built  for  the  occasion,  they  swept  up  the  beautiful  bay  on 
that  sunny  Thursday  to  greet  the  expectant  city.  New  York  had 
donned  holiday  dress.  The  streets  were  thronged,  and  thousands 
were  gathered  along  the  wharf  at  the  Battery,  eagerly  awaiting  the 
approaching  vessels.  As  Washington  stepped  from  the  barge  he 
was  greeted  with  an  outburst  of  welcome,  that  spread  like  a  rolling 
billow  over  the  city. 

One  week  later,  on  Thursday,  April  30,  the  inauguration  took 
place  at  Federal  Hall,  on  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Wall  streets.  At 
noon  Washington,  accompanied  by  Livingston  and  Adams,  stepped 
out  on  the  balcony  and  stood  in  the  presence  of  a  vast  multitude  that 
filled  the  streets,  the  housetops,  and  the  windows,  and  the  cheers 
that  arose  were  deafening.  Just  behind  him  stood  Hamilton,  Roger 
Sherman,  and  three  Revolutionary  generals  —  Knox,  Steuben,  and 
St.  Clair,  —  and  these  were  followed  by  both  houses  of  Congress.  Liv 
ingston  pronounced  the  oath  of  office;  Washington  bowed  and  kissed 
the  Bible,  and  said  in  a  deeply  solemn  and  scarcely  audible  voice, 
"  I  swear,  so  help  me  God."  His  countenance  was  grave  almost  to 
sadness,  reported  an  eyewitness.  Livingston  turned  to  the  crowd, 
waved  his  hand,  and  shouted  "  Long  live  George  Washington,  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States";  and  the  voice  of  the  multitude  rose  in 
cheer  after  cheer,  the  artillery  roared  from  the  battery,  and  bells  were 
rung  all  over  the  city.  Thus  was  the  United  States  of  America, 
under  its  first  President,  launched  upon  the  ocean  of  national  life. 

NOTES 

Constitutional  Amendments.  —  The  Constitution  provides  for  its  own  amend 
ment,  but  the  process  is  so  difficult  that  little  short  of  a  great  national  upheaval 
can  bring  about  an  amendment.  At  first,  however,  when  nobody  was  satisfied 
with  the  Constitution,  the  case  was  different.  Seven  of  the  states  on  ratifying  it 
proposed  amendments,  in  the  aggregate  over  a  hundred,  many  being  mere  repe 
titions.  These  were  duly  considered  by  the  House,  which  boiled  them  down  to 

1  For  a  fuller  account  see  Elsou's  "  Side  Lights,"  Vol.  I,  Chap.  III. 


340  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

seventeen,  and  the  Senate  reduced  this  number  to  twelve.  These  were  sent  to 
the  states,  which  ratified  ten  of  them.  These  first  ten  amendments  were  added 
to  the  Constitution  before  the  close  of  1791.  They  are  practically  a  bill  of  rights, 
and  their  adoption  was  a  concession  to  the  Anti-federalists.  The  Eleventh  Amend 
ment  was  adopted  in  1798  and  the  Twelfth  in  1804.  After  this,  the  Constitution 
was  not  amended  for  sixty-one  years,  the  last  three,  concerning  negro  slavery 
and  citizenship,  following  the  Civil  War. 

Within  the  first  hundred  years  more  than  eighteen  hundred  proposed  amend 
ments  were  introduced  in  Congress.  Aside  from  the  fifteen  that  were  adopted, 
four  others  passed  both  houses,  but  failed  of  ratification  by  the  requisite  num 
ber  of  states.  (Ames,  "Proposed  Amendments,1'  p.  300.)  The  difficulty  of 
amending  the  Constitution  has  been  partially  met  by  its  elasticity,  by  a  method 
of  interpretation  by  which  it  meets  the  needs  of  to-day  almost  as  well  as  those 
of  the  time  when  it  was  adopted.  This  is  clearly  shown  by  our  method  of 
electing  a  President.  But  we  are  yet  without  a  remedy  for  the  obvious  unfair 
ness  in  counting  the  minority  vote  of  any  state  for  nothing  in  a  presidential 
election. 

Defects  in  the  Constitution.  —  A  century  of  experience  has  taught  us  that 
there  are  some  serious  defects  in  the  Constitution  which  cannot  be  corrected  by 
mere  custom,  but  the  machinery  of  amendment  is  so  difficult  to  manipulate  that 
we  suffer  them  to  remain.  One  of  the  most  serious  defects  is  that  foreigners 
dwelling  within  the  bounds  of  a  state  are  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  that  state, 
as  its  .own  citizens,  while  the  state  has  no  foreign  relations  whatever.  The  most 
conspicuous  example  in  history  was  the  case  of  McLeod,  a  Canadian  who  was 
tried  in  1841  in  New  York  for  destroying  the  Caroline.  England  was  demand 
ing  his  release  of  the  United  States  ;  but  the  United  States  had  no  power  to  com 
mand  New  York  to  give  him  up,  and  New  York  had  no  relations  with  England. 
War  was  averted  only  by  the  acquittal  of  the  prisoner.  Another  example  is 
found  in  the  massacre  of  a  number  of  Italians  in  New  Orleans  in  1891.  This 
defect,  which  arises  from  our  dual  system,  could  be  remedied  by  an  amendment 
authorizing  the  national  government  to  take  any  case  of  a  foreigner,  requiring 
international  correspondence,  out  of  the  hands  of  any  state.  Another  defect  is 
found  in  the  clause  that  requires  a  majority,  instead  of  a  plurality,  of  the  elec 
toral  college,  to  elect  a  President  and  a  Vice  President,  and  in  case  of  its  failure  to 
elect,  a  majority  of  the  states  (each  state  having  one  vote)  to  elect  in  the  House. 
Were  there  three  instead  of  two  great  political  parties,  both  the  college  and  the 
House  might  fail  to  elect,  and  serious  trouble  might  be  the  result.  If  a  plurality 
could  elect,  a  failure  would  be  almost  impossible.  There  are  also  minor  changes 
that  doubtless  a  majority  of  the  people  would  like  to  see  brought  about,  as  elect 
ing  the  President  by  direct  vote  of  the  people,  giving  him  a  longer  term  without 
eligibility  for  reelection,  giving  him  power  to  veto  items  in  appropriation  bills, 
the  election  of  United  States  senators  by  popular  vote,  giving  Congress  the  con 
trol  of  divorce  laws,  and  the  like.  But  many  years  will  probably  pass  before 
such  changes  are  made. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

TWELVE   YEARS    OF   FEDERAL   SUPREMACY 

THE  inauguration  of  Washington  differed  from  all  succeeding 
inaugurations  in  time,  place,  and  ceremonies.  No  other  was  held 
in  New  York,  no  other  in  April,1  and  no  other  was  attended 
with  such  ceremony.  Throughout  his  administration  Washington 
maintained  a  dignity  that  at  this  day  would  seem  ridiculous.  When 
he  held  receptions  or  levees,  he  stood  in  a  large  reception  room,  clad 
in  black  velvet,  wearing  yellow  gloves,  and  knee  and  shoe  buckles,  his 
hair  heavily  powdered  and  done  up  in  a  silken  bag.  In  one  hand  he 
held  a  cocked  hat  adorned  with  a  black  feather,  and  at  his  side  he 
wore  a  long  sword  in  a  white  scabbard  of  polished  leather.  He 
bowed  stiffly  to  his  guests  and  did  not  shake  hands  with  any  one. 
He  drove  along  the  streets  in  a  fine  coach  drawn  by  four  or  six 
white  horses,  with  footmen  in  bright  uniform.  Washington's  cere 
mony  did  not  indicate  that  he  desired  to  hold  himself  aloof  from  the 
common  people  or  to  dazzle  them  with  his  person.  He  honestly 
believed  that  such  a  course  was  necessary  to  maintain  the  dignitjr 
of  his  office.  Nevertheless,  Washington  was  a  natural  aristocrat, 
and  it  was  not  difficult  for  him  to  assume  the  dignity  almost  of 
a  European  monarch. 

He  took  the  oath  of  office,  as  we  have  stated,  in  the  presence  of 
the  multitude,  but  he  read  the  inaugural  address  a  few  minutes  later 
within  the  senate  chamber,  and  at  its  conclusion  the  whole  body 
proceeded  to  St.  Paul's  chapel  on  Broadway  for  a  religious  service. 
A  few  days  later  the  Senate  and  House  marched  in  stately  pomp  to 
the  President's  house,  and  made  formal  replies  to  his  inaugural. 
The  same  practice  was  followed  with  reference  to  the  annual  mes 
sage  ;  the  President  delivered  it  orally  to  the  assembled  Congress, 
and  the  latter  made  a  formal  answer  a  few  days  later.  This  custom 
was  in  vogue  for  twelve  years,  when  Jefferson  abolished  it  and 

1  Except  the  accidentals  of  Tyler  and  Johnson. 
341 


342  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

instituted  the  present  method  of  sending  a  written  message,  requir 
ing  no  answer.  The  practice  of  delivering  the  inaugural  address 
in  person  and  orally  has,  however,  come  down  to  us  unchanged. 

For  a  hundred  years  no  President  has  officially  appeared  be 
fore  Congress  in  person  except  at  memorial  services  and  the  like. 
It  was  different  in  Washington's  time,  and  at  least  on  one  occasion 
Washington  entered  the  senate  c  hamber,  took  the  Vice  President's 
chair,  and  urged  the  passage  of  a  certain  measure.1 

THE   FIRST  CONGRESS 

No  Congress  in  our  history,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the 
one  that  assembled  in  1861,  has  had  devolving  upon  it  such  vast 
responsibilities  as  that  which  assembled  in  the  spring  of  1789  —  the 
First  Congress. 

The  Constitution  was  but  an  outline  of  a  government,  a  skeleton 
to  be  clothed  with  flesh  and  blood,  and  to  receive  the  breath  of  life. 
The  duty  of  making  the  new  government  a  living  thing  fell  largely 
to  the  First  Congress.  Many  acts  of  this  Congress  were  of  per 
manent  importance  and  are  still  in  force,  such  as  the  creating  of  a 
Cabinet  and  of  the  judiciary  system,  the  establishing  of  a  financial 
basis  for  the  country,  and  determining  the  location  of  the  national 
capital. 

The  body  of  men  that  composed  the  First  Congress  was  notably 
inferior  to  the  body  that  had  framed  the  Constitution  two  years 
before.  We  note  the  absence  of  the  venerable  Franklin,  of  the 
President,  of  James  Wilson,  of  Hamilton  —  all  of  whom  were  leading 
figures  in  the  Constitutional  Convention.  Yet  there  were  good  men 
in  this  Congress. 

In  the  Senate  we  find  Robert  Morris,  Eichard  Henry  Lee,  George 

Read,  and  Charles  Carroll,  signers  of  the  Declaration ;    Ellsworth 

of  Connecticut,  Paterson  of  New  Jersey,  Rufus  King, 

Congress          — lately  from  Massachusetts,  now  of  New  York,  —  and 

General  Schuyler.     In   the  House   also  we  find  some 

strong  men.    There  was  Madison,  who  became  the  leader  on  the  floor. 

He,  a  future  President,  had  in  a  hot  canvass  defeated  another  future 

President,  James  Monroe,  and  the  latter  entered  the  House  soon  after 

to  fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  death.     There  was  Frederick  Muhlenberg, 

the  Speaker,  son  of  the  famous  Lutheran  patriarch  of  Pennsylvania; 

1  gee  Maclay's  Journal;  Hart's  "  Contemporaries,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  265. 


FIRST  ACTS   OF   THE   FIRST  CONGRESS  343 

Jonathan  Trumbull  of  Connecticut ;  Suinter,  the  famous  South  Caro 
lina  fighter ;  and  Fisher  Ames  of  Massachusetts,  who  was  to  thrill 
the  nation  a  few  years  later  with  an  outburst  of  eloquence  unequaled 
in  that  generation. 

The  first  important  business  of  Congress  was  to  frame  a  tariff 
measure.  The  new  government  had  inherited  a  heavy  debt.  Under 
the  old  Articles,  the  Congress  had  made  repeated  efforts  to  raise 
money  by  laying  a  duty  on  foreign  imports,  but  the  con 
sent  of  all  the  states  was  needed,  and  one  after  another  u 
had  objected,  and  every  effort  came  to  naught.  But  now  no  refractory 
state  had  power  to  thwart  the  will  of  the  nation.  For  the  raising  of 
revenue,  therefore,  and  for  the  encouragement  of  infant  manufactories, 
it  was  proposed  to  lay  a  general  tariff  on  foreign  imports.  The 
measure  became  a  law  on  July  4th,  and  is  known  as  the  Tariff 
of  1789.  With  occasional  amendments,  generally  slightly  increasing 
the  rates,  it  was  in  force  until  1812,  though  inoperative  during  the 
embargo.  Its  duties  were  low  compared  with  those  of  our  own 
times,  the  highest  being  15  per  cent,  with  a  general  average  of  about 
8£  per  cent.  This  tariff  proved  a  boon  to  the  country.  In  a  short 
time  it  was  yielding  $200,000  a  month,  a  sum  amply  adequate  to 
cover  the  expenses  of  the  government,  and  to  pay  the  interest  on  the 
public  debt. 

The  second  great  act  of  the  First  Congress  was  the  creating  of  a 
Cabinet.  The  Constitution  made  no  provision  for  a  President's  Cabi 
net  as  we  now  have  it ;  but  it  recognized  that  such  was  to  exist,1  leav 
ing  all  details  to  the  action  of  Congress.  Three  departments  were 
created  at  the  first  session  of  this  Congress,  or  rather,  they  were  con 
tinued  from  the  old  government  under  new  designations.  The  head 
of  the  department  of  foreign  affairs  was  called  the  Secretary  of 
State,  that  of  the  department  of  finance,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury,  and  that  of  the  war  department  retained  the  old  name,  Secre 
tary  of  War.  Washington  had  decided  not  to  call  any  one  into  his 
official  family  who  was  not  well  known  to  the  people  and  trusted 
by  them.  Thomas  Jefferson,  who  had  been  minister  to  France,  was 
chosen  secretary  of  state.  Alexander  Hamilton  was  made  secre 
tary  of  the  treasury,  and  General  Henry  Knox,  secretary  of  war. 
These  men  were  not  appointed  until  September,  nearly  five  months 
after  the  inauguration.  A  little  later  Edmund  Kandolph  was 

1  Art.  II,  Sec.  2.  These  were  intended  to  be  simply  heads  of  departments,  but 
custom  has  made  them  also  advisers  to  the  President. 


344  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

appointed  attorney  general,  and  he  became  the  fourth  member  of  the 
Cabinet.1 

Another  act  of  the  First  Congress  that  is  still  in  force  was  a  bill 
organizing  the  Supreme  Court.  It  was  drawn  up  by  Oliver  Ells 
worth,  who  afterward  became  the  second  Chief  Justice.  The  first 
Supreme  Court  was  composed  of  a  Chief  Justice  and  five  associates, 
the  first  Chief  Justice  being  John  Jay  of  New  York.  The  federal 
judiciary,  unlike  the  Cabinet,  was  specially  provided  for  in  the  Con 
stitution.  It  was  created  by  an  act  of  Congress,  and  the  members 
are  appointed  by  the  President ;  but  the  Court  is  independent  of  both, 
and  even  has  authority  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  constitutionality  of 
their  acts.2 

Many  other  measures  of  this  Congress,  important  at  the  time, 
were  made  into  law,  and  gradually  that  body  won  the  confidence  of 
the  people.  Washington  made  a  vacation  tour  to  New  England,  and 
another  to  the  South,  and  was  received  with  universal  applause. 
The  crops  were  abundant,  the  people  were  happy,  and  the  nation  was 
rising  to  a  point  of  respectability.  It  was  left  for  the  second  session 
of  Congress,  beginning  in  December,  to  bring  the  first  hitch  in  the 
machinery  of  government ;  this  came  through  the  treasury  report  of 
Secretary  Hamilton. 

Of  the  great  financiers  in  the  history  of  our  country,  the  ablest, 
beyond  a  doubt,  was  Alexander  Hamilton.  By  far  the  most  difficult 
position  in  the  first  Cabinet  was  that  of  the  treasury,  and  the  Presi 
dent  made  a  happy  choice  in  giving  it  to  Hamilton.  "  He  smote  the 
rock  of  national  resources,"  said  Daniel  Webster,  "and  copious 
streams  of  wealth  poured  forth.  He  touched  the  dead  corpse  of 
public  credit,  and  it  stood  forth  erect  with  life."  But  the  recom 
mendations  of  Hamilton  awakened  much  opposition.  His  report  to 
Congress  showed  that  the  public  debt  amounted  to  some  $54,000,000, 
of  which  about  $12,000,000  were  owed  to  foreign  creditors,  chiefly 
to  France,  the  rest  to  creditors  at  home  who  had  loaned  their  money 
to  the  government  during  the  war.  This  seemed  a  great  burden  to 
the  young  Eepublic ;  but  the  most  surprising  part  was  yet  to  come. 

1  Our  present  Cabinet  is  composed  of  nine  members.     The  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
was  added  in  1798;  the  Postmaster  General  was  admitted  to  the  Cabinet  in  1829, 
though  his  office  dated  back  to  colonial  times ;  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  was 
added  in  1849,  of  Agriculture  in  1889,  and  of  Commerce  and  Labor  in  1903.     Thus  the 
Cabinet  has  grown  as  the  business  of  the  country  demanded. 

2  Inferior  courts  were   also  organized  at  this  session.     These  are  created  by 
Congress  as  needed ;  they  do  not  enjoy  the  independence  of  the  Supreme  Court. 


HAMILTON'S  FINANCIAL   MEASURES  345 

The  states  had  sent  forth  troops,  each  at  its  own  expense,  to  fight  the 
British.  They  had  thus  incurred  heavy  debts.  Parts  of  these  had 
been  paid,  but  there  was  still  unpaid  an  aggregate  exceeding 
§21,000,000.  Hamilton  proposed  to  add  this  to  the  national  debt 
(making  $75,000,000  in  all)  ;  and  recommended  that  the  national 
government  assume  the  state  debts,  and  thus  relieve  the  states  from 
payment. 

There  was  an  immediate  outcry  against  assumption.  It  arose  from 
two  causes.  One  was  that  some  states  had  paid  a  large  portion  of 
their  Revolutionary  debts,  while  others  had  paid  little.  Assumption 
would  therefore  be  unfair  to  the  former.  This  objection  was  super 
ficial  ;  the  other  was  deep,  and  involved  a  principle.  Assumption 
of  the  state  debts  would  belittle  the  states  and  rob  them  of  their 
so-called  sovereignty.  It  would  subordinate  them  and  transfer  the 
interest  of  the  moneyed  class  from  them  to  the  general  government, 
for  "  where  the  treasure  is,  there  will  the  heart  be  also." 

This  was  exactly  what  Hamilton  desired.  He  cared  nothing  for 
state  sovereignty  —  not  even  for  state  rights.  He  wished  to  central 
ize  and  strengthen  the  general  government,  and  to  do  this  he  knew 
that  there  was  no  better  method  than  to  enlist  the  interest  of  the 
rich  men  of  the  country  by  making  it  their  debtor.1  But  so  great 
was  the  opposition  that  the  measure  could  not  pass  the  House, 
and  before  the  question  was  settled  another  one  arose.  The  other 
question  was,  Where  shall  the  national  capital  be  located  ? 


A  separate  city  was  desired.     The  handful  of  soldiers  e 


who,  a  few  years  before,  had  swooped  down  from  Lan 
caster  and  driven  Congress  out  of  Philadelphia,  settled  that  point. 
Philadelphia  and  Pennsylvania  had  refused,  or  were  unable,  to  pro 
tect  the  Congress.  Everybody  seemed  to  sympathize  with  the  sol 
diers.  A  separate  city,  therefore,  governed  solely  by  Congress  and 
not  by  any  state,  was  necessary.  To  this  all  agreed  ;  but  where  should 
it  be  built  ?  The  southern  members  preferred  to  have  it  in  the 
South  ;  the  northern  members  wanted  it  in  the  North.  It  was  gen- 

1  To  make  this  plainer  :  Suppose  a  number  of  brothers,  each  in  business  for 
himself,  each  owed  you  a  sum  of  money.  You  would  be  anxious  that  they  succeed, 
because  your  money  was  invested.  But  suppose  their  father  assumed  these  debts  and 
made  himself  responsible  for  their  payment.  Your  interest  would  at  once  be  trans 
ferred  to  the  business  of  the  father.  Again,  suppose  a  business  man  finds  it  difficult 
to  pay  his  debts  and  a  rich  friend  does  it  for  him.  He  is  relieved  of  his  debts,  but 
he  loses  his  independence.  Thus  the  states  would  lose  a  portion  of  their  importance 
if  assumption  were  carried.  One  of  the  sources  of  strength  in  a  government  is  a 
moderate  national  debt. 


346  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

erally  agreed  that  it  should  be  on  the  bank  of  one  of  the  three  great 
rivers  —  the  Delaware,  the  Susquehanna,  or  the  Potomac.  Jefferson 
favored  placing  the  capital  in  the  South.  Hamilton  had  no  sectional 
pride ;  his  mind  was  still  on  assumption.  One  day  he  proposed  a 
trade  with  Jefferson.  He  offered  to  favor  placing  the  capital  in  the 
South,  if  Jefferson  would  favor  the  assumption  of  the 
Assumption.  &^e  debts.  Jefferson  agreed.  Each  had  a  strong  fol 
lowing  in  Congress,  and  it  was  not  long  till  both  measures  were 
passed.  The  national  government  assumed  the  state  debts,  and  the 
capital  was  placed  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  River.1 

Hamilton  also  secured  the  passage  of  a  funding  bill,  by  which  the 
debt  was  changed  into  interest-bearing  bonds,  and  with  this  he  secured 
a  guarantee  from  Congress  that  all  outstanding  certificates  should  be 
paid  at  their  face  value.  These  had  been  given  out  instead  of  cash 
during  the  war  to  men  who  furnished  the  army  with  supplies  and 
who  served  in  its  ranks.  During  the  intervening  years  many  had 
sold  their  certificates,  from  necessity  or  distrust  of  the  government, 
at  a  rate  far  below  the  face  value.  It  was  objected  that  the  specu 
lators,  and  not  the  old  soldiers,  would  profit  by  this  act,  if  the  gov 
ernment  paid  these  at  full  value.2  But  Hamilton  urged  that  it  was 
necessary  to  establish  the  national  credit  on  an  unimpeachable  basis, 
and  to  teach  the  old  soldiers  a  lesson  —  not  to  distrust  their  govern 
ment  again.  He  carried  his  point,  and  from  that  day  the  credit  of 
the  United  States  was  firmly  established. 

Two  more  great  measures  must  be  attributed  to  this  financial 
genius  —  the  excise,  and  the  establishing  of  a  United  States 
Bank.  The  excise,  an  internal  revenue  on  distilled  spirits,  passed 
after  a  considerable  opposition  had  been  overcome.  The  bank 
The  Excise  was  s^l  more  seriously  opposed.  It  was  to  have  a 
and  the  Bank,  capital  of  $  10,000,000,  one  fifth  of  which  was  to  be 
1791>  subscribed  by  the  government,  the  remainder  by  the 

people  in  shares  of  $400.  The  bank  was  to  supply  the  people 
with  a  circulating  medium,  and  to  loan  the  government  money 
when  needed.  The  opposition  was  formidable,  but  it  was  borne 
down  and  the  bill  was  passed.  The  bank  was  chartered  for  twenty 

1  New  York  was  the  temporary  capital  but  one  year  when  the  government  was 
transferred  to  Philadelphia,  where  it  remained  for  ten  years  (1790-1800) . 

2  When  this  act  was  proposed,  and  before  the  news  of  it  reached  distant  parts, 
speculators  went  around  and  bought  up  certificates  at  the  lowest  possible   price, 
some  as  low  as  one  sixth  of  their  face  value.  Hamilton  was  accused  of  being  interested 
in  this  business,  but  the  charge  was  altogether  groundless. 


FIRST   TEST   OF   THE   CONSTITUTION  347 

years.1  Tims  within  a  year  and  a  half  Hamilton  had  secured,  in  the 
face  of  the  opposition  of  the  state  rights  party,  the  passage  of  four 
great  measures,  —  assumption,  funding  of  the  debt,  the  excise,  and 
the  bank  charter,  —  all  tending  to  the  centralization  of  power. 

The  first  serious  test  of  the  Constitution  came  in  the  summer  of 
1794  in  the  form  of  the  Whisky  Insurrection  of  western  Pennsyl 
vania.     This  episode  would  be  of  slight  historic  interest  but  for  the 
fact  that  it  became  a  test  of  national  strength  under  the  new  Consti 
tution.     The  internal  tax  on  distilled  spirits  bore  heavily  on  outly 
ing  communities,  far  from  the  centers  of  trade.     Owing  to  the  long 
distances  and  the  bad  roads    it   was  difficult  to  take 
their  grain  to  market,  and  the  people  condensed  it  into  insurrection 
whisky.    The  excise  was  unfair,  they  claimed,  as  it  taxed 
them  heavily  on  the  main  product  of  their  farms.     In  various  parts 
of  the  country  the  excise  was  unpopular,  and  in  western  Pennsylvania 
the  discontent  broke  into  open  rebellion.      The  people  held  a  great 
meeting  on  Braddock's  Field,  and  decided  to  resist  the  law  by  force 
of  arms.2 

Washington  issued  a  proclamation  commanding  the  malcontents 
to  desist;  he  also  sent  a  commission  to  treat  with  the  insurgents  and 
endeavor  to  induce  them  to  obey  the  law.  These  efforts  being  unsuc 
cessful,  the  President  determined  to  use  force.  He  called  upon 
the  governors  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  New  Jersey,  and  Vir 
ginia  for  troops,3  and  in  a  short  time  fifteen  thousand  men  were 
marching  across  the  Alleghauies  under  the  lead  of  Governor  Lee  of 
Virginia. 

Hamilton  accompanied  the  expedition  and  was,  indeed,  the  soul 
of  the  whole  movement.  He  was  very  anxious  to  display  the  strength 
of  the  government,  to  teach  a  lesson  to  all  who  believed  that  it  could 
not  enforce  its  own  laws.  Yet,  as  he  afterward  said,  he  feared  at 
every  moment  that  the  militia  would  throw  down  their  arms  and 
return  home.  The  great  question  had  been,  Will  the  citizens  of 
other  states  march  into  a  sister  state  to  enforce  a  national  law  ? 
The  army  marched  on,  however ;  and  on  its  approach  the  insurgents 

1  When  the  subscription  books  were  opened  the  entire  stock  was  sold  within  an 
hour.     The  bank  was  situated  at  Philadelphia,  with  branches  at  Boston,  New  York, 
Baltimore,  and  Charleston.    Thomas  Willing  became  the  first  president. 

2  The  afterward  famous  Albert  Gallatin  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  insurrection. 
He  later  repented  of  this  "  political  sin." 

8  This  call  was  made  with  the  proclamation,  but  the  militia  were  not  sent  till 
the  commission  had  failed. 


348  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

dispersed.  No  blood  was  shed,  and  henceforth  the  excise  tax  was 
collected  without  difficulty.  Hamilton  was  jubilant.  The  Constitu 
tion  had  borne  the  strain,  and  the  friends  of  law  and  order  had  won 
a  victory. 

RISE   OF   POLITICAL  PARTIES 

With  a  self-governing  people  political  parties  are  inevitable  and, 
we  may  say,  necessary ;  for  no  party,  however  pure  its  motives  at 
first,  will  govern  a  country  long  without  becoming  corrupt  or  arro 
gant,  unless  it  has  a  rival  of  almost  equal  power,  watching  its  move 
ments  and  ready  to  snatch  from  it  the  reins  of  government. 

The  Anti-federalist  party,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  though  it  was 
never  organized,  fell  to  pieces  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution. 
It  had  existed  for  the  sole  purpose  of  preventing  adoption,  and  when 
this  was  done  in  spite  of  its  efforts  to  prevent  it,  the  party  ceased  to 
exist.  The  Federalists,  on  the  other  hand,  took  the  reins  of  govern 
ment  and  continued  under  the  old  name.  In  a  few  years  the  whole 
people  became  friendly  to  the  Constitution ;  and  it  is  a  significant 
fact  that  from  that  time  to  the  present  the  American  people  have 
shown  no  disposition  to  cast  it  aside  for  another. 

In  the  early  part  of  Washington's  administration  a  question  of 
the  utmost  importance  came  up  for  solution,  Shall  the  Constitution  be 
construed  strictly  or  loosely  ?  On  the  decision  of  this  question  rested 
the  whole  trend  of  the  government  of  the  future.  It  was  this  question 
that  first  divided  the  people  into  two  great  political  parties,  and  it 
was  first  brought  out  prominently  in  the  debate  on  the  bank  charter. 
To  construe  the  Constitution,  loosely  or  broadly  meant  to  give  the 
general  government  larger  powers  than  the  letter  of  that  document 
would  indicate ;  to  construe  it  strictly  meant  to  confine  Congress  to 
the  strict  letter,  leaving  all  other  powers  to  the  states  or  to  the  peo 
ple.  The  Federalist  party  now  became  the  party  of  loose  construc 
tion,  and  Hamilton  was  its  leader.1 

But  there  were  many  thousands  of  people  who  were  displeased 
with  the  policy  of  Hamilton.  They  did  not  like  Washington's  dig 
nified  bearing,  his  ceremonial  receptions,  his  driving  through  the 
streets  with  such  stately  pomp.  All  this  savored  of  monarchy,  said 
they.  But  it  was  left  for  Hamilton's  centralizing  financial  measures 
to  awaken  a  general  alarm.  This  element  soon  resolved  itself  into 

1  The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  strict  and  loose  construction  were  not  ends 
but  simply  indices  pointing  to  a  weak  or  a  strong  central  government. 


JEFFERSON   AND   HAMILTON  349 

a  political  party  founded  on  the  policy  of  strict  construction,  and 
the  founder  and  leader  of  this  party  was  Thomas  Jefferson. 

The  two  greatest  statesmen  of  this  period  were  these  two  mem 
bers  of  Washington's  Cabinet  —  Jefferson  and  Hamilton;  and  sel 
dom  since  then  has  the  equal  of  either  appeared  on  our  Jefferson  and 
political  stage.  The  contrast  between  these  two  remark-  Hamilton 
able  men  is  exceedingly  interesting  to  the  student  of  comPared- 
history.  Jefferson  was  born  of  the  highest  aristocracy  of  Virginia, 
but  he  was  a  natural  democrat,  and  he  despised  the  exclusiveness  of 
his  class;  Hamilton,  born  of  ill-mated  parents  in  an  obscure  corner 
of  the  world,  was  self-made  in  the  fullest  sense,  but  he  became  the 
most  conspicuous  aristocrat  in  America.  Jefferson  was  retiring, 
studious,  philosophical,  original ;  Hamilton  was  a  man  of  the  world, 
brilliant,  far-sighted,  imperious,  but  not  original,  —  his  governmental 
policy  was  borrowed  from  the  English  monarchy.  Jefferson  loved 
the  multitude ;  he  recognized  in  every  man  a  common  humanity  with 
himself.  Hamilton  stood  aloof  from  the  great  crowd,  which  he  had 
no  power  to  win,  but  he  was  a  superb  leader  of  leaders.  These  two 
men  were  alike  in  one  respect  —  in  patriotism.  Each  loved  his 
country  above  all  things ;  but  here  the  parallel  must  stop.  They 
differed  as  day  differs  from  night  in  their  methods  of  construing  the 
Constitution,  in  their  ideas  of  what  the  government  should  be. 

Jefferson  loved  liberty  with  a  passionate  devotion,  and  his  faith 
in  the  people's  capacity  for  self-government  was  implicit  and  abid 
ing.  Hamilton  loved  liberty  also,  but  the  first  law  of  his  mind  was 
order,  and  it  called  for  stability  of  government.  Jefferson  studied 
the  people,  understood  them  as  no  other  man  of  his  times;  he 
believed  in  universal  education,  as  that  alone  would  bring  intelligent 
self-government  and  happiness.  Hamilton  did  not  understand  the 
people ;  he  called  them  "  a  great  beast,"  he  felt  that  they  could  be 
kept  within  proper  bounds  only  by  the  strong  hand  of  a  centralized 
government.  Jefferson  feared  that  a  strong  government  would 
endanger  liberty.  Hamilton  feared  that  a  weak  government  would 
encourage  anarchy.  Of  Shays's  insurrection  Jefferson  simply  stated, 
"  Whenever  our  affairs  go  obviously  wrong,  the  good  sense  of  the 
people  will  interpose  and  set  them  right ; "  while  Hamilton  was  hor 
rified  at  that  episode,  and  would  have  crushed  all  such  rebellions 
with  a  hand  of  iron. 

These  two  men  were  in  Washington's  Cabinet.  They  could  not 
agree.  They  became  political,  then  personal,  enemies,  and  were  con 


350  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

stantly  quarreling  across  the  table  of  their  chief.  It  was  a  battle 
of  the  giants,  and  their  strife  was  an  unselfish  one  for  the  future  of 
a  nation,  each  sincerely  believing  that  the  policy  of  the  other  would 
be  ruinous  to  the  country.  The  contest  was  one  of  vast  importance 
because  it  must  now  be  decided  how  the  new  Constitution  should  be 
operated —  whether  the  country  should  be  strong  or  weak,  should 
be  ruled  by  the  democracy  or  by  an  aristocracy.  Which  of  the  giants 
won  ?  Both.  Hamilton  won  first.  Jefferson  won  last.  Hamilton's 
victory  resulted  in  assumption,  in  the  funding  of  the  debt,  in  an  excise 
tax,  in  the  founding  of  the  bank  —  all  in  accordance  with  his  broad 
constructive  theories.  This  was  all  done  before  Jefferson  had  gath 
ered  his  forces  into  battle  line.  At  length  Jefferson  won  a  final 
victory  over  Hamilton  and  overthrew  his  party  forever.  But  it 
was  too  late  to  undo  the  work  of  Hamilton.  To  this  day  we  have 
liberal  construction  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  initiative  of  this 
we  owe  to  Hamilton.  Even  Jefferson,  when  he  obtained  control  of 
the  government,  in  his  maturer  years,  had  no  desire  to  undo  the 
chief  work  of  his  great  rival,  for  he  looked  upon  it  and  saw  that  it 
was  good. 

Yet  Jefferson's  victory  was  greater  than  that  of  Hamilton.  He 
retained  the  nationality  of  Hamilton,  but  he  infused  into  it  a  de 
mocracy  that  destroyed  forever  the  possibility  of  aristocratic  gov 
ernment.  We  have  to  this  day,  except  where  the  political  "  boss  " 
gains  a  temporary  sway,  a  rule  of  the  people,  a  government  of  the 
democracy  —  and  for  this  we  are  greatly  indebted  to  Jefferson.  It 
required  long  years  for  these  opposing  tendencies  to  blend  together 
in  right  proportion.  But  we  have  them,  not  in  perfect  form,  but  in 
better  form  than  the  world  has  hitherto  known,  and  we  owe  this 
union,  or  at  least  its  inception,  to  the  two  great  rival  secretaries  of 
Washington's  Cabinet. 

Jefferson  named  his  new  party  "Republican."1  It  is  not  to  be 
identified  with  the  Anti-federalist  party,  though  many  of  the 
fragments  of  that  party  were  gathered  into  its  fold.  Jefferson's 
following  at  first  was  chiefly  from  the  South,  but  it  was  not 
long  until  he  had  won  Pennsylvania  and  other  northern  states. 

1  This  was  the  origin  of  the  present  Democratic  party.  The  name  "  Democratic," 
borrowed  from  French  politics,  was  first  used  by  small  Democratic  societies,  as  they 
called  themselves,  and  was  applied  to  Jefferson  and  his  followers  by  their  enemies. 
Though  Jefferson  never  accepted  it,  the  name  encroached  on  the  name  "  Republican  " 
for  more  than  thirty  years,  when  it  was  adopted  by  the  party.  The  official  name, 
however,  is  still  Democratic-Republican. 


THE   FRENCH    REVOLUTION  351 

Jefferson  was  a  leader  of  marvelous  skill.  He  made  a  master 
stroke  at  the  outstart  by  winning  Madison,  and  the  two  were  ever 
after  the  most  intimate  political  and  personal  friends.  He  next 
made  a  follower  of  Albert  Gallatiu,  the  doughty  Swiss  who  became 
one  of  our  greatest  financiers.  But  the  bulk  of  the  new  party  was 
made  up  of  the  middle  and  lower  classes,  while  the  majority  of  the 
more  aristocratic  classes  remained  with  the  Federalists. 

Washington  was  supposed  to  be  above  party  lines,  and  he  made 
some  effort  to  hold  a  neutral  ground,  but  he  could  not  conceal  the 
fact  that  his  sympathies  were  generally  with  Hamilton,  washing- 
His  sincere  desire  was  to  retire  from  public  life  at  the  ton's  second 
end  of  his  first  term ;  but  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  both  «l«ctum. 
begged  him  to  stand  for  reelection,  as  parties  were  then  in  a  state 
so  chaotic  as  to  render  a  national  contest  injurious  to  the  country, 
and  he  alone  could  be  elected  without  a  contest.  Washington  con 
sented,  and  he  was  elected  a  second  time  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the 
electoral  college.  Jefferson  left  the  cabinet  early  in  1794,  and 
Hamilton  a  year  later;  but  both  continued  at  the  head  of  their  re 
spective  parties.  Each  was  an  idealist,  an  extremist,  and  each 
made  the  serious  blunder  of  misunderstanding  the  other.  Jefferson 
believed  that  Hamilton  was  at  the  head  of  a  great  conspiracy,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  merge  the  Republic  into  a  monarchy.  Ham 
ilton  believed  that  his  rival  was  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  fanatics 
who  might  rise  at  any  time  and  seize  the  government,  even  with 
bloody  hands,  as  the  people  of  France  had  done  in  that  unhappy 
country,  and  that  Jefferson  was  capable  of  encouraging  anarchy  and 
disunion.  Both  were  wrong.  Both  were  friends  of  order  and  good 
government,  but  they  differed  widely  in  their  methods  of  adminis 
tering  it. 

AMERICA   AND   FRANCE 

During  the  period  that  we  are  now  treating  there  was  a  move 
ment  of  vast  significance  in  progress  in  France,  one  that  has  no 
parallel  in  history,  one  that  shook  the  throne  of  every 
monarch  in  Europe.  It  is  known  as  the  French  Revolu- 
tion.  The  peasantry  of  France  had  been  trodden  in  the 
dust  for  centuries  by  tyrannical  kings  and  a  profligate  nobility.  At 
last  the  worm  turned  upon  its  oppressor.  The  people,  driven  to 
madness  by  tyranny,  had  risen  in  their  fury,  dashed  their  oppressors 
to  the  ground,  and  taken  the  government  into  their  own  hands. 


352  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

The  French  Revolution  promised  at  first  to  be  a  bloodless 
one.  The  States-General  met  in  1789  for  the  first  time  in  175 
years.  It  framed  a  constitution  greatly  curtailing  the  power 
of  the  king  and  changing  the  government  to  a  limited  mon 
archy.  This  the  king  accepted,  and  all  things  seemed  to  prom 
ise  a  peaceful  continuance  of  his  reign.  But  when  the  other 
monarch s  of  Europe  banded  together  and  determined  to  restore  the 
French  king  by  force  of  arms  to  his  former  position  as  absolute 
monarch,  and  to  reduce  the  people  to  their  former  condition  of  servi 
tude,  their  passion  became  unbounded.  When  it  was  known  that 
the  allied  Powers  had  sent  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  into  France 
with  an  army  to  restore  the  king,  and  when  it  was  believed  that  the 
king  himself  sympathized  with  the  movement,  the  people  of  Paris 
became  delirious  with  fury.  They  raised  a  great  army  and  won  a 
great  victory  over  the  Allies  ;  they  beheaded  their  king,  destroyed 
many  of  the  nobles,  and  proclaimed  a  republic ;  they  lost  all  self- 
control  and  put  hundreds  to  death  on  suspicion ;  they  spread  carnage 
on  every  hand  till  the  whole  land  of  France  was  drenched  in  blood. 

The  French  Revolution  made  a  profound  impression  on  American 
politics.  Hamilton  was  shocked  at  the  lawlessness  and  excesses  of 
the  French,  while  Jefferson  sympathized  with  them  in  their  struggle 
for  liberty.  Jefferson  deplored  the  excesses,  for  he  was  not  a  man 
of  violence ;  but  of  the  Revolution  as  a  whole  he  wrote,  "  Rather 
than  it  should  have  failed,  I  would  have  seen  half  the  earth  deso 
lated  ;  were  there  but  an  Adam  and  Eve  left  in  every  country,  and 
left  free,  it  would  be  better  than  it  is  now." 

The  Federalists  had  no  sympathy  with  the  violent  French.  They 
leaned  rather  toward  the  stable  monarchy  of  England,  and  they 
came  to  be  called  the  "English  party,"  while  Jefferson  and  his 
following  were  called  the  "French  party."  Such  was  the  condition 
of  American  politics,  the  chief  issue  being  foreign,  when  in  the 
spring  of  1793  the  new  French  Republic  sent  its  first  minister  to  the 
United  States. 

His  name  was  Edmond  Charles  Genet,  and  his  title  was  "  Citizen," 
for  the  French  had  abolished  all  titles  except  citizen  and  citizeness. 
He  was  a  youth  of  twenty-eight  years,  but  he  had  made  a 
record  in  annexing  Geneva  to  the  French  Republic.  He 
landed  at  Charleston  in  April,  and  his  overland  journey  to  Philadel 
phia  was  one  unbroken  ovation.  But  he  was  not  surprised  ;  he  had 
expected  a  warm  reception  by  the  sister  republic  whom  France  had 


WASHINGTON  PROCLAIMS   NEUTRALITY  353 

aided  so  generously  a  few  years  before.  He  even  expected  America 
to  declare  war  against  the  Allies  in  behalf  of  France.  Did  not  the 
Treaty  of  1778  between  France  and  the  United  States  bind  each  to 
become  the  ally  of  the  other  in  case  of  war  ? 

Beaching  Philadelphia,  Genet  encountered  an  obstacle,  a  very 
serious  one,  in  the  attitude  of  the  President.  Washington  received 
him  without  enthusiasm,  assuring  him  of  the  friendly  feeling  of 
America  toward  France  without  giving  him  the  slightest  hope  of 
assistance  in  the  war.  Washington  had  weighed  the  matter  well. 
Hearing  of  the  declaration  of  war  between  England  and  France,  he 
had  submitted  the  matter  to  his  Cabinet,  and  with  their  approval  he 
had  issued  his  now  famous  Proclamation  of  Neutrality. 
But  Genet  was  not  discomfited.  He  had  begun  fitting  out 
privateers  the  moment  he  had  landed  at  Charleston.  He 
pronounced  the  government  "  timid  and  wavering,"  acted  on  his  own 
interpretation  of  the  Treaty  of  1778,  in  defiance  of  the  wishes  of  the 
administration,  and  even  declared  that  the  President  was  exceeding 
his  powers  in  proclaiming  neutrality.  Genet  had  much  encourage 
ment.  Philadelphia  had  received  him  with  great  applause.  Men 
on  fast  horses  had  met  him  as  he  approached  and  had  galloped  into 
the  city  to  spread  the  news  of  the  coming  of  this  true  son  of  liberty. 
Great  banquets  were  held  in  his  honor.  Democratic  societies  were 
formed  to  advocate  the  French  cause,  and  they  rapidly  spread  over 
the  states.  The  Republican  newspapers  not  only  took  the  side  of 
Genet  against  the  government,  they  also  attacked  the  character  of 
Washington  most  virulently.  It  was  said  that  ten  thousand  men  in 
Philadelphia  banded  together,  determined  to  force  the  President  to 
resign  his  office  or  espouse  the  cause  of  the  French ;  and  for  the 
first  time  since  the  Conway  Cabal,  the  popularity  of  Washington 
suffered  a  partial  eclipse. 

The  President  was  greatly  annoyed  at  the  attacks  upon  his 
character.  He  declared  before  his  Cabinet  that  "he  would  rather 
be  in  his  grave  than  in  his  present  situation."  But  on  the  question 
at  issue,  he  was  as  immovable  as  adamant.  He  saw  that  a  crisis 
in  the  life  of  the  Republic  was  at  hand,  that  a  precedent  for  the 
future  must  be  established.  He  believed  that  the  Republic  would 
be  short-lived  if  it  did  not  make  a  stand  against  taking  sides  in  the 
wars  and  political  broils  of  Europe.  Yet  there  was  the  Treaty  of 
1778.  But  that  was  made  with  the  French  monarchy,  which  had 
ceased  to  exist.  It  was  made  with  the  French  king,  who  was  guil- 

2A 


354  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES 

lotined,  and  who  had  no  successor.  The  treaty  of  alliance  was  also 
construed  to  refer  only  to  defensive  wars,  and  France  was  waging 
an  offensive  war.  With  these  considerations  Washington  deter 
mined  to  make  a  stand  against  a  French  alliance,  and  the  courage 
required  to  make  such  a  decision  in  the  face  of  the  popular  clamor 
is  not  less  admirable  than  that  displayed  years  before  by  the  same 
noble  soul  at  Princeton  and  at  Monmouth. 

Meantime  Genet  had  overstepped  the  bounds  of  public  decency. 
He  had  sent  the  Little  Sarah,  a  captured  British  merchantman,  now 
changed  to  a  French  privateer,  down  the  Delaware  and 
oufc  to  sea>  a&ainst  tne  protest  of  Governor  Mifflin  and 
of  Secretary  of  State  Jefferson.  He  had  threatened  to 
appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  President  to  the  people.  He  had 
projected  an  invasion  of  Florida  from  South  Carolina  and  Georgia, 
and  a  movement  against  New  Orleans  from  Kentucky.  He  had 
written  a  dictatorial  letter  to  Washington,  and  had  received  a  cold 
reply  from  Jefferson,  stating  that  it  was  not  customary  for  a  foreign 
diplomat  to  have  direct  correspondence  with  the  President,  that 
the  proper  channel  through  which  such  notes  should  pass  was  the 
secretary  of  state.  The  President  again  called  a  Cabinet  meeting, 
and  they  decided  that  it  was  unlawful  to  lit  out  privateers  and  take 
captives  in  American  waters,  and  they  also  determined  to  demand 
the  recall  of  Genet. 

The  popularity  of  the  French  minister  now  took  a  sudden  turn, 
and  collapsed  like  a  punctured  balloon.  The  national  pride  had 
been  touched,  and  the  public  esteem  for  the  hero  of  Trenton,  of 
Valley  Forge,  and  of  Yorktown  again  approached  the  zenith. 

AMERICA  AND   ENGLAND;   THE   JAY  TREATY 

Our  relations  with  England  during  the  nineties  were  scarcely 
better  than  those  with  France,  and  they  began  to  absorb  public 
attention  about  the  time  the  French  craze  subsided.  The  British 
monarchy  had  shown  little  respect  for  the  new  nation  formed  of  her 
sometime  colonies.  So  the  Americans  felt  at  least,  and  they  had  a 
series  of  grievances  against  the  mother  country. 

First,  a  source  of  irritation  arose  from  our  trade  with  the  French 
West  Indies.  France  had  thrown  open  her  colonies  to  the  trade  of 
neutrals,  —  a  thing  they  did  not  usually  enjoy  in  time  of  peace, — 
and  our  merchants  soon  had  a  flourishing  trade  with  the  French 


RELATIONS   WITH   ENGLAND  355 

West  Indies.  But  Great  Britain  then,  to  cripple  France  ami  in  con 
tempt  of  the  neutrals,  revived  an  old  rule  known  as  the  Rule  of 
1755  —  that  trade  which  was  unlawful  in  peace  was  unlawful  in  war.1 
Several  American  vessels  were  seized  under  an  order  in  council  j  and 
when  the  news  reached  America,  in  the  spring  of  1794,  there  was  an 
outburst  of  fury  on  all  sides.  The  British  party  sank  into  insignifi 
cance  ;  an  embargo  laid  for  thirty  days  on  all  foreign-bound  vessels 
was  now  extended  for  thirty  days  more. 

Second,  the  British  consul  at  Algiers  had  connived  with  Portugal, 
now  in  league  with  England  against  France,  to  turn  loose  upon  the 
Atlantic  a  number  of  piratical  Algerine  vessels  for  the  purpose  of 
preying  on  American  sailors  and  shipping,  or  at  least  with  the  knowl 
edge  that  they  would  do  so.2  There  was  much  indignation  against 
England  as  well  as  against  Algiers.  Congress  voted  to  build  a  navy 
to  send  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  work  was  begun ;  but  peace 
was  soon  made  with  the  Dey,  and  the  navy-building  was  stopped. 

In  addition  to  these  points  of  irritation,  there  were  other  griev 
ances  of  long  standing  against  the  British.  They  still  held  the  west 
ern  posts  —  Detroit,  Michilimackinac,  Niagara,  Oswego  —  and  refused 
to  give  them  up ;  nor  would  they  pay  for  the  slaves  carried  off  at 
the  close  of  the  Revolution.  It  is  true  that  the  laws  against  loyalists 
had  not  been  repealed,  but  Congress  had  recommended  that  the  states 
repeal  them,  as  promised  in  the  treaty.  As  the  states  had  not  heeded 
the  recommendation,  England  still  refused  to  carry  out  the  treaty. 

The  source  of  greatest  irritation,  however,  was  found  in  the 
impressment  of  seamen.  Many  English  sailors,  abandoning  their 
country  in  time  of  need,  had  taken  refuge  in  American 
vessels.  These  men  were  impressed  into  the  British 
service,  frequently  from  American  ships  held  up  for 
that  purpose  on  the  high  seas.  Some  were  English  born,  but  natu 
ralized  Americans.  But  England  would  not  acknowledge  the  right 
of  expatriation.  Once  an  Englishman,  always  an  Englishman,  was 
her  motto,3  and  she  seized  these  men  at  every  opportunity.  And 

1  England's  avowed  object  in  doing  this  was  plausible.    The  order  in  council 
was  issued  in  aid  of  an  expedition  to  be  sent  to  conquer  the  French  West  Indies,  but 
the  Americans  could  see  in  it  only  an  attempt  to  cripple  their  shipping.     Strictly 
speaking,  this  affair  did  not  come  under  the  Rule  of  1756,  as  France  had,  in  1784, 
prior  to  this  war  with  England,  opened  the  West  India  trade  to  United  States  vessels 
of  sixty  tons  or  over.     See  "  Annals  of  August,"  17i>4,  p.  192. 

2  Schouler,  Vol.  I,  p.  265. 

3  The  right  of  expatriation  was  not  acknowledged  by  the  British  government 
until  1870. 


356  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES 

native-born  Americans  were  often  taken  by  mistake.  To  the  pro 
tests  of  our  government  the  English  paid  no  heed,  and  the  people 
became  exasperated  at  the  continued  outrages.  War  seemed  immi 
nent.  The  Federalists  began  to  talk  of  raising  armies  and  of 
building  a  navy.  The  Republicans  were  in  a  dilemma.  They 
heartily  disliked  England,  but  they  did  not  desire  war,  because 
war  meant  the  raising  of  armies,  and  the  creating  of  a  navy ;  these 
would  tend  to  strengthen  the  national  government ;  and  to  pre 
vent  this  was  the  chief  corner  stone  on  which  their  party  was 
founded. 

Washington  greatly  desired  peace  —  not  to  please  any  party, 
but  because  he  knew  that  a  disastrous  war  at  that  time  would  seri 
ously  injure  the  country,  if  not  destroy  its  independence.  And  here 
came  a  rift  in  the  clouds.  The  British  ministry  so  modified  its 
offensive  order  as  to  leave  American  trade  in  the  West  Indies  un 
molested,  except  in  respect  of  French  products  carried  to  France,  or 
property  belonging  to  French  subjects.  This  concession  was  proba 
bly  induced  by  the  threatening  attitude  of  Congress,  and  by  the  sum 
mary  treatment  of  Genet.  Washington  was  pleased  with  this  slight 
concession.  He  felt  that  now  he  could  make  overtures  for  an  adjust 
ment  of  the  differences  without  compromising  the  national  honor. 
He  therefore  determined  to  send  an  envoy  to  London  to  frame  a 
commercial  treaty  on  the  best  terms  attainable,  and  for  this  diffi 
cult  task  he  nominated  John  Jay,  Chief  Justice  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court. 

Jay  sailed  late  in  April,  1794,  reached  London  early  in  June, 
concluded  the  treaty  late  in  November,  and  laid  it  before  President 
Washington  in  March  of  the  following  year.  During 
Mission  kis  absence  the  two  subjects  that  absorbed  public  atten 

tion  were,  the  Whisky  Insurrection,  which  has  been 
noticed,  and  the  operations  of  St.  Clair  and  Wayne  against  the  In 
dians  in  Ohio,  which  will  be  noticed  on  a  future  page.  At  present 
we  must  follow  up  our  subject  —  the  famous  Jay  Treaty. 

To  make  any  treaty  with  the  enemy  of  the  French  Republic 
was  galling  to  the  Republicans ;  and  to  send  John  Jay,  the  most 
pro-British  American  in  the  country,  except  Hamilton,1  was  more 
than  they  could  bear.  They  began  their  tirade  as  soon  as  Jay 

1  About  this  time  Washington  sent  James  Monroe  to  succeed  Gouverneur  Morris 
as  minister  to  France,  while  another  future  President,  the  youthful  John  Quincy 
Adams,  became  minister  at  The  Hague. 


THE   JAY   TREATY  .  357 


started  for  England,  and  it  was  evident  long  before  his  return  that 
any  treaty  he  might  make  would  be  bitterly  opposed  by  them. 
When  they  learned  that  Jay  had  been  well  received,  they  said  that 
he  had  sold  himself  for  British  gold ; l  when  it  was  known  that  he 
had  kissed  the  queen's  hand,  he  was  accused  of  prostrating  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people  at  the  feet  of  majesty. 

After  a  long  delay  on,  the  voyage  the  treaty  was  put  into  the 
President's  hands  in  March,  a  few  days  after  the  session  of  Congress 
had  closed,  and  Washington  called  the  Senate  in  secret  session  to 
consider  it.  The  Senate  met  in  June,  and  after  a  short  debate  rati 
fied  the  treaty  by  a  two  thirds  majority,  and  not  a  vote  to  spare.2 

The  treaty,  which  had  not  yet  been  made  public,  was  the  best 
attainable  from  England  at  that  time,  and  there  is  not  a  doubt  that 
Jay  had  been  truly  patriotic,  and  that  he  had  done  as 
well  as  any  other  man  could  have  done.  Yet  the  treaty 
was  not  generally  an  advantageous  one  to  the  Americans.  The  first 
ten  articles  were  intended  to  be  permanent,  the  rest  of  a  temporary 
nature.  The  western  posts  were  to  be  evacuated  by  June,  1796 ;  but  not 
a  dollar  was  to  be  paid  for  having  held  them  so  long,  and  the  Mississippi 
River  was  to  be  open  to  British  shipping.  American  citizens  were  to 
be  indemnified  by  the  British  government  for  recent  captures  in  the 
West  Indies.  This  was  the  most  favorable  stipulation  of  all,  but  it 
was  balanced  by  another  binding  the  United  States  to  compensate 
Great  Britain  for  confiscated  debts.  No  recompense  for  the  slaves  car 
ried  off  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  no  redress  for  the  impressment 
of  seamen,  nor  any  promise  that  the  practice  should  be  abandoned, 
could  Jay  get  into  the  treaty.  Most  of  the  temporary  articles  dealt 
with  subjects  growing  out  of  England's  war  with  France  —  trade 
with  the  Indies,  and  between  the  two  countries,  foreign  enlistments, 
rights  of  reprisal,  and  the  like — and  they  were  generally  unfavor 
able  to  the  United  States.  Privateers  of  nations  at  war  with  either 
of  the  parties  were  not  to  be  armed  in  the  ports  of  the  other  nor  to  sell 
prizes  there.  The  articles  pronounced  any  American  citizen  a  pirate 
who  accepted  a  French  commission  against  England  ;  they  even 
made  the  goods  of  an  enemy  on  board  the  vessel  of  a  friend  liable 
to  capture.  This  was  a  terrible  blow  to  the  French  party,  but  there 

1  McMaster,  Vol.  II,  p.  213. 

2  Even  Hamilton  at  first  pronounced  the  treaty  "an  old  woman's  treaty."    In 
England  it  was  unpopular  for  the  opposite  reason  —  that  it  conceded  too  much  to 
America. 


358  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

it  was  in  the  Jay  Treaty.  Jay  had  conceded  much  —  too  much  for 
the  national  dignity.  But  he  did  so  because  he  believed  this  the 
only  means  of  avoiding  war.  The  treaty  could  be  defended  only  on 
the  ground  that  it  was  preferable  to  war.1  Washington  disliked  the 
treaty,  but  his  dislike  of  war  at  this  time  was  greater,  and  he  signed 
the  treaty  and  proclaimed  it  the  law  of  the  land. 

Meantime  the  public  was  anxious  to  know  what  was  in  the  treaty, 
and  early  in  July  the  Philadelphia  Aurora  obtained  a  copy,  pub 
lished  it  in  pamphlet  form,  and  sent  it  broadcast  over 
^ne  ^an^-  ^IQ  wra^h  of  the  Republicans  was  unbounded. 
Jay  was  denounced  as  a  traitor  to  his  country,  and  was 
burned  in  effigy  from  Maine  to  Georgia.  At  Faneuil  Hall  in  Bos 
ton,  an  immense  mass  meeting  condemned  the  treaty  unanimously. 
At  an  open-air  meeting  in  New  York,  Hamilton  was  stoned  for  at 
tempting  to  defend  it.2  At  Philadelphia  a  copy  of  the  treaty  was 
burned  in  the  street  before  the  house  of  the  English  minister,  while 
at  Charleston  the  British  flag,  after  being  dragged  through  the 
streets,  was  burned  in  front  of  the  British  consul's  door.  When  it 
was  known  that  Washington  had  set  his  name  to  the  disgraceful 
treaty,  he  was  shamefully  abused  in  the  Republican  press.  He 
was  accused  of  overdrawing  his  salary,  of  having  retired  at  the 
close  of  the  Revolution  only  because  the  country  could  offer  him  no 
position  that  would  satisfy  his  ambition,  of  being  an  American 
Caesar,  a  tyrant,  and  a  despot,  and  of  having  violated  his  oath  of 
office. 

The  treaty  was  by  no  means  safe  because  it  had  passed  the 
Senate,  and  had  been  signed  by  the  President.  The  Constitution 
gives  the  treaty-making  power  to  the  President  and  the 
House  ^  Senate,  it  is  true;  but  this  treaty  required  a  money 
appropriation  to  put  it  into  operation,  and  the  House 
must  originate  all  revenue  bills.  The  House  at  this  time  was  Repub 
lican  by  a  small  majority.  The  President  laid  the  subject  of  the 
Jay  Treaty  before  it  in  March,  1796 ;  and  one  of  the  greatest  con 
stitutional  debates  ever  held  in  Congress  immediately  followed. 
The  House,  after  a  three  weeks'  debate,  asked  Washington  for  the 
papers  and  correspondence  in  connection  with  the  making  of  the 
treaty,  but  Washington  refused  the  request.  The  Republicans  were 

1  Gordy's  "  History  of  Political  Parties  "  (1st  ed.),  I,  188. 

2  Hamilton's  wit  did  not  desert  him.     "  If  you  use  such  striking  arguments,  I 
shall  retire,"  said  he,  as  he  left  the  platform. 


FISHER   AMES  359 


staggered  at  the  firmness  of  the  President,  but  they  did  not  give 
up;  they  determined  to  defeat  the  appropriation.  Their  leaders 
on  the  floor  were  Madison  and  Gallatin.  The  debate  dragged  on, 
and  the  speeches  on  either  side  were  many ;  but  there  was  only  one 
that  became  famous  in  our  history.  It  was  no  doubt  the  most  elo 
quent  speech  listened  to  by  that  generation  of  Americans,  and  it 
was  never  equaled  in  Congress  until  the  rise  of  Webster.  It  was 
made  by  Fisher  Ames  of  Massachusetts. 

Ames  was  a  man  of  frail  body.  His  life  was  one  long  disease, 
and  against  the  advice  of  his  physician  he  rose  to  speak  on  the  great 
question  before  the  House.  He  was  a  Federalist  of  the  Qreat  speech 
Federalists,  and  he  fully  believed  that  a  rejection  of  the  of  Fisher 
treaty  meant  immediate  war  with  the  British  Empire,  Ames, 
and  the  dissolution  of  the  Union.  He  depicted  with  all  his  nervous 
emotion  the  horrors  that  would  follow  a  rejection  of  the  treaty. 
For  three  hours  he  held  the  House  and  the  gallery  in  the  spell  of 
his  burning  eloquence,  and  closed  with  these  pathetic  words  :  "  Even 
the  minutes  I  have  spent  in  expostulating  have  their  value,  because 
they  protract  the  crisis  and  the  short  period  in  which  alone  we  may 
resolve  to  escape  it.  Yet  I  have,  perhaps,  as  little  personal  interest 
in  the  event  as  any  one  here.  There  is,  I  believe,  no  member  who 
will  not  think  his  chance  to  be  a  witness  of  the  consequences  greater 
than  mine.  If,  however,  the  vote  should  pass  to  reject  —  even  I, 
slender  and  almost  broken  as  my  hold  on  life  is,  may  outlive  the 
government  and  Constitution  of  my  country." 

The  speech  of  Ames  brought  tears  to  nearly  every  eye.  Vice 
President  Adams  sat  in  the  gallery,  and  with  tears  rolling  down  his 
cheeks  exclaimed  to  a  friend  by  his  side,  "  My  God,  how  great  he 
is  ! "  Above  all,  Ames  carried  the  day.  Before  his  speech  the 
Kepublicans  counted  on  a  majority  of  six  ;  when  the  vote  was  taken 
the  next  day  the  Federalists  won  by  a  majority  of  three. 

Thus  the  Jay  Treaty  went  into  effect.  It  was  humiliating  to 
American  pride,  but  necessary.  It  postponed  for  sixteen  years  the 
inevitable  second  war  with  England ;  had  it  been  rejected,  the  War 
of  1812  would  have  been  the  War  of  1796.  But  the  treaty  was 
staggering  to  France.  The  proclamation  of  neutrality,  in  the 
memory  of  Yorktown,  was  bad  enough,  but  this  treaty  was  like  a 
blow  in  the  face  from  a  supposed  friend ;  and  never  again  did  France 
presume  on  the  brotherly  feeling  engendered  between  the  two 
nations  during  the  Revolution. 


360  HISTORY  OF  .THE   UNITED   STATES 

RELATIONS  WITH  FRANCE 

Still  another  serious  episode  in  our  foreign  relations  belongs  to 
this  period.  France  was  greatly  displeased  with  the  Jay  Treaty,  and 
naturally  so.  James  Monroe  had  been  sent  as  minister 
France  "*  to  ^rance>  but  n^s  sympathies  were  so  obviously  with 
the  French  that  he  was  unable  to  rise  to  the  dignity 
of  a  diplomat.  He  spoke  of  France  as  "  our  ally  and  sister  re 
public,"  and  of  the  "  wisdom  and  firmness "  of  the  revolutionary 
government  at  a  time  when  the  guillotine  was  still  rolling  the  heads 
of  the  best  citizens  into  the  basket.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Jay  was 
in  England  negotiating  with  Grenville,  and  the  fact  caused  much  unrest 
in  Paris  ;  but  Monroe  assured  the  French  government  that  Jay's  mis 
sion  was  strictly  limited  to  "  demanding  reparation  for  injuries." 
When  at  length  the  Jay  Treaty  was  published  to  the  world,  the 
French  were  furious  ;  and  when,  in  December,  Monroe  received  word 
from  Timothy  Pickering,  who  had  succeeded  Randolph1  as  secretary 
of  state,  that  the  treaty  had  been  ratified  by  the  Senate  and  signed 
by  the  President,  he  was  astonished,  and  his  position  became  em 
barrassing.  He  was  now  instructed  to  defend  a  treaty  such  as  he 
had  assured  the  French  government  would  never  be  made.  He 
believed  that  his  own  government  had  deceived  him  and  that  in  con 
sequence  he  had  unwittingly  deceived  the  French.2  He  now  hesitated 
to  follow  his  instructions,  and  not  until  he  was  informed  by  the 
minister  of  foreign  affairs  that  the  alliance  between  France  and  the 
United  States  was  at  an  end,  and  that  the  Directory  was  about  to 
recall  Adet,  the  French  minister  to  the  United  States,  did  he  rise 
to  a  sense  of  his  duty.  He  then  defended  the  treaty  with  vigor. 
But  it  was  too  late.  Washington  had  determined  on  his  recall,  and 
in  September,  .1796,  C.  C.  Pinckney  was  appointed  minister  to  France. 

Meantime  Adet,  at  Philadelphia,  had  carried  himself  with  little 
more  dignity  than  had  Monroe  at  Paris.  He  was  a  notable  improve 
ment  on  Genet,  but  he  stooped  to  acts  that  were  not  expected  of  one 
in  his  position.  His  chief  offense  lay  in  his  meddling  in  American 
politics.  As  the  presidential  election  approached,  he  wrote  articles 
for  the  Republican  press,  urging  the  people  to  elect  a  Republican 
President.  And  here  we  must  turn  aside  for  a  brief  account  of  the 
first  presidential  contest  in  American  history. 

1  Randolph  had  succeeded  Jefferson ;  but  after  a  short  service  he  had  resigned, 
after  having  been  accused  of  conniving  with  the  French  minister. 

2  Gordy,  Vol.  I,  p.  225. 


CHARACTER   OF   WASHINGTON  361 

Washington  determined  to  retire  from  the  great  office  at  the  end 
of  his  second  term,  not  that  he  wished  to  set  a  precedent  for  the 
future,  but  because  he  was  weary  of   public  life  and  Retirement 
wished  to  spend  the  evening  of  his  days  amid  the  rural   of  Washing 
scenes   of  his  plantation  on   the   Potomac.      Another  ton- 
cause  of  his  retirement,  as  many  believed,  was  the  continued  attacks 
of  the  opposition  press.     However,  had  he  desired  a  third  term,  he 
could  easily  have  been  elected,  but  not  unanimously,  as  twice  before. 
For  more  than  forty  years  from  the  time  that  he  had  carried  the 
message   of   Dinwiddie   through   the  wilderness   of  Virginia,  with 
brief  intervals,  he  had  been  in  public  life.      Retiring   now  to   his 
country  home,  he  was  contented  and  happy ;  but  less  than  three 
years  elapsed  when  he  was  called  to  his  final  home,  being  in  his 
sixty-eighth  year. 

More  than  a  century  has  passed  since  then,  and  no  other  Ameri 
can  has  won  the  universal  love  of  the  people  as  he  did.  His  popu 
larity,  like  that  of  other  public  men,  had  its  ebb  and 
flow,  its  light  and  shadow,  but  at  length  it  has  settled 
into  a  steady  stream  of  light  which  the  years  have  no 
power  to  dim.  For  half  a  century  after  his  death,  Washington  was 
regarded  as  little  less  than  a  demigod,  and  only  through  the  tele 
scope  of  modern  historic  criticism  has  the  real  Washington  been 
presented  to  the  world.  We  now  know  that  he  was  a  man,  a 
real  human  being,  with  robust  good  sense,  with  much  claim  to 
genius,  but  also  with  many  of  the  foibles  and  limitations  of  other 
men.  He  was  almost  devoid  of  wit  and  humor  and  of  personal 
magnetism.  He  was  a  natural  aristocrat,  and  he  made  no  pretense 
of  mingling  with  the  multitude.  Possessed  of  a  strong  temper,  he 
kept  it  under  masterly  control.  A  few  times,  however,  he  lost  his 
self-control,  and  at  such  moments  his  outburst  of  anger  was  frightful. 
Only  three  or  four  times  in  his  life  was  he  known  to  burst  into  a 
loud,  hearty  laugh.  He  was  an  avowed  Christian,  and  his  deep  reli 
gious  convictions  formed  the  basis  of  his  character  and  guided  his 
daily  life  ;  but  he  was  not  demonstrative  nor  emotional.1  He  had  a 
great,  generous  heart,  and  he  loved  his  fellow-men ;  but  he  held 
every  friend  at  a  distance,  nor  would  he  brook  familiarity  from  any 
one.  Though  never  familiar,  he  was  always  courteous;  his  manner 
was  dignified  and  reserved,  his  face  usually  calm  and  reposed.  His 
popularity  was  won,  not  by  a  captivating  manner  or  a  conscious 
i  Schouler,  Vol.  I,  p.  123. 


362  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

effort,  but  by  his  unswerving  devotion  .to  duty  and  his  high,  unselfish 
motives. 

What  is  Washington's  rank  among  the  world's  greatest  heroes? 
He  was  a  successful  commander  of  armies  and  he  displayed  much 
genius,  but  among  the  world's  great  captains  he  cannot  be  placed 
in  the  very  first  rank.  As  a  statesman  he  must  again  take  a  second 
place.  Wherein  lay  Washington's  greatness?  He  was  not  dash 
ing  nor  brilliant  nor  original.  His  greatness  consisted  for  the  most 
part  in  his  lofty  motives,  in  his  extraordinary  sound  judgment, 
and  his  unlimited  courage  when  standing  for  a  principle  that  he 
believed  to  be  right.  His  patriotism  was  as  pure  as  sunlight,  and 
no  element  of  selfishness  entered  into  his  motives.  In  all  his  public 
career  he  never  made  a  serious  mistake.  As  our  first  President  he 
held  himself  above  party  lines,  and  amid  the  contending  tempests  of 
political  passion  he  stood  like  a  mighty  oak  in  a  storm;  and  his 
conservative  strength  was  essential  to  the  life  of  the  infant 
Republic. 

Washington,  while  not  a  very  great  man,  was  exactly  fitted  for 
the  position  in  which  Providence  had  placed  him.  Had  he  been  a 
greater  man,  he  might  have  misused  his  power  ;  had  he  been  a  weaker 
man,  he  could  not  have  succeeded.  Had  he  possessed  the  ability 
and  ambition  of  Napoleon,  our  country  would  have  become  a  military 
government  and  a  monarchy ;  had  his  ability  not  exceeded  that  of 
Gates,  the  country  might  have  fallen  a  prey  to  foreign  powers. 
Washington  was  precisely  the  man  the  times  called  for,  and  he  did 
a  service  for  humanity  that  deserves  the  homage  of  every  age  and 
every  nation.  The  candor  and  the  nobleness  of  his  character  have 
attracted  the  admiration  of  every  people.  "  No  nobler  figure  ever 
stood  in  the  forefront  of  a  nation's  life,"  says  a  British  historian ; l 
" .  .  .  there  was  little  in  his  outward  bearing  to  reveal  the  grandeur 
of  soul  which  lifts  his  figure,  with  all  the  simple  majesty  of  an 
ancient  statue,  out  of  the  smaller  passions,  the  meaner  impulses,  of 
the  world  around  him.  .  .  .  Almost  unconsciously  men  learned  to 
.  .  .  regard  him  with  a  reverence  which  still  hushes  us  in  the  presence 
of  his  memory."  We  are  all  devotees  at  the  shrine  of  Washington. 
He  has  left  a  record  that  cannot  fade,  and  his  name  will  ever  be 
dear  in  the  hearts  of  men  who  love  human  rights  and  human 
liberties. 

We  must  now  return  to  the  presidential  election.  The  Federalist 

1  Green. 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION   OF   1796  363 

leader  was  Hamilton,  but  Hamilton  was  without  a  popular  following. 
None  knew  this  better  than  himself,  and  he  made  no  effort  to  win 
the  great  prize.  Jay  probably  ranked  second  as  a  party  leader,  but 
the  odium  of  the  treaty  made  him  an  impossible  candidate.  John 
Adams,  therefore,  became  the  logical  candidate  of  the  Federalists. 
He  was  looked  upon  as  an  aristocrat  rather  than  a  democrat,  but  he 
had  taken  little  part  in  the  Franco-English  issues  that  had  divided 
the  people.  Adams  was  well  known  to  his  fellow-countrymen.  He 
had  been  in  public  life  more  than  twenty  years  ;  he  was  the  stron 
gest  debater  in  Congress  during  the  Revolution ;  he  had  made  the 
motion  that  placed  George  Washington  at  the  head  of  the  army ;  he 
had  become  the  first  minister  of  -independent  America  to  England ; 
and  he  had  now  served  creditably  as  Vice  President  for  eight  years.1 

Jefferson,  the  founder  and  leader  of  the  opposition  party,  became 
its  logical  candidate.     The  contest  was  a  spirited  one,  but  as  several 
states   chose   electors   by  the   legislature,  the   popular  Adama 
strength  of  the  two  parties  was  not  fully  tested.     There   elected 
is  little  doubt  that  a  majority  of  the  people  were  with  President. 
Jefferson,  but  there  was  a  silent  fear  that  if  he  were  elected  he  would 
not  support  the  Jay  Treaty,  which  would  have  meant   war  with 
England.     The  people  were  not  ready   for  war,  and  they  elected 
Adams  by  a  vote  of  seventy-one  to  sixty-eight  for  Jefferson.     The 
latter,  however,  receiving  the  next  highest  number,  became  Vice 
President. 

The  inaugural  ceremonies  were  scarcely  over  when  the  new 
administration  was  called  upon  to  face  a  serious  difficulty  with  our 
"  sister  republic  "  in  Europe.  The  Jay  Treaty  was  deeply  offensive 
to  France,  and  now  to  this  offense  was  added  the  recalling  of  the 
good  Republican  Monroe 2  and  the  sending  of  the  Federalist  Pinck- 
ney.  This  was  too  much  for  the  Gallican  to  endure.  Pinckney  was 

1  Hamilton  and  his  clique  of  friends  had  perceived  that  Adams  was  of  a  head 
strong  nature,  and  they  attempted  to  compass  his  defeat  by  a  trick.    The  Twelfth 
Amendment  had  not  been  added  to  the  Constitution,  and  each  elector  was  to  vote 
for  two  men  without  designating  which  was  to  be  President  or  Vice  President. 
Hamilton,  seeing  that  he  could  not  defeat  Adams  by  open  opposition,  chose  Thomas 
Pinckney,  who  was  very  popular  owing  to  his  late  treaty  with  Spain,  to  run  on  the 
ticket  with  Adams,  and  his  plan  was  to  have  all  the  New  England  electors  vote  for 
Pinckney,  who,  being  a  Southern  man,  would  receive  a  larger  vote  than  Adams  in 
the  South  and  thus  win  first  place.    The  plan  did  not  work.     Adams  afterward  dis 
covered  the  trick,  and  from  that  day  forth  he  was  never  friendly  to  Hamilton. 

2  Washington  had  recalled  Monroe  a  short  time  before  he  retired  from  the 
presidency . 


HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 


rejected,  and  he  took  refuge  in  Holland,  where  he  spent  the  winter. 
It  was  now  America's  turn  to  be  offended.  There  was  much  indig 
nation  at  the  rejection  of  Pinckney.  Adams  called  an  extra  session 
of  Congress  to  meet  in  May,  and  his  message  on  its  assembling  was 
very  positive  and  pointed.  He  said  that  France  should  be  convinced 
that  we  are  not  a  degraded  people,  humiliated  under  a  spirit  of  fear 
and  a  sense  of  inferiority.  He  urged  Congress  to  create  a  navy  and 
to  fortify  the  harbors  of  the  United  States,  while  at  the  same  time 
he  declared  his  intention  to  make  one  more  effort  for  peace  by  send 
ing  a  special  mission  to  France  to  adjust  the  differences. 

After  a  sharp  debate,  Congress  voted  an  answer  to  the  President, 
approving  his  views  and  his  plans;-  and  before  adjourning  it  passed 
a  bill  to  appropriate  money  to  fortify  the  harbors,  another  apportion 
ing  eighty  thousand  militia  to  the  states,  to  be  ready  for  action  if 
called  for,  and  one  to  complete  the  three  new  frigates,  the  United 
States,  the  Constitution,  and  the  Constellation. 

Meantime  three  envoys  to  France  had  been  appointed :  John 
Marshall,  the  future  jurist,  Elbridge  Gerry,  the  future  Vice  Presi 
dent,  and  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  who  had  been 
rejected  as  the  regular  minister  by  the  French  Direc 
tory.  They  reached  Paris  in  October,  and  for  several 
months  their  experience  was  an  exciting  one.  A  few  days  after  they 
had  arrived  arid  had  informed  Talleyrand,  the  minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  of  their  mission,  they  were  approached  unofficially  by  a  gen 
tleman  named  Hottinguer,  who  informed  them  that  a  threefold 
demand  would  be  made  upon  the  United  States,  and  that  it  must  be 
complied  with  before  the  French  Directory  would  receive  a  minister 
from  the  country.  First,  the  President's  message  to  Congress,  parts 
of  which  were  very  offensive  to  the  French  government,  must  be 
modified;  second,  the  wounded  feelings  of  the  Directory  must  be 
soothed  by  a  gift  in  the  form  of  a  bribe  to  the  amount  of  $240,000, 
and  third,  the  United  States  must  make  a  loan  to  France  of  a  large 
sum  of  money  to  carry  on  her  war  with  England.  A  little  later  two 
other  men,  M.  Bellamy  and  M.  Hauteval,  representing  Talleyrand, 
joined  Hottinguer  and  renewed  the  demand.  "I  will  not  disguise 
the  fact,"  said  Bellamy,  "...  you  must  pay  money,  you  must  pay 
a  great  deal  of  money."  They  further  stated  that  French  vessels 
would  be  sent  to  ravage  the  American  coast  if  their  demands  were 
not  heeded.  To  these  demands  Pinckney  is  said  to  have  made  the 
famous  answer,  "  Millions  for  defense,  but  not  one  cent  for  tribute." 


TROUBLE   WITH   FRANCE  365 

The  American  envoys  were  astonished  at  such  a  reception.  They  dis 
claimed  all  power  of  making  a  loan,  and  offered  to  consult  with  their 
government;  and  they  laid  their  correspondence  with  these  three 
men  (designated  in  the  published  dispatches  as  X.,  Y.,  and  Z.)  before 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  France  now  added  another 
insult  by  sending  Marshall  and  Pinckney,  who  were  Federalists,  out 
of  the  country,  and  offering  to  treat  with  Gerry  alone,  who  was  a 
Republican. 

A  wave  of  indignation  swept  through  the  country  when  the  Presi 
dent  made  known  the  fact  that  his  mission  to  France  had  failed.  It 
was  the  spring  of  1798,  and  Congress  was  in  session. 
The  radical  Republicans  in  the  Senate  and  the  House 
still  determined  to  avert  war  with  the  sister  republic. 
One  Spriggs,  a  member  of  the  House  from  Maryland,  even  rose  and 
offered  a  resolution  that  "  it  was  inexpedient  under  existing  circum 
stances  to  resort  to  war  against  the  French  Republic."  The  resolu 
tion  was  under  discussion  and  would  doubtless  have  passed  when 
suddenly  the  whole  country  was  thrown  into  an  uproar  by  the  X.  Y.  Z. 
correspondence,  which  the  President  now  submitted  to  Congress. 
When  the  account  of  this  shameful  treatment  of  our  envoys  and 
these  impudent  demands  made  on  our  government  was  published 
broadcast,  the  people  fell  into  a  patriotic  rage  and  demanded  an 
immediate  declaration  of  war  against  France.  Such  an  outburst 
had  not  been  known  since  the  battle  of  Lexington.  Patriotic  songs 
were  written  and  sung  everywhere  by  the  people,  and  one  of  these, 
"  Hail  Columbia,"  written  by  Joseph  Hopkinson  for  a  Philadelphia 
theater,  still  lives  in  our  literature. 

Congress,  meanwhile,  had  caught  the  spirit  of  the  people.  The 
war  feeling  was  aroused,  and  all  waverers  joined  the  forces  of  the 
administration.  The  same  was  true  throughout  the  country,  and 
John  Adams,  for  the  first  time,  and  it  may  be  said,  the  only  time 
in  his  life,  found  himself  on  the  uppermost  wave  of  popularity. 
Congress  passed  in  rapid  succession  the  measures  he  had  recom 
mended  :  for  establishing  a  navy  department,  for  the  further  defense 
of  harbors,  for  raising  a  provisional  army  of  ten  thousand  men  in 
case  of  war,  for  the  purchase  of  cannon  and  military  stores,  and 
for  the  suspension  of  all  commercial  intercourse  with  France  after 
July  1st. 

Everything  seemed  now  to  indicate  immediate  war  with  the 
French  Republic.  And  there  was  much  casus  belli.  That  country 


366  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

was  displeased  with  the  Jay  Treaty,  which,  however,  had  been 
wrung  from  our  government  against  its  will,  and  which  was  not  in 
tended  as  an  offense  to  France.  On  the  other  hand,  France  had  heaped 
one  insult  upon  another,  —  first  through  the  impudence  of  Genet 
before  the  framing  of  that  treaty,  in  attempting  to  dictate  our  posi 
tion  in  European  wars,  then  in  the  attempt  of  a  later  minister  to 
influence  a  national  election.  Her  privateers  had  captured  scores 
of  American  merchant  vessels  ;  she  had  rejected  an  American  min 
ister  because  he  belonged  to  a  party  distasteful  to  the  French. 
Even  after  all  this  our  President  was  so  anxious  to  maintain  peace 
that  he  sent  three  envoys ;  and  these  were  kept  waiting  for  six 
months  in  the  antechamber,  hearing  the  most  humiliating  proposals, 
and  at  length  two  of  them  were  driven  in  disgrace  from  the  country. 
Was  not  this  enough  to  raise  the  ire  of  every  true-hearted  American  ? 

Great  preparations  were  now  in  progress  for  war  with  France,  and 
the  French  were  thoroughly  surprised  on  discovering  the  fact.  The 
French  armies  had  gone  forth  to  war  and  had  con- 
ar  spirit.  quere(j  a  large  part  of  Continental  Europe,  and  now  to 
be  defied  by  the  youthful  Republic  in  the  western  wilderness  was, 
to  say  the  least,  unexpected.  The  truth  is,  France  did  not  wish  to 
fight  America;  her  sole  object  had  been  to  win  American  aid  in  her 
European  wars;  her  quarrel  was  with  monarchies  alone.  When, 
therefore,  the  Directory  knew  of  the  war  spirit  they  had  stirred 
up,  they  informed  Gerry  that  they  were  anxious  for  peace  between 
the  two  republics.1  They  withdrew  the  demand  that  the  President's 
message  be  modified,  released  American  seamen,  and  forbade  the 
further  capture  of  our  vessels.  They  even  declared  that  they  did 
not  wish  the  United  States  to  break  the  treaty  with  England,  and 
expressed  a  willingness  to  receive  a  new  American  minister. 

But  the  war  spirit  still  raged  on  this  side  the  Atlantic.  George 
Washington  was  appointed  commander  in  chief  of  the  armies  to  be 
raised.  He  accepted  on  the  twofold  condition  that  he  might 
choose  his  immediate  subordinates  and  that  he  need  not  take  the 
field  unless  absolutely  necessary  ;  and  he  suggested  the  appointment 
of  Hamilton,  Knox,  and  C.  C.  Pinckney  as  major  generals.  This 
order  would  make  Hamilton  the  senior  major  general,  and  the 
real  commander,  who  would  reap  the  chief  honor  of  a  successful 
campaign.  Now,  Adams  disliked  Hamilton.  He  had  not  forgotten 
the  trick  by  which  the  latter  had  hoped  to  cheat  him  out  of 
i  See  The  United  States  Gazette,  September  29,  1798. 


ADAMS   AND    HIS   PARTY  367 

the  presidency ;  and  besides,  the  two  men  were  utterly  incompat 
ible  in  spirit.  Adams  now  determined  to  make  Knox  the  senior 
major  general.  But  Washington  threatened  to  resign  if  his  wishes 
were  not  respected,  and  Adams  yielded  the  point. 

The  autumn  of  1798  passed,  and  still  the  cry  was,  AVar  with 
France !  A  few  sea  captures  had  already  been  made  —  when  in 
midwinter,  suddenly,  and  to  the  astonishment  of  all, 
President  Adams  at  one  stroke  ended  the  whole  matter,  Ad^ms  a  "old 
and  removed  all  prospect  of  war  —  he  appointed  an 
other  minister  to  France.1  Adams  had  heard  of  the  friendly  over 
tures  of  the  French  Directory,  of  their  offer  to  receive  a  minister, 
and  he  made  the  appointment  without  even  consulting  his  Cabinet. 
By  this  action  Adams  incurred  the  wrath  of  most  of  the  leaders  of 
his  party.  It  was  inconsistent  with  national  honor,  they  said; 
France,  the  offending  party,  should  have  made  the  first  move  toward 
peace.  The  friends  of  Hamilton  declared  that  the  chief  motive  of 
Adams  was  to  prevent  the  former  from  winning  military  glory.  The 
subject  of  the  motive  of  the  President  in  doing  this  bold  thing 
against  the  wishes  of  his  party  was  discussed  for  many  years. 
Adams  always  defended  his  action ;  and  nine  years  after  these 
events  he  stated  in  a  letter  that  he  considered  it  the  most  disinter 
ested  and  meritorious  action  of  his  life,  and  that  he  desired  no  other 
inscription  on  his  gravestone  than  this :  "  Here  lies  John  Adams,  who 
took  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of  peace  with  France." 

The  act  of  President  Adams  had  two  great  results :  it  brought 
peace  and  war  —  peace  with  France,  and  that  peace  has  not  been 
broken  in  a  hundred  years ;  and  war  in  the  Federal  party.  It  rent 
the  party  from  the  top  to  the  bottom.  The  wound  was  fatal,  and 
it  rendered  impossible  the  reelection  of  the  man  who  made  it. 


FALL  OF  THE  FEDERAL  PARTY 

The  Federal  party  reached  the  acme  of  power  and  popularity 
just  after  the  X.  Y.  Z.  explosion  in  the  spring  of  1798.  The  enthu 
siasm  awakened  was,  in  a  great  measure,  non-partisan,  and  yet  the 
party  in  power  could  have  reaped  a  golden  harvest  from  it,  could 
have  strengthened  itself  powerfully  for  the  future,  had  it  been  tact- 

1  William  Vans  Murray,  then  minister  to  The  Hague.  Two  others  were  after 
ward  appointed  with  Vans  Murray,  Chief  Justice  Oliver  Ellsworth,  and  Governor 
Davie  of  North  Carolina. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


ful  and  wise  ;  but  it  was  neither  tactful  nor  wise.  Instead  of  taking 
advantage  of  the  popular  wave  and  building  for  the  future,  it  stooped 
to  humble  some  of  its  old  enemies.  It  enacted  a  number  of  obnox 
ious  laws,  based  on  a  spirit  of  revenge,  and  in  this  way  it  drove 
thousands  into  the  ranks  of  its  great  rival. 

To  raise  revenue  for  the  impending  war  a  direct  tax  on  lands, 
slaves,  and  houses  was  imposed.  For  every  slave  between  the  ages 
of  twelve  and  fifty  years  the  owner  must  pay  fifty  cents 
house  tax  a  year>  wn^e  tne  ^an(^  an(l  house  tax  was  graded  accord 
ing  to  the  value  of  the  property,  and  the  value  of  a  house 
was  determined  by  the  number  and  size  of  its  windows.1  These  spe 
cial  taxes  were  unpopular  and  they  chilled  the  ardor  of  many  a  Fed 
eralist  who  owned  houses,  lands,  or  slaves.  Still  less  popular  was 
the  Naturalization  Law,  which  raised  the  time  of  residence  for  natu 
ralization  from  five  to  fourteen  years.  This  was  aimed  at  resident 
Frenchmen,  but  it  affected  equally  the  foreign-born  of  other  nation 
alities,  and  played  its  part  in  weakening  the  party  that  enacted 
it.  The  Federal  party  might,  however,  have  survived  all  this  had 
it  stopped  here.  But  the  over-zealous  party  now  proceeded  to  enact 
the  famous,  or  rather  infamous,  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws. 

The  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  are  usually  named  together  in  com 
mon  parlance,  but  they  were  passed  separately,  though  their  general 
Alien  Law  object  was  the  same.  The  inost^Qneensive^s£ctiQii_Qf  'Ihe 
June  25,  '  Alien  Act  gave  the  President  power  to  banish^froinjbhe 
1798.  country^without  giving  a  reason,  WithouTaPtrial  of  any 

sort,  any  ^ 


arose  from  the  Republican  press,  denouncing  the 
law  as  unconstitutional,  since  it  denied  trial  by  jury  and  usurped 
a  power  that  belonged  wholly  to  the  states. 

But  a  muzzle  was  soon  placed  on  the  Republican  press  by  the 
enactment  of  the  Sedition  Law.  The  most  objectionable  feature  of 
this  law  was  that  which  made  it  a  crime,  to  be  pun- 
isne(l  ^7  ^ne  an(^  imprisonment,  for  any  one  to  print  or 
publish  any  false,  scandalous,  and  malicious  writings 
against  the  government,  Congress,  or  the  President,  with  intent  to 
defame  them,  to  bring  them  into  contempt,  or  to  excite  the  hatred  of 

1  The  farmers  of  eastern  Pennsylvania  rebelled  against  paying  the  house  tax,  and 
several  hundred  of  them  assembled  under  the  leadership  of  John  Fries.  This  was 
known  as  the  Fries  Rebellion.  The  President  sent  troops  to  disperse  the  men. 
Fries  was  captured,  tried,  and  sentenced  to  be  put  to  death;  but  President  Adams 
pardoned  him. 


SEDITION  ACT  IN   OPERATION  369 

the  people  against  them,  and  so  forth.  This  was  a  blow  at  the  right 
of  freedom  of  speech  and  the  liberty  of  the  press.  It  was  aimed 
chiefly  at  a  few  reckless  Republican  editors  whose  continued  attacks 
on  the  high  officials  of  the  government  and  their  acts  were  unspar 
ing.  Such  terms  as  "scoundrel,"  " villain,"  and  the  like  were  in 
common  use,  and  sometimes  opposing  editors,  meeting  on  the  street, 
would  engage  in  a  fist  fight.  But  such  terms  were  not  confined  to 
the  Republican  editors  for  whom  the  law  was  intended.  The  Feder 
alist  editors  were  equally  reckless. 

The  Alien  Act  was  never  enforced.  Its  enforcement  lay  wholly 
with  the  President,  and  Adams  was  not  radical ;  he  was  one  of  the 
very  few  men  in  public  life  in  America  who  were  without  a  French 
or  an  English  bias.  The  Alien  Law  therefore  remained  a  dead  letter 
until  it  expired,  two  years  after  its  enactment. 

But  not  so  with  the  Sedition  Act ;  and  the  first  to  feel  its  weight 
was  Matthew  Lyon,  a  member  of  Congress  from  Vermont.  Lyon  was 
a  witty,  red-faced  Irishman  who  had  come  to  America 
when  a  boy,  as  a  redemptioner,  had  served  in  the  Revolu-  L  aQn  ew 
tion,  had  acquired  large  property,  and  now  had  a  seat  in 
the  House  of  Representatives.  He  was  a  rabid  Republican,  and  the 
Federalists,  who  thoroughly  hated  him,  called  him  the  wild  Irish 
man.  With  one  of  their  number,  Griswold,  he  had  had  a  rough  and 
tumble  fight  on  the  floor  of  the  House.  Scarcely  had  the  Sedition 
Act  become  a  law  when  Lyon  was  arrested  for  publishing  a  letter 
in  a  Vermont  paper  in  which  he  severely  criticised  the  government 
for  its  "ridiculous  pomp,  foolish  adulation,  and  selfish  avarice." 
He  was  fined  $1000  and  sent  to  prison  for  four  months.  His 
friends  got  up  a  petition  for  his  pardon,  but  as  he  refused  to 
sign  it,  the  President  refused  to  pardon  him.  But  he  was  trium 
phantly  reflected  to  Congress  while  still  in  prison.1  One  editor  was 
fined  and  imprisoned  for  stating  that  the  President  was  "  hardly  in 
the  infancy  of  political  mistake,"  another  for  accusing  Hamilton  of 
attempting  to  purchase  a  Republican  paper  in  the  interest  of  Feder 
alism.  It  is  plain  to  be  seen  that  such  a  law  was  intended  only  to 
vent  partisan  bitterness,  and  that  in  the  end  its  effect  would  be  to 
injure  the  party  that  had  framed  it.  And  so  it  proved. 

Late  in  the  year  1798,  but  few  months  after  this  law  went  into 
effect,  the  legislature  of  Kentucky  passed  a  remarkable  series  of 

1  Forty  years  afterward  Congress  refunded  to  his  heirs  the  amount  of  the  fine 
Lyon  had  paid,  with  interest. 

2B 


370  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

resolutions,  severely  arraigning  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  as 
unconstitutional ;  and  a  few  weeks  later  the  legislature  of  Virginia 
Kentucky  passed  a  similar  series,  somewhat  milder  in  tone.  Many 
and  Virginia  years  later  it  was  discovered  that  Jefferson  had  written 
Resolutions,  the  Kentucky  resolutions  and  Madison  those  of  Virginia. 

The  Kentucky  legislature  modified  the  original  resolves  of  Jeffer 
son  before  adopting  them,  but  the  next  year  it  incorporated  much  that 
had  been  omitted  the  year  before.1  These  resolves  set  forth  three 
important  propositions :  First,  that  the  Constitution  is  a  compact  to 
which  each  state  is  a  party,  that  the  government  created  by  it  has 
certain  delegated  powers,  and  if  it  assumes  undelegated  powers,  its 
acts  are  void,  and  that  the  parties  to  the  compact,  that  is,  the  states, 
have  a  right  to  judge  of  its  infractions  and  of  the  mode  and  measure  of 
redress.  Second,  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  are  examined  and  the 
conclusion  is  reached  that  Congress  has  exceeded  its  powers  in  pass 
ing  them.  In  these  two  features  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  resolves 
agreed  in  substance.  But  in  the  third  —  the  remedy  to  be  applied  — 
they  were  somewhat  different.  The  second  set  of  Kentucky  resolves 
pronounced  nullification  the  rightful  remedy  for  assumed  powers  of 
the  government.  The  Virginia  resolutions  did  not  use  the  word 
"nullify,"  but  declared  that  the  states  had  the  right  to  interpose 
in  case  the  government  assumed  a  dangerous  exercise  of  powers. 
The  first  of  these  propositions,  the  compact  theory,  was  one  of  vast 
consequence,  and  sixty  years  later  it  became  the  chief  ground  on 
which  the  Southern  states  justified  their  secession  from  the  Union. 

These  resolutions  made  a  profound  sensation  throughout  the 
Union,  and,  though  condemned  by  other  legislatures,  they  did  much 
to  awaken  the  people  to  the  fact  that  the  government  had  over 
stepped  its  rightful  authority  in  passing  the  Alien  and  Sedition 
Laws.  Jefferson  wrote  the  resolutions  at  a  moment  of  intense  politi 
cal  excitement,  and,  as  shown  by  his  life  and  writings,  they  did  not 
represent  his  later  judgment ;  the  nullification  of  a  national  law  by 
a  state  or  the  dismemberment  of  the  Union  for  any  cause  was  no 
part  of  his  matured  political  creed. 

The  dominant  party  was  now  called  to  render  an  account  of  itself 
before  the  great  final  American  tribunal,  —  the  people,  —  for  the  time 
had  come  for  another  presidential  election.  Not  only  had  the  party 

1  Jefferson  wrote  shortly  before  his  death  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
second  set  of  Kentucky  Resolutions.  See  Jefferson's  "  Writings,"  III,  429;  Benton, 
I,  149. 


BREAK   IN   ADAMS'S    OAHINET  371 

offended  property  owners  by  its  house  and  slave  tax,  f ore ign -born 
citizens  by  its  Naturalization  Law,  and  many  lovers  of  liberty  by  its 
Alien  and  Sedition  Laws ;  it  had  also  to  contend  with  irreconcilable 
factions  within.  Adams  had  made  the  serious  mistake  of  retaining 
Washington's  Cabinet  entire,  and  it  was  composed  of  men  who 
looked  to  Hamilton  rather  than  to  the  President  as  their  political 
oracle.  Indeed,  Adams  never  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  this  Cabinet, 
and  when  he  appointed  the  last  mission  to  France  without  consult 
ing  them  they  broke  into  open  rebellion.  Adams  dismissed  them 
and  appointed  John  Marshall  secretary  of  state,  and  Samuel  Dex 
ter  secretary  of  war ; 1  but  the  party  was  already  rent  in  twain,  and 
in  this  condition  we  find  it  at  the  coming  of  the  election  of  1800. 
Hamilton  went  so  far  as  to  write  a  scathing  pamphlet  against  Adams 
to  show  his  unfitness  for  the  presidency.2  And  yet  Adams,  whose 
Revolutionary  services  were  still  remembered  by  the  people  and 
whose  rugged  honesty  could  not  be  questioned,  was  the  only  Fed 
eralist  who  could  hope  for  success ;  and  Hamilton  at  length  came  to 
his  support  "to  save  us  from  the  fangs  of  Jefferson."  But  the  mis 
chief  had  been  done.  Hamilton's  letter  had  been  published  broad 
cast  in  the  Republican  press. 

The  great  Republican  leader,  from  the  irresponsible  watch-tower 
of  the  vice  presidency,  had  for  four  years  watched  the  political 
chessboard  with  eagle  eye.  He  had  done  more.  He  had  guided 
with  an  unseen  hand  the  outlying  battalions  of  his  army  of  fol 
lowers  to  the  remotest  corners  of  the  Union;  he  had  set  public 
opinion  against  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  without  the  public's 
knowing  who  was  its  guide;  he  knew  the  political  complexion  of 
every  state  legislature,  and  the  approximate  political  condition  of 
almost  every  county  in  the  United  States.  The  Republicans  had 
no  second  choice  for  the  presidency ;  Jefferson  was  their  unus 
solusque,  and  they  placed  Aaron  Burr  on  their  ticket  for  the  vice 
presidency. 

The  campaign  was  the  most  acrimonious  in  the  history  of  the 
country.  The  unpopular  Federal  laws  furnished  the  chief  issue; 
but,  having  exhausted  their  political  thunder,  both  sides  stooped  to 
personalities,  and  Adams  and  Jefferson  were  denounced  unsparingly 

1  This  change,  however,  was  not  made  till  May,  1800. 

2  His  object  was  to  win  a  larger  vote  for  C.  C.  Pinckney,  who  was  also  on  the 
ticket,  than  for  Adams,  and  thus  to  make  Pinckney  President.    Had  the  Sedition  Law 
not  been  a  purely  partisan  affair,  Hamilton  would  have  been  subject  to  arrest  for 
this  letter.    See  Aurora,  November  4,  1800. 


.372  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

by  their  respective  enemies.  The  electoral  college  was  carried  by 
the  Republicans,  who  polled  seventy-three  votes  to  sixty -five  by  the 
Federalists.  But  there  was  no  .election.  Jefferson  and  Burr  had 
received  the  full  Republican  vote,  and,  as  the  Constitution  did  not 
authorize  the  electors  to  choose  between  them,  this  duty  devolved 
on  the  House  of  Representatives.  Here  was  a  dilemma.  The 
House  was  controlled  by  the  Federalists.  Each  state  had  one  vote, 
cast  by  a  majority  of  its  delegates.  There  were  sixteen  states,  and 
it  required  nine  to  elect.  The  Federalists  might  permit  the  selec 
tion  of  Jefferson  or  Burr,  or  they  might  prevent  an  election  and  by 
act  of  Congress  choose  a  President  pro  tern,  from  their  own  party. 
This  latter  scheme  was  discussed  in  their  newspapers,  and  had  it 
been  carried  out  civil  war  would  have  followed ;  for  the  Middle 
states  threatened  to  arm  the  moment  such  a  bill  should  pass.1 

The  Federalists  then  determined  to  elect  Burr,  not  that  they 
loved  him  more,  but  Jefferson  less.  Their  motive  was  ignoble,  and 
was  born  of  chagrin  at  their  defeat  at  the  polls,  a  desire  for  revenge 
on  their  successful  rivals,  and  the  hope  of  intriguing  with  Burr  for 
a  share  in  the  offices.  Their  plea  that  they  regarded  Jefferson  a 
dangerous  man  was  insincere,  for  Burr  was  no  less  so,  and  they 
knew  it.  Burr  had  not  been  dreamed  of  for  the  presidency  by  his 
own  party.  Why  should  he  be  thrust  upon  the  party  by  its  enemies  ? 
The  House  met  to  decide  the  momentous  question  and  the  coun 
try  held  its  breath.  On  the  first  ballot  Jefferson  received  the  votes 
of  eight  states,  Burr  those  of  six,  while  the  votes  of  two,  Vermont  and 
Maryland,  were  a  tie.  The  balloting  went  on  day  after  day  with  little 
change,  when  the  influence  of  a  great  man  —  great  in  soul  with  all 
his  faults  —  came  to  decide  the  question.  It  was  Hamilton.  He 
contended  that  it  was  dangerous  to  thwart  the  will  of  the  people 
who  had  carried  the  election,  to  thrust  upon  the  country  a  chief 
magistrate  who  had  been  nobody's  candidate.  And  further,  he  knew 
Burr  to  be  a  self-seeker  of  dangerous  ambition.  He 
believed  Jefferson  to  be  patriotic  and  honest,  with  all 
his  heresies,  and  preferred  to  see  the  country  in  his 
"fangs"  rather  than  in  those  of  Burr.  "I  cannot,"  said  Hamilton, 
"remain  with  a  party  which  so  degrades  itself  as  to  elect  Burr." 
Through  the  advice  of  Hamilton  the  Federalist  delegates  from  the 
divided  states  withdrew  or  voted  blank,  giving  those  states  to  Jef 
ferson,  who  was  elected  President  on  the  thirty-sixth  ballot. 

1  Schouler,  Vol.  I,  p.  483. 


CHARACTER   OF  JOHN  ADAMS  373 

The  Federal  party  took  its  defeat  ungracefully.  It  spent  the 
last  weeks  of  its  power  in  passing  a  law,  known  as  the  Midnight 
Judiciary,1  which  every  fair-minded  student  of  history  must  con 
demn.  By  this  act  twenty-three  new  judicial  districts  were  created, 
and  the  outgoing  President  filled  these  offices,  the  only  life-tenure 
offices  under  the  Constitution,  with  members  of  his  own  party.  The 
business  of  the  courts  did  not  call  for  such  an  extension,  as  it  came 
to  do  in  later  years,  and  the  object  of  the  Federalists  was  to  intrench 
themselves  in  power  where  they  believed  their  opponents  could  not 
reach  them. 

John  Adams  now  retired  from  public  life,  and  his  remaining 
twenty -five  years  he  spent  as  a  private  citizen  at  his  New  England 
home.  He  was  far  less  fitted  for  the  great  office  than 
either  of  the  men  between  whose  administrations  he 
served.  He  was  honest,  upright,  and  patriotic  to  the  last  degree ; 
but  he  was  irascible,  suspicious  of  others,  stubborn,  and  wholly 
incapable  of  winning  and  managing  men.  In  his  foreign  policy  he 
was  broad-minded  and  intensely  American.  The  motives  for  his 
actions  could  seldom  be  questioned  when  fully  understood.  In  one 
thing,  however,  in  the  part  he  played  in  the  Midnight  Judiciary,  it 
is  difficult  to  find  a  trace  of  broad-minded  statesmanship.  And  yet 
at  the  end  of  his  term2  he  did  a  great  service  for  his  country,  —  an 
act  the  effect  of  which  is  still  felt  in  our  government,  —  he  appointed 
John  Marshall  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  downfall  of  the  Federal  party  was  final.     This  first  great 
political  party  in  America  had  piloted   the  ship  of  state  upon  a 
stormy  sea  for  twelve  years,  but  now  at  the  close  of 
the  century  it  suffered  an  irrevocable  overthrow.     The   Jarty6d 
Federal  party  embodied  in  its  doctrine  much  that  is  of 
permanent  value  in  human  government ;  and  it  did  a  great  service  to 
the  country,  and  was  necessary  to  save  the  new-born  nation  from 
anarchy.     JButjjLjvjistoo  centralizing_Jn_its  jtendencies,  and.Jj:om 
this  cause  tlieparty  was  never  popular ;  for  the  people,  ever  jealous 
of  their  liberties,  feared  that  the  government  would  become  tyranni 
cal  and  oppressive.      Moreover.L_the_party  committed  the  unpardon- 
jtble_sin  injffisaing  the~Alien~and  Sedition  Laws,  and,  the  sovereign 
people  sat  in  judgment  and  passed  upon  if  the  sentence  of  death. 

1  So  called  because  Adams  was  said  to  have  spent  his  time  signing  the  com 
missions  till  midnight  on  the  last  day  of  his  term. 

2  Ahout  six  weeks  before  he  retired  from  office. 


374  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

But  these  laws  were  the  occasion,  not  the  cause,  of  its  overthrow. 
The  vital  defect  lay  in  its  distrust  of  popular  government  —  its 
want  of  confidence  in  the  people.  The  party  "  represented  the  ideals 
of  a  bygone  age,"  but  a  new  century  had  dawned  and  had  brought 
with  it  new  ideals  with  which  the  old  party  was  unable  to  grapple, 
and  its  fall  was  inevitable. 

But  truth  cannot  die,  and  the  truth  embodied  in  old  Federalist 
doctrine  still  lives.  Not  only  did  the  party  that  defeated  it  gradu 
ally  adopt  its  best  principles,  but  every  great  party  from  that  time 
to  the  present  has  done  the  same  thing.  May  the  old  party  ever  be 
held  in  grateful  remembrance  by  the  American  people. 


NOTES 

Citizen  Genet. — This  bustling,  irascible  Frenchman  came  to  America  boil 
ing  with  enthusiasm  for  the  French  Revolution  and  the  rights  of  man,  and  he 
would  fly  into  a  passion  at  every  obstacle  that  tended  to  cool  his  ardor.  In 
Philadelphia  a  great  banquet  was  held  in  his  honor,  and  the  head  of  a  roast  pig, 
severed  from  the  body,  was  named  Louis  XVI,  and  passed  around  the  table. 
Each  guest  viciously  plunged  a  knife  into  the  pig's  head  while  uttering  some 
sentiment  about  liberty  and  the  rights  of  man.  The  French  craze  that  spread 
over  the  country  at  the  time  of  his  coming  was  very  remarkable.  People  imi 
tated  the  French  in  wearing  the  cockade,  in  erecting  liberty  poles,  and  in 
addressing  men  as  Citizen  and  women  as  Citizeness.  These  titles  were  used  on 
letters,  business  documents,  in  marriage  and  death  notices,  and  were  even 
carved  on  tombstones.  At  length  the  newspapers  began  to  make  fun  of  the 
craze  and  it  became  the  subject  of  many  a  witticism.  One  facetious  editor 
suggested  Biped  as  suitable  for  both  sexes.  —  See  McMaster,  II,  94. 

Genet  never  returned  to  France.  The  Girondist  party  that  had  sent  him 
lost  control  of  the  government,  and  he  feared  the  guillotine  should  he  return. 
He  became  an  American  citizen,  married  a  daughter  of  Governor  Clinton,  settled 
on  the  Hudson,  became  a  scientific  farmer  and  an  ornament  to  New  York 
society.  He  died  in  1834,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years. 

Death  of  Washington. — On  December  15,  1799,  one  of  Washington's 
attendants,  named  Tobias  Lear,  dispatched  a  letter  from  Mt.  Vernon  to  Presi 
dent  Adams  at  Philadelphia,  a  part  of  which  is  as  follows  :  — 

"Sir:  It  is  with  inexpressible  grief  that  I  have  to  announce  to  you  the 
death  of  the  great  and  good  General  Washington.  He  died  last  evening  between 
ten  and  eleven  o'clock,  after  a  short  illness  of  about  twenty-four  hours.  His 
disorder  was  an  inflamed  throat  from  cold.  Every  medical  assistance  was 
offered,  but  without  the  desired  effect.  (Three  physicians,  Drs.  Dick,  Craik,  and 
Brown,  were  called  in.)  His  last  scene  corresponded  with  the  whole  tenor  of 
his  life.  Not  a  groan  nor  a  complaint  escaped  him  though  in  deep  distress. 
With  perfect  resignation  and  a  full  possession  of  his  reason  he  closed  his  well- 
spent  life." 


NOTES  375 


On  the  12th  Washington  went  out  to  ride  about  his  large  farm  and  was 
caught  in  a  storm  of  rain  and  hail,  but  he  continued  his  ride  for  some  hours  and 
took  a  severe  cold  which  soon  developed  into  acute  laryngitis.  The  physicians 
bled  him  twice,  and  they  have  been  severely  criticised  for  this  ;  but  letting  blood 
for  almost  every  ill  was  common  in  those  days. 

Washington  was  tall  and  muscular.  He  wore  a  No.  13  boot,  his  hands 
were  large,  his  hair  light  brown,  his  eyes  cold  gray,  and  his  voice  rather  weak. 
He  weighed  two  hundred  pounds,  could  cover  twenty-two  feet  in  a  single  run 
ning  jump,  and  was  an  excellent  shot,  swordsman,  and  rider.  He  was  prob 
ably  the  richest  of  our  Presidents  thus  far.  He  owned  thousands  of  acres  of 
land  in  Virginia  and  at  one  time  twenty  thousand  acres  along  the  Ohio  River. 
His  estate  was  valued  at  about  half  a  million  dollars,  but  it  consisted  of  lands, 
herds,  and  slaves,  and  he  was  at  times  hard  pressed  for  money.  He  had  to 
borrow  money  to  take  him  to  New  York  to  be  inaugurated  President. 

The  New  Capital.  —  The  government  began  its  operations  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  in  the  spring  of  1789 ;  but  some  months  later  it  moved  to  Phila 
delphia,  the  largest  and  most  important  city  in  the  Union,  and  here  it  remained 
for  ten  years.  In  the  autumn  of  1800  the  capital  was  moved  to  Washington 
City,  and  Jefferson  was  the  first  President  to  be  inaugurated  there.  The  District 
of  Columbia  lay  on  both  sides  of  the  Potomac,  and  the  Maryland  side  was  chosen 
for  the  seat  of  government.  The  farmers  who  owned  the  land  deeded  it  to  the 
commissioners  and  received  in  compensation  half  the  unused  lots,  after  the 
streets,  parks,  and  public  building  grounds  were  reserved.  Major  L' Enfant 
planned  and  laid  out  the  city.  The  corner  stone  of  the  Capitol  was  laid  in  Sep 
tember,  1703.  When  the  government  removed  thither,  the  city  was  a  wilder 
ness.  There  was  but  one  good  hotel.  The  President's  house  was  in  an  open 
field,  and  this,  with  the  unfinished  Capitol  and  a  few  scattered  houses  along  the 
unpaved  streets,  constituted  the  town.  There  was  no  business  and  no  society. 
The  city  grew  slowly,  and  eight  years  after  Congress  had  removed  thither,  a 
proposition  to  return  to  Philadelphia  was  seriously  considered.  But  as  the 
nation  grew  the  city  improved,  and  to-day  it  is  pronounced  the  most  beautiful 
capital  city  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

JEFFERSON   AND   THE  DEMOCRACY 

SCARCELY  greater  was  the  Revolution  by  which  the  country  was 
wrested  from  British  dominion  than  was  the  political  revolution  of 
1800,  by  which  the  government  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
democracy.  And  no  greater  fortune  could  have  come  to  the  young 
Republic  than  this  political  revolution.  What  the  country  most 
needed  in  1800  was  a  national  consciousness,  and  nothing  could 
bring  this  about  so  quickly  and  so  well  as  giving  the  control  of  the 
nation  to  the  party  of  the  masses.  The  Federal  party,  however, 
had  done  a  noble  work  ;  it  had  laid  the  foundation  of  nationality  — 
as  essential  as  was  the  structure  of  democracy  now  to  be  reared  upon 
it.  But  as  a  candle  sacrifices  itself  in  giving  light,  so  the  Federal 
party  had  given  its  life  in  laying  this  foundation,  such  as  Jefferson 
and  his  party  could  not  have  laid  —  a  foundation  which  our  great 
government  of  to-day  could  not  do  without. 

The  America  of  to-day  was  not  bom  before  1800.  After  the 
Revolution  the  states  had  settled  back  into  their  old  colonial  habits, 
and  almost  every  American  ideal  up  to  the  end  of  the  century  bore 
the  colonial  stamp,  or  that  of  England  or  France.  Even  in  politics 
the  chief  issues  after  1792  were  foreign,  and  not  before  the  dawn 
of  the  nineteenth  century  did  there  exist  a  truly  American  spirit ;  and 
not  until  after  the  second  war  with  England  did  the  people  fully 
open  their  eyes  to  the  vast  possibilities  that  lay  before  them. 

A   VIEW  OF   THE   PEOPLE 

What  we  have  said  in  a  former  chapter  of  colonial  life  in  1760 
will  apply  for  the  most  part  to  the  present  period.  We  find  still  a 
nation  of  farmers,  bad  roads,  and  poor  postal  service.  In  1790  there 
were  but  seventy-five  post  offices  in  the  United  States.  Many  of 
the  comforts  and  necessities  so  highly  prized  by  us  were  unknown  at 
this  period.  The  application  of  steam  power  in  our  great  factories, 

376 


LIFE   OF  THE   PEOPLE  377 

the  railroad,  the  steamship,  the  telegraph,  the  telephone,  the  sewing 
machine,  the  use  of  gas  and  electricity  for  lighting  —  all  have  come 
into  use  since  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  nothing  has 
our  wonderful  progress  been  more  striking  than  in  the  means  of 
travel,  in  which  for  two  thousand  years  the  world  had  made  no 
improvement.  To-day  one  can  take  a  richly  furnished  sleeping  car  at 
Philadelphia  in  the  evening,  be  rocked  to  sleep  by  the  rumbling  of 
the  train,  and  wake  next  morning  at  Pittsburg,  or  Buffalo,  or  Boston. 
A  hundred  years  ago  such  journey  made  in  the  stagecoach  was  long 
and  laborious.  But  the  people  traveled  little  in  comparison  with  the 
endless  hurrying  to  and  fro  of  all  classes  in  our  own  times ;  and  of 
those  who  sought  a  home  in  the  great  valley  beyond  the  moun 
tains  few  were  ever  seen  again  by  friends  and  kindred  who  remained 
in  the  East.  The  people  away  from  the  seacoast  lived  in  log 
cabins  ;  their  diet  was  salt  pork  and  corn  bread  three  times  a  day, 
with  game,  poultry,  vegetables,  and  fruit  occasionally. 
Drinking  was  universal  among  men  and  youths,  and  every  Jj 
family  kept  liquor  in  the  house.  While  drunkenness  in 
its  worst  form  was  seldom  seen,  it  was  not  unusual  to  find  almost 
any  one,  even  the  minister,  slightly  intoxicated.  Gambling  was 
also  common  in  many  parts  of  the  country ;  but  the  moral  standard 
between  the  sexes  was  higher  than  that  of  any  European  people. 

The  Revolution  had  not  been  an  unmixed  blessing.  It  had 
brought  political  independence ;  but  it  had  shaken  society  to  its 
depths,  and  the  immediate  effect  on  religion  and  education  was 
deleterious.  The  country  had  not  yet  broken  away  from  its  Euro 
pean  leading  strings.  It  had  taken  but  one  great  step  in  advance  of 
the  Old  World  —  it  "had  agreed  to  try  the  experiment  of  embracing 
half  a  continent  in  one  republican  system."  1  And  this  was  in  itself 
a  source  of  boundless  inspiration.  Here  was  a  vast  continent  with 
its  untold  wealth  of  minerals  and  fertility  of  soil.  Here,  too,  was  a 
free  people,  a  self-governing  democracy.  No  royal  dynasties  here  to 
oppress  the  people  with  arbitrary  laws  and  burdensome  taxation ; 
no  idle  aristocracy  or  profligate  nobility  to  sap  the  substance  of 
industry  and  forever  to  remind  the  son  of  toil  of  his  humble  social 
condition.  For  such  there  was  no  room  in  this  liberty-loving  land ; 
for  here,  barring  the  one  great  national  evil  of  slavery,  every  man 
was  a  master. 

There  were  some  signs  of  the  dawn   of   a  new  era  in  various 
1  Henry  Adams,  Vol.  I,  p.  73. 


378  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

spheres  of  activity.  Washington  had  secured  neutrality ;  Whitney 
with  his  cotton  gin  had  removed  the  great  obstacle  to  the  industrial 
development  of  the  South ;  John  Fitch  and  James  Rurnsey  had 
shown  the  practicability  of  steam  navigation,  but  years  were  yet  to 
pass  before  their  ideas  were  to  be  developed  by  Fulton  and  Living 
ston ;  Oliver  Evans,  the  "American  Watt,"  had  invented  a  steam 
engine,  but  this  too  was  to  be  laid  aside  until  a  phlegmatic  public 
could  be  roused  to  a  sense  of  its  usefulness;  in  the  world  of  art 
West  and  Copley  were  making  a  name  for  America  in  foreign  lands ; 
in  literature  President  Dwight,  Barlow,  Freneau,  and  Brockden  Brown 
had  prepared  the  way  for  the  greater  lights,  Irving,  Bryant,  and 
the  galaxy  of  New  England  literati  to  be  born  within  the  first  decade 
of  the  dawning  century ;  manufactories  on  a  small  scale  were  multi 
plying,  and  commerce  was  swelling  in  volume.  But  with  all  this 
we  look  in  vain  in  1800  for  the  inventive  genius,  the  unwearied 
energy,  the  boundless  self-confidence  and  faith  in  the  future  that 
characterizes  the  America  of  to-day. 

The  census  of  1800  showed  a  population  of  five  and  a  third  mil 
lion,1  one  fifth  of  whom  were  slaves.  Virginia  still  held  the  first 
place  in  population,  Pennsylvania  the  second ;  but  Massachusetts  had 
been  outrun  by  New  York,  which  now  held  third  place,  while  the 
old  Bay  State  came  fourth.  For  half  a  century  the  increase  in  popu 
lation  had  been  a  natural  increase,  for  the  great  tide  of  immigration 
that  has  poured  in  a  steady  stream  upon  our  shores  for  nearly  a  cen 
tury  had  not  then  made  a  beginning.2  Nine  tenths  of  the  population 
were  still  to  be  found  east  of  the  Alleghanies ;  but  the  course  of 
empire  had  begun  to  make  its  way  westward,  and  more  than  half  a 
million  people  had  already  found  homes  in  the  great  valley  of  the 
Mississippi. 

Three  great  roads  led  from  the  seaboard  to  the  region  beyond  the 
mountains,  —  one  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg,  another  from  the 
Tennessee  valley  of  the  Potomac  to  the  Monongahela,  while  a 
third  led  from  Virginia  in  a  southwesterly  direction  to 
the  land  of  Tennessee.  The  largest  of  the  western  settlements  was 
that  of  Kentucky,  which  contained  upward  of  two  hundred  thousand 
inhabitants ;  the  state  had  been  admitted  into  the  Union  as  the 

1  5,308,483. 

2  For  thirty  years  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  the  foreign  immigration 
to  America  averaged  about  five  thousand  a  year.    It  was  not  till  after  1840  that  the 
immigrants  reached  one  hundred  thousand  a  year. 


ST.    CLAIR   AND   THE    INDIANS  379 

fifteenth.  South  of  Kentucky  lay  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Tennes 
see  and  Cumberland  rivers.  Not  until  after  the  French  War  were 
permanent  settlements  made  in  Tennessee.  In  1785  they  had  grown 
to  many  thousands  of  people,  and  they  sought  admission  to  the  Union 
as  the  state  of  Frankland  or  Franklin.1  Their  effort  was  not  success 
ful,  but  eleven  years  later  the  state  entered  the  Union  as  Tennessee. 

One  more  new  state  belongs  to  this  western  group  that  entered 
the  Union  at  this  period.  The  great  stretch  of  wilderness  between 
Kentucky  and  Lake  Erie,  with  its  wooded  hills  and 
fertile  valleys,  known  by  the  beautiful  Indian  name  of 
the  river  that  belted  it  on  the  south,  was  the  chief  prize  for  which 
the  French  and  Indian  War  had  been  waged.  After  this  war  had 
given  the  territory  to  the  English  and  the  Revolution  had  given  it 
to  the  Americans,  various  disputes  arose  concerning  the  owner 
ship  of  the  soil.  Virginia  in  giving  up  her  uncertain  claims  retained 
a  large  tract,  some  three  and  one  half  million  acres,  in  the  south  cen 
tral  portion,  known  as  the  Fire  Lauds,2  while  Connecticut  took  pos 
session  of  an  equal  portion  in  the  eastern  part  on  the  lake  shore, 
known  as  the  Western  Reserve.  The  first  permanent  settlement 
was  made  by  Rufus  Putnam,  "  The  Father  of  Ohio,"  who,  in  1788, 
settled  with  some  forty  families  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum 
River,  founded  a  town  and  named  it  Marietta,  in  honor  of  the  unfor 
tunate  queen  of  France. 

But  Ohio  was  not  to  be  won  by  white  men  without  the  most  seri 
ous  conflict  with  the  natives.  Two  years  after  the  settlement  was 
made  by  Putnam,  General  Harmar  suffered  a  defeat  at  the 
hands  of  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest,  not  far  from  the 
site  of  Fort  Wayne.  President  Washington  then  chose 
General  Arthur  St.  Clair  to  lead  an  army  against  the  Indians.  St.  Clair 
was  the  grandson  of  a  Scotch  earl ;  he  had  reached  America  in  the 
midst  of  the  French  and  Indian  War;  he  was  with  Amherst  at  the 
capture  of  Louisburg ;  with  Wolfe  at  the  fall  of  Quebec  ;  and  later  he 
served  valiantly  against  his  native  land  in  the  Revolution.  After  the 
war  he  became  governor  of  the  Northwest  Territory  and  commander 
in  chief  of  the  army.  He  gave  the  growing  village  in  southwestern 
Ohio  the  name  of  Cincinnati.  Washington  now  chose  him  to  chasten 
the  savage  natives  of  the  Wabash  Valley.  With  eighteen  hundred 

1  Roosevelt's  "  Winning  of  the  West,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  144. 

2  So  called  because  they  were  set  apart  for  soldiers  and  others  whose  property 
had  suffered  by  fire  during  the  Revolution. 


380  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

men  St.  Clair  moved  to  a  branch  of  the  Wabash,  where  he  was 
ambushed  by  a  large  body  of  Indians.  His  army  was  cut  to  pieces, 
and  it  escaped  by  flight  into  the  forest  only  after  leaving  nearly 
half  its  number  dead  or  wounded  on  the  field.  This  was  one  of 
the  most  disastrous  and  crushing  defeats  recorded  in  Indian  war 
fare.  The  people  of  the  country  were  shocked  at  the  news.  St.  Clair 
was  severely  censured ;  and  he  never  rose  again  in  public  estimation. 
The  President  now  chose  General  Anthony  Wayne,  the  hero  of 
Stony  Point,  to  put  down  the  western  Indians.  Wayne  marched 
into  the  Indian  country  late  in  the  autumn  of  1793,  and  the  follow 
ing  August  he  met  the  allied  tribes  at  a  place  called  Fallen  Timbers, 

not  far  from  the  present  Maumee  City.  The  battle 
ayne  s  wag  ciecjsjvej  an(j  the  Indian  power  was  utterly 

broken.  Wayne  pushed  on  to  the  banks  of  the  Wabash, 
built  a  fort,  and  called  it  after  his  own  name,  and  the  thriving  city 
that  has  grown  up  near  the  spot  has  retained  the  name  of  Fort 
Wayne.  The  territory  now  filled  rapidly,  and  in  1803  Ohio  joined 
the  sisterhood  and  became  the  seventeenth  state. 


A  VIEW   OF  THE   LEADERS 

Thomas  Jefferson  was  a  scion  of  an  old  family  that  belonged  to 
the  landed  aristocracy  of  Virginia ;  but  nothing  in  his  appearance  or 
his  manner  indicated  that  he  had  not  sprung  from  the  common  crowd. 
He  was  a  democrat  in  spirit,  and  no  discerning  student  of  history  can 
attribute  to  him  selfish  motives  in  espousing  the  cause  of  democracy. 
He  was  tall  and  loosely  built,  with  a  sandy  complexion,  a  sunny 
countenance,  a  freckled  face,  and  hair  tending  to  red.  His  manner 
was  shy  and  retiring,  his  clothes  ill  fitting,  his  speech 
loose  and  rambling,  with  now  and  then  a  brilliant  sen 
timent  sparkling  from  him.1  Such  was  the  man  who  stood,  almost 
carelessly,  before  John  ^Marshall  in  the  Senate  chamber  on  March  4, 
1801,  and  took  the  oath  of  office  as  President  of  the  United  States.2 

The  new  President  chose  as  his  secretary  of  state  his  most  inti 
mate  friend,  his  life-long  companion,  James  Madison.  For  secretary 
of  the  treasury  he  chose  Albert  G-allatin  of  Pennsylvania,  and  these 

1  Maclay's  Diary. 

2  Jefferson  had  walked  quietly  to  the  capital  with  a  few  friends.    The  story  that 
he  rode  alone  on  horseback  and  tied  his  own  horse  in  order  to  give  an  example  of 
democratic  simplicity,  has  long  been  refuted.     See  McMaster,  Vol.  II,  p.  533  sq. 


JEFFERSON  AT  THE    HELM  381 

three  formed  the  great  triumvirate  in  whose  hands  lay  the  fortunes 
of  the  United  States  for  years  to  come.     Both  Madison  and  Gallatin 
were,  like  their  chief,  "  well  born,"  and  they  had  always 
moved  in  the  best  social  circles.     Madison  was  a  small,   Q^1*?11  a 
neat,  well-dressed  man,  full  of  good  humor  and  anec 
dote.     Gallatin,  a  young  man  of  forty  years,  was  a  Genevan  by  birth, 
and   a  slight  foreign  accent  always    marked  his  speech.     He,  like 
Madison,  was  well  educated,  and  was  eminently  fitted  for  the  great 
work  before  him.     Never  in  our  history  were  there  three  kindred 
spirits  in  high  public  life  more  truly  companionable,  more  honest, 
or  more  sincerely  devoted  to  the  public  welfare  than  were  Jefferson, 
Madison,  and  Gallatin. 

The  far-sighted  Hamilton  predicted  a  conservative  administration 
for  his  great  political  enemy.  And  the  latter  seemed  to  give  early 
promise  of  this.  The  inaugural  was  wise  and  tactful  throughout,  as 
well  as  conciliatory,  and  the  ultra-Federalists,  who  had  expected  to 
hear  the  wild  harangue  of  an  idealist,  were  not  a  little  discomfited. 
Jefferson's  first  ruffle  with  the  opposite  party  arose  from  his  removal 
of  a  few  Federalist  officials  to  make  room  for  his  own  followers. 
"  If  a  due  participation  of  office  is  a  matter  of  right,"  he  wrote,  "  how 
are  vacancies  to  be  obtained  ?  Those  by  death  are  few,  by  resigna 
tion  none."  His  party  followers  had  been  wholly  excluded  from  the 
Federal  offices,  and  he  felt  that  it  was  only  fair  play  that  they  should 
be  recognized.  But  he  proceeded  very  moderately,  and  had  no 
thought  of  making  a  clean  sweep.  During  the  first  fourteen  months 
he  removed  but  sixteen  Federalists  to  make  room  for  Republicans,1 
and  he  refused  to  appoint  any  of  his  relatives.  In  1802  he  wrote, 
"  I  still  think  our  original  idea  as  to  office  is  best,  that  is,  to  depend 
for  the  obtaining  of  a  just  participation  on  deaths,  resignations,  and 
delinquencies." 

Again  Jefferson  awakened  the  wrath  of  his  opponents  by  pardon 
ing  the  men  who  were  still  languishing  in  prison  under  the  Sedition 
Law,  and  by  his  crusade  against  a  few  of  the  most  offensive  of  the 
Federalist  judges.  The  judge  breaking,  however,  came  near  the 
close  of  Jefferson's  first  term.  Judge  Pickering  of  the  New  Hamp 
shire  district  was  removed  for  drunkenness  and  incompetency,  and 

1  This  number  is  given  by  Schouler  (Vol.  II,  p.  9).  Calhoun  in  a  speech  in  1835 
gives  42  as  the  number  of  Jefferson's  removals  iu  eight  years.  McMaster  cites  99 
removals  for  the  first  year;  but  many  of  these  were  not  for  political  reasons.  Fish, 
in  Rep.  Amer.  Asso.,  1899,  Vol.  I,  p.  170,  gives  total  of  removals  from  civil  office  in 
eight  years  as  109,  military,  15. 


382  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Judge  Chase  of  the  Supreme  Court  was  impeached  by  the  House  for 
u  offensive  partisanship,"  but  was  acquitted  by  the  Senate. 

On  the  whole  Jefferson's  administration  started  out  auspiciously, 
and  thousands  of  the  milder  Federalists  were  won  over  to  the  stand 
ard  of  the  democracy.  This  was  clearly  shown  in  the  state  elections 
in  the  autumn  of  1801,  for  before  the  close  of  the  year  every  gov 
ernor  outside  of  New  England  was  Democratic,  and  so  was  every  legis 
lature  except  that  of  Delaware,  while  in  New  England  Rhode  Island 
and  the  city  of  Boston  had  also  joined  the  majority.  Jefferson's  ear 
nest  desire  was  ^to  cut  down  the  expenses  of  the  government  wher 
ever  possible.  He  discontinued  the  missions  to  Holland,  Portugal, 
and  Prussia,  and  he  would  have  sold  the  few  vessels  of  the  navy  had 
not  a  new  use  for  them  suddenly  developed. 

The  Moslem  powers  of  North  Africa  had  for  some  years  been 
pacified  with  money,  until  two  million  dollars  had  been  used  to  pur 
chase  immunity  from  their  piratical  vessels.  But  they  became  more 
insolent,  and  in  1801  Tripoli,  to  secure  a  larger  tribute,  declared  war 
against  the  United  States.  This  challenge  was  accepted,  and  instead 
of  paying  further  tribute  the  President  sent  Commodore  Dale  with 
three  frigates  and  a  sloop  of  war  to  the  Mediterranean.  A  Tripolitan 
cruiser  was  captured,  and  the  Barbary  states  were  so  overawed  that 
they  gave  no  more  trouble  for  several  years. 

It  was  not  until  after  the  meeting  of  Congress  in  December,  1801, 
that  the  new  President  could  show  that  he  was  sincerely  in  earnest 
in  his  desire  to  retrench  the  expenses  and  to  reduce  taxation.  Both 
houses  were  now  Democratic1  by  easy  working  majorities.  But 
there  was  no  great  leader  in  Congress,  nor  was  one  greatly  needed, 
for  they  had  an  able  master  in  the  President.  No  other  President 
in  American  history  has  so  completely  directed  his  Cabinet  and  the 
Congress  as  did  Jefferson. 

He  managed,  not  by  threats  nor  by  violence,  nor  by  a  use  of  the 
patronage,  but  in  his  own  deft,  quiet  way,  with  that  delicate  touch  at 
the  right  place  and  the  right  moment,  which  eludes  every  attempt  to 
describe.  There  was  no  important  act  of  Congress  during  the  first 
eight  years  of  the  century  that  did  not  bear  the  stamp  of  the  genius 
of  Jefferson.  And  even  in  the  Cabinet,  with  such  leaders  as  Madi 
son  and  Gallatin,  without  one  display  of  temper,  with  never  an  angry 
word,  Jefferson  was  the  undisputed  master  during  the  eight  years. 

1 1  shall  use  this  term  henceforth  to  designate  the  party  founded  by  Jefferson, 
though  he  never  gave  up  the  term  "  Republican  "  as  long  as  he  lived. 


REPEAL   OF  FEDERALIST  LAWS  383 

But  few  months  after  Congress  had  met  it  passed  an  act  abolish 
ing  all  internal  revenue  on  distilled  spirits,  the  stamp  tax,  and  the  tax 
on  carriages.  It  also  reduced  the  army  to  about  three 
thousand,  sold  some  of  the  vessels  of  the  navy,  and  low- 
ered  the  salaries  of  customhouse  officials.  These  acts 
greatly  reduced  the  number  of  officials,  and  Jefferson  further  proved 
the  sincerity  of  his  professions  by  consolidating  two  or  more  offices 
into  one  wherever  the  public  business  would  warrant  it.  Thus  the 
President  reduced  the  patronage  at  his  disposal  and  weakened  his 
own  power  in  order  to  carry  out  a  principle,  and  the  example  is  one 
of  the  rarest  in  history. 

Congress  next  addressed  itself  to  a  few  of  the  obnoxious  laws 
made  by  the  Federalists.  The  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  had  expired ; 
but  there  stood  the  Naturalization  Act  and  the  Midnight  Judiciary. 
The  former  was  remodeled  and  the  time  reduced  from  fourteen  years 
to  five,  where  it  still  remains. 

The  Judiciary  Act,  so  distasteful  to  the  Democrats,  seemed  to 
interpose  an  obstacle ;  but  this  was  soon  overcome.  The  act  had 
been  passed  by  the  Federalists  after  it  was  known  that  the  Demo 
crats  had  carried  the  election,  and  yet  not  one  of  the  newly  created 
offices  was  left  to  be  filled  by  the  incoming  administra 
tion,  and  each  new  judge  was  supposed  to  hold  the 
office  for  life.  The  Democrats  regarded  this  as  a  gross 
abuse  of  power,  and  they  determined  to  undo  the  work  of  their  de 
feated  rivals.  A  way  was  soon  found.  They  could  not  take  the 
man  from  the  office,  so  they  determined  to  take  the  office  from  the 
man.  The  Judiciary  Act  was  repealed  entire;  but  many  years  later, 
long  after  the  Federal  party  had  passed  away,  the  growing  busi 
ness  of  the  Federal  courts  demanded  an  extension  of  its  service, 
similar  to  that  which  was  now  repealed. 

LOUISIANA 

The  greatest  diplomatic  achievement  in  the  annals  of  the  United 
States  was  the  acquisition  of  the  vast,  unbounded  region  beyond  the 
Mississippi  known  as  Louisiana.  This  immense  territory  had  been 
taken  possession  of  by  France  through  the  explorer  La  Salle  in  1682. 
Eighty  years  later  France  ceded  it  to  Spain,  at  the  time  when  she 
gave  up  Canada  and  the  Ohio  Valley  to  England.  Since  then  a 
mighty  genius  had  risen  in  France  in  the  person  of  Napoleon  Bona- 


384  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

parte,  and  through  his  surpassing  skill,  aided  by  the  spirit  of  the 
Revolution,  that  country  had  surged  to  the  front  until  Spain  was  a 
weakling  in  comparison.  At  this  stage  Napoleon,  now  First  Consul 
Ildefonso  °^  France,  looked  upon  the  great  Spanish-American 

forest  with  covetous  eyes,  and  he  forced  its  cession  by 
Spain  to  himself  by  a  secret  treaty  at  San  Ildefonso  in  the  year  1800. 
The  secret  soon  became  an  open  one,  and  when  the  news  reached 
President  Jefferson  his  keen  eye  at  once  detected  trouble  for  his 
country.  To  Robert  Livingston,  our  minister  at  Paris,  he  wrote : 
"  There  is  on  the  globe  one  single  spot  the  possessor  of  which  is  our 
natural  and  habitual  enemy.  It  is  New  Orleans.  .  .  .  Spain  might 
have  retained  it  quietly  for  years  .  .  .  the  day  that  France  takes 
possession  .  .  .  seals  the  union  of  two  nations.  .  .  .  From  that 
moment  we  must  marry  ourselves  to  the  British  fleet  and  nation." 
Jefferson  had  ever  been  partial  to  France.  What  a  menace  to  the 
country  must  have  loomed  before  his  vision  to  have  wrung  from  him 
such  a  statement  as  the  above.  But  this  was  not  all.  In  the  midst 
of  the  excitement  over  the  retrocession  the  Spanish  intendant  at 
New  Orleans  closed  the  mouth  of  the  great  river  to  American  trade, 
in  violation  of  the  treaty  with  Spain  of  1795.  This  brought  a  cry 
of  rage  from  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  people  of  the  West  had 
no  other  outlet  for  trade.  They  threatened  to  march  down  the  river 
and  take  possession  of  New  Orleans  by  force,  or  to  throw  themselves 
at  the  feet  of  England,  if  their  own  government  did  not  come  to  the 
rescue.  Jefferson  was  a  man  of  peace;  but  the  clamor  from  the 
western  frontier  grew  louder,  and  something  had  to  be  done.  At 
length  it  was  determined  to  set  apart  two  million  dollars  for  the 
purchase  of  West  Florida  and  the  island  of  New  Orleans,1  and  thus 

to  secure  forever  a  passage  down  the  great  waterway. 

James  Monroe  was  then  sent  to  join  Livingston  at  Paris, 

with  power  between  them  to  effect  the  purchase.  Jeffer 
son  had  little  hope  of  success.  His  object,  as  he  stated  privately, 
was  to  "palliate  and  endure,"  and  to  quiet  the  people  of  the  western 
country  until  a  war  should  break  out  between  France  and  England, 
when  he  would  cast  his  lot  with  the  latter. 

Napoleon  had  acquired  Louisiana  for  the  purpose  of  colonizing  it; 

but  after  losing  two  or  three  good  armies  in  Santo  Domingo,  the  island 

of  rebellious  blacks,  he  found  it  difficult  to  carry  out  his  projects 

in  the  lower  Mississippi  Valley.     Furthermore,  he  expected  another 

1  This  object  was  understood,  but  was  not  mentioned  in  the  resolutions. 


PURCHASE   OF   LOUISIANA  385 

war  with  England.  For  this  he  would  need  money ;  and  besides,  as 
England  was  the  greater  sea  power,  she  might,  in  case  of  war,  land 
an  army  on  the  coast  of  Louisiana  and  hold  the  territory  by  right 
of  conquest.  Napoleon  had  little  love  for  the  United  States;  but 
his  love  for  England  was  still  less,  and  he  was  too  shrewd  to  play 
into  the  hands  of  his  great  enemy.  Moreover,  Napoleon  saw  that 
by  a  single  stroke  he  could  win  the  good  will  of  America  and  pre 
vent  Jefferson  from  carrying  out  his  threat  of  forming  an  alliance 
with  England.  Moved  by  these  considerations,  he  offered  to  sell  all 
Louisiana  to  the  Americans.  The  offer  was  made  to  Livingston  just 
before,  and  repeated  soon  after,  the  arrival  of  Monroe.  The  price 
asked  was  $20,000,000,  and  the  two  Americans  had  been  authorized 
to  offer  as  much  as  $10,000,000  for  West  Florida  and 
New  Orleans.  At  length  a  bargain  was  made  by  which 
America  was  to  pay  $15,000,000  for  the  entire  territory.  One  fourth 
of  this  was  to  be  paid  to  Americans  holding  claims  against  France, 
while  the  remaining  three  fourths  were  to  be  paid  in  six  per  cent 
bonds.  The  famous  treaty  was  signed  on  April  30, 1803,1  by  Marbois 
for  the  French,  and  by  the  two  Americans,  subject  to  the  ratification 
of  their  government. 

The  bargain  was  a  great  one  for  America.  It  not  only  precluded 
all  possibility  of  a  foreign  power  getting  a  footing  on  the  lower  Mis 
sissippi  ;  it  also  secured  forever  the  control  of  the  great  river  and 
added  to  the  United  States  a  vast,  fertile  domain  of  unknown  bounds. 
As  afterward  ascertained,  Louisiana,2  contained  1,171,931  square 
miles  —  more  than  all  the  original  thirteen  states  combined.  "  You 
have  made  a  noble  bargain  for  yourselves,"  said  Talleyrand  to  Liv 
ingston,  "  and  I  suppose  you  will  make  the  most  of  it." 

Actual  possession  soon  placed  our  title  to  Louisiana  beyond  dis 
pute  ;  but,  strictly  speaking,  the  sale  was  not  legal.     Napoleon  had 
agreed  to  convey  to  Spain  a  dukedom  on  the  Arno  River,  for  the 
son-in-law  of  the  Spanish  king,  in  payment  for  Louisiana ;  but  the 
price   was   never   paid.     The  treaty  of   Ildefonso  also 
stipulated  that  France  should  not  cede  the  territory  to 
any  foreign  power;   but   Napoleon  disregarded  this.     In  point  of 
fact,  France,  therefore,  did  not  own  Louisiana ;  and  even  if  she  had 
owned  it,  the  cession,  according  to  the  French  Constitution,  could  not 

1  The  English  copy  was  signed  a  few  days  later. 

2  Including  Alabama  and  Mississippi  south  of  31°.    For  Louisiana  see  map  fol 
lowing  p.  896. 

2o 


386  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

be  made  without  the  consent  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  and  this 
the  First  Consul  never  obtained  and  never  sought.  The  French 
people  were  astonished  at  this  action  of  their  ruler ;  but  he  was  the 
master,  and  they  were  powerless. 

Far  sadder  was  the  wail  from  Spain.  The  Spanish  government 
protested  feebly,  pathetically;  but  its  voice  was  not  heard.  The 
Spaniards  believed  that  they  could  not  hold  their  American  posses 
sions  with  Louisiana  in  the  hands  of  the  rising  free  Republic  —  and 
they  were  right.  They  believed  that  the  news  of  the  cession  sounded 
the  death-knell  of  the  Spanish  empire  —  and  so  it  did. 

The  people  of  America,  on  hearing  the  news  from  Paris,  were  as 
tonished  at  the  magnitude  of  the  transaction  that  gave  them  such 
a  princely  domain.  President  Jefferson  readily  saw  what  the  new 
purchase  meant  in  the  future  development  of  America ;  but,  true  to 
his  strict  construction  principles,  he  pronounced  the  purchase  uncon 
stitutional.1  This  view  he  expressed  by  letter  to  various  friends, 
and  he  drew  up  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  giving  the  govern 
ment  power  to  incorporate  Louisiana  with  the  United  States  and 
make  it  a  part  thereof,  and  sent  it  to  his  Cabinet.  But  he  was  soon 
alarmed  by  word  from  Livingston,  who  stated  that  there  was  reason 
to  fear  that  Napoleon  would  change  his  mind  and  yet  prevent  the 
cession.  Jefferson  took  the  alarm  and  instantly  enjoined  his  friends 
from  saying  anything  of  the  constitutional  limitations  until  the  trans 
fer  was  accomplished,  after  which  he  advocated  that  an  amendment 
should  be  adopted  to  make  the  purchase  valid.  He  called  Congress 
to  meet  in  October,  six  weeks  before  the  usual  time,  to  deal  with  the 
great  subject.  After  a  brief  debate,  in  which  the  Democrats  took 
a  ground  which  they  would  have  opposed  during  the  old  Federal 
days,  the  purchase  was  ratified,  and  all  thought  of  amending  the 
Constitution  was  abandoned. 

A  formal  transfer  of  the  territory  was  made  in  December,  and 
before  the  close  of  that  month  a  bill  for  its  government  was  intro 
duced.  This  bill,  which  became  a  law  in  March,  1804,  divided  the 
territory  into  two  parts  at  the  thirty-third  parallel.  The  northern 
portion,  which  contained  few  white  inhabitants,  was  called  the  Dis 
trict  of  Louisiana  and  was  put  under  the  government  of  Indiana 
Territory,  which  was  governed  by  the  Ordinance  of  1787.  The  south 
ern  district,  called  the  Territory  of  Orleans,  contained  some  fifty 

1  It  was  not  so  much  the  purchase  as  the  provision  in  the  treaty  providing  for 
its  incorporation  as  a  part  of  the  United  States  that  troubled  Jefferson. 


EXPEDITION  TO   THE   NORTHWEST  387 

thousand  people,  chiefly  French.  The  inhabitants  were  given  no  share 
in  the  government.  The  governor  and  the  secretary  were  to  be  ap 
pointed  by  the  President  for  three  years,  and  the  judicial 
officers  for  four  years.  This  was  another  long  stretch  of 
the  Constitution,  as  Jefferson  formerly  understood  it ;  but 
it  was  practically  sustained  in  1828  by  Chief  Justice  Marshall  when 
he  decided,  concerning  the  inhabitants  of  Florida,  that  the  people  of  a 
territory  have  no  political  rights  before  the  territory  becomes  a  state. 

One  of  the  interesting  features  of  the  debates  on  the  purchase 
and  government  of  Louisiana  arose  from  the  fact  that  the  Federalists 
planted  themselves  firmly  on  the  theory  of  strict  construction,  while 
the  Democrats  occupied  the  ground  of  loose  construction,  formerly 
held  by  their  opponents. 

While  Jefferson  was  yet  in  Washington's  Cabinet,  he  proposed  an 
exploring  expedition  to  the  great  Northwest.  When  elected  Presi 
dent  he  was  still  thinking  of  this,  and  after  the  purchase  of  Louisi 
ana  Territory,  which  extended  far  up  the  Missouri,  he  determined 
to  carry  out  his  project.  He  chose  one  of  his  secretaries  named 
Merriwether  Lewis  to  lead  the  expedition,  and  Lewis  chose  Captain 
William  Clark  as  his  associate.  After  spending  a  winter  in  camp 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  the  company,  numbering  forty-five 
men,1  began  their  ascent  of  that  river  in  the  spring  of  1804.  They 
followed  the  river  until  late  in  October,  when  they  en-  £ewjs  an(j 
camped  for  the  winter  near  the  site  of  Bismarck,  North  Clark 
Dakota.  Early  in  the  spring  they  resumed  their  jour-  expedition, 
ney,  and  in  May  they  came  for  the  first  time  in  view  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  On  reaching  the  Columbia,  that  noble  river  which  Cap 
tain  Grey  had  discovered  fourteen  years  before  and  had  named  after  his 
ship,  they  floated  with  its  current.  Their  journey  was  full  of  hardship, 
but  they  were  repaid  with  many  romantic  scenes,  —  cascades  of  mar 
velous  beauty  and  snow-capped  mountains  skirted  at  the  base  with 
gigantic  forests.  They  met  and  made  friends  with  many  Indian  tribes. 

On  the  morning  of  November  7,  1806,  after  a  journey  of  a  year 
and  a  half  through  the  wilderness,  they  saw  for  the  first  time  the  blue 
line  in  the  western  horizon  which  told  them  that  the  end  of  their  jour 
ney  was  at  hand.  It  was  the  Pacific  Ocean,  that  vast  watery  plain  on 
which  Balboa  had  gazed  with  a  swelling  soul,  through  which  Magel 
lan  had  plowed  with  his  hardy  seamen  until  he  had  belted  the  globe. 

1  Sparks,  in  his  "  Expansion  of  the  American  People,"  p.  212,  gives  this  number; 
H.  H.  Bancroft  gives  twenty-eight. 


388  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES 

After  spending  the  winter  on  the  coast  they  returned  to  the  United 
States,  reaching  St.  Louis  in  September,  1807.  In  two  and  one  half 
years  they  had  traversed  nine  thousand  miles  of  unbroken  wilder 
ness  untrodden  before  by  the  foot  of  the  white  man.  Their  journal, 
published  a  few  years  later,  conveyed  much  important  information 
on  the  Great  West.  It  was  largely  on  this  expedition  of  Lewis  and 
Clark  that  our  government  forty  years  later  based  its  claim  to  the 
Oregon  country,  when  the  settlement  was  made  with  Great  Britain. 
At  this  time  (1806)  Zebulon  Pike  made  a  great  exploring  tour  of  the 
middle  West,  crossing  the  plains  to  the  site  of  Denver,  thence  turn 
ing  southward  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Rio  Grande. 

BURR  AND   HAMILTON 

The  administration  party  grew  steadily  in  popular  favor  until,  at 
the  close  of  the  year  1803,  Federalism  was  practically  dead  outside 
of  New  England,1  and  even  in  that  section  the  Democrats  had  made 
gains  in  every  state.  The  leading  New  England  Federalists  viewed 
the  impetuous  sweep  of  democracy  with  alarm.  They  had  expected 
to  see  the  ship  of  state  founder  under  the  guidance  of  the  mob  and 
the  rabble,  and  themselves  to  be  soon  recalled  to  the  helm ;  but  the 
country  was  still  prosperous  and  the  democracy  was  strengthening 
every  hour,  while  they  beheld  their  own  party  melting  away  like 
snow  beneath  an  April  sun.  The  dying  party  was  led  by  the  senators 
Timothy  Pickering  of  Massachusetts,  former  member  of  the  cabinets 
of  Washington  and  Adams,  and  Roger  Griswold  of  Connecticut. 
These  men  were  doubtless  honest ;  but  they  were  too  narrow  to  stand 
aside  and  say,  If  the  democracy  has  the  ability  to  rule,  and  if  a 
majority  prefer  a  rule  of  the  democracy,  give  it  a  fair  trial.  On  the 
contrary,  the  greater  the  success  of  their  opponents,  the  wilder  was 
their  cry  against  the  modern  evil  of  democracy. 

The  Louisiana  Purchase  was  now  made  the  pretext  for  a  conspir 
acy  to  dissolve  the  Union.  With  this  great  territory  carved  into 
growing  states,  the  West  and  the  South  will  overshadow 

and  mle  the  East>  Said  the  consPiratorsj and  tnere  is  notn- 
ing  left  but  to  shatter  the  whole  structure  and  set  up  a 
New  England  Confederacy.2     Pickering  made  known  his  scheme  to 

1  Except  in  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  South  Carolina,  where  it  still  held  on  feebly. 

2  An  admirable  account  of  this  conspiracy  is  given  by  Henry  Adams,  Vol.  II, 
Chap.  VIII.    This  historian  is  a  grandson  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  who  was,  at  the 
time  we  are  treating,  Pickering's  colleague  in  the  Senate,  but  who  was  wholly 
averse  to  disunion. 


AARON  BURR  389 


such  Federalists  as  George  Cabot  and  Fisher  Ames ;  but  these  men, 
while  also  alarmed  at  the  rising  tide  of  democracy,  pronounced  the 
scheme  of  disunion  impracticable.  In  spite  of  this  discouragement 
the  leaders  pressed  on,  and  in  addition  to  New  England  they  decided 
that  they  must  have  New  York.  But  New  York  was  Democratic, 
and  they  could  hope  to  win  the  state  only  through  some  disaffected 
member  of  that  party ;  and  they  soon  found  him  in  the  person  of 
Vice  President  Burr. 

It  was  an  opportune  moment  to  approach  Aaron  Burr.  He  was 
in  the  midst  of  a  terrific  political  battle  in  New  York,  where  the 
great  ruling  families  of  Clintons  and  Livingstons  had  combined 
against  him,  and  to  these  were  added  the  power  of  the  administration ; 
and  Burr  saw  that  the  battle  was  going  against  him.  Burr  was  a 
restless  soul.  His  patriotism  was  shallow.  He  had  no  fear  of  the 
democracy,  and  yet,  when  approached  by  the  Federalists  who  dis 
closed  their  scheme  of  breaking  up  the  Union,  proposed  to  make 
him  their  leader  if  he  would  give  them  New  York  and,  as  an  earnest 
of  their  good  intentions,  offered  to  support  him  for  the  governorship 
of  that  state  at  the  coming  election,  he  fell  in  with  their  plans, 
though  cautiously  and  with  few  promises.  His  probable  motives 
were  twofold :  to  gratify  his  personal  ambition,  and  to  be  revenged 
on  his  political  adversaries. 

It  was  believed  by  many  that  Burr  could  be  elected,  if  supported 
by  the  Federalists  and  by  his  personal  following  in  his  own  party. 
And  probably  he  would  have  succeeded  but  for  one 
obstacle  that  proved  to  be  fatal.  Alexander  Hamilton 
was  the  obstacle.  Hamilton  was  no  friend  of  disunion, 
though  he  believed  democracy  to  be  a  disease ;  and  further,  he  and 
Burr  had  for  years  been  political  and  personal  rivals,  almost  ene 
mies,  and  nothing  could  now  persuade  him  to  join  a  movement 
which  meant  to  give  Burr  a  leadership  over  himself.  He  professed 
to  believe  that  Burr  was  a  dangerous  man ;  his  opinions  were  pub 
lished  in  the  newspapers,  and  they  influenced  many  voters.  Burr 
was  defeated  by  the  Clinton-Livingston  candidate,  and  the  disunion 
conspiracy  was  broken  to  fragments;  but  the  remaining  malcon 
tents,  the  dregs  of  a  once  noble  party,  continued  to  rail  against 
popular  government  of  the  Jeffersonian  type  until  ten  years  later, 
when  they  met  political  death  by  suicide  in  the  Hartford  Convention. 

Aaron  Burr  brooded  over  his  downfall.  Nothing  was  more  cer 
tain  than  that  his  political  fortunes  in  New  York  and  in  the  nation 


390  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

were  shattered  beyond  repair.     He  felt  that  he  would  have  won  in 

this  battle  had  it  not  been  for  Hamilton,  who  prevented  his  receiving 

the  full  Federalist  vote.     Nor  was  this  the  first  time 

v16,,  that  Hamilton  had  thwarted  his  ambitions.     The  more 

Burr   brooded   over   the   matter,  the   more   he  blamed 

Hamilton  for  all  his  misfortunes,  and  he  desperately  resolved  to  get 

rid  of  his  great  enemy.     He  challenged  Hamilton  to  a  duel. 

Dueling  was  common  in  those  days.  The  great  public  had  not 
yet  come  to  see  that  the  practice  is  wrong.  It  smiled  on  it, 
applauded  it,  and  branded  the  man  as  a  coward  who  refused  to 
meet  his  antagonist  on  "  the  field  of  honor."  And  the  average  man 
was  too  much  of  a  real  coward  to  endure  being  called  a  coward. 
Even  Hamilton  had  not  the  moral  courage  to  defy  public  opinion 
and  refuse  to  fight  a  duel.  He  accepted  the  challenge.1 

In  the  gray  dawn  of  that  sultry  summer  day  in  July,  1804,  the 
two  men  with  their  seconds  rowed  silently  across  the  Hudson, 
and  as  the  earliest  rays  of  the  rising  sun  streamed 
Ju?  l^ifco*  through  the  trees,  they  stood  face  to  face  on  the  old 
dueling  ground  under  the  rocky  heights  of  Weehawken. 
Hamilton  seemed  undecided  and  vacillating;  Burr  was  keen-eyed 
and  determined.  At  the  signal  to  fire,  but  one  shot  was  heard,  and 
Hamilton  fell  upon  his  face,  shot  through  the  body.  As  he  fell  his 
pistol  was  fired  into  the  air  some  feet  above  Burr's  head,  whether 
accidentally  or  not  was  never  known.  He  had  said  to  a  friend  that 
he  intended  to  throw  away  his  first  fire.  His  friends  now  bore  the 
wounded  statesman  back  to  his  home  in  the  city.  Next  morning  he 
was  dead. 

Among  American  statesmen  Alexander  Hamilton  must  be  placed 
in  the  first  rank.  Born  in  the  West  Indies  in  1757,  of  Scotch- 
French  parentage,  he  came  to  the  colonies  as  a  boy  of 
fifteen>  seeking  his  fortune.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolution  we  find  him  at  King's  College,  in  New 
York,  and  he  left  his  course  unfinished  to  join  the  army.  He  served 
throughout  the  war,  a  large  part  of  the  time  on  the  staff  of  Wash 
ington,  and  he  gave  evidence  of  possessing  a  high  order  of  military 
ability ;  but  the  war  closed  while  he  was  still  a  youth,  and  never 
afterward  did  he  have  an  opportunity  to  display  his  military  powers. 
He  served  a  short  time  in  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation,  helped 

1  Hamilton  claimed  that  he  fought  only  to  save  his  political  influence,  but  his 
brain  was  quite  fertile  enough  to  do  that  without  the  duel. 


BURR-HAMILTON   DUEL  391 

to  frame  the  Constitution,  and  became  a  member  of  Washington' s  first 
Cabinet. 

As  a  financier  no  public  man  in  our  history  can  compare  with 
Hamilton,  and  he  was  the  founder  of  our  present  financial  system. 
As  a  lawyer  and  an  orator  he  stood  in  the  first  class;  as  a  con 
troversial  political  writer  he  surpassed  all  other  men  of  his  age. 
"  Any  man  who  puts  himself  on  paper  with  Hamilton  is  lost,"  said 
Burr,  some  years  before  their  fatal  quarrel.  Hamilton  did  a  service 
for  America  that  will  never  be  forgotten ;  to  him  above  all  men  we 
are  indebted  for  national  strength.  But  his  usefulness  was  marred 
by  his  egoism  and  his  want  of  faith  in  the  good  sense  and  good 
intentions  of  the  masses.  Had  he  been  born  to  a  throne,  he  would 
have  made  a  great  ruler ;  but,  as  he  himself  acknowledged,  he  was 
out  of  place  in  this  western  world,  where  the  voice  of  the  people 
cannot  be  stifled  and  must  prevail. 

Aaron  Burr  may  have  felt  a  thrill  of  the  joy  of  victory  at  the 
fall  of  his  great  rival  at  Weehawken.  He  did  not  foresee  that  his 
fatal  bullet  would  add  a  luster  for  all  time  to  the  name  of  his  fallen 
victim,  and  would  cover  his  own  with  indelible  dishonor.  He  did 
not  foresee  that  the  ghost  of  Hamilton  would  pursue  him  like  a 
Nemesis  from  land  to  land,  would  mark  his  every  project  with 
failure,  would  hound  his  footsteps  for  thirty  years,  until  at  last, 
aged  and  tottering,  he  would  sink  into  the  grave,  the  victim  and  not 
the  conqueror  of  the  fatal  duel  at  Weehawken. 

New  York  and  the  nation  were  shocked  at  the  death  of  Hamil 
ton.  The  great  untrained  public  had  applauded  dueling,  but  it  was 
costly  sport  when  such  an  intellectual  light  as  Hamilton  became  its 
victim.  This  great  giant,  the  public,  like  a  petulant  child  that  takes 
vengeance  on  the  plaything  with  which  he  has  injured  himself,  felt 
the  wound  and  grew  angry  and  demanded  a  victim  —  and  Burr 
became  the  victim.1 

When  the  people  of  New  York  learned  that  Burr  had  practiced 
with  his  pistol  for  some  weeks  before  the  duel,  with  the  evident 
intention,  not  of  retrieving  his  honor,  but  of  killing  his 
rival,  he  was  denounced  as  a  murderer.      He  fled  to 
Philadelphia,  but  here  public  opinion  was  equally  against  him,  and 
he  went  to  the  South.     Some  months  later  he  returned  northward, 
hoping  to  find   public   feeling   allayed ;   but  not  finding  it  so,  he 

1  This  does  not  imply  a  belief  that  Burr  was  blameless,  but  that  he  was  a  natural 
product  of  a  society  that  encouraged  dueling. 


394  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

Of  Burr's  guilt  few  had  any  doubt,  but  for  want  of  proof  he  was 
acquitted  by  the  jury.  His  reputation,  however,  was  utterly  blasted, 
and  from  this  time,  if  not  from  the  time  of  Hamilton's  death,  he 
was  despised  above  all  public  men  in  America.  After  the  trial  he 
went  to  Baltimore  and  stayed  with  a  friend,  but  he  fled  from  the 
city  by  night  to  escape  the  fury  of  a  gathering  mob.  Finding  no 
rest  f6r  the  sole  of  his  foot  in  America,  he  took  ship  for  Europe 
under  an  assumed  name.  There  he  wandered  for  four  years ;  but 
his  Nemesis  pursued  him.  He  found  neither  friends  nor  rest,  and 
at  times  he  was  in  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  Returning  to 
his  native  land  in  the  spring  of  1812,  he  found  at  last  that  the 
public,  now  about  to  engage  in  a  war  with  England,  took  little 
notice  of  him,  and  he  engaged  quietly  in  his  profession,  earning  a 
fair  living  until  old  age  and  disease  disabled  him;  but  he  never 
regained  the  confidence  of  the  public. 

IMPRESSMENT  OF  SEAMEN 

The  reelection  of  Jefferson  in  1804  was  a  grand  triumph  of  the 
democracy;  and  yet  not  wholly  this,  for  Jefferson  had  already 
proved  himself  not  only  a  Democrat,  not  only  a  state-rights  Repub 
lican,  but  also  a  nationalist.  The  purchase  of  Louisiana  was  an  act 
of  national  sovereignty  such  as  the  most  ardent  Federalist  would 
scarcely  have  dreamed  of  five  years  before.  By  this  act,  as  well 
as  by  his  conciliatory  policy,  Jefferson  won  thousands  of  his  op 
ponents  without  alienating  the  members  of  his  own  party.  Of  all 
the  presidential  elections  save  one,  since  the  days  of  Washington, 
that  of  1805  came  nearest  being  unanimous.  Jefferson  and  his 
colleague,  George  Clinton,  received  all  the  electoral  votes  except  four 
teen,  which  were  cast  for  the  Federalist  candidates,  C.  C.  Pinckney 
and  Rufus  King.  But  the  trying  time  in  the  life  of  the  President  was 
yet  to  come,  and  that  was  in  connection  with  our  foreign  relations. 
France  had  failed  to  give  boundaries  to  the  great  tract  of  land  that 
she  had  sold  to  the  United  States.  Livingston  was  at  first  chagrined 
that  he  had  acquired  the  west  bank  only  of  the  Mississippi  when 
he  had  been  authorized  to  purchase  the  east  bank.  But  he  soon 
found  a  way  out  of  his  dilemma  by  claiming  the  east  bank,  or  West 
Florida,  also,  as  a  part  of  Louisiana.  His  example  was  followed  by 
the  administration;  and  thus  began  a  series  of  negotiations  that 
covered  several  years.  Spain  protested  vehemently  against  this 
claim  of  the  United  States,  but  Spain  lay  prostrate  at  the  feet  of 


TROUBLE   WITH  ENGLAND  395 

Napoleon.  Jefferson  at  length  abandoned  this  claim  and  sought  to 
purchase  the  coveted  territory.1  Seeing  that  it  was  France  and  not 
Spain  with  whom  he  had  to  deal,  he  suggested  offering  the  former 
a  sum  of  money  for  the  rights  of  Spain  in  Florida,  with  an  implied 
threat  of  making  an  alliance  with  England  in  case  of  refusal. 
Congress  voted  $2,000,000  for  such  a  purpose.  But  suddenly  all 
thought  of  a  British  alliance  was  scattered  to  the  winds.  England 
revived  the  old  rule  known  as  the  Rule  of  1756. 

France  and  England  were  again  at  war,  and  the  former  was  not 
permitted  by  the  Mistress  of  the  Seas  to  trade  with  her  own  colonies. 
France,  therefore,  threw  open  her  colonial  trade  to 
neutrals,  a  thing  she  did  not  ordinarily  do  in  time  of  j^g0 
peace.  In  consequence  the  Americans  built  up  a  great 
trade  with  the  French  West  Indies ;  and  as  most  of  the  other 
nations  of  Europe  were  embroiled  in  the  war  and  could  not  trade 
under  their  own  flags,  the  United  States  became  the  carrier  for  the 
world.  But  this  was  all  changed  by  the  revival  of  this  old  Rule 
of  1756,  by  which  a  neutral  was  not  permitted  to  enjoy  in  time  of 
war  that  which  was  not  permitted  it  in  time  of  peace.  In  view  of 
the  fact  that  American  ships  were  supplying  the  wants  of  England's 
enemies,  one  can  scarcely  blame  England  for  enforcing  this  old  rule. 
But  it  raised  a  cry  of  despair  in  America.  Thousands  of  mariners 
and  merchants  suddenly  found  their  occupation  gone  and  themselves 
face  to  face  with  ruin. 

But  this  was  not  all,  nor  half.  The  impressment  of  American 
seamen  into  the  British  navy  was  now  at  its  height.  This  practice 
had  fallen  into  the  background  during  the  short  season  of  peace 
between  France  and  England  that  ended  in  1803,  but  with  the 
renewal  of  the  war  it  had  been  revived  with  alarming  vigor.  The 
British  ministry  had  refused  America's  repeated  offers  to  arrange 
for  a  mutual  exchange  of  deserters.  In  the  most  high-handed 
manner  a  British  captain  would  overhaul  an  American  merchantman 
on  the  sea  or  in  port,  muster  the  crew  before  him,  and  choose  whom 
he  would  for  the  British  service ;  and  too  often  native  Americans, 
or  men  whose  speech  showed  plainly  that  they  were  not  Englishmen, 
were  seized.  Old  revolutionary  soldiers  complained  that  their  sons 
were  thus  forced  to  fight  the  battles  of  England.  One  old  soldier, 
whose  sons  had  been  impressed,  had  served  through  the  war,  had 

i  He  did  not  formally  or  officially  abandon  the  claim,  but  he  practically  did  so 
by  making  this  offer. 


396  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

lain  for  fifteen  months  in  a  British  prison,  and  had  lost  his  estate 
by  means  of  the  war.  He  wrote  a  bitter  complaint  to  Congress, 
stating  that  if  this  was  the  kind  of  liberty  he  had  gained,  he  had 
rather  be  without  it.1 

These  two  questions  —  England's  decision  concerning  the  trade 
of  neutrals,  and  the  impressment  of  seamen —  called  from  Jefferson  a 
special  message  to  Congress,  reciting  these  wrongs  ;  and  this  was  fol 
lowed  two  months  later  by  a  non-importation  act,  limiting  our  trade 
with  Great  Britain.  This  measure  passed  in  spite  of  the  deter 
mined  opposition  of  the  erratic,  sarcastic  John  Randolph,  who  had 
broken  friendship  with  the  administration.  Randolph  made  a  pow 
erful  speech,  and  pointed  out  one  great  fact  that  many  had  not 
yet  seen,  namely,  that  Great  Britain  was  now  really  fighting  for 
liberty,  that  she  was  the  only  remaining  obstacle  in  the  path  of  the 
ambition  of  that  mighty  despot  who  had  risen  in  France. 

Even  President  Jefferson  seemed  to  be  cringing  before  the  French 
Emperor.  At  Napoleon's  command  he  abandoned  the  American 
claims  against  the  court  of  Spain,  and  forbade  American  vessels 
to  trade  with  the  rebellious  French  colony  of  Santo  Domingo. 
Why  ?  Not  from  fear,  but  because  his  heart  was  set  on  obtaining 
West  Florida,  and  he  knew  that  Bonaparte  alone  could  grant  his 
wishes  or  deny  them.  The  latter,  knowing  Jefferson's  desires, 
played  upon  this  string  for  several  years  ;  when  he  wished  some 
humiliating  service  from  the  American  President,  he  held  up  the 
prize  before  his  eyes,  then  again  he  would  withdraw  it.2  At  length 
Jefferson  grew  impatient  and  threatened  an  alliance  with  England, 
ignoring  the  fact  that  the  impressment  business  was  increasing. 
But  when  the  Rule  of  1756  was  revived  by  the  British  government, 
and  when  not  only  our  sailors,  but  even  our  ships  were  ruthlessly 
seized  by  the  British,3  even  Jefferson  could  endure  it  no  longer. 
And  still  he  was  for  peace.  Instead  of  threatening  war,  he  quietly 
sent  James  Monroe  and  William  Pinkney  to  London  to  make  a 
treaty  in  place  of  the  portions  of  the  Jay  Treaty  which  had  expired. 
A  treaty  was  soon  framed,  and  it  reached  America  in  the  spring  of 

1  Schouler,  Vol.  II,  p.  102. 

2  A  few  years  later  the  United   States  actually  seized  West  Florida ;  but  the 
occupation  was  not  considered  legal  by  foreign  powers.    In  1819,  when  Spain  ceded 
Florida  to  the  United  States,  West  Florida  was   included  in  the  cession,  and  the 
United  States  accepted  it  in  order  to  gain  a  legal  title. 

3  Within  three  years,  ending  with  1807,  349  American  ships  were  captured  by  the 
British.    Gordy,  Vol.  I,  p.  440. 


THE  LEOPARD  AND  THE  CHESAPEAKE        397 

1807 ;  but  as  the  English  ministry  had  refused  to  renounce  the  right 
of  search,  —  and  to  secure  this  had  been  the  chief  object 
in  sending  the  two  men  to  London,  —  Jefferson  rejected     -eat/d 
the  treaty  without  sending  it  to  the  Senate. 

Before  midsummer  of  that  year  an  event  occurred  that  stirred 
American  society  as  it  had  not  been  stirred  since  the  days  of  the  Revo 
lution.  It  is  known  as  the  affair  of  the  Leopard  and  the  Chesapeake. 

Three  men  had  deserted  from  the  Melapus,  an  English  vessel, 
and  had  enlisted  in  the  Chesapeake,  a  United  States  frigate  of 
thirty-eight  guns,  then  fitting  out  for  the  Mediterranean  under  Com 
modore  Barron.  The  British  minister,  Erskine,  requested  their  sur 
render  ;  but  Jefferson  refused,  because,  first,  England  had  declined 
to  arrange  for  the  surrender  of  deserters,  and  second,  the  three  men,1 
as  the  President  believed,  and  as  was  afterward  proved,  were  all 
American  born,  two  of  whom  had  been  wrongfully  impressed  from 
an  American  vessel  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  Upon  this  Admiral 
Berkeley,  British  commander  in  American  waters,  issued  from  Hali 
fax  an  order  commanding  the  British  captains  to  search  the  Chesa 
peake  and  take  the  men  by  force. 

A  few  weeks  later  the  Chesapeake  dropped  down  to  Hampton 
Roads  and  put  to  sea.  At  the  same  time  the  Leopard,  an  English 
two-decker  of  fifty  guns,  stood  out  to  sea.  She  then  TheZeopard 
bore  down  upon  the  Chesapeake,  and  her  commander  and  the  Ches- 
demanded  the  surrender  of  the  three  deserters,  produc-  «pea£e,  1807. 
ing  at  the  same  time  Berkeley's  order  to  search  the  American  vessel 
in  case  of  refusal.  Barron  replied  that  he  had  no  knowledge  of 
such  deserters,  and  that  the  crew  of  a  United  States  war  vessel  could 
be  mustered  by  their  own  officers  alone.  The  captain  of  the  Leopard 
then  shouted  through  a  trumpet,  "Commodore  Barron  must  be 
aware  that  the  orders  of  the  admiral  must  be  obeyed."  Next  came 
a  solid  shot  across  the  bow  of  the  Chesapeake,  and  another;  and 
these  were  followed  by  a  broadside.  Barron  was  utterly  surprised. 
He  was  unprepared  to  return  the  compliment,  and  after  twelve 
minutes  of  a  raking  fire,  three  of  his  crew  lying  dead  upon  the  deck 
and  eighteen  wounded,  he  hauled  down  the  American  flag  and  sur 
rendered  his  vessel.  The  crew  was  now  mustered  before  the  British 
officers,  and  the  three  deserters  from  the  Melapus  were  secured.^ 

1  All  three  were  colored  men. 

2  Two  other  men,  real  deserters  from  the  British  service,  were  also  taken.     One 
of  them,  named  Ratford,   was  afterward   hanged   at  Halifax.     The  colored  men 
were  reprieved  on  their  promise  to  reeuter  the  British  service.    More  than  a  year 


396  HISTOKY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

lain  for  fifteen  months  in  a  British  prison,  and  had  lost  his  estate 
by  means  of  the  war.  He  wrote  a  bitter  complaint  to  Congress, 
stating  that  if  this  was  the  kind  of  liberty  he  had  gained,  he  had 
rather  be  without  it.1 

These  two  questions  —  England's  decision  concerning  the  trade 
of  neutrals,  and  the  impressment  of  seamen —  called  from  Jefferson  a 
special  message  to  Congress,  reciting  these  wrongs  ;  and  this  was  fol 
lowed  two  months  later  by  a  non-importation  act,  limiting  our  trade 
with  Great  Britain.  This  measure  passed  in  spite  of  the  deter 
mined  opposition  of  the  erratic,  sarcastic  John  Randolph,  who  had 
broken  friendship  with  the  administration.  Randolph  made  a  pow 
erful  speech,  and  pointed  out  one  great  fact  that  many  had  not 
yet  seen,  namely,  that  Great  Britain  was  now  really  fighting  for 
liberty,  that  she  was  the  only  remaining  obstacle  in  the  path  of  the 
ambition  of  that  mighty  despot  who  had  risen  in  France. 

Even  President  Jefferson  seemed  to  be  cringing  before  the  French 
Emperor.  At  Napoleon's  command  he  abandoned  the  American 
claims  against  the  court  of  Spain,  and  forbade  American  vessels 
to  trade  with  the  rebellious  French  colony  of  Santo  Domingo. 
Why  ?  Not  from  fear,  but  because  his  heart  was  set  on  obtaining 
West  Florida,  and  he  knew  that  Bonaparte  alone  could  grant  his 
wishes  or  deny  them.  The  latter,  knowing  Jefferson's  desires, 
played  upon  this  string  for  several  years  ;  when  he  wished  some 
humiliating  service  from  the  American  President,  he  held  up  the 
prize  before  his  eyes,  then  again  he  would  withdraw  it.2  At  length 
Jefferson  grew  impatient  and  threatened  an  alliance  with  England, 
ignoring  the  fact  that  the  impressment  business  was  increasing. 
But  when  the  Rule  of  1756  was  revived  by  the  British  government, 
and  when  not  only  our  sailors,  but  even  our  ships  were  ruthlessly 
seized  by  the  British,3  even  Jefferson  could  endure  it  no  longer. 
And  still  he  was  for  peace.  Instead  of  threatening  war,  he  quietly 
sent  James  Monroe  and  William  Pinkney  to  London  to  make  a 
treaty  in  place  of  the  portions  of  the  Jay  Treaty  which  had  expired. 
A  treaty  was  soon  framed,  and  it  reached  America  in  the  spring  of 

1  Schouler,  Vol.  II,  p.  102. 

2  A  few  years  later  the  United   States  actually  seized  West  Florida ;  but  the 
occupation  was  not  considered  legal  by  foreign  powers.     In  1819,  when  Spain  ceded 
Florida  to  the  United  States,  West  Florida  was   included  in  the  cession,  and  the 
United  States  accepted  it  in  order  to  gain  a  legal  title. 

3  Within  three  years,  ending  with  1807,  349  American  ships  were  captured  by  the 
British.     Gordy,  Vol.  I,  p.  440. 


THE  LEOPARD  AND  THE  CHESAPEAKE        397 

1807  j  but  as  the  English  ministry  had  refused  to  renounce  the  right 
of  search,  —  and  to  secure  this  had  been  the  chief  object 
in  sending  the  two  men  to  London,  —  Jefferson  rejected 
the  treaty  without  sending  it  to  the  Senate. 

Before  midsummer  of  that  year  an  event  occurred  that  stirred 
American  society  as  it  had  not  been  stirred  since  the  days  of  the  Revo 
lution.  It  is  known  as  the  affair  of  the  Leopard  and  the  Chesapeake. 

Three  men  had  deserted  from  the  Melapus,  an  English  vessel, 
and  had  enlisted  in  the  Chesapeake,  a  United  States  frigate  of 
thirty-eight  guns,  then  fitting  out  for  the  Mediterranean  under  Com 
modore  Barren.  The  British  minister,  Erskine,  requested  their  sur 
render  j  but  Jefferson  refused,  because,  first,  England  had  declined 
to  arrange  for  the  surrender  of  deserters,  and  second,  the  three  men,1 
as  the  President  believed,  and  as  was  afterward  proved,  were  all 
American  born,  two  of  whom  had  been  wrongfully  impressed  from 
an  American  vessel  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  Upon  this  Admiral 
Berkeley,  British  commander  in  American  waters,  issued  from  Hali 
fax  an  order  commanding  the  British  captains  to  search  the  Chesa 
peake  and  take  the  men  by  force. 

A  few  weeks  later  the  Chesapeake  dropped  down  to  Hampton 
Roads  and  put  to  sea.  At  the  same  time  the  Leopard,  an  English 
two-decker  of  fifty  guns,  stood  out  to  sea.  She  then  The  Leopard 
bore  down  upon  the  Chesapeake,  and  her  commander  and  the  Ches- 
demanded  the  surrender  of  the  three  deserters,  produc-  aPea^e>  1807. 
ing  at  the  same  time  Berkeley's  order  to  search  the  American  vessel 
in  case  of  refusal.  Barren  replied  that  he  had  no  knowledge  of 
such  deserters,  and  that  the  crew  of  a  United  States  war  vessel  could 
be  mustered  by  their  own  officers  alone.  The  captain  of  the  Leopard 
then  shouted  through  a  trumpet,  "  Commodore  Barren  must  be 
aware  that  the  orders  of  the  admiral  must  be  obeyed."  Xext  came 
a  solid  shot  across  the  bow  of  the  Chesapeake,  and  another;  and 
these  were  followed  by  a  broadside.  Barron  was  utterly  surprised. 
He  was  unprepared  to  return  the  compliment,  and  after  twelve 
minutes  of  a  raking  fire,  three  of  his  crew  lying  dead  upon  the  deck 
and  eighteen  wounded,  he  hauled  down  the  American  flag  and  sur 
rendered  his  vessel.  The  crew  was  now  mustered  before  the  British 
officers,  and  the  three  deserters  from  the  Melapus  were  secured.* 

1  All  three  were  colored  men. 

2  Two  other  men,  real  deserters  from  the  British  service,  were  also  taken.     One 
of  them,  named  Ratford,   was  afterward  hanged   at  Halifax.     The   colored  men 
were  reprieved  011  their  promise  to  reeuter  the  British  service.    More  than  a  year 


398  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Hitherto  only  merchantmen  were  overhauled  at  sea  by  British 
captains ;  but  here  was  an  attack  on  a  United  States  war  vessel,  which 
represented  the  sovereignty  of  the  nation.  The  people  of  the  whole 
country,  including  the  Federalists,  flared  up  with  indignation,  and 
there  was  scarcely  a  city  or  a  town  in  the  Union  that  did  not  pass 
resolutions  denouncing  the  attack  as  a  dastardly  outrage.  Jefferson 
issued  a  proclamation  ordering  all  English  cruisers  to  leave  Ameri 
can  waters,  and  a  demand  was  made  upon  Great  Britain  to  disavow 
the  act  and  to  make  reparation.  The  British  ministry  promptly  dis 
avowed  the  attack  and  sent  George  Eose  to  make  reparation;  but  his 
instructions  were  such  that  the  United  States  refused  to  treat  with 
him.  He  was  instructed  to  demand  the  recall  of  the  President's 
message  and  the  punishment  of  Commodore  Barren  for  receiving 
the  deserters.  His  mission  came  to  naught,  and  the  matter  hung 
fire  for  several  years.1  Barren  was  afterwards  punished  with  five 
years'  suspension  from  service,  not  for  receiving  the  deserters,  but 
for  neglect  of  duty  in  not  being  ready  to  defend  the  Chesapeake. 

FRENCH   DECREES  AND   ENGLISH  ORDERS  IN  COUNCIL 

The  war  now  raging  in  Europe  was  tremendous.  The  British 
nation  was  superior  to  the  French,  and  would  have  crushed  it 
but  for  the  genius  of  one  man,  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  This  wonder 
ful  man  Jiad  laid  Europe  at  his  feet,  and  had  boasted  that  his 
will  should  be  the  law  of  the  world.  He  even  had  the  temerity 
to  dispute  the  dominion  of  the  sea  with  the  powerful  navy  of  Eng 
land ;  but  his  hopes,  in  this  line,  were  utterly  crushed  in  1805 
by  the  victory  of  Nelson  at  Trafalgar.  Even  this  seemed  riot  to 
daunt  Napoleon  in  his  vast  plans ;  he  rose  above  this  defeat  with 
the  audacity  of  genius.  He  overthrew  the  Austrians  at  Ulm  and 
Austerlitz,  and  the  Prussians  at  Jena;  and  he  now  determined  to 
starve  the  island  kingdom  by  closing  its  ports  to  the  commerce  of 
BerlinDecree  ^he  world.  He  issued  from  Berlin,  Germany,  the  "Ber- 
November  '  lin  Decree,"  declaring  the  British  Isles  in  a  state  of 
21, 1806.  blockade,  making  prize  of  war  all  merchandise  pro 
duced  by  England  or  her  colonies,  and  declaring  that  no  ship  that 

before  this,  a  shot  from  the  British  ship  Leander,  in  the  New  York  harbor,  killed  a 
man  on  an  unoffending  coaster.  This  had.  caused  great  excitement,  but  nothing  to 
compare  with  that  caused  by  the  Leopard. 

1  Five  years  after  this  occurrence  the  three  impressed  Americans  were  replaced 
on  the  deck  of  the  Chesapeake. 


RELATIONS   WITH  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND  399 

touched  at  an  English  port  should  be  admitted  to  a  port  of  France 
or  her  allies.1 

The  news  of  this  decree  reached  England  at  the  moment  when 
Monroe  and  Pinckney  were  about  to  sign  their  tentative  treaty  with 
that  country;  and  the  English  agents  now  appended  to  order  in  Coun- 
the  treaty  a  protest  against  the  decree  of  Napoleon,  and  cil,  January 
v  reserved  the  right  of  the  British  government  to  retaliate  7, 1807. 
\in  case  neutral  nations  submitted  to  it.  For  taking  such  a  position 
'  England  could  not  be  blamed ;  but  far  otherwise  was  her  action  a 
week  later.  Without  waiting  to  see  what  "  neutral  nations,"  which 
meant  the  United  States,  would  do,  she  issued  an  Order  in  Council, 
closing  to  neutrals  all  ports  under  French  control.  This  order,  with 
the  Berlin  Decree,  struck  a  terrible  blow  at  American  commerce ; 
but  this  was  not  all.  Late  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  (1807), 
while  the  American  people  were  still  raving  over  the  Chesapeake 
affair,  the  English  issued  an  Order  in  Council  which  was  a  violation 
of  international  law,  and  which  struck  at  the  very  foundations  of 
American  sovereignty.  By  this  order  any  neutral  vessel  trading  at 
a  European  port  from  which  British  ships  were  excluded  was  required 
first  to  stop  at  an  English  port  and  pay  a  duty,  and  this  must  be 
repeated  on  the  return  voyage.  The  object  of  this  order,  as  acknowl 
edged  by  the  English  premier,  was  not  simply  to  cripple  Napoleon, 
but  to  protect  British  trade  from  the  rising  commercial  power  of  the 
United  States.  No  self-respecting  people  could  obey  such  a  decree, 
and  it  is  certain  that  this  order  would  not  have  been  issued  had  our 
country  then  been  able  to  protect  itself  against  all  comers. 

Napoleon  waited  but  a  few  weeks  after  this  order  was  issued 

before  sending  forth  from  Milan,  in  retaliation,  one  of  . 

,  .     ,  ,     ,     .  iv-        Milan  Decree. 

his  famous  decrees,  declaring  that  any  vessel  having 

been  searched  or  having  paid  a  tax  at  a  British  port,  might  be  seized 
in  any  French  port  as  a  lawful  prize. 

These  orders  and  decrees  were  aimed  at  America  as  the  only 
neutral  worth  considering ;  not  that  either  of  the  great  belligerents 
wished  to  provoke  America  to  war,  nor  that  either  bore  malice  toward 
the  American  people  or  government.  But  it  is  true  that  each  sought 
to  draw  the  United  States  into  a  war  with  the  other,  and  failing  in 

1  This  was  part  of  his  so-called  "Continental  System,"  a  combining  of  the 
continental  powers  to  break  down  England.  This  decree  had  been  preceded  by 
Napoleon's  closing  the  ports  of  Bremen  and  Hamburg  to  British  commerce,  and  by 
England's  declaring  a  blockade  of  the  coast  from  Brest  to  the  Elbe,  May,  1806. 


400  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

this  each  showed  a  contempt  for  American  rights  that  would  not 
have  been  shown  toward  a  first-class  power. 

What  now  could  America  do  ?  Three  ways  were  open :  first,  to 
ignore  the  French  decrees  and  the  English  orders,  but  this  would  have 
resulted  in  an  alarming  destruction  of  American  shipping  and  practi 
cally  in  sweeping  it  from  the  seas ;  second,  to  make  war  on  both 
France  and  England,  the  two  most  powerful  nations  of  the  earth,  and 
this  might  have  resulted  in  the  downfall  of  the  Republic  while  still 
in  its  youth ;  third,  to  refuse  to  trade  with  either  of  the  offending 
powers,  and  this  at  the  cost  of  ruining  thousands  of  our  merchants, 
and  throwing  tens  of  thousands  of  sailors  and  laborers  out  of  employ 
ment.  Which  road  should  be  chosen  ?  Jefferson  was  preeminently 
a  man  of  peace ;  he  had  a  mortal  fear  of  a  national  debt  and  of  en 
dangering  liberty  by  strengthening  the  union.  And  besides,  Jeffer 
son  had  a  theory,  an  original  theory,  and  here  was  his  opportunity 
to  give  it  a  trial.  He  believed  that  the  nations  of  the  world  would 
live  at  peace  with  us  from  motives  of  self-interest ;  that  these  two 
would  rescind  their  hateful  decrees  rather  than  lose  American  trade. 
Offer  a  bone  to  two  bull-dogs  fighting,  and  they  will  take  little  notice 
of  the  bone ;  they  will  still  fight.  So  with  France  and  England. 
Their  struggle  was  a  death  struggle,  and  they  could  not  turn  aside 
for  the  little  that  America  had  to  offer.  Jefferson  had  this  yet  to 
learn,  and  he  had  to  learn  it  by  experience.  He  chose  the  third 
mentioned  of  the  three  ways.  He  chose  not  to  trade  with  the  offend 
ing  powers  —  to  lay  an  embargo  on  American  commerce. 

THE  EMBARGO 

On  the  22d  of  December,  1807,  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
measures  in  the  annals  of  Congress  was  enacted  into  law,  in  accord 
ance  with  a  secret  message  of  the  President ;  and  the  fact  that  a 
measure  so  undemocratic  in  its  nature  and  so  extraordinary  in  its 
requirements  passed  both  houses  by  great  majorities,  and  almost 
without  debate,  showed  the  wonderful  power  with  which  the  Presi 
dent  still  swayed  his  party.  This  was  the  most  rigorous  and  arbi 
trary  piece  of  national  legislation,  as  regards  private  property,  ever 
enacted  in  the  United  States.1  By  this  law  an  embargo  was  laid,  for 
an  indefinite  time,  on  all  foreign  commerce,  and  by  it  every  man  in 

1  There  were  other  embargoes  at  other  times,  but  they  were  always  limited  to  a 
definite  time,  a  very  few  months. 


JEFFERSON'S   EMBARGO  401 

the  country  engaged  in  foreign  trade  was  deprived  of  his  occupation. 
Except  among  the  few  remaining  Federalists,  the  embargo  was  well 
received  at  first.  But  it  was  not  long  before  the  coasting  vessels, 
which  were  not  inhibited  by  the  act,  were  engaged  in  smuggling 
goods  into  Canada  and  into  Spanish  Florida,  and  indeed  many  of 
them  sailed  to  transatlantic  ports.  This  led  to  a  supplementary 
act  in  January,  by  which  coasters  were  put  under  heavy  bonds  and 
made  subject  to  severe  penalties.  Other  supplementary  acts  were 
passed  from  time  to  time,  each  more  severe  than  the  preceding, 
until  at  length  all  foreign  trade  by  land  or  sea  was  made  illegal.  As 
the  summer  of  1808  passed,  and  the  people  saw  that  neither  France 
nor  England  gave  any  sign  of  yielding,  the  embargo  became  very 
unpopular,  and  they  did  everything  possible  to  evade  the  law.  They 
traded  with  France  through  Florida  and  with  England  through 
Canada.  Barrels  of  flour  in  stacks  wrere  placed  on  a  hillside  near 
the  Canadian  boundary  line,  when  "  accidentally  "  they  were  started 
rolling  across  the  line  until  all  were  safe  on  Canadian  soil.  The 
people,  especially  in  New  England,  threatened  rebellion  and  disunion. 
Jefferson  exhibited  wonderful  courage  and  vigor  in  carrying  out  his 
measure.  He  placed  troops  along  the  Canadian  border ;  he  patrolled 
the  Atlantic  coast  with  gunboats  and  frigates ;  he  enjoined  the  gov 
ernors  of  states  to  call  out  the  militia  to  enforce  the  law  where  neces 
sary.  The  scene  was  a  distressing  one.  Ships  lay  rotting  in  the 
harbors.  Wheat,  corn,  cotton,  tobacco,  and  other  articles  of  produce 
were  piled  in  the  barns  of  the  northern  farmer  and  the  southern 
planter  and  along  the  wharves  of  every  seaport. 

After  the  embargo  had  operated  for  more  than  a  year,  and  still 
there  were  many  evasions  of  the  law,  an  Enforcing  Act  was  passed 
by  Congress.  By  this  law  no  coasting  vessel  could  be 
loaded  until  the  owner  had  given  a  bond  for  six  times  the 
value  of  the  ship  and  the  proposed  cargo ;  any  produce 
being  moved  "apparently"  toward  foreign  territory  was  subject  to 
seizure,  and  the  officials  were  to  be  supported  by  the  army  and  navy- 
of  the  United  States.  Such  legislation  was  drastic  in  the  extreme ; 
yet  Jefferson  did  not  shrink  for  an  instant  from  putting  it  into 
operation.  But  his  great  popularity  was  on  the  wane.  The  South 
bore  its  burden  with  scarcely  a  murmur ;  but  in  New  York  and 
New  England,  where  his  hand  fell  more  heavily,  the  President  was 
denounced  as  a  ruthless  tyrant.  When  the  Embargo  Act  was  first 
passed,  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  was  Democratic,  and  it  pro- 

2D 


402  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

nounced  the  act  a  "  wise  and  highly  expedient  measure."  But  the 
Federalists  now  had  control  of  the  legislature,  and  it  denounced 
the  embargo  in  unsparing  terms.  So  in  Delaware,  Connecticut, 
and  Rhode  Island.1  Jefferson  was  not  insensible  to  these  denun 
ciations.  His  second  term  was  about  to  close,  and  he  longed  for 
the  time  when  he  could  lay  aside  the  burdens  of  public  life.  The 
one  desire  of  his  heart  now  was  to  continue  the  embargo  till  the 
close  of  his  term  of  office.  The  country  was  not  ready  for  war,  and 
to  lift  the  embargo  without  declaring  war  was  to  acknowledge  the 
defeat  and  failure  of  the  whole  scheme.  But  the  pressure  was  too 
great,  and  six  days  before  Jefferson  retired  from  office  he  signed 
an  act  repealing  the  Embargo  Act,  and  on  the  day  of  the  inaugura 
tion  of  James  Madison  the  period  of  the  odious  law  came  to  an  end. 
In  place  of  it,  however,  an  act  of  non-intercourse  with  France  and 
Great  Britain  was  passed. 

Most  historians  regard  the  planning  and  carrying  out  of  the 
embargo  the  great  blunder  of  Jefferson's  life.  To  this  opinion  we 
cannot  fully  subscribe.  It  was  a  drastic  measure,  it  is  true,  and  it 
scattered  to  the  winds  Jefferson's  old  strict  construction  theories; 
it  brought  ruin  to  thousands  of  honest  business  men ;  it  emptied  the 
treasury,  and  paralyzed  the  energy  of  the  nation  ;  it  almost  overthrew 
the  Democratic  party,  and  threatened  the  foundations  of  the  Repub 
lic  ;  but  it  was  a  last  resort  to  avoid  war,  and  with  all  its  disastrous 
effects  it  was  no  doubt  better  than  a  war  with  both  France  and  Eng 
land.  It  was  an  experiment,  and  experiments  are  often  useful,  even 
though  they  fail.  It  taught  the  people  not  to  rely  on  commercial 
restrictions,  and  such  a  lesson  was  needed.  Jefferson  saw  many  of 
his  best  friends  alienated;  he  saw  his  popularity  waning  and  his 
fortune  in  Virginia  greatly  impaired ;  but  he  never  wavered  in  his 
self-chosen  duty. 

The  effect  of  the  embargo  on  France  was  very  slight.  It  even 
brought  from  Napoleon  the  Bayonne  Decree,  ordering  the  seizure  of 
all  American  ships  found  in  French,  Spanish,  or  Italian  waters.  He 
explained  that,  as  American  vessels  were  forbidden  to  leave  their 
own  ports,  he  was  only  assisting  Jefferson  to  enforce  the  embargo. 
As  a  result  of  this  kindly  act,  Napoleon  was  enabled  to  seize  and  con 
fiscate  over  two  hundred  American  ships. 

The  effect  of  the  embargo  on  England  was  more  marked,  but  not 
so  marked  as  had  been  hoped.  It  brought  great  suffering  to  the  poor 
i  State  Documents,  edited  by  H.  V.  Ames,  No.  1,  pp.  26-42. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON  403 


in  the  manufacturing  cities ;  but  it  proved  an  advantage  to  shipping 
interests  and  to  land  owners,  whose  crops  brought  double  their  usual 
prices.  But  England  suffered  a  permanent  loss  from  the  fact  that 
the  embargo  turned  the  people  of  New  England  to  manufacturing, 
and  from  this  small  beginning  that  branch  of  industry  has  grown 
until  the  New  World  rivals  the  Old  in  manufactories. 

CHARACTER  OF  JEFFERSON 

Of  all  the  public  characters  in  our  early  history,  Jefferson  is  the 
most  difficult  to  classify.  He  was  many-sided,  and  his  public  life 
was  full  of  contradictions.1  He  had  organized  a  new  party  as  the 
champion  of  the  people's  liberty,  and  as  a  state-rights  Republican; 
but  no  other  President  interfered  so  much  with  personal  liberty,  and 
few  have  come  so  near  to  driving  the  states  into  open  rebellion.2 
These  conditions,  however,  were  brought  about  by  foreign  wars,  and 
had  no  place  in  Jeifer son's  original  purpose.  His  enemies  pronounced 
Jefferson  a  doctrinaire  and  an  impractical  idealist,  and  they  were  in 
some  measure  right.  In  consequence  of  his  ideals,  which  he  attempted 
to  carry  out  in  practice,  he  made  many  blunders.  His  statesmanship 
was  far-sighted  in  its  ultimate  aims,  but  not  always  so  in  its  means 
of  attaining  an  end.  His  dread  of  a  national  debt  was  almost  child 
ish  ;  his  no-army  and  no-navy  theories  were  centuries  in  advance  of 
his  age. 

Two  theories  had  this  dreamer,  Thomas  Jefferson.  Both  were 
vast  in  scope  and  revolutionary  in  the  world  of  human  government. 
To  carry  out  these  two  he  devoted  his  life,  and  on  these  he  staked 
his  reputation.  One  was  his  belief  that  the  nations  can  live  in  har 
mony  —  without  war.  In  this  belief  he  destroyed  his  ships  and  dis 
banded  his  armies.  In  this  belief  he  sacrificed  his  popularity,  his 
fortune,  and  his  friends.  What  a  sublime  and  admirable  confidence 
in  an  untried  theory !  Jefferson  failed  in  this,  and  the  bitterness  of 
his  disappointment  was  known  only  to  his  own  soul.  A  century  has 
passed  since  then,  and  Jefferson's  dream  is  still  a  dream.  But  the 
time  will  come  —  we  hope  it  will  come  —  when  human  warfare  will 
be  a  thing  of  the  past ;  when  armies  and  navies  will  be  needed  no 
longer ;  when  an  enlightened  race  will  reject  the  barbarous  methods 
of  a  crude  civilization  of  by-gone  ages  —  and  then  the  fame  of  Jeffer- 

1  Henry  Adams,  Vol.  I,  p.  277. 
.,  Vol.  IV,  p.  454. 


404  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

son  will  reach  its  zenith ;  then  he  will  be  remembered  as  a  voice  cry 
ing  in  the  wilderness. 

The  other  principle  to  which  the  genius  of  Jefferson  was  devoted 
may  be  expressed  in  the  one  word  —  "  Democracy."  This  was  his 
chief  idol,  and  without  this  his  type  of  statesmanship  had  no  excuse 
for  existing.  The  claim,  made  by  many,  that  state  rights  was  a  car 
dinal  object  of  Jefferson's  devotion,  is  erroneous.  He  was  a  strong 
friend  of  state  rights,  it  is  true,  not  from  state  pride,  nor  from  a 
local  and  limited  patriotism ;  but  because  he  saw,  and  was  the  first 
to  see,  that  the  power  of  the  states  was  the  most  promising  safe 
guard  against  the  threatened  encroachment  of  the  national  govern 
ment.  State  rights  was  therefore  but  a  means  to  an  end  with 
Jefferson.  Why  should  he  care  more  for  state  rights  than  for 
county  rights  or  township  rights,  except  in  so  far  as  they  promoted 
the  great  object  for  which  he  entered  public  life  —  to  secure  the 
rule  of  the  democracy  ? 

Again,  Jefferson  had  founded  his  party  on  the  theory  of  strict 
construction,  and  to  this  day  shallow  historians  assert  that  he  failed 
in  the  great  aim  of  his  life,  because  he  gradually  abandoned  his 
theory  of  constitutional  interpretation  and  adopted  the  old  Federal 
doctrine  of  loose  construction.  In  sober  truth,  Jefferson  cared 
nothing  for  strict  construction.  It  was  to  him,  like  state  rights, 
only  a  tool,  a  weapon,  the  means  of  gaining  an  end,  and  that  end 
was  the  triumph  of  Democracy.  I  may  even  go  farther  and  say 
that  Jefferson  was  not  an  enemy  to  a  strong  central  government. 
His  life-work  bears  out  this  statement,  though  his  words  often  con 
tradict  it.  He  first  opposed  a  strong  government  because  he  feared 
that  it  would  foster  class  rule,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  masses,  and 
his  life  struggle  was  against  class  rule.  No  longer  did  Jefferson 
oppose  a  strong  government  when  it  was  the  creation  of  the  people, 
and  existed  at  their  pleasure  and  for  their  good ;  but  he  was  an 
unrelenting  foe  to  such  a  government  by  any  power  except  the 
power  of  those  who  were  to  be  governed.  Jefferson  studied  into 
the  European  monarchies  till  his  heart  was  sick  with  loathing  at 
their  corruptions  and  their  tyrannies.  He  believed  that  the  human 
mind  was  dwarfed  by  over-government  and  oppression,  and  that  the 
remedy  lay  in  self-government. 

So  great  was  Jefferson's  popularity  at  times  that  many  were  led 
to  believe  that  his  chief  object  was  to  win  popular  applause,  rather 
than  to  serve  his  country.  Let  us  examine.  If  devoted  to  self- 


CHARACTER   OF   JEFFERSON  405 

interest,  why  did  he,  an  eldest  son,  abolish  the  law  of  entail  and  of 
primogeniture  in  Virginia  ?  Why  did  he,  a  slaveholder,  oppose 
slavery  all  his  life  ?  If  a  seeker  of  popular  applause,  why  did  he 
appear  in  no  northern  city  during  the  last  thirty  years  of  his  life, 
including  his  entire  presidency?  Why  did  he  suppress  the  date 
of  his  own  birth  in  order  to  abolish  the  monarchical  practice,  as  he 
termed  it,  of  celebrating  the  birthdays  of  public  men  ?  These  are 
not  the  acts  of  a  time  server  or  a  self  seeker.1 

Jefferson,  on  becoming  President,  could  not  always  carry  out  his 
theories,  and  he  often  found  himself  standing  on  old  Federalist 
ground.  He  became  nationalized  by  the  responsibility  of  power. 
His  statement,  that  the  chief  object  of  government  was  to  restrain 
men  from  injuring  one  another,  had  to  be  modified ;  but  this  did  not 
indicate  a  change  of  principles  ;  it  was  a  rising  to  an  emergency,  an 
adjusting  of  his  sails  to  the  veering  of  the  wind.  With  all  his 
changing  he  never  changed  in  the  one  thing,  the  idol  of  his  heart, 
the  passion  of  his  life,  —  his  desire  for  a  rule  of  the  democracy.  To 
this  principle  he  was  as  constant  as  the  northern  star. 

Democracy  has  won  in  the  United  States,  and  the  spirit  of  its 
founder  lives  in  all  our  political  parties.  He  has  stamped  his 
individuality  on  the  American  government  more  than  any  other 
man.  Democracy  is  supreme  in  this  country.  In  all  matters  of 
government  the  people  rule,  except  where  their  own  lethargy  has 
suffered  the  political  boss  to  gain  a  temporary  ascendency.  If 
combinations  of  wealth  or  other  interests  gain  control  of  the  govern 
ment,  it  is  because  the  people  do  not  use  the  machinery  that  is  in 
their  hands.  We  have  also  nationality,  strong  and  firm;  but  this 
has  its  being  only  at  the  will  of  the  democracy.  All  constitutions, 
laws,  congresses,  and  courts  are  subject  to  this  great,  final,  national 
tribunal  —  the  People.  No  statesman  can  rise  above  and  disregard 
this  power ;  no  act  of  Congress  is  so  stable  that  it  may  not  be  ground 
to  powder  by  the  ponderous  weight  of  public  opinion.  This  vast 
being,  the  Public,  has  discovered  his  strength,  and  it  was  Thomas 
Jefferson  above  all  men  who  awakened  him  to  self-consciousness. 

NOTES 

Jefferson's  Religion  and  Learning.  —  There  has  been  much  dispute  about 
the  religious  belief  of  President  Jefferson.  Many  of  his  contemporaries  were  of 
the  opinion  that  he  was  an  atheist,  or  at  least  an  infidel ;  but  this  was  erroneous, 

1  This  thought  is  suggested  by  Henry  Adams. 


400  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

and  it  had  its  origin  in  the  part  he  played  in  disestablishing  the  church  in 
Virginia,  and  in  certain  excerpts  from  his  writings.  While  Jefferson  was  a 
vestryman  in  the  Episcopal  church  for  many  years,  to  the  time  of  his  death,  he 
was  very  broad  in  his  religious  views,  and  made  no  quarrel  with  his  neighbor 
for  believing  u  in  one  God  or  twenty  gods."  He  had  no  patience  with  Puritan 
ism,  and  his  strife  with  the  New  England  clergy  ended  only  with  his  public  life. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  sincere  and  even  devout.  He  pronounced  Chris 
tianity  the  purest  and  sublimest  system  of  morals  ever  delivered  to  man.  To 
John  Adams  he  wrote  :  "  An  atheist  I  can  never  be.  I  am  a  Christian  in  the 
only  sense  Christ  ever  wished  one  to  be."  He  was  probably  a  Unitarian  in 
belief.  He  was  doubtless  a  man  of  pure  morals,  notwithstanding  the  attacks  of 
some  of  his  enemies. 

Jefferson  was  very  studious.  His  learning  was  remarkable  for  its  compass, 
and  could  scarcely  be  equaled  in  his  times.  It  was  said  that  he  "  could  calcu 
late  an  eclipse,  survey  an  estate,  tie  an  artery,  plan  an  edifice,  try  a  cause,  break 
a  horse,  dance  a  minuet,  and  play  the  violin."  One  of  his  biographers  quotes  a 
northern  man  who  spoke  thus  of  Jefferson  :  "  When  he  spoke  of  law,  I  thought 
he  was  a  lawyer ;  when  he  talked  about  mechanics,  I  was  sure  he  was  an  en 
gineer  ;  when  he  got  into  medicine,  it  was  evident  that  he  was  a  physician ; 
when  he  discussed  theology,  I  was  convinced  that  he  must  be  a  clergyman  ; 
when  he  talked  literature,  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  had  run  against  a  college 
professor  who  knew  everything."  Even  Buffon,  the  naturalist,  wrote  him,  "I 
should  have  consulted  you  before  publishing  rny  natural  history,  and  then  I 
should  have  been  sure  of  the  facts." 

Theodosia  Burr.  —  There  was  one  pathetic  vein  that  ran  like  a  scarlet  thread 
through  the  strange  career  of  Aaron  Burr  —  his  relations  to  his  daughter.  His 
wife  had  died  young  and  had  left  him  this  beautiful  child,  Theodosia,  who 
reigned  over  his  home  like  a  princess  and  grew  into  a  queenly  woman.  Her 
mental  endowments  were  unusual.  She  believed  her  father  the  most  perfect  of 
men,  and  never  seemed  to  doubt  the  honesty  and  sincerity  of  his  motives.  At 
Richmond  she  followed  the  trial  with  the  keenness  of  a  trained  lawyer,  and  won 
the  admiration  of  every  one  that  came  within  her  influence.  When  all  others 
execrated  her  father  as  a  villain,  she  clung  to  him  with  the  greater  devotion. 
While  he  was  in  Europe,  she  wrote  :  "I  witness  your  extraordinary  fortitude 
with  new  wonder  at  every  new  misfortune.  .  .  .  My  vanity  would  be  greater 
if  I  had  not  been  placed  so  near  you,  and  yet  my  pride  is  our  relationship." 
On  Burr's  return  to  America,  Theodosia  left  her  southern  home  to  fly  to  his 
arms.  She  was  in  mourning  for  her  only  child,  a  bright  and  promising  boy,  who 
had  recently  died  and,  like  Rachel,  she  refused  to  be  comforted.  She  embarked 
on  the  sea  at  Charleston,  and  her  father  watched  and  longed  with  painful  anxi 
ety  for  the  coming  of  his  one  remaining  friend,  whose  faith  in  him  had  never 
faltered.  But  he  waited  in  vain.  The  ship  was  lost  upon  the  ocean,  and  not 
a  life  was  saved.  When  Burr  realized  that  his  faithful  daughter  had  found  a 
grave  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  his  own  utter  loneliness,  his  grief  was  almost 
unbearable  ;  yet  he  suppressed  it  with  wonderful  self-control.  He  lived  beyond 
his  fourscore  years,  dying  in  1836,  and  was  buried  with  his  fathers  at  Princeton, 
New  Jersey.  His  father,  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  had  been  president  of  Princeton 


NOTES  407 


College,  and  his  mother  was  a  daughter  of  the  great  Puritan  divine,  Jonathan 
Edwards. 

Impressment  of  Seamen. — The  insolent  methods  often  employed  by  Eng 
lish  shipmasters  in  searching  American  vessels,  and  their  indiscriminate  reckless 
ness,  which  resulted  in  their  seizing  many  who  were  not  British  subjects,  were 
exasperating  in  the  extreme,  and  cannot  be  condoned.  But  it  is  a  mistake  to 
believe  that  the  British  government  maintained  the  right  of  impressing  seamen 
simply  to  annoy  the  United  States.  This  is  far  from  the  truth.  In  fact,  im 
pressment  was  almost  a  necessity  to  England  at  this  time.  She  was  engaged  in 
a  life-and-death  struggle  with  Napoleon.  Her  sailors  deserted  in  large  numbers 
and  engaged  with  American  ships  because  of  better  pay  and  easier  service. 
At  one  time,  complains  the  English  minister,  twelve  of  his  Majesty's  ships  lay 
at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  unable  to  move,  owing  to  desertions.  Many  English  sailors, 
on  reaching  an  American  port,  would  purchase  forged  papers  of  American 
citizenship  for  a  dollar  or  two,  or  secure  them  by  perjury  before  a  magistrate. 
Nevertheless  England  was  much  more  to  blame  than  America  because  of  her 
persistent  refusal  to  agree  to  an  exchange  of  deserters. 

Fulton  and  the  Steamboat.  —  The  wonderful  revolution  in  the  means  of 
travel  and  transportation  wrought  by  the  use  of  steam  had  its  most  conspicuous 
demonstration  on  the  Hudson  in  1807.  Robert  Fulton,  born  in  Pennsylvania  in 
1765,  was  of  Irish  parentage.  He  was  an  artist,  but  he  abandoned  art  and  became 
an  inventor.  The  world  has  chosen  to  honor  him  above  all  others  as  the  inven 
tor  of  steam  navigation.  But  he  only  improved  on  the  work  of  others.  In  1786 
James  Rumsey  experimented  on  the  Potomac  with  a  steamboat,  and  the  same 
year  John  Fitch  made  similar  experiments  on  the  Delaware.  Both  were  partially 
successful,  but  both  failed  to  awaken  the  interest  of  the  great  public.  Twenty 
years  later  Fulton  did  this,  though  Fitch  was  doubtless  a  greater  genius  than  he. 
Fulton's  first  trial  was  on  the  river  Seine  in  France.  Here  he  won  the  interest 
of  R.  R.  Livingston,  our  minister  to  France,  and  the  two  became  partners, 
Fulton  furnishing  the  brains  and  Livingston  the  money.  Their  next  trial  was 
on  the  Hudson.  The  vessel,  named  the  Clermont,  after  Livingston's  country 
seat,  made  its  first  trial  in  August,  1807,  witnessed  by  a  vast  crowd  of  people. 
The  boat,  described  as  "  a  monster  moving  on  the  waters,  defying  wind  and  tide, 
breathing  flames  and  smoke,"  ran  from  New  York  to  Albany  in  thirty-two  hours. 
From  this  moment  steam  navigation  made  rapid  strides,  until  it  revolutionized 
the  world  of  trade  and  travel. 

The  Yazoo  Frauds.  — The  Georgia  legislature  in  1795  sold  to  a  combination 
of  land  companies  a  vast  tract  of  western  land  owned  by  the  state,  thirty-five 
million  acres,  for  the  nominal  sum  of  .$500,000.  It  was  soon  found  that  the 
members  of  the  legislature  had  been  bribed,  and  the  next  year  the  anti- Yazoo 
party  controlled  the  legislature  and  revoked  the  sale.  Many  claims  then  sprang 
up,  and  the  matter  was  referred  to  Congress,  as  the  Georgia  lands  were  afterward 
ceded  to  the  Union.  The  matter  was  not  settled  till  1810,  when  the  Supreme 
Court  decided  (Fletcher  vs.  Peck)  that  the  original  fraudulent  sale  was  valid, 
on  the  ground  that  the  Constitution  forbids  a  state  to  impair  the  obligation 
of  a  contract.  In  1814  Congress  voted  $8,000,000  in  land  scrip  to  satisfy  the 
claimants,  and  the  long  disturbance  was  ended. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

THE   -WAR   OF   1812 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  decline  in  Jefferson's  popularity,  many  of 
the  state  legislatures  invited  him  to  stand  for  a  third  election.  But 
he  declined ;  not  on  the  ground  taken  by  Washington  twelve  years 
before,  but  because,  as  he  claimed,  it  was  well  to  establish  a  precedent 
for  the  future.  He  was  the  author,  therefore,  of  our  unwritten  law 
that  no  man  serve  more  than  eight  years  in  the  presidency.  He 
was  one  of  our  two  or  three  Presidents  who,  having  served  two 
terms,  might  have  been  elected  for  a  third ;  yet  many  believed  that 
his  embargo  would  have  rendered  his  election  doubtful  had  he 
desired  a  third  term.  But  he  did  the  next  thing  —  he  practically 
chose  his  successor.  It  was  mainly  through  Jefferson's  influence 
that  his  secretary  of  state  was  preferred  before  the  other  two 
aspirants,  James  Monroe  and  George  Clinton.  A  week  after  the 
inauguration  Jefferson  left  the  Capital  City  on  horseback  "for  the 
elysium  of  domestic  affections."  He  reached  Monticello,  March  15, 
and  in  the  remaining  seventeen  years  of  his  life  he  never  again 
passed  beyond  the  bounds  of  his  native  state.1 

The  little  man  of  quiet,  simple  mariners,  who  now  stood  before 
ten  thousand  people  and  read  his  inaugural  address  in  a  "  scarcely 

audible  tone,"  had  been  a  leading  fisrure  in  public  life 

Madison.  ,  ,  & .  , 

for  many  years,  and  was  by  training  eminently  equipped 

for  the  great  office.  James  Madison  as  a  framer  of  the  Constitution 
had  done  more  than  any  other  man  in  making  that  instrument  what 
it  is;  he  had  been  a  leader  in  Congress  under  Washington,  and  had 
now  just  completed  his  eight  years  as  chief  in  the  Cabinet  of  Jeffer 
son.  Certainly  he  knew  the  inner  workings  of  the  government  as 

1  Jefferson's  popularity  soon  rose  to  its  normal  standard,  and  as  long  as  he  lived 
he  was  the  chief  adviser  of  his  party,  being  in  constant  correspondence  with  Presi 
dents  Madison  and  Monroe.  After  1812  he  became  reconciled  to  his  old  friend  and 
rival,  John  Adams,  and  the  two  were  friendly  correspondents  as  long  as  they  lived, 
though  they  never  met  again.  Both  died  on  the  national  holiday,  July  4,  1826,  but 
few  hours  apart. 

408 


MADISON   BECOMES   PRESIDENT  409 

few  could  know  them.    Moreover,  next  to  his  retiring  chief,  Madison 
was  the  ablest  man  in  the  country,  save  one,  Albert  Gallatin. 

The  new  President's  trouble  began  from  the  day  of  his  installa 
tion.  He  sincerely  desired  to  make  Gallatin  secretary  of  state ;  but 
there  was  a  faction  of  Democrats  in  the  Senate,  headed  by  Senators 
William  B.  Giles  of  Virginia,  Samuel  Smith  of  Maryland,  and 
Michael  Lieb  of  Pennsylvania,  who  hated  Gallatin  and  determined 
to  prevent  his  confirmation.  This  faction,  encouraged  by  George 
Clinton,  who  was  again  Vice  President,  and  aided  by  the  Federalists, 
could  control  the  Senate,  and  Madison  had  to  yield.  Gallatin  re 
mained  in  the  Treasury,  and  Robert  Smith,  a  brother  of  Senator 
Smith  from  Maryland,  was  made  secretary  of  state.  The  arrangement 
was  humiliating  to  the  President,  who  was  thus  forced  to  accept  for 
the  chief  place  in  his  Cabinet  a  man  wholly  incompetent,  a  man  in 
sympathy  with  a  faction  that  used  its  power  to  weaken  the  adminis 
tration.  For  two  years  this  arrangement  dragged  on,  when  at  last 
the  patient  Gallatin  lost  patience  and  threatened  to  resign  from  the 
Cabinet.  This  awakened  the  slow-moving  Madison,  and  led  him  for 
once  to  play  the  master.  He  defied  the  Senate  faction  by  dismissing 
Robert  Smith  and  choosing  James  Monroe  as  secretary  of  state.  The 
country  and  even  the  Senate  sustained  him,  and  a  signal  victory  was 
gained  for  the  administration. 

DRIFTING   TOWARD   WAR 

There  was  a  delicious  ray  of  sunshine  that  brought  joy  to  many 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Madison  administration.     Mr.  Erskine,  the 
English  minister  at  Washington,  receiving  instructions  from  Canning, 
the  British  foreign  secretary,  announced  that  the  Orders  in  Council 
would  be  withdrawn  on  June  10,  on  condition  that  the  President  re 
move  the  non-intercourse  restriction,  in  as  far  as  it  concerned  England. 
Whereupon  Madison  made  a  proclamation  suspending  the  non-inter 
course  act  with  England.    Great  was  the  rejoicing  on  all  sides.     The 
eastern  ports  became  beehives  of  industry.     Vessels  were  quickly 
laden  with  the  long-accumulated  produce,  and  in  a  few  weeks  a 
thousand  had  launched  upon  the  sea  for  foreign  ports. 
Madison  enjoyed  a  moment  of  intoxicating  popularity  ;    j  J0gfS     ' 
but  it  was  only  a  moment.      The  bubble   soon  burst. 
The  overzealous  Erskine  had  exceeded  his  instructions,  and  he  was 
disavowed  and   recalled.      When   the  news  reached  America  that 


410  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED    STATES 

the  Orders  in  Council  were  still  in  force,  the  President  issued  a 
new  proclamation,  reviving  the  non-intercourse  act  with  Great 
Britain. 

Francis    James    Jackson   was    then   sent  to   replace    Erskine. 
Jackson  was  a  man  of  much  pride  and  little  tact,  who  boasted  an 
acquaintance  with  "  most  of  the  sovereigns  of  Europe," 

and  felt  that  he  had  come  to  treat  with  a  lot  of  "  savaSe 
Democrats,  half  of  them  sold  to  France."     He  began  by 

accusing  the  administration  of  deception  in  treating  with  Erskine 
in  the  knowledge  that  he  was  exceeding  his  instructions.  Madison 
informed  him  that  such  insinuations  were  inadmissible  from  a  for 
eign  minister  dealing  "  with  a  government  that  understands  what  it 
owes  to  itself."  In  the  face  of  this  warning,  Jackson,  with  incredi 
ble  effrontery,  repeated  his  accusation,  and  was  informed  that  no 
further  communications  would  be  received  from  him.  Thus  inglo- 
riously  ended  his  diplomatic  career  in  America. 

Meanwhile  our  relations  with  France  were  approaching  another 
crisis.  In  the  spring  of  1810  the  American  Congress  removed  the 
restrictions  on  foreign  commerce,  but  forbade  intercourse  with  Eng 
land  or  France  if  either  continued  hostile  to  our  trade.  This  has 
been  pronounced  the  most  disgraceful  act  on  the  American  statute 
book.  "  When  Great  Britain  and  France  were  raining  upon  us  blows 
such  as  no  powerful  nation  had  ever  submitted  to  before,  we  folded 
our  hands  and  bowed  our  heads  with  no  word  of  protest,  except  to 
say  that  if  either  one  of  them  would  cease  its  outrages,  we  should 
resent  the  insults  of  the  other."1  Napoleon  had  issued  his  Ram- 
bouillet  Decree,  confiscating  all  American  ships  found  in  French 
waters.  But  on  learning  of  this  act  of  Congress,  he  offered  to  revoke 
his  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees.  This  was  only  a  contemptible  trick 
by  which  to  draw  more  of  our  vessels  into  his  trap,  and  all  that  were 
entrapped  were  seized  in  accordance  with  a  secret  order. 

While  our  foreign  relations  continued  in  this  strained  condition, 

an  event  in  the  Northwest  recalled  the  attention  of  the  people  to 

important  matters  at  home.     The  Indians  of  the  Northwest  had 

given  little  trouble  for  several  years  after  their  defeat  by  Wayne  in 

1794.      But   in   recent    years   they  had  again  become 

hostile,  owing  chiefly  to  the  ambition  of  a  great  leader, 

Tecumthe  or  Tecumseh,  who  belonged  to  the  Shawnee  tribe.     Te- 

cumseh's  ambition  was  to  unite  all  the  tribes  of  that  region  into  one 

i  Gordy,  Vol.  II,  p.  72  (Revised  Ed.). 


WILLIAM   HENRY    HARRISON  411 

great  Indian  nation,  and  through  it  to  restrict  all  further  encroach 
ments  of  the  white  man.  He  was  a  man  of  remarkable  eloquence 
and  powers  of  leadership,  and  he  was  assisted  in  his  plans  by  his 
twin  brother,  known  as  the  Prophet. 

The  governor  of  Indiana  Territory  was  William  Henry  Harrison, 
a  future  President  of  the  United  States.  He  was  a  son  of  Benjamin 
Harrison,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
a  governor  of  Virginia,  and  an  intimate  friend  of  Wash 
ington.  At  the  time  of  St.  Glair's  defeat  by  the  Indians  in  Ohio,  young 
Harrison,  a  boy  of  nineteen  years,  was  a  medical  student  in  Phila 
delphia.  At  the  advice  of  both  Washington  and  Jefferson,  he  left 
his  studies  and  went  to  the  West  to  aid  in  the  war  against  the 
Indians.  With  a  brave  heart  he  set  out  to  win  glory  for  himself 
and  honor  for  his  country.  In  1801  he  became  governor  of  Indiana 
and  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs.  In  September,  1809,  Harrison 
made  a  treaty  at  Fort  Wayne  with  the  Delaware,  Miami,  Kickapoo, 
and  other  tribes,  by  which  three  million  acres  on  the  upper  Wabash 
were  ceded  to  the  United  States.  The  twin  brothers  were  not 
present,  nor  had  the  tribe  to  which  they  belonged  any  part  in  the 
ownership  or  sale  of  the  lands.  But  when  they  heard  of  the  ces 
sion,  they  were  wroth,  and  declared  that  the  land  belonged  to  all 
the  tribes,  and  that  a  part  had  no  right  to  sell  without  the  consent 
of  all.  They  pronounced  the  treaty  void  and  threatened  to  kill 
every  chief  that  had  signed  it.  A  year  passed,  and  the  Indians, 
while  professing  friendship  for  the  whites,  kept  up  a  series  of 
outrages  on  the  frontier.  Harrison  advised  them  that  the  depre 
dations  must  be  stopped ;  but  they  continued,  and  he  prepared  for 
an  attack. 

With  some  nine  hundred  men,  General  Harrison  marched  into 
the  Indian  country  in  the  autumn  of  1811.     Tecumseh  was  absent 
in  the  South.     His  brother,  the  Prophet,  occupied  the 
town  of  Tippecanoe  on  the  Wabash.     Harrison  marched  Tippecanoe 
on  and  encamped  near  the  town.     The  Prophet  sent 
word  that  he  wished  a  conference  with  the  American  general  on  the 
morrow.     Harrison,  suspecting  treachery,  had  his  men  sleep  on  their 
arms,  and  an   hour  before  day  next  morning  about  five   hundred 
Indians,  with  fearful  yells,  emerged  from  the  underbrush  and  made 
an  attack.     The  soldiers  seized  their  guns,  and  a  desperate  struggle 
raged  for  two  hours,  when  the  Indians  broke  and  fled.     They  aban 
doned  their  village,  which  the  Americans  burned,  and  then  hastened 


412  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

back  to  the  white  settlements.  The  battle  of  Tippecanoe  did  not 
belong  to  the  war  with  England  that  was  soon  to  come,  nor  had  the 
British  much,  if  anything,  to  do  with  inspiring  it ;  but  it  gave  Har 
rison  an  excellent  military  reputation,  and  it  prepared  the  people  for 
the  greater  events  that  were  to  follow. 

The  prophetic  words  of  Benjamin  Franklin  were  destined  to  come 
true  —  that  the  war  ending  with  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  was 
Pinknev  simply  the  war  of  Revolution,  and  that  the  war  of 

leaves  Lon-  Independence  was  yet  to  be  fought.  Two  events  in 
don.  Feb-  ign  hastened  the  crisis  with  England,  —  the  withdrawal 
'ary'  of  our  minister  from  London,  and  an  impromptu  duel 

between  two  vessels  at  sea.  William  Pinkney,  one  of  the  ablest 
diplomats  ever  sent  to  a  foreign  court  by  the  United  States,  after 
laboring  and  struggling  in  vain  for  five  years  with  the  British 
ministry,  took  "  inamicable  leave."  This  event  had  stirred  the 
ministry  a  little.  It  had  led  them  to  hasten  in  appointing  a  min 
ister  to  Washington,  Augustus  John  Foster,  the  first  since  the  in 
glorious  failure  of  Jackson  a  year  and  a  half  before.  While  Foster 
was  on  the  sea  en  route  for  his  new  field  of  duty,  the  other  event 
occurred. 

On  the  partial  reopening  of  our  trade  with  France,  British  armed 
vessels  were  again  sent  to  blockade  New  York,  and  they  amused 
themselves  capturing  vessels  bound  for  France  and  impressing 
American  seamen.  One  of  these  ships,  the  Guerriere,  was  said  to 
have  impressed  a  man  named  Diggio,  and  the  secretary  of  the  navy 
sent  the  President,  a  44-gun  frigate  under  Captain  John  Rodgers,  not 
only  to  rescue  Diggio  and  other  unfortunates,  but  to  "  protect  Ameri 
can  commerce,"  to  "vindicate  the  injured  honor  of  our  navy,"  and 
to  support  the  honor  of  the  flag  "  at  any  risk  and  cost."  This  was 
a  new  spirit  for  the  nation  that  had  suffered  twenty  years  of  the 
impressment  business  and  had  defended  itself  with  protests  alone. 
Rodgers  was  under  full  sail  from  Annapolis  to  New  York,  when  he 
sighted  a  vessel  which  he  believed  to  be  the  Guerriere;  but  she 
showed  no  colors,  and  he  was  not  sure.  He  gave  chase,  and  eight 
The  President  ^lours  later>  at  nightfall,  the  President  was  within  hail- 
and  Little  ing  distance.  Rodgers  shouted  through  his  trumpet, 
iMt,  May  16,  "What  ship  is  that?"  The  answer  from  the  stranger 
was  an  echo  of  his  own  words,  and  Rodgers  asked 
again,  when  instantly  a  flame  of  fire  leaped  from  the  dark  hull  of 
the  strange  vessel,  and  a  shot  was  lodged  in  the  mainmast  of  the 


THE   PRESIDENT  AND   THE   LITTLE  BELT  413 

President.1  The  lesson  of  the  Chesapeake  had  not  been  thrown 
away ;  the  President  was  prepared.  In  a  moment  both  vessels  were 
throwing  broadsides.  In  fifteen  minutes  the  strange  vessel  was 
silenced  and  disabled.  At  daybreak  next  morning  Rodgers  discov 
ered  that  he  had  been  fighting  the  Little  Belt,  a  British  corvette  of 
twenty  guns  and  about  half  the  force  of  the  President.  Her  encounter 
with  the  President  proved  disastrous.  Twelve  men  lay  dead  and 
twenty-one  wounded  on  her  decks  ;  "all  the  rigging  and  sails  cut  to 
pieces,  not  a  brace  nor  a  bowline  left," 2  while  one  boy  was  wounded 
on  the  President.  This  incident  was  hailed  with  delight  by  the 
American  people  as  the  avenging  of  the  outrage  on  the  Chesapeake. 

Meantime  Foster  arrived.  Pinkney,  while  yet  in  London,  had 
asked  the  significant  question,  What  was  Foster  to  do  when  he 
arrived  in  Washington  ?  Foster  had  no  power  to  promise  a  repeal  of 
the  Orders  in  Council,  and  the  administration  would  treat  with  him 
on  no  other  ground.  He  offered  to  settle  the  Chesapeake  affair  with 
out  even  demanding  reparation  for  the  greater  disaster  to  the  Little 
Belt;  but  even  this  made  no  impression.  Every  subject  brought  up 
by  the  British  minister  received  the  same  answer,  The  Orders  in 
Council  must  be  repealed.  If  America  was  in  earnest,  all  signs 
pointed  to  the  same  thing,  namely,  that  the  United  States  had  at 
last  taken  a  stand  —  that  if  the  Orders  in  Council  were  not  repealed, 
there  would  be  war.  Foster  wrote  this  to  his  government,  but  the 
British  Cabinet,  led  by  the  short-sighted  Spencer  Perceval,  refused  to 
be  moved. 

The  Twelfth  Congress  met  in  December,  1811.  It  differed  greatly 
from  its  immediate  predecessors.  No  longer  do  we  find  the  tempo 
rizing  spirit ;  no  longer  was  Congress  dominated  by  the 
fathers  of  the  Revolution.  A  new  generation  had  arisen  Qoj^gg^1  m 
to  take  charge  of  public  affairs.  Especially  in  the  House 
did  this  spirit  of  the  rising  generation  manifest  itself.  Here  were 
half  a  dozen  young  leaders,  war  Democrats,  as  they  were  called, 
who  took  control  of  the  House  and  shaped  legislation  for  years 
to  come.  The  leaders  of  this  new  school  were  Henry  Clay  of 
Kentucky  and  John  C.  Calhoun  of  South  Carolina,  both  destined 
to  spend  nearly  half  a  century  in  the  forefront  of  national  life.  And 
these  were  ably  seconded  by  Felix  Grundy  of  Tennessee,  and  Lang- 

1  This  account  was  given  under  oath  by  Rodgers  and  all  his  crew ;  but  Captain 
Bingham  of  the  Little  Belt  gave  a  different  account,  claiming  to  have  been  fired  on  first. 

2  From  Captain  Biughani's  report. 


414  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

don  Cheeves  and  William  Lowndes  of  South  Carolina;  and  closely 
associated  with  them  was  the  aged  John  Sevier,  whom  last  we  saw, 
a  third  of  a  century  ago,  directing  the  battle  at  King's  Mountain. 
Henry  Clay  was  elected  speaker  the  first  day  he  entered  the  House,1 
and  this  position  he  continued  to  hold  so  long  as  he  was  a  member 
of  that  body.  Born  in  the  "slashes"  of  Virginia,  Clay  was  left 
fatherless  and  penniless  in  childhood.  He  read  law,  and  afterward 
migrated  westward  and  made  his  home  in  the  new  state  of  Kentucky, 
where  he  soon  rose  to  fame  as  a  member  of  the  bar.  Now  he  began 
his  remarkable  career  as  a  party  manager  that  has  few  parallels  in 
American  history.  Under  his  leadership  the  Twelfth  Congress  set 
itself  to  restore  the  sullied  honor  of  the  country,  and  to  do  this  there 
was  no  alternative  but  war. 

President  Madison  still  hesitated.  He  was  almost  as  fondly  de 
voted  to  peace  as  had  been  the  great  Democrat  who  preceded  him.  But 
a  new  election  was  drawing  near,  and  the  young  leaders  in  Congress 
gave  the  President  to  understand  that  he  could  not  have  their  support 
for  reelection  unless  he  was  willing  to  declare  war.  Madison  yielded. 
During  the  winter  Congress  sounded  the  war  trumpet ;  it  voted  to 
raise  the  regular  army  from  ten  thousand  to  thirty-five  thousand 
men,  and  authorized  a  loan  of  $11,000,000.  But  these  measures 
were  not  passed  without  much  debate  and  strong  opposition.2  Early 
in  April  an  embargo  of  ninety  days  was  laid,  as  a  preliminary  to  a 
declaration  of  war.  A  little  later  Congress  authorized  the  President 
to  call  out  one  hundred  thousand  militia  for  six  months.  On  June  1 
the  President  sent  his  war  message  to  Congress,  urging  an  imme- 
Declaration  diate  declaration  of  war.  The  primary  reasons  given 
of  war,  June  were  four  in  number :  the  impressment  of  our  seamen ; 
18, 1812.  British  cruisers  harassing  our  shipping  along  the  Ameri 
can  coast ;  pretended  blockades  of  the  European  coast,  by  which 
American  ships  had  been  plundered  on  every  sea ;  and  the  Orders  in 
Council. 

1  He  had  served  a  short  time  in  the  Senate  hy  appointment,  but  this  was  his 
first  entrance  into  the  House. 

2  In  the  spring  of  1812,  one  John  Henry,  an  Irish  adventurer,  sold  to  the  admin 
istration  for  $50,000  certain  "disclosures,"  showing  that  he  had  been  employed  by 
Governor  Craig  of  Canada  three  years  before  (during  Jefferson's  embargo)   as  a 
secret  agent  to  New  England  to  connive  with  the  Federalists  with  a  view  of  separat 
ing  that  section  from  the  rest  of  the  Union.    Madison,  believing  that  these  letters 
proved  the  British  government  to  have  attempted  to  break  up  the  Union,  and  that 
this  would  be  a  good  war  card,  purchased  them.    But  there  was  little  in  them  not 
before  known. 


OPENING   OF  THE   WAR  415 

As  to  this  declaration,  two  things  are  notable :  first,  there  had 
been  equal  casus  belli  constantly  for  five  years,  and  at  certain  times 
greater  cause  than  at  this  moment ;  second,  France  during  the  same 
period  had  offended  equally  with  England,  or  nearly  so.  Why  de 
clare  war  now  ?  and  why  against  England  and  not  against  France  ? 
The  first  question  is  answered  by  our  account  of  the  change  in 
party  leadership.  As  to  the  second,  it  would  have  been  suicidal  to 
fight  both  England  and  France.  England  was  the  mother  country, 
and  it  was  more  irritating  to  receive  from  her  such  unrelenting  harsh 
ness  than  from  the  free  lance,  Napoleon,  who  made  little  pretense 
of  observing  international  custom.  Another  cause  of  this  decision 
was  that  France  presented  no  vulnerable  point.  She  possessed  no 
territory  to  invade  on  this  side  of  the  water,  and  her  navies  had  been 
destroyed  and  her  commerce  swept  from  the  seas.  Yet  the  war 
might  have  been  averted.  The  British  ministry  was  slowly  yielding. 
England  did  not  want  war,  and  would  have  yielded  sooner  had  she 
seen  that  America  was  in  earnest.  Even  now  the  yielding  process 
was  slow,  owing  to  the  obstinacy  of  Premier  Spencer  Perceval ;  but 
on  May  11  Perceval  was  shot  dead  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  a 
lunatic,  and  the  Orders  in  Council  were  repealed  June  23.  But  five 
days  before  this,  and  weeks  before  the  news  of  the  repeal  had 
reached  America,  Madison  had  set  his  hand  to  the  declaration  of 
war.  The  repeal  came  too  late. 

HOSTILITIES  ON  THE  GREAT  LAKES 

The  country  was  ill  prepared  for  war  in  1812.  The  ten  old  regi 
ments,  scarcely  half  filled,  were  scattered  through  the  West  in  gar 
risons  of  scarcely  a  hundred  in  a  place.  Detroit,  the  scene  of  the 
desperate  and  vain  efforts  of  the  great  Pontiac;  Fort  Dearborn, 
where  was  to  rise  in  the  next  generation  the  city  of  Chicago ;  Fort 
Wayne,  Fort  Harrison  on  the  Wabash,  and  other  posts  —  each  was 
held  by  a  handful  of  men  who  could  ill  be  spared,  for  the  Indians 
were  sure  to  cast  their  lot  with  the  British.  The  seacoast  was  un 
guarded.  The  raising  of  armies  was  exceeding^  slow  work,  and  the 
eleven  million  loan  was  only  a  little  more  than  half  taken  by  the  first 
of  July.  Henry  Dearborn,  a  former  member  of  Jefferson's  Cabinet, 
was  made  senior  major  general  and  commander  in  chief.  The  other 
major  general  was  Thomas  Pinckney,  who  was  to  command  the 
southern  department.  The  brigadier  generals  appointed  were,  James 


416  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


Wilkinson,  formerly  connected  with  Burr's  conspiracy,  Joseph  Bloom- 
field,  ten  years  governor  of  New  Jersey,  Wade  Hampton  of  South 
Carolina,  James  Winchester  of  Tennessee,  William  Polk  of  North 
Carolina,  and  William  Hull,  governor  of  Michigan.  These  were  all 
elderly  men,  all  had  seen  service  in  the  Revolution,  none  had  ever 
commanded  a  regiment  in  battle,  and  most  of  them  had  "  sunk  into 
sloth,  ignorance,  or  intemperance."  1  But  worst  of  all,  the  people 
were  not  united.  The  Federalists  constituted  an  anti-war  party, 
and  did  everything  to  hamper  the  administration.  They  were  also 
gaining  at  this  moment;  they  had  won  in  the  recent  elections  in 
New  York  and  Massachusetts,  and  even  in  Congress 
thePwari0n  *°  the  Democrats  lost  one  fourth  of  their  strength  in  the 
final  vote  on  the  declaration  of  war.  Had  the  vote 
been  deferred  a  month,  as  the  Federalists  urged,  the  news  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Council  would  have  reached  America,  and 
the  war  may  have  been  averted.  After  the  declaration  had  been 
passed,  a  number  of  the  New  England  Federalists  issued  a  protest, 
declaring  that  the  war  was  a  party  and  not  a  national  war,  and  dis 
claiming  all  responsibility  for  it.2  When  Madison  called  upon  the 
states  for  militia,  the  governors  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and 
Rhode  Island  flatly  refused  to  send  their  quota.  Thus  at  the  out 
set  the  administration  was  greatly  handicapped  by  the  want  of  una 
nimity  among  the  states.3 

Our  navy  consisted  of  six  first-class  frigates,  built  in  old  Fed 
eralist  days,  and  twice  as  many  smaller  vessels,  while  England  boasted 
nearly  a  thousand  war  ships.  Such  was  the  deplorable  condition  of 
the  United  States  at  the  opening  of  war  with  the  British  Empire. 
But  there  were  a  few  advantages :  England  was  engaged  in  European 
wars ;  her  navy  was  scattered  over  the  seas  of  the  world ;  our  little 
navy  was  in  the  hands  of  young  and  able  men  ;  Canada  was  open  to 
invasion. 

At  the  opening  of  this  war  occurred  what  is  considered  the  most 
disgraceful  event  in  American  history,  —  the  surrender  of  Michigan 
Territory  without  a  battle.  The  invasion  of  Canada  was  the  first 
and  chief  aim  of  the  administration.  To  this  end  Dearborn  was  to 

1  Scott's  "  Autobiography." 

2  "  Niles's  Register,"  Vol.  II,  p.  309. 

8  There  was  also  some  disaffection  on  the  British  side.  There  was  armed 
resistance  at  Montreal,  which  was  soon  put  down;  367  Canadians  joined  Hull,  9 
were  executed  for  treason  in  1814.  See  "  Cambridge  Modern  History,"  Vol.  VII, 
p.  337. 


HULL   SURRENDERS   DETROIT  417 

cooperate  from  the  Niagara  frontier  with  an  army  from  Michigan. 
But  Dearborn  was  incapable  of  grasping  the  situation.  He  spent 
the  summer  in  Boston  and  Albany  getting  ready  and  doing  nothing. 
William  Hull  was  governor  of  Michigan.  Detroit  contained  some 
eight  hundred  people  and  a  fort,  a  square  inclosure  of  two  acres. 
Receiving  orders  to  invade  Canada  from  the  west,  Hull  crossed  the 
Detroit  River  and  prepared  to  besiege  Fort  Maiden,  a  few  miles 
below.  Meantime  he  wrote  Mr.  Eustis,  the  secretary  of  war,  that 
cooperation  from  Niagara  was  absolutely  necessary  to  success ;  but 
Dearborn  was  still  loitering  at  Boston  and  undecided  what  to  do. 
The  British  began  to  strengthen  their  fort,  and  in  quick  succession 
news  reached  Hull  of  the  fall  of  Michilimacldnac,  and  that  a  large 
body  of  Indians  were  moving  toward  Detroit,  that  his  supply 
train  from  Ohio  had  been  cut  off  by  Tecumseh,  and  that  a  force 
of  British  had  passed  Niagara  en  route  to  Detroit.  Hull  was  dis 
heartened.  He  gave  up  the  siege  of  Maiden  and  returned  to 
Detroit. 

The  British  forces  in  Upper  Canada  had  the  good  fortune  at  this 
time  to  be  commanded  by  a  man  of  remarkable  energy  and  military 
ability,  —  General  Isaac  Brock.     When  Hull  recrossed  the  river, 
Brock,  with  a  few  hundred  men,  was  hastening  with  all 
speed  toward  Detroit.     Reaching  Maiden,  he  moved  up 
the  river  and  sent  to  Hull  a  summons  to  surrender  the  fort  with  a 
threat  of  Indian  massacre  in  case  of  refusal.     The  demand  was  re 
fused,  and  next  morning  Brock  crossed  the  river  with  about  seven 
hundred  regulars  and  militia  and  six  hundred  Indians,  and  moved 
upon  the  fort  for  an  attack.     Hull  was  vacillating  and  utterly  dis 
couraged.     As  the  enemy  approached,  he  was  greatly  agitated ;  he 
sat  on  an  old  tent  with  his  back  against  the  rampart,  moody  and 
uncommunicative.     Yet  he  might  have  made  an  immortal  name  that 
day.     He  had  two  24-pounders  planted  so  as  to  cover  the  road  on 
which  the  enemy  was  advancing,  and  his  army  almost  equaled  that 
of  Brock.1     But  Hull  imagined  the  forest  swarming  with  savages, 
and  he  thought  of  the  women  and  children  in  the  fort,   Surrender  Of 
among  whom  was  his  daughter.     His  supplies  would  Michigan, 
last  but  a  month,  and  then  at  the  inevitable  surrender,   August  16, 
woe   to    those    who    remained    alive!      Hull's   former   1812> 
bravery   now   forsook    him    utterly,    and    to   the    astonishment   of 
friend   and   foe  he  surrendered  the   fort   and  his   army  without  a 

1  Rossiter  Johnson  gives  Hull's  force  at  one  thousand,  "  War  of  1812,"  p.  35. 
2a 


418  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

struggle  —  and  all  Michigan  Territory.  On  the  same  day  Fort 
Dearborn  (Chicago)  was  burned  to  the  ground  by  a  horde  of  sav 
ages,  the  garrison  having  been  massacred,  the  day  before,  to  the  last 
man. 

Hull  was  afterward  tried  by  court-martial  and  sentenced  to 
death,  but  was  pardoned  by  the  President  in  consideration  of  his 
services  in  the  Kevolution.  Hull  did  not  play  the  man  on  that  day 
at  Detroit,  and  cowardice  in  a  soldier  is  a  crime.  But  Hull  was 
not  alone  at  fault.  He  was  not  properly  supported,  and  part  of  the 
blame  should  have  been  borne  by  General  Dearborn,  by  Secretary 
Eustis,  and  by  President  Madison.1 

But  one  week  elapsed  after  the  capture  of  Detroit  when  the 
energetic  Brock  reached  Fort  George,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara, 
with  his  prisoners.  The  British  government,  on  repealing  the 
Orders  in  Council,  had  requested  an  armistice  between  the  two 
countries  in  the  hope  of  settling  the  other  differences  without  war. 
The  news  of  this  had  not  reached  Brock  when  he  captured  Detroit. 
But  now  on  his  return  both  sides  hesitated  for  some  days  —  until 
it  was  seen  that  the  armistice  would  come  to  naught.  American 
troops  were  meanwhile  hastening  to  the  lake  region  from  Pennsyl 
vania,  New  York,  and  New  England.  Commodore  Chauncey  was 
building  a  fleet  011  Lake  Ontario.  General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer 
commanded  the  New  York  militia,  and  was  stationed  at  Lewiston. 
General  Alexander  Smyth  was  at  Buffalo  with  sixteen  hundred  men. 
But  these  two  commanders  were  each  independent  of  the  other,  and 
a  rivalry  prevented  their  cooperation.  Van  Kensselaer  then  deter 
mined  to  act  alone.  He  would  cross  the  river  and  attack  the  enemy 
on  the  heights  above  Queenstown. 

Long  before  the  dawn  of  October  13  several  hundred  men,  under 
Colonel  Christie,  embarked  in  thirteen  boats  upon  the  rushing 
Niagara,  and  silently  rowed  for  the  Canadian  shore.  Three  of 
the  boats  lost  their  way  and  returned.  In  one  of  these  was  Christie, 
and  the  command  fell  on  Captain  John  E.  Wool,  who  landed  safely 
with  the  other  ten.  Up  an  unguarded  path  Wool  led  his  men,  and 
at  daybreak  he  attacked  an  English  battery  near  which  stood  Gen 
eral  Brock,  who  barely  escaped  capture  by  flight.  Brock  then  made 
an  attack  on  Wool ;  but  an  American  bullet  penetrated  his  breast, 

1  Henry  Adams  goevS  back  still  farther  and  holds  Jefferson  chiefly  responsible 
for  this  disaster,  as  he  was  the  author  of  the  system  by  which  the  country  was  left 
unprepared  for  war.  See  Vol.  VII,  Chap.  XVI- 


COWARDICE    OF   THE   MILITIA 


419 


and  he  fell  dead.     The  British  loss  in  the  death  of  this  young  and 
gallant  leader  was  irreparable. 

Wool  was  painfully  wounded,  but  for  some  hours  he  held  the 
ground  he  had  won,  when  Colonel  Winfield  Scott  came  and  took 
command.    Six  hundred  American  troops  now  occupied   Battje  Of 
the  heights,  when  early  in  the  afternoon  they  saw  in   Queenstown 
the  distance  a  large  force  of  the  British  advancing  from  heights. 
Fort   George,  under  General   Sheaffe,   who   had   succeeded  Brock. 
Van  Rensselaer,  who  had  also  crossed  the  river,  now  hastened  back 


to  Lewiston  to  bring  over  the  militia,  but  they  refused  to  cross. 
The  general  rode  among  them  and  urged  them  to  go  to  the  rescue 
of  their  brethren  on  the  hill,  but  all  his  efforts  were  fruitless.  The 
men  gave  as  their  reason  for  not  crossing  the  fact,  as  they  under 
stood  it,  that  they  were  engaged  in  a  defensive  war,  and  were  not 
obliged  to  leave  the  soil  of  the  United  States.  The  true  reason  was 
cowardice.  The  noble  six  hundred  on  the  heights  beyond  the  river 
were  attacked  by  more  than  twice  their  number,  driven  back,  down 
the  hill,  over  the  precipice  to  the  brink  of  the  river.  Here  they 


420  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES 

found  no  boats,  and  nothing  was  left  but  to  surrender.  Nine  hun 
dred,  including  many  who  had  not  ascended  the  heights,  were  taken 
prisoners.  Though  the  British  won  a  clear  victory  this  day,  their 
loss  in  the  death  of  General  Brock  was  far  more  serious  than  that 
of  the  Americans.  General  Van  Rensselaer  now  resigned  from  the 
army  in  disgust. 

The  chief  figure  in  the  next  scene  of  the  drama  was  General 
Smyth.  Succeeding  Van  Rensselaer,  he  made  a  feint  of  invading 
Canada,  and  issued  a  bombastic  proclamation ;  but  after  a  few  weeks 
of  bluster  he  was  hissed  out  of  the  army,  and  was  dismissed  from  the 
service.  The  year  1812  closed  with  little  encouragement  to  the  Ameri 
cans  except  from  their  success  on  the  ocean,  to  be  noticed  later.  Hull 
had  surrendered  all  Michigan ;  Van  Rensselaer,  unable  to  control  his 
militia,  had  sacrificed  an  army  at  Queenstown;  Smyth  had  ended  his 
brief  military  career  in  a  fiasco.  The  only  American  success  on  land 
this  year  was  the  repulse  of  about  seven  hundred  British  at  Ogdens- 
burg,  New  York,  by  a  force  under  Jacob  Brown,  a  Quaker  farmer, 
who  proved  himself  the  most  vigorous  American  commander  yet  in 
the  field. 

VICTORIES  ON  THE   SEA 

In  striking  contrast  with  our  continued  failures  in  the  lake 
region  during  this  eventful  year  were  the  unexpected  victories  on 
the  ocean.  Little  was  expected  of  our  navy,  which  was  a  pygmy 
compared  with  that  of  England;  but  ere  the  close  of  the  first  year 
of  the  war  the  world  was  astonished  at  our  naval  victories.  With 
no  attempt  to  give  a  naval  history  of  this  war,  we  must  notice 
briefly  a  few  of  the  notable  sea.  fights  of  the  year  1812. 

The  most  famous  of  these  naval  duels  was  that  between  the 
Constitution,  a  44-gun  frigate,  and  the  Guerridre,  a  British  frignte 
of  thirty-eight  guns.  The  Constitution  was  commanded  by  Captain 
Isaac  Hull,  a  nephew  of  the  unhappy  governor  of  Michigan.  Late 
in  July,  while  cruising  off  the  Atlantic  coast,  he  came  upon  a 
British  squadron  from  Halifax.  Hull  saw  that  he  and  his  vessel 
were  lost  unless  he  could  escape.  He  fled,  and  the  squadron  gave 
chase,  and  for  three  days  and  nights  the  exciting  race  was  kept  up, 
partly  by  kedging,  as  there  was  little  wind,  when  the  Constitution 
left  her  pursuers  so  far  behind  that  they  gave  up  the  chase.  The 
race  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  naval  history,  and  was  very 
complimentary  to  American  seamanship. 


A   GREAT  NAVAL   VICTORY  421 

The  Constitution  reached  Boston  in  safety,  but  soon  again  put  to 
sea.  On  August  19  she  sighted  the  Guerrfere,  one  of  the  squadron 
that  had  chased  her.  The  meeting  was  welcomed  by  constitution 
both  sides.  The  English  ship  was  inferior  to  the  and  Guerriere, 
American  as  seven  to  ten,  but  this  counted  little  to  August  19. 
the  audacious  tar  who  represented  the  Mistress  of  the  Seas.  A  Lon 
don  paper  had  boasted  that  no  American  ship  could  cope  with  the 
Guerri&re,  and  her  own  captain,  Dae  res,  had  only  a  few  days  before 
challenged  any  one  of  our  frigates  to  battle.  Each  vessel  recognized 
the  other  on  sight  as  a  mortal  foe,  and  here  upon  the  rolling  deep, 
eight  hundred  miles  from  laud,  they  both  prepared  for  an  immediate 
duel  to  the  death.  After  wearing  an  hour  for  position,  with  an  occa 
sional  shot,  the  two  ships  came  within  easy  range  side  by  side,  and 
each  began  to  pour  broadsides  into  the  other.  A  few  minutes  after 
this  deadly  fire  began,  the  mizzenmast  of  the  Guerriere  was  shot  away, 
and  within  half  an  hour  the  mainmast  fell  and  the  vessel,  a  help 
less  wreck,  struck  her  colors  and  surrendered.  The  Constitution  was 
not  greatly  damaged.  Her  loss  in  killed  and  wounde'd  was  fourteen, 
while  the  enemy's  loss  was  seventy-nine.  Captain  Hull  set  fire  to 
the  remnants  of  the  proud  English  vessel,  took  his  prisoners  and 
hurried  back  to  Boston  to  receive  the  plaudits  of  his  countrymen. 
Even  the  Federalists  joined  in  the  glad  shout  of  victory  that  spread 
over  the  land.1  Why  so  much  ado  about  sinking  this  one  ship, 
when  England  had  a  thousand  more  ?  The  fact  is,  this  victory 
meant  more  than  appeared  on  the  surface,  —  it  meant  the  beginning 
of  the  end  of  the  impressment  of  seamen ;  it  meant  an  awakening 
in  the  American  sailor,  a  self-confidence  that  he  had  not  felt  before ; 
it  meant  a  disputing  with  England  the  right  of  way  upon  the  seas 
where  she  had  reigned,  a  queen  without  a  rival.  "  A  small  affair  it 
might  appear  among  the  world's  battles,"  says  Henry  Adams ;  "  it 
took  but  half  an  hour,  but  in  that  one  half  hour  the  United  States 
of  America  rose  to  the  rank  of  a  first-class  power."  : 

The  defeat  of  the  Guerriere,  however,  was  not  the  first  of  our 
naval  victories.  Six  days  before  this,  the  American  frigate  Essex, 
thirty-two  guns,  Captain  David  Porter,  had  captured  the  British 
sloop  of  war  Alert,  twenty  guns. 

Next   in  point  of  time  after  Hull's  victory  came  the  affair  of 

1  The  victory  of  the  Constitution  occurred  but  three  days  after  the  surrender  of 
Detroit,  and  the  news  of  both  reached  the  coast  at  the  same  time. 

2  Vol.  VI,  p.  375. 


422  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  Wasp  and  the  Frolic.  The  former  was  an  American  sloop  of 
w  war  of  eighteen  guns,  Captain  Jacob  Jones.  The  Frolic 

and  Frolic,  was  a  British  vessel  of  almost  the  same  size  and  equip- 
October  18.  ment.  They  met  five  hundred  miles  off  the  coast  of 
North  Carolina,  and  one  of  the  bloodiest  of  naval  battles  was  the  re 
sult.  The  sea  ran  high,  and  the  two  ships,  riding  upon  the  waves 
or  sunk  within  their  troughs,  poured  forth  their  broadsides  with 
deadly  ferocity.  They  drifted  so  near  together  that  the  rammers  of 
the  American  guns  touched  the  side  of  the  Frolic.  At  length,  after 
Jones  had  raked  the  enemy  from  stem  to  stern,  and  less  than  twenty 
of  the  one  hundred  and  ten  Englishmen  were  left  alive  and  unin 
jured,  the  Americans,  who  had  lost  but  ten  in  killed  and  wounded, 
boarded  the  enemy's  deck  and  hauled  down  the  British  flag.  The 
pitching  of  the  vessels  in  the  rolling  sea  had  furnished  a  fine  test  of 
marksmanship,  and  the  result  was  wholly  favorable  to  the  Ameri 
cans.  But  they  were  not  allowed  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  victory, 
for  on  the  same  day  the  two  vessels  were  captured  by  the  British 
seventy-four,  Poictiers,  and  carried  to  Bermuda. 

Exactly  one  week  after  this,  battle  a  greater  one  took  place  far 
out  on  the  Atlantic,  between  the  United  States,  one  of  our  largest 
The  United  frigates,  Captain  Stephen  Decatur,  and  the  British 
States  and  frigate  Macedonian.  The  two  ships  compared  in  size 
Macedonian.  an(j  force  jn  favor  Of  the  United  States  about  as  did 
the  Constitution  and  the  Guerriere.  Again  the  American  gunnery 
was  greatly  superior  to  the  English.  The  battle  continued  nearly 
two  hours,  when  the  British  vessel,  after  receiving  a  hundred 
shots  in  her  hull,  surrendered,  her  killed  and  wounded  being  nine 
times  greater  than  on  the  United  States.  The  Macedonian  was 
brought  to  America,  repaired,  and  added  to  our  heroic  little  navy. 
One  more  of  these  brilliant  victories  closed  the  year's  events. 
The  now  famous  Constitution,  "  Old  Ironsides,"  had  put  to  sea  again, 
under  Captain  Bainbridge,  who  had  commanded  the 
lost  phil^elPhia  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  had  lain  for 
a  year  and  a  half  in  a  Tripolitan  prison.  On  December 
29,  Bainbridge  encountered  the  English  38-gun  frigate  Java  off  the 
coast  of  Brazil.  A  desperate  battle  of  two  hours  ensued.  The  Java 
was  entirely  destroyed,  and  her  captain,  with  some  sixty  of  his  men, 
were  among  the  slain.  Thus  ended  the  wonderful  six  months' 
record  of  our  navy.  The  Americans  had  won  in  all  these  desperate 
duels  on  the  sea,  and  in  each  case  the  proportion  of  British  loss  in 


WAR   ON  THE   SEA  423 


killed  and  wounded  was  far  greater  than  the  difference  in  the  vessels 
account  for.  Meantime,  three  hundred  British  merchant  ships  had 
been  captured,  chiefly  by  privateersmen.  The  British  had  also  cap 
tured  many  of  ours,  and  in  addition  to  the  Wasp,  as  stated  above,  they 
had  taken  two  little  brigs,  the  Nautilus  and  Vixen.1 

This  marvelous  showing  in  our  favor  created  a  tremendous  sensa 
tion  in  England  as  well  as  in  America.  "  It  cannot  be  too  deeply 
felt,"  said  Canning  in  Parliament,  "  that  the  sacred  spell  of  the  invin 
cibility  of  the  British  navy  is  broken."  But  no  one  expected  this  to 
continue,  at  least  no  one  expected  our  little  navy  to  triumph  in  the 
end  over  that  of  England.  Congress  was  so  elated  with  our  successes 
thus  far  that  it  voted,  early  in  1813,  to  build  four  new  battle  ships  of 
the  first  class,  and  six  frigates  and  six  sloops  of  war.  The  honors 
on  the  sea  for  the  year  1813  were  about  even  between  the  two  na 
tions.2  The  first  sea  fight,  between  Lieutenant  James 
Lawrence  of  the  Hornet  and  Captain  Peake  of  the  Pea- 
cock,  both  of  twenty  guns,  resulted  as  usual.  They  met 
in  West  Indian  waters,  and  after  a  short,  fierce  battle  the  British  ves 
sel  was  destroyed,  and  her  brave  commander,  Captain  Peake,  died 
at  his  post.  So  destructive  had  been  the  American  fire  that  the 
Peacock  sank  before  all  her  survivors  could  be  rescued.  Nine  of  her 
crew  and  three  of  the  Hornet's  crew,  who  had  boarded  her,  went 
down  with  the  wreck.  Congress  voted  a  gold  medal  to  Lawrence, 
and  put  him  in  command  of  the  CJiesapeake,  the  famous  ship  that 
had  been  attacked  by  the  Leopard  six  years  before. 

Now,  for  a  time,  our  good  fortune  suffered  a  reverse.  While  the 
Chesapeake  lay  at  Boston,  she  was  challenged  to  a  duel  by  Captain 
Broke  of  the  British  frigate  Shannon,  lying  off  the  harbor.  Law 
rence  accepted  the  challenge.  Gathering  his  untrained  shannon  and 
crew,  he  went  out  to  meet  a  ship  of  the  same  size  as  his  Chesapeake, 
own,  but  with  a  crew  that  had  been  trained  for  weeks  June  1»  1813> 
for  just  such  a  purpose.  The  action  was  short  and  bloody.  The 
Chesapeake,  partially  disabled  at  the  beginning,  fell  afoul  of  her 

1  On  the  night  of  December  8  a  naval  ball  was  given  to  Hull  in  Washington  in 
honor  of  his  victory  over  the  Guerriere.    While  the  festivities  were  at  their  height 
a  messenger  from  Decatur  entered  the  ball  room  with  the  news  that  the  United 
States  had  captured  the  Macedonian,  and  laid  the  ensign  of  the  latter  vessel  at 
the  feet  of  the  President's  wife.     On  this  the  guests  broke  forth  into  the  wildest 
enthusiasm.    See  Schouler,  Vol.  II,  p.  371. 

2  One  reason  for  the  change  in  our  fortunes  was  that  the  British  admiralty  issued 
an  order  directing  captains  not  to  engage  with  American  ships  of  superior  force. 


424  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

antagonist,  and  was  raked  from  stem  to  stern.  Her  brave  young  com 
mander  received  a  mortal  wound,  and  as  he  was  being  carried  below 
he  cried,  "  Don't  give  up  the  ship,"  and  this  became  a  rallying  cry 
to  his  countrymen.  But  Captain  Broke  and  his  men  had  leaped 
aboard  the  Chesapeake,  and  she  soon  became  their  prize.  The  killed 
and  wounded  on  the  Shannon  numbered  eighty-three,  and  on  the 
Chesapeake  one  hundred  and  forty-six.  The  prize  was  taken  to 
Halifax,  and  Captain  Lawrence  died  on  the  way.  England  rejoiced 
exceedingly  over  this  victory,  and  well  she  might,  for  this  was  her 
first  naval  victory  of  importance  since  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

This  disaster  was  soon  followed  by  another.  The  American  brig 
Argus,  one  of  our  fastest  sailers,  while  cruising  in  the  English  Chan- 
Pelican  and  ne^>  captured  some  twenty  merchantmen.  One  of  these 
Argus,  was  laden  with  wine,  and  of  this  the  sailors  drank 

August  14.  freely.  Then  they  set  fire  to  the  captured  vessel,  and 
the  light  revealed  the  Argus  to  the  English  brig  Pelican.  The  two 
came  together  in  a  fierce  fight.  Many  of  the  Americans  were  in 
toxicated  with  the  captured  wine,  and  within  an  hour  the  Argus 
struck  her  colors  and  became  a  British  prize.  Her  brave  captain, 
William  Henry  Allen,  who  had  been  an  officer  on  the  Chesapeake  when 
it  was  attacked  by  the  Leopard  in  1807,  was  mortally  wounded. 

In  September  the  American  brig  Enterprise  captured  the  English 
brig  Boxer,  both  of  fourteen  guns,  off  the  coast  of  Maine.  But  both 
commanders  were  among  the  slain,  and  they  were  buried  at  Portland, 
side  by  side,  with  the  honors  of  war. 

By  the  end  of  the  year  1813  the  English  had  captured  seven 
American  war  vessels  mounting  119  guns,  while  the  Americans  had 
captured  twenty-six  British  war  vessels  mounting  560  guns.1  What 
a  marvelous  showing  for  our  little  navy !  But  its  power  was  now 
exhausted.  On  the  day  of  the  capture  of  the  Chesapeake  by  the 
Shannon,  Decatur,  with  the  United  States,  the  Hornet,  and  the  cap 
tured  Macedonian,  was  blockaded  in  the  harbor  of  New  London, 
Connecticut,  and,  watched  by  a  squadron  of  British  ships,  was  com 
pelled  to  remain  there  to  the  end  of  the  war.  His  ships  escaped  de 
struction  by  the  protection  of  shore  batteries.  Whenever  he  planned 
to  escape,  the  enemy  was  warned  by  blue  lights  on  shore.  This  was 
supposed  to  have  been  the  work  of  anti-war  Federalists,  and  hence 
they  received  the  opprobrious  designation  of  "  Blue-light  Federal 
ists."  Chesapeake  Bay,  the  Delaware  River,  and  indeed  every  port 
i  Johnson's  "  War  of  1812,"  p.  206. 


WORK  OF  THE  PRIVATEERS  v: 

and  harbor  on  the  entire  Atlantic  coast,  together  with  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi  were  blockaded  by  cordons  of  British  vessels.  Ad 
miral  Coekburu.  who  commanded  off  the  southern  coast*  burned  and 
sacked  the  towns  and  committed  many  unnecessary  deeds  of  cruelty ; 
while  Commodore  Hardy,  who  commanded  in  New  England  water?, 
abstained  from  all  such  barbarous  practices  and  proved  himself  * 
generous  foe  and  a  high-minded  gentleman. 

One  of  the  last  of  the  American  vessels  to  yield  was  the  plucky 
E&&-JT,  commanded  by  Captain  Porter.  After  her  victory  over  the 
Alert*  as  noted  above,  she  made  a  wonderful  cruise  in  ^^ 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  capturing  many  British  whalers.  In 
December,  1814.  we  find  the  Ex&x  blockaded  by  two  English  ships. 
the  Pktxbe  and  the  Ckfntb*  in  the  harbor  at  Valparaiso.  At  length 
she  was  attacked  by  both  in  disregard  of  the  neutrality  of  the  port. 
and  the  battle  that  ensued  was  one  of  the  most  dreadful  in  naval 
history.  The  odds  against  Porter  were  too  great,  the  E&xx  was  al 
most  shot  to  pieces  and  took  fire,  after  three  fourths  of  her  255  men 
had  been  killed  or  wounded.  The  battle  had  been  witnessed  from 
shore  by  thousands  of  people  who  had  gathered  on  the 
heights  to  view  the  magnificent  spectacle.  Among 
the  crew  of  the  captured  JE&ttr  was  a  boy  of  thirteen 
years,  whose  name  was  yet  to  be  placed  in  the  first  rank  of  naval 
heroes.  Other  naval  battles  we  must  leave  unmentioned  and  give  a 
brief  notice  to  the  merchant  marine. 

The  victories  of  our  war  ships  could  do  little  toward  destroying 
the  powerful  British  navy ;  it  was  the  moral  prestige  that  they  gave 
the  United  States  that  made  them  important.  But  it  was  far  other 
wise  with  the  inroads  of  our  privateers  on  the  commerce  of  England. 
The  loss  inflicted  upon  British  shipping  during  the  two  and  one  half 
years  of  war  was  incalculable.  Congress  licensed  about  250  ships,  and 
these  scoured  every  sea  in  search  of  the  defenseless  merchantman,  and 
the  prizes  they  took  numbered  many  hundred.1  Many  of  the  priva 
teers  plowed  the  seas  for  months  in  vain :  others  were  extremely  fortu 
nate.  The  Tnte-blt.ioded  Yankee  took  a  town  on  the  coast  of  Scotland. 
burned  seven  vessels  in  the  harbor,  and  captured  twenty-seven  vessels 
in  thirty-seven  days.  The  Surprise  made  twenty  prizes  in  a  month. 
The  Leo  captured  an  East  Indiaman  worth  two  and  a  half  million 

1  It  has  teen  estimated  that  sixteen  hundred  British  merchantmen  fell  victims 
to  the  privateers  and  the  war  ships.  Many  of  these  were  recaptured  by  British 
vessels  before  reaching  port. 


426  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

dollars,  but  it  was  recaptured.  No  English  merchantman  was  safe  in 
the  Irish  Sea  or  the  English  Channel.  One  American  captain  issued 
a  burlesque  proclamation,  declaring  the  entire  coasts  of  England  and 
Ireland  in  a  state  of  blockade.  The  merchandise  taken  reached 
many  millions  in  value,  and  represented  the  industries  of  every 
clime  and  every  seaport  on  the  globe,  —  sable  furs  from  the  Siberian 
desert,  silks  and  tea  from  China  and  Japan,  ivory  from  Africa, 
Turkish  carpets,  silks,  wines,  gold,  and  diamonds  —  all  kinds  of 
merchandise  carried  in  English  vessels  became  a  prey  to  these  bold, 
insatiable  rovers  of  the  sea,  the  American  privateers. 

There  has  been  much  recent  criticism  of  privateering.  The  asser 
tion  that  it  is  legalized  robbery  is  true  ;  but  war  itself  is  worse  than 
robbery.  Why  should  property,  especially  that  which  has  a  military 
value,  be  held  more  sacred  than  human  life  ?  How  could  a  nation 
without  a  navy  cope  at  all  with  a  great  maritime  power  except  through 
privateering?  Is  it  less  humane  to  destroy  an  enemy's  property  than 
to  destroy  the  lives  of  his  men  ?  Abolish  privateering  ?  Yes,  by 
all  means;  but  abolish  war  at  the  same  time,  and  let  the  nations 
settle  their  disputes  by  arbitration.  Had  not  privateering  been 
permitted  in  the  war  we  are  treating,  the  English  could  have  dis 
posed  of  our  little  navy  and  then  harassed  our  coasts  for  indefinite 
years  —  until  we  came  to  their  terms  of  peace.  It  is  certain  that 
Great  Britain  would  not  have  been  ready  to  come  to  peace  when 
she  did  but  for  the  fearful  wounds  she  was  receiving  through  the 
privateers. 

FURTHER  OPERATIONS  ON  THE  LAKES 

We  left  General  Dearborn  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake 
Ontario  in  the  vicinity  of  Sacketts  Harbor,  where  Commodore 
Surrenderor  Chauncey  had  built  a  fleet  of  fourteen  vessels.  The 
York,  April  monotony  of  the  winter  was  broken  by  sporadic  raids ; 
27, 1813.  kuk  in  tne  Spring  Of  1813  Dearborn  planned  to  capture 
Toronto  (then  called  York),  the  capital  of  Upper  Canada.  For  this 
purpose  he  sent  General  Zebulon  M.  Pike,  the  explorer.  After  a 
rough  voyage  in  Chauncey's  fleet,  the  troops  landed  near  the  town, 
and  were  met  by  an  equal  number  of  British  and  Indians  led  by 
Sheaffe.  After  some  hours  of  sharp  fighting  the  Americans  cap 
tured  the  town,  when  suddenly  the  ground  was  shaken  by  a  terrific 
explosion.  The  magazine  containing  five  hundred  barrels  of  powder 
had  exploded,  and  the  falling  debris  killed  nearly  a  hundred  men 


WILKINSON   ON   THE   ST.   LAWRENCE  427 

and  wounded  twice  as  many.  Among  the  mortally  wounded  was 
General  Pike,  who  was  struck  by  the  fragment  of  a  stone  wall  while 
sitting  on  a  stump  talking  with  a  captured  British  sergeant.  The 
British  claimed  that  the  explosion  was  an  accident,  and  the  fact 
that  nearly  half  the  killed  were  their  own  men,  seems  to  justify  the 
claim.  It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  they  would  have  engaged  in 
such  wanton  destruction  of  life  after  having  surrendered  the  town. 
The  British  flag  was  hauled  down,  and  General  Pike  died  with  it 
folded  beneath  his  head. 

Soon  after  this,  Dearborn  sent  General  Boyd,  who  had  succeeded 
Pike,  to  capture  Fort  George.  Boyd  succeeded  after  several  sharp 
skirmishes,  and  over  six  hundred  of  the  enemy  were  made  prisoners. 

At  the  same  time  Sir  George  Prevost,  governor  general  of  Canada, 
sailed  from  Kingston  in  a  fleet  of  nine  vessels  bearing  a  thousand 
men  for  an  attack  on  Sacketts  Harbor.      But  Prevost 
was  wanting  in  military  skill,  and  he  soon  withdrew        y' 
his  ships  and  returned  to  Canada. 

General  Dearborn  was  relieved  of  his  command  in  June,  1813, 
and  General  Wilkinson  was  called  from  New  Orleans  to  take  com 
mand.  John  Armstrong,  author  of  the  famous  New-  chrystler's 
burg  addresses,  had  become  secretary  of  war  instead  of  Field,  Novem- 
Eustis,  and  he  planned  another  invasion  of  Canada,  berll,  1813. 
with  Montreal  as  the  objective  point.  In  the  autumn,  Wilkinson 
moved  from  Sacketts  Harbor  down  the  St.  Lawrence  with  an  army 
of  seven  thousand  men,  while  an  additional  force  under  Wade 
Hampton  was  to  cooperate  in  moving  on  the  Canadian  city.  But 
these  old  generals  were  jealous  of  each  other,  and  Hampton  refused 
to  serve  under  Wilkinson.  The  latter  moved  on,  passed  Ogdensburg, 
and  when  within  ninety  miles  of  Montreal  met  a  British  army  and 
was  defeated  in  the  battle  of  Chrystler's  Field.  Hearing  now  that 
he  would  not  be  supported  by  Hampton,  Wilkinson  abandoned  the 
expedition.  Meantime  the  British  in  the  Niagara  region  had  rallied 
and  recaptured  Fort  George.  But  the  Americans,  before  leaving, 
had  wantonly  burned  the  village  of  Newark,  and  the  British  in 
retaliation  crossed  over  and  burned  half  a  dozen  towns,  including 
Buffalo,  then  a  village  of  fifteen  hundred  inhabitants. 

We  now  come  to  the  most  famous  American  victory  in  the  lake 
region  during  the  war.  Lake  Erie  was  held  by  a  small  English  fleet 
commanded  by  Commodore  Barclay,  who  had  fought  with  Nelson 
at  Trafalgar.  The  Americans  determined  to  dispute  the  control 


428  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

of  its  waters,  and  Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  a  valiant  young  naval 
officer,  sought  and  obtained  permission  to  undertake  the  task.  The 
undertaking  was  prodigious.  The  timber  of  the  coining  fleet  was 
still  standing  in  the  woods;  the  iron  works,  stores,  canvas,  and 
cordage  were  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  there  was  no 
railroad  or  canal  by  which  to  transport  them.  So  during  the 
winter  scores  of  sleds  and  wagons  struggled  through  the  deep 
snows  of  northern  Pennsylvania,  bearing  the  necessary  equipment ; 
while  over  fifty  ship  carpenters  at  Presque  Isle,  now  Erie,  were  busy 
hewing  out  the  timbers.  The  work  was  protected  by  an  excellent 
harbor  inclosed  by  a  bar  over  which  the  British  could  not  sail.  But 
Barclay  would  remedy  the  evil ;  he  would  attack  the  new-born  fleet 
while  crossing  the  bar,  and  he  watched  and  waited.  Perry's  work 
progressed  rapidly.  He  named  his  flagship  Lawrence,  after  the 
brave  commander  whose  dying  words,  "  Don't  give  up  the  ship," 
now  became  the  motto  of  the  vessel  that  bore  his  name.  By  the 
end  of  July  the  fleet  was  finished,  and  fortune  favored  it  from  the 
beginning.  The  vigilant  Barclay  lost  his  vigilance  for  a  day.  He 
accepted  an  invitation  from  a  rich  Canadian  to  a  Sunday 
dinner,  and  took  his  fleet  to  the  northern  shore.  On 
that  day  Perry's  fleet  crossed  the  bar.  It  was  a  difficult  feat. 
The  larger  vessels  were  lightened  and  borne  up  by  scows,  and  after 
a  day  and  a  night  of  severe  toil  they  were  launched  on  the  bosom 
of  the  lake,  and  there  they  stood  defiantly  when  Barclay  returned 
next  morning.  The  British  commander  now  seemed  to  have  lost 
his  desire  to  fight,  and  he  wheeled  about  and  fled  westward.  It  took 
Perry  a  month  to  find  him ;  but  he  did  so  at  Put-in-Bay  about  sunrise 
of  September  10,  and  before  sunset  of  that  same  day  Great  Britain 
was  without  ships  or  sailors  on  Lake  Erie. 

The  two  fleets  were  of  nearly  the  same  force.  Perry  had  ten 
vessels  with  fifty-five  guns,  and  Barclay  six  vessels  with  sixty-five 
Battle  of  Lake  guns-  Each  had  about  four  hundred  men.  The  battle 
Erie,  Septem-  opened  at  noon,  and  for  some  hours  there  was  an  in- 
ber  10,  1813.  cessant  roar  of  artillery.  Several  of  the  English  vessels 
directed  their  fire  upon  the  American  flagship,  and  by  two  o'clock 
over  two  thirds  of  her  hundred  and  thirty  men  were  killed  or 
wounded.  At  length  the  Lawrence  seemed  about  to  sink,  and  the 
undaunted  Perry,  waving  his  banner,  passed  in  an  open  boat  in  the 
face  of  the  enemy's  fire  to  his  next  largest  vessel,  the  Niagara. 
Presently  two  of  the  British  vessels  fouled,  and  the  Americans, 


PERRY'S   VICTORY   ON   LAKE   ERIE  429 

taking  advantage  of  this,  raked  their  decks  with  a  murderous  fire; 
but  only  for  twenty  minutes,  when  the  British  fleet  raised  the  white 
flag  and  surrendered. 

Perry's  laconic  dispatch  to  General  Harrison,  "We  have  met 
the  enemy  and  they  are  ours,"  soon  became  as  famous  as  the  noble 
words  of  Lawrence,  which  he  had  made  his  motto.  This  brilliant 
victory  transferred  the  control  of  the  lake  wholly  to  the  Americans, 
rendered  the  recovery  of  Michigan  comparatively  easy,  and  gave  to 
the  young  American  commander  an  undying  fame. 

Before  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie  the  land  forces  of  both  belligerents 
had  been  gathering  in  northwestern  Ohio.  The  British  and  Indians 
were  there  under  Colonel  Henry  Proctor  and  Tecumseh, 
the  Americans  under  General  Harrison,  of  Tippecanoe  maeg  ~aism 
fame.  The  fall  of  Detroit  had  roused  the  blood  of  the 
young  men  of  the  West,  and  they  determined  to  wipe  out  the  dis 
honor.  Early  in  the  year  1813,  General  James  Winchester  was 
moving  through  western  Ohio  with  a  thousand  Kentucky  troops, 
and  before  the  close  of  January  he  reached  Frenchtown  on  the 
river  Raisin,  eighteen  miles  from  Maiden.  Here  he  met  Proctor 
with  a  large  body  of  British  and  Indians,  and  a  battle  was  fought 
in  which  the  Americans  were  defeated,  and  many  of  them  taken 
prisoners.  Then  occurred  one  of  those  scenes  of  carnage  so  common 
to  Indian  warfare.  Many  of  the  Americans  while  retreating  were 
ambushed  and  tomahawked ;  others  were  butchered  in  cold  blood 
after  they  had  surrendered.  Next  day  Proctor  started  back  to 
Maiden  with  his  prisoners,  among  whom  was  Winchester,  and  left 
thirty  wounded  Americans  at  Frenchtown.  But  ere  they  had  gone 
far,  two  hundred  Indians  turned  back  and  massacred  the  wounded 
men  and  set  fire  to  the  buildings.  "  Remember  the  river  Raisin  " 
became  the  rallying  cry  of  their  surviving  comrades  in  the  North 
west.  The  American  loss  in  this  affair  was  about  four  hundred 
killed  or  wounded,  and  over  five  hundred  captured. 

After  this  disaster,  Harrison  with  twelve  hundred  men  built  Fort 
Meigs  at  the  rapids  of  the  Maumee.  Proctor  besieged  this  fort  in 
vain  for  some  time,  and  then  turned  his  attention  to  Fort  Stephenson. 
This  fort  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Fremont,  in  northern 
Ohio,  and  was  held  by  a  hundred  and  sixty  men,  commanded  by  Major 
George  Croghan,  a  nephew  of  General  George  Rogers  Clark,  whom 
we  have  met  in  the  Revolution.  Proctor's  demand  for  a  surrender  of 
the  fort,  with  the  usual  threat  of  Indian  massacre,  was  answered  by 


430  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED  -STATES 

the  brave  Croghan,  that  every  man  would  die  at  his  post  rather  than 
surrender  the  fort.  Croghan  had  one  small  cannon,  a  six  pounder, 
which  he  masked  and  placed  so  as  to  enfilade  a  ditch 
Stephenson  UP  w^c^  tne  British  were  approaching.  On  they  came 
with  sublime  confidence,  and  leaped  over  the  pickets, 
shouting,  "  Show  the  Yankees  no  quarter."  Next  moment  the  can 
non,  loaded  with  a  double  charge  of  slugs,  was  discharged,  and  this, 
followed  by  a  rifle  volley,  mowed  down  every  man  in  the  ditch. 
Again  the  plucky  Britons  filled  the  ditch,  and  again  the  single  piece 
was  discharged,  with  the  same  result.  It  was  now  night,  and  next 
morning  the  British  had  disappeared. 

As  the  summer  passed  the  two  armies  lay  watching  each  other, 
until  on  September  12  the  Americans  were  electrified  with  the 
famous  dispatch,  "  We  have  met  the  enemy  and  they  are  ours,"  which 
meant  that  Lake  Erie  had  passed  into  American  hands.  But  this 
was  not  all.  Harrison's  army  was  about  to  be  more  than  doubled. 
Ohio  was  yet  in  its  infancy,  and  the  older  state  of  Kentucky  was 
the  main  dependence  of  the  Northwest.  And  Kentucky  did  nobly. 
Governor  Shelby,  who  had  fought  by  the  side  of  Sevier  at  King's 
Mountain,  marched  northward  with  thirty-five  hundred  troops,  and 
Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson  came  with  a  thousand  cavalry.  Harri 
son  now  determined  to  invade  Canada.  He  sent  Johnson  to  Detroit 
with  his  mounted  thousand,  but  the  enemy  had  fled;  and  Michi 
gan,  which  Hull  had  surrendered  without  a  blow,  was 
recovered  recovered  without  a  blow.  The  main  army  was  then 
conveyed  in  Perry's  fleet  to  Canada  and  set  ashore  be 
low  Maiden.  But  Proctor,  though  he  had  nearly  a  thousand  regu 
lars  and  more  than  three  thousand  Indians,  refused  to  fight,  burned 
his  stores,  and  abandoned  the  fort.  Tecumseh,  who  commanded  the 
Indians,  was  chagrined  at  the  apparent  cowardice  of  Proctor,  and 
compared  him  to  a  fat  dog  that  had  carried  its  tail  erect  till  it 
became  frightened,  when  it  dropped  its  tail  and  ran. 

Harrison  moved  up  the  river  and  was  joined  by  Johnson's 
cavalry.  Proctor  continued  his  flight;  the  Americans  pursued. 
The  pursuit  was  vigorous  and  comparatively  easy,  as  Proctor  ne 
glected  to  destroy  the  bridges  across  the  streams.  The  British  army 
was  overtaken  at  Moravian  Town  on  the  Thames  River.  Here, 
it  is  said,  Tecumseh  made  a  stand  and  informed  Proctor  that  the 
disgraceful  flight  should  be  continued  no  farther ;  and  the  result 
was  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  and  the  death  of  one  of  the  greatest 


DEATH  OF  TECUMSEH  431 

of  Indian  warriors.  Harrison  had  little  to  do  with  planning  the 
battle  ;  it  was  the  work  of  Johnson,  whose  cavalry,  aided  slightly  by 
Shelby's  riflemen,  did  all  the  fighting  on  the  part  of  the  Americans. 
The  American  loss  of  life  was  slight ;  the  British  army,  Battle  of  ^e 
after  losing  nearly  twelve  hundred  in  killed  and  wounded,  Thames,  Octo- 
became  demoralized,  and  almost  all  the  survivors  were  ter  5>  1813- 
made  captives,  Proctor  escaping  with  a  few  followers  by  flight 
through  the  swamps  and  wilderness.  The  Indian  leader  Tecumseh 
was  among  the  slain,  and  he  was  said  to  have  met  his  death  at  the 
hand  of  Richard  M.  Johnson,  a  future  Vice  President  of  the  United 
States.  Among  the  spoils  were  six  brass  cannon  captured  from  Bur- 
goyne  at  Saratoga  thirty-six  years  before  and  surrendered  by  Hull 
at  Detroit. 

The  campaign  ending  with  the  battle  of  the  Thames  wholly 
destroyed  the  alliance  between  the  British  and  the  Indians,  killed 
the  most  dangerous  Indian  enemy  since  the  days  of  Pontiac,  and 
destroyed  all  hope  of  an  Indian  confederation  of  tribes.  It  also 
resulted  in  the  restoration  of  Michigan,  in  the  capture  of  a  small 
British  army,  cleared  the  entire  Northwest  of  the  enemy,  and  ended 
the  war  in  that  section.  Harrison  now  stationed  a  thousand  men  at 
Detroit  under  Lewis  Cass,  disbanded  his  Kentuckians  and  sent  them 
rejoicing  homeward,  and  with  the  remainder  of  his  troops  embarked 
on  Perry's  fleet  for  Buffalo. 

Two  severe  battles  in  the  region  of  the  lakes  took  place  the 
following  summer,  —  Chippewa  and  Lundy's  Lane.  In  March,  1814, 
Wilkinson  was  relieved  from  the  service,  and  thus  ended  a  long  and 
exceedingly  checkered  military  career.  The  command  now  fell  to 
General  Brown ;  and,  aided  by  a  few  young  and  vigorous  spirits  like 
himself,  the  ablest  of  whom  was  Winfield  Scott,  he  soon  infused 
new  life  into  the  army.  And  it  was  quite  time  for  such  a  change ; 
for  Napoleon  had  abdicated  the  throne  of  France  and  retired  to  Elba, 
thus  setting  free  a  large  number  of  British  veterans,  who  "  had  not 
slept  under  roof  for  seven  years,"  and  fourteen  thousand  of  these 
were  now  sent  to  Canada  to  fight  the  Americans. 

At  the  beginning  of  July,  1814,  we  find  Brown  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  the  great  waterfall  with  some  thirty-five  hundred  effective 
men  and  a  few  Indians,  while  General  Riall,  the  British  Battle  of 
commander   at   Fort  George,  had  a   somewhat   larger  Chippewa. 
force,  partly  on  garrison  duty  at  the  neighboring  posts.   3uly  5,  1814. 
On    hearing    of    the    American    advance,   Riall   hastened   forward 


432  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

with  two  thousand  men  and  took  a  strong  position  at  Chippewa, 
just  above  the  falls.  Here  he  was  met  by  General  Scott  with  thir 
teen  hundred  men,  and  after  a  fierce  battle  of  one  hour  the  British 
broke  and  fled. 

This  battle  of  Chippewa  is  noted  as  the  only  one  during  the  war 
in  which  two  armies  of  regulars,  nearly  equal  in  numbers,  fought  on 
an  open  plain  with  no  advantage  of  position.1  Whatever  advantage 
there  was  belonged  to  the  British;  they  were  slightly  greater  in 
numbers,  they  opened  fire  first,  while  the  Americans  were  crossing 
a  bridge,  and  Scott  had  to  form  in  line  while  under  fire.  The  result 
was  wonderfully  gratifying  to  American  pride.  Not  only  did  the 
Americans  win  the  battle  in  less  than  an  hour,  but  their  killed  and 
wounded  numbered  less  than  half  those  of  the  British.2 

Twenty  days  after  this  battle  the  two  armies  met  again,  in  a  more 
desperate  encounter.  Riall  had  taken  his  stand  at  Lundy's  Lane, 
within  a  mile  of  the  boiling  Niagara,  on  the  Canadian  side,  and  in 
easy  hearing  of  the  thunders  of  the  mighty  cataract.  His  army 
was  augmented  on  July  25  by  the  arrival  of  his  superior,  General 
Gordon  Drummond,  with  a  fresh  body  of  troops,  many  of  whom 
were  Wellington's  veterans,  and  the  army  now  exceeded  three  thou 
sand  men.  The  effective  force  of  the  Americans  had  dwindled 
to  2644  men.  In  the  evening  glow  of  that  broiling  summer  day 
the  American  advance  guard  of  1300  under  Scott  met  1800  of 
the  enemy  led  by  Riall,  and  the  battle  was  immediately  opened. 
Brown  heard  the  firing  and  reached  the  field  with  the  rest  of  the 
army  about  dark ;  the  British  were  ree'nf orced  at  the  same  time,  and 
Battle  of  tne  battle  continued.  The  Americans  suffered  severely 
Lundy's  Lane,  from  an  English  battery  on  a  little  hill  in  the  midst 
July  25, 1814.  of  ^he  fighting  line.  General  Brown  ordered  Colonel 
James  Miller  to  capture  it.  "  I'll  try,  sir,"  wras  the  modest  answer, 
and  half  an  hour  later  the  work  was  accomplished,  every  man  at 
the  battery  having  been  shot  down  or  having  fallen  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet.  For  five  hours  in  the  darkness  the  battle  raged,  each 
army  directing  its  fire  by  the  flash  of  the  enemy's  muskets,  while 
the  thunder  of  artillery  answered  the  roar  of  the  falling  river  in  the 
rear.  Three  times  the  British  surged  up  the  hill  to  recapture  the 
stolen  battery,  but  they  were  always  repulsed.  Soon  after  eleven 

1  Adams,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  43. 

2  In  this  battle  on  the  American  side  was  the  famous  Indian,  Red  Jacket,  whom 
Halleck  has  immortalized  in  a  poem. 


LUNDY'S  LANE  AND   FORT  ERIE  433 

o'clock  the  firing  ceased  as  if  by  common  consent.  At  midnight  the 
Americans  gathered  up  their  wounded  and  retired  to  their  camp  at 
Chippewa,  leaving  the  heavy  guns  to  the  enemy. 

This  murderous  night  battle  at  Lundy's  Lane  was  an  extraordi 
nary  one.    Brown  was  wounded,  Scott  was  wounded,  and  the  command 
devolved  on  Ripley,  one  of  the  brigade  commanders.     Druinmond 
was  wounded,  and  Riall  was   wounded  and  taken  prisoner.     The 
total  American  loss,  853,  was  about  one  third  of  the  army.     Drurn- 
mond  reported  a  loss  of  878.     The  American  army  then  proceeded 
to  Fort  Erie  at  the  head  of  the  Niagara,  and  took  a  Attack  on 
strong  position.     Drumrnond  now  committed  the  most   Fort  Erie, 
serious   blunder   of   his  life.     He   made  a  determined  August 15 
night  attack  on  the  fort  and  was  repulsed  with  the  loss  of  over  900 
men,  while  the  American  loss  was  but   84.     Soon  after  this  the 
Americans  attacked  the  British  in  camp,  and  each  side  lost  several 
hundred,  after  which  the  British  withdrew  and  gave  up  the  siege. 

Before  these  events  had  fully  taken  place  the  British  had  deter 
mined  on  an  invasion  of  Xew  York  from  another  quarter,  and  their 
chances  seemed  excellent.  Early  in  August  eleven  hundred  more  of 
Wellington's  veterans  reached  Canadian  soil,  and  more  were  coming. 
For  two  reasons  the  British  needed  to  possess  Lake  Champlain  and 
northern  Xew  York.  First,  their  supplies,  cattle  and  provisions, 
had  been  drawn  from  the  unpatriotic  residents  of  Xew  York  and 
Vermont,  and  Congress  was  about  to  make  a  determined  effort  to 
stop  this  traffic.  Second,  the  British  had  overrun  a  large  part  of 
the  coast  of  Maine,  and  had  required  the  people  to  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance.  This  territory  England  determined  to  hold  at  the  com 
ing  of  peace,  and  to  do  this  a  solid  military  basis  was  necessary.1 
Hence  northern  Xew  York  must  be  conquered  and  held. 

At  Plattsburg,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain,  General  George 
Izard  held  five  thousand  men,  and  on  the  lake'  Lieutenant  Thomas 
Macdonough  commanded  a  little   fleet  of  five  vessels 
and  a  few  gunboats.     But  Secretary  Armstrong  ordered  ?£™  York* 
Izard  to  Sacketts    Harbor  with   three  fourths  of   the 
army.     Izard  obeyed  and  left  General  Alexander  Macomb  at  Platts 
burg  with  scarcely  fifteen  hundred  effective  men,  soon  to  be  joined 
by  several  thousand  militia  from  Vermont  and  Xew  York.     While 
the  Americans  were  in  this  weakened  condition,  Sir  George  Prevost 
marched  from  the  St.  Lawrence  Valley  at  the  head  of  a  veteran 
i  Adams,  Vol.  VIII,  Chap.  IV. 

2F 


434  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

army  of  at  least  twelve  thousand  men,  over  the  same  route  taken 
by  Burgoyne  thirty-seven  years  before,  and  with  a  larger  and  better 
army  than  that  of  Burgoyne.  Prevost  was  supported  by  a  British 
fleet  under  Commodore  George  Downie.  The  attack  by  land  and 
water  was  to  be  simultaneous,  and  it  took  place  a  year  and  a  day 
after  the  noble  victory  of  Perry  on  Lake  Erie.  The  two  fleets  were 
nearly  equal  in  force.  Downie  had  little  opportunity  to  show  his 
fighting  qualities,  as  he  was  killed  early  in  the  action.  Macdonough 
has  been  pronounced  by  McMaster  the  greatest  naval  commander  in 
America  before  the  Civil  War.  He  was  but  thirty  years  old,  but  he 
had  seen  severe  service  in  the  Mediterranean  against  the  piratical 
Barbary  States.  The  battle  opened  fiercely  and  continued  for  two 
hours.  It  seemed  to  be  going  against  the  Americans,  when  Macdon 
ough  made  a  move  that  won  him  the  victory.  He  had  taken  the  fore 
thought  to  lay  a  kedge  anchor  at  each  bow  of  his  flagship,  the 
Battle  of  Saratoga,  by  the  aid  of  which,  if  one  broadside  were 
Plattsburg,  disabled,  the  other  could  be  turned  on  the  enemy.  He 
September  now  made  use  of  this  means  and  reopened  the  battle 
11,1814.  w^  renewec[  vigor.  Presently  the  English  flagship, 
the  Conjiance,  struck  her  colors,  and  finally  the  whole  fleet  surren 
dered  except  a  few  gunboats,  which  escaped. 

On  the  same  day  Prevost  attacked  Macomb  with  a  large  portion 
of  his  army,  but  the  latter  defended  his  position  with  success.  The 
loss  on  each  side  was  slight,  nor  were  the  killed  and  wounded  in 
the  naval  fight  nearly  so  great  in  proportion  to  the  numbers  engaged 
as  in  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie.  Prevost,  with  no  supporting  navy, 
gave  up  the  expedition  and  returned  to  his  familiar  haunts  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  ;  and  the  Empire  State  has  ever  since  been  free  from 
invasion  by  a  foreign  enemy. 

THE   WASHINGTON   CAMPAIGN 

James  Madison  had  been  reflected  President  over  De  Witt  Clin 
ton,  who  had  been  supported  by  the  Federalists  and  the  disaffected 
Democrats.  Madison  would  have  made  an  excellent  President  in 
time  of  peace  ;  but  he  was  ill  fitted  to  manage  a  war.  His  first  secre 
tary  of  war,  Eustis,  displayed  a  woeful  incapacity  in  military  affairs ; 
and  his  second,  John  Armstrong,  was  but  a  shade  better.  The  Czar 
of  Kussia  had  offered  his  services  in  bringing  peace  ;  but  while  Madi 
son  eagerly  accepted  the  proposition,  and  sent  Gallatin  and  James 


ENGLISH   ADVANCE   ON   WASHINGTON 


435 


WASHIZSTGTOiN' 
AND  VICINITY. 


A.  Bayard  to  join  John  Q.  Adams,  minister  to  Russia,  at  St.  Peters 
burg,  England  refused,  and  the  war  went  on.  Xearly  a  year  later 
England  made  direct  overtures  to  the  United  States  for  peace.  The 
President  again  accepted,  and  sent  Henry  Clay  and  Jonathan  Rus 
sell  to  join  the  other  peace  commissioners  in  Europe ;  and  while  the 
negotiations  were  in  progress,  the  armies  in  the  field  kept  on  batter 
ing  one  another. 

The  British  government  determined  to  strike  the  heart  of  its 
enemy  by  attacking  our  large  cities  along  the  coast.  The  first  of 
these  expeditions,  under  the  com 
mand  of  General  Robert  Ross, 
who  had  served  under  Wellington 
in  Spain,  and  had  stood  by  the 
side  of  Sir  John  Moore  when  that 
hero  fell  at  Corunna,  reached 
the  Chesapeake  early  in  August, 
1814.  The  army  consisted  of 
thirty-five  hundred  veterans,  soon 
increased  by  a  thousand  marines 
from  the  fleet  of  Cockburn. 

For  months  rumors  of  the 
coming  of  the  enemy  had  been 
afloat,  but  almost  nothing  had 
been  done  for  protection.  The 
President  had  urged  Armstrong 
to  prepare  for  defense ;  but  the 
latter,  with  singular  dilatoriness, 
had  done  nothing.  At  length 
Madison  appointed  General  Wil 
liam  H.  Winder  to  command 
the  defense.  Winder  possessed 
little  military  ability,  but  he  was  willing,  and  with  great  effort 
he  collected  an  army  of  five  hundred  regulars  and  fifteen  hundred 
militia.  Ross  landed  at  Benedict,  on  the  Patuxent  River,  some 
forty  miles  southeast  of  Washington,  and  by  easy  marches  moved 
northward  toward  Bladensburg.  The  inhabitants  could  easily 
have  impeded  his  march  by  felling  trees  or  by  burning  bridges, 
but  nothing  of  the  kind  was  done.  Commodore  Barney,  who  com 
manded  a  flotilla  on  the  Chesapeake,  burned  his  vessels,  and,  with  his 
four  hundred  marines  joined  the  army  of  Winder.  The  two  armies 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


met  at  Bladensburg  just  after  noon  on  August  24,  the  American 
army  having  been  increased  by  militia  till  it  numbered  probably 
six  thousand  men.  The  President  and  his  Cabinet  were 
also  on  the  ground  at  the  opening  of  the  battle.  Soon 
after  the  fighting  began  many  of  the  militia  found 
safety  in  flight,  and  the  British  would  scarcely  have  been  checked 
but  for  the  brave  stand  made  by  Barney  and  his  marines.  Barney 
held  his  ground  till  he  was  wounded  and  captured. 

The  battle  over,  the  British  rested  two  hours,  when  they  marched 
upon  the  capital,  then  a  village  of  eight  thousand  people.  The  Presi 
dent  and  Cabinet  had  returned,  and  were  now  fleeing  in  various 
'directions  to  escape  capture.  Mrs.  Madison  had  carefully  secured 
Stewart's  famous  picture  of  Washington  and  the  original  draft  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  before  leaving  the  White  House. 
The  British  army  encamped  at  nightfall  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
of  the  Capitol,  while  details  of  troops,  led  by  Boss  and  the  notorious 
Cockburn,  proceeded  to  burn  the  public  buildings.  It  is  said  that 
Cockburn,  followed  by  a  rabble,  entered  the  hall  of  the  House  of 
Sack  of  Wash-  Representatives,  climbed  into  the  speaker's  chair,  and 
ington,  Au-  put  the  question,  "  Shall  this  harbor  of  Yankee  democ- 
gust,  1814.  racv  be  burned?"  The  vote  in  the  affirmative  was 
unanimous,  and  the  torch  was  applied.  The  White  House  was  next 
set  on  fire,  as  was  also  the  Navy  Yard  (by  order  of  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  Jones),  and  the  triple  conflagration  lit  up  the  whole  surround 
ing  country.  All  the  other  government  buildings,  except  the  Patent 
Office,  were  given  to  the  flames;  after  which  the  invading  army 
hastened  away  and  boarded  their  ships  at  Benedict. 

This  destruction  of  public  buildings  that  had  no  relation  to  the 
operations  of  war,  with  many  "public  archives,  precious  to  the 
nation  as  memorials  of  its  origin  .  .  .  interesting  to  all  nations,  as 
contributions  to  the  general  stock  of  historical  instruction  and  politi 
cal  science,"  J  will  admit  of  no  defense.  We  are  glad  to  note  that 
no  reputable  Englishman  attempts  to  defend  the  outrage.  Knight 
says  there  was  a  general  feeling  in  England  that  the  destruction  of 
these  non-warlike  buildings  was  "  an  outrage  inconsistent  with  civil 
ized  warfare,"  and  he  also  points  out  the  fact  that  from  this  time  to 
the  end  of  the  war  the  Americans  were  victorious  in  every  contest.2 
The  first  American  victory  after  this  wanton  destruction  of  the  capital 

1  See  Madison's  Proclamation. 

2  "  History  of  England,"  Vol.  VIII,  p.  378. 


FAILURE   TO   TAKE   BALTIMORE  437 

was  won  at  Plattsburg,  as  we  have  seen ;  while  the  second,  almost 
simultaneous  with  the  Plattsburg  victory,  was  the  repulse  of  Ross's 
army  before  Baltimore. 

The  capture  of  Washington  had  been  a  task  so  easy  that  the 
British  seemed  confident  of  making  a  prize  of  the  larger  and  richer 
city  of  Baltimore.  After  making  a  raid  up  the  Potomac,  and  plun 
dering  Alexandria,  they  sailed  up  the  Chesapeake  and  anchored  off 
the  mouth  of  the  Patapsco,  September  11.  But  the  city  had  not  been 
idle.  The  fate  of  the  capital  had  taught  the  people  a  much-needed 
lesson.  Led  by  the  mayor,  they  threw  up  embankments  on  all  sides, 
and  erected  batteries ;  while  the  militia  poured  into  the  city,  till  four 
teen  thousand  were  present  and  ready  for  duty.  General  Ross,  who 
had  boasted  that  he  would  make  Baltimore  his  winter  quarters,  and 
who  "  didn't  care  if  it  rained  militia,"  landed  at  the  dawn  of  day  — 
the  day  after  Macdonough  had  killed  Downie  and  captured  his  fleet 
on  Lake  Champlain  —  and  began  his  march  toward  the  city.  It  was 
fourteen  miles,  and  five  were  traversed  without  an  obsta 
cle  when  Koss  met  General  Strieker  with  three  thousand 
men  to  dispute  the  right  of  way.  A  hot  skirmish,  known 
as  the  battle  of  North  Point,  ensued.  The  British  drove  the 
Americans  back ;  but  it  took  three  hours  to  do  this,  and  it  cost 
three  hundred  men,  and  among  the  dead  was  General  Boss,  in 
whose  breast  had  lodged  a  musket  ball  from  one  of  the  despised 
militia.1 

A  large  fleet  under  Admiral  Cochrane  had  meantime  blocked  up 
the  Patapsco,  an  arm  pf  the  Chesapeake ;  but  it  failed  to  pass  the 
guns  of  Fort  McHenry,  and  hence  was  unable  to  throw  shells  into 
the  city.  All  day  and  far  into  the  night  the  bombarding  continued ; 
but  at  dawn  the  American  flag  was  still  waving  from  the  walls  of 
the  fort.  On  that  night  the  young  American  poet,  Francis  Scott 
Key,  had  rowed  to  the  British  fleet  under  a  flag  of  truce  to  beg  the 
parole  of  a  friend,  and  the  British  admiral  detained  him  during  the 
night.  Eagerly  he  watched  the  fluttering  banner  above  the  fort,  lit 
by  the  powder  flashes ;  and  when  at  dawn  he  found  it  still  waving, 
he  wrote  the  beautiful  national  hymn,  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner." 
The  enemy  now  abandoned  the  siege,  and  the  soldiers  returned  to 
the  fleet,  which  sailed  away  to  foreign  waters  to  return  no  more. 

1  Two  weeks  before  this  Sir  Peter  Parker  had  left  his  ship,  the  Menelaus,  in  the 
Chesapeake  to  dislodge  two  hundred  militia  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sassafras  River ; 
but  the  British  were  repulsed,  and  Parker  and  thirteen  of  his  men  were  killed. 


438  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 


WAR  IN  THE   SOUTH 

Soon  after  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  General  Harrison  resigned 
his  commission ;  and  another  future  President,  one  who  was  to  play 
a  great  part  in  American  history,  was  made  major 
general.  No  other  American  commander  during  the 
war,  except,  perhaps,  Jacob  Brown,  can  be  compared  in 
vigor  and  energy  with  Jackson.  Born  in  North  Carolina1  a  few 
days  after  the  death  of  his  father,  he  grew  to  manhood  in  poverty 
and  obscurity.  At  the  time  of  Taiieton's  fearful  raids  through  the 
South  we  find  Jackson,  then  a  boy  of  thirteen  years,  among  the  fight 
ing  patriots.  He  was  taken  prisoner,  and  here  the  spirit  of  the  man 
appeared  in  the  boy.  A  British  oiticer  ordered  Jackson  to  clean  his 
boots,  but  Jackson  refused,  stating  that  he  was  a  prisoner  of  war 
and  not  a  servant ;  whereupon  the  officer  struck  him  with  his  sword, 
inflicting  a  wound  that  left  a  scar  which  he  carried  to  his  grave. 
When  released  from  prison,  he  walked  forty  miles  to  his  home  while 
suffering  with  smallpox.  He  lost  both  his  brothers  in  the  war,  and 
his  mother  died  from  exposure  while  ministering  to  the  wants  of 
the  patriots.  Thus  while  yet  a  boy  Jackson  found  himself  without 
parents  or  immediate  friends.  On  reaching  his  majority,  after  hav 
ing  read  law  for  a  time,  he  migrated  to  the  then  far  West,  and  made 
his  home  in  Tennessee.  Here  he  became  successively  the  public 
prosecutor,  a  planter,  a  storekeeper,  a  judge,  and  a  member  of  Con 
gress  ;  and  he  was  now  commander  of  the  Tennessee  militia.  He 
became  the  first  representative  of  his  adopted  state  in  the  Lower 
House  of  Congress,  and  served  also  a  short  time  in  the  Senate. 

Early  in  the  War  of  1812  the  Creek  Indians  became  hostile;  not 
that  they  had  a  grievance  against  the  United  States,  but  through 
the  influence  of  Tecumseh,  who  had  visited  them,  and 
because  British  agents  in  Florida  had  offered  them  five 
dollars  apiece  for  scalps  of  Americans,  men,  women,  or 
children.2  In  August,  1813,  the  most  dreadful  Indian  massacre  in 

1  The  dispute  as  to  whether  Jackson  was  born  in  North  or  South  Carolina  seems 
to  be  settled  by  Parton,  his  biographer.     According  to  him,  the  Jackson  family  lived 
in  South  Carolina  very  near  the  boundary  line  between  the  two  colonies.     In  March, 
1767,  the  elder  Jackson  died,  and  his  wife,  on  the  day  of  the  funeral,  was  taken  to 
the  home  of  a  relative  who  lived  across  the  boundary  in  North  Carolina,  and  here,  a 
few  days  later,  she  gave  birth  to  Andrew.    Her  two  other  sons,  Hugh  and  Robert, 
had  migrated  with  them  from  Ireland  two  years  before. 

2  Johnson's  "  War  of  1812,"  p.  179. 


JACKSON  DEFEATS  THE  CREEKS  439 

American  annals  took  place  in  southern  Alabama.  It  is  known  as 
the  massacre  of  Fort  Mims.  This  so-called  fort  was  a  stockade 
inclosure  made  for  cattle  by  a  farmer  named  Mims,  and  to  this  the 
settlers  came  for  protection  when  the  Indians  became  hostile. 
There  were  now  more  than  five  hundred  men,  women,  and  children 
gathered  in  the  place,  when  a  thousand  Creek  warriors,  led  by  a 
half-breed  named  Wetherford,  burst  upon  them  and  slew  more  than 
four  hundred  in  a  few  hours.  Nearly  two  hundred  of  the  inmates 
were  volunteers,  and  so  brave  was  their  defense  that  about  half  of 
the  Indians  were  killed. 

The  country  was  horrified  at  the  news  of  the  massacre  at  Fort 
Mims.  Tennessee  first  came  to  the  rescue;  her  legislature  voted 
thirty-five  hundred  men  to  march  into  the  Indian  country  under 
the  command  of  Jackson.  With  a  band  of  cavalry  under  General 
Coffee  and  a  large  body  of  militia,  Jackson  overran  the  territory  of 
the  Creeks,  defeated  them  with  great  slaughter  at  the  battles 
of  Talladega  and  the  Horse  Shoe,  and  forced  the  tribe  to  sue  for 
peace.  It  was  soon  after  this  that  Jackson  was  appointed  major 
general  and  given  command  of  the  southern  military  district  of  the 
United  States;  arid  as  the  government  at  Washington  had  been  para 
lyzed  by  the  invasion  of  Ross,  he  was  left  independent  and  practically 
dictator  over  his  district. 

In  the  autumn  of  1814  the  rumor  spread  through  the  country 
that  England  was  about  to  send  a  large  fleet  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
with  New  Orleans  as  the  objective  point.  The  rumor  proved  true. 
General  Ross  of  Washington  fame  was  appointed  to  command  the 
expedition  to  southern  waters ;  but  Ross  fell  before  Baltimore,  and 
General  Sir  Edward  Pakenham,  who  had  won  an  enviable  fame  in 
the  Peninsular  WTar,  was  chosen  for  the  place.  Pakenham  was  a 
brother-in-law  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  and  with  him  sailed 
Generals  Gibbs,  Keane,  and  Lambert,  —  all  famous  commanders  in 
their  day.  The  fleet  of  more  than  fifty  vessels,  commanded  by 
Admiral  Cochrane,  bore  at  least  sixteen  thousand  veterans  and  a 
thousand  heavy  guns.  The  avowed  object  was  to  "rescue  the  whole 
province  of  Louisiana  from  the  United  States";  and  so  confident 
were  the  British  of  capturing  New  Orleans  that  they  brought  with 
them  a  collector  of  the  port  and  the  machinery  of  city  government. 

Jackson  heard  of  the  approach  of  the  British,  and  after  making 
an  incursion  into  Spanish  Florida  he  began  his  long  horseback  ride 
through  the  wilderness  to  New  Orleans,  arriving  there  on  the  2d  of 


440  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

December.     He  found   the  people  in  a  wild   state   of   excitement 

and   without   defense;    and   great   was    the   commotion   when  the 

magic  news  that  Jackson  had  arrived  ran  through  the 

fhPePBnatCish°f  cit^  The  British  fleet  arrived  on  December  10,  entered 
Lake  Borgne,  and  destroyed  the  American  flotilla  of 
six  gunboats.  The  news  of  this  first  blow  of  the  campaign  struck 
terror  to  the  city  of  New  Orleans.  Jackson  put  it  under  martial 
law  and  assumed  the  power  of  a  dictator.  He  sent  to  General 
Coffee,  above  Baton  Rouge,  to  hasten  to  the  city  with  his  twelve 
hundred  cavalry,  and  Coffee  made  the  distance  of  120  miles  in  two 
days.  A  brigade  of  Tennessee  militia  and  another  from  Mississippi 
also  hurried  down  the  river.  There  was  no  time  to  lose,  for  sixteen 
hundred  men  under  Colonel  Thornton,  who  had  led  the  English  ad 
vance  at  Bladensburg,  occupied  the  Villiere  plantation,  but  six  miles 
below  New  Orleans,  two  days  before  Christmas.  Calling  together  his 
regulars,  his  militia  and  volunteers,  and  Coffee's  mounted  riflemen, 
Jackson  threw  them  between  the  enemy  and  the  city.  The  two 
armies  came  together  late  in  the  evening,  and  a  severe  night  battle, 
similar  to  that  of  Lundy's  Lane,  was  the  result.  Neither  side  could 
claim  a  victory.  The  British  loss  was  the  greater ;  but  the  Ameri 
cans  had  been  greatly  aided  by  the  guns  of  the  Carolina,  a  steamer 
lying  near  by  in  the  river.  On  the  next  day,  December  24,  as  the 
two  armies  were  recovering  from  the  shock  of  the  battle  and  laying 
their  plans  for  another,  a  different  kind  of  scene  was  enacted  in  a 
far-away  village  across  the  sea.  On  that  day  the  two  warring  na 
tions,  through  their  agents,  signed  a  treaty  of  peace ;  but  the  tele 
graph  was  then  unknown,  and  the  war  in  Louisiana  went  on. 

Withdrawing  a  mile  toward  the  city,  Jackson  began  to  intrench 
his  army  between  a  cypress  swamp  and  the  river.  So  great  was  his 
vigilance  that  for  four  days  and  nights  he  did  not  sleep, 
an(^  ^e  to°k  most  °f  his  meals  while  sitting  on  his  horse.1 
Meanwhile  the  British  army  was  greatly  reenforced  by 
the  arrival  of  Pakenham  with  fresh  troops.  On  the  first  day  of  the 
new  year  the  armies  met  for  an  artillery  duel.  The  British  used  hogs 
heads  of  sugar  as  a  breast  work,  and  the  Americans  used  cotton  bales — 
both  of  which  proved  ineffective.  The  battle  lasted  for  several  hours, 
and  the  Americans  were  completely  successful,  disabling  and  silenc 
ing  every  English  gun.  This  was  the  only  -time  during  the  war  in 
which  a  fair,  even  fight  with  heavy  guns  took  place,  and  the  British 
i  Parton,  Vol.  II,  p.  117. 


GREAT   BATTLE   AT   NEW   ORLEANS 


441 


officers  frankly  acknowledged  that  their  defeat  was  due  to  the  supe 
riority  of  the  Americans  in  handling  artillery. 

These  battles  were  but  preliminary.  Everybody  knew  that  the 
decisive  battle  was  yet  to  come.  A  week  passed,  and  Jackson  spent 
the  time  strengthening  his  embankment.  Day  and  night  the  work 
was  pushed  with  the  utmost  vigor,  and  there  was  scarcely  a  horse, 
a  mule,  or  an  ox  in  the  city  that  was  not  pressed  into  the  service. 
The  cotton  bales  had  been  discarded  and  earthworks  thrown  up. 

The  fateful  8th  of  January  was  now  at  hand  —  and  the  vessel 
that  bore  the  tidings  of  peace  was  battling  with  the  wintry  tides  in 
rnid  ocean.  The  morning  was  chill  and  dense  with  fog.  Long  before 
the  dawn  the  two  armies  were  astir.  Jackson  rose  at  one  o'clock 


Cavalry 


Jackson's  H.  qrs. 


R  0  0-RJ  Q  U  E  Z 


]  E       British  Batteries 


British  Batteries       «»j 

A^N 

BATTLE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS 


and  roused  his  sleeping  army,  and  by  four  every  man  was  in  his 
place.     The  British  were  also  in  battle  array  hours  before  the  dawn. 
Pakenham  had  intended  to  make  the  attack  while  it 
was  yet  dark ;  but  his  plans  miscarried,  and  he  failed   Queans*  3 
to  do  so.     After  detaching  twelve  hundred  men  for  the 
west  bank  of  the  river,  he  divided  his  army,  about  fifty-five  hundred 
men,  into  three  parts.     General  Gibbs  with  twenty-five  hundred  was 
to  strike  the  Americans  on  the  left,  farthest  from  the  river  and  near  a 
cypress  swamp ;  General  Keane  with  twelve  hundred  was  to  attack 
the  right,  along  the  river  bank ;  while  Lambert  was  to  hold  the  re 
mainder  in  the  center  as  a  reserve.    The  main  attack  was  that  of  the 
British  right,  to  be  made  by  Gibbs.     There  was  some  forced  merri 
ment  along  the  lines  ;  but  the  feeling  that  they  were  entering  a  death 


442  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

trap  could  not  be  shaken  off.  Colonel  Dale,  who  commanded  Keane' s 
Highlanders,  handed  his  watch  and  a  letter  to  a  friend  and  said  sadly, 
"  Give  these  to  my  wife ;  I  shall  die  at  the  head  of  my  regiment." 

Behind  the  earthen  breastwork  crouched  the  American  army, 
thirty-five  hundred  strong,  with  a  thousand  in  reserve.  Twelve 
cannon  frowned  over  the  parapet.  Soon  after  daybreak  the  scarlet 
lines  of  the  British  columns  were  seen  through  the  fog  near  the  cy 
press  trees.  A  little  later  the  American  cannon  opened  on  the 
advancing  foe,  and  great  lanes  were  cut  through  their  ranks ;  but  on 
they  marched  toward  the  works  until  they  came  within  musket  range. 
The  musketeers  then  poured  in  one  murderous  volley  after  another, 
and  the  top  of  the  American  works  for  half  a  mile  was  an  unbroken 
line  of  spurting  fire.  The  slaughter  of  the  British  was  frightful. 
The  killed  and  wounded  fell  in  heaps.  One  cannon,  loaded  to  the 
muzzle  with  musket  balls,  mowed  down  two  hundred  men  at  a  single 
discharge.  No  army,  however  heroic,  could  stand  before  such  a 
storm,  and  the  British  columns  began  to  fall  back  in  disorder.  At 
this  moment  General  Pakenham  rode  from  the  rear  to  the  head  of 
the  retreating  column  and  cried,  "  For  shame,  remember  that  you  are 
British  soldiers."  Next  instant  a  musket  ball  shattered  his  right 
arm  and  another  killed  his  horse.  He  leaped  on  a  second  charger 
and  kept  on  cheering  his  men,  apparently  unconscious  of  his  wound. 
But  his  time  was  short.  A  grapeshot  tore  open  his  thigh  and  killed 
his  second  horse,  and  the  two  fell  together.  The  wounded  general 
was  caught  in  the  arms  of  friends  ;  but  ere  they  could  bear  him  to  the 
rear,  a  third  shot  entered  his  body,  and  after  gasping  for  a  few  min 
utes  his  life  was  gone.  Scarcely  had  Pakenham  been  borne  away 
when  Gibbs  received  his  death  wound,  and  at  almost  the  same  mo 
ment  Keane,  who  was  fighting  valiantly  on  the  river  bank,  was 
severely  wounded;  and  Lambert  became  the  commander  of  the 
army.  A  very  few  of  the  English  floundered  across  the  ditch  and 
climbed  the  American  parapet ;  but  none  survived  except  Lieutenant 
Lavack,  who  was  made  a  prisoner.  Major  Wilkinson  was  one  of 
those  who  mounted  the  parapet,  but  he  instantly  fell,  riddled  with 
bullets.  The  Americans,  struck  with  admiration  at  his  heroism, 
leaped  forward  to  save  him ;  but  he  was  dying,  and  lived  only  long 
enough  to  request  that  his  commander  be  informed  that  he  died 
like  a  soldier  and  a  true  Englishman. 

Between  this  main  attack  made  by  Gibbs  and  the  river,  Keane 
had  made  a  similar  one  on  the  American  right  and  had  suffered  a, 


CLOSE   OF   THE    WAR  443 


similar  repulse,  but  with  less  loss  of  life.  A  simultaneous  battle  was 
progressing  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  The  American 
loss  in  the  main  battle  east  of  the  river  was  but  eight  killed  and  thir 
teen  wounded,1  but  including  the  west  side  the  loss  was  seventy-one. 
The  British  left  seven  hundred  men  dead  upon  the  field,  and  twice 
as  many  were  wounded.  The  battle  continued  for  two  hours ;  but 
the  chief  attack  with  its  fearful  slaughter  had  occupied  but  twenty- 
five  minutes.  The  Americans  forbore  to  cheer  at  their  marvelous 
victory  on  account  of  the  appalling  scene  of  death  and  despair  that 
lay  before  them,  and  they  did  all  in  their  power  to  aid  and  relieve 
the  wounded.2  Lambert  decided  not  to  risk  a  second  attack.  He 
withdrew  Thornton  from  the  west  side  and  retreated  toward  his 
ships,  and  on  the  27th  the  whole  army  reem barked  and  sailed  away, 
and  were  seen  no  more  on  the  shores  of  Louisiana.3 


NATIONAL  FINANCES 

Aside  from  the  passing  of  necessary  laws  for  carrying  on  the 
government  and  the  war,  the  chief  business  of  Congress  and  the 
administration  was  to  wrestle  with  the  financial  problem,  and 
the  problem  proved  an  insoluble  one  at  the  time.  Albert  Gallatin, 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury  for  thirteen  years,  was  a  great  finan 
cier;  and  had  not  Congress  persistently  disregarded  his  advice,  the 
story  of  the  War  of  1812  would  not  be  so  humiliating  to  the  Ameri 
can  reader.  It  was  doubtless  the  incompetency  of  Congress  that 
brought  about  the  serious  condition  during  the  war  —  a  distrust  by 
the  people  of  the  credit  of  the  government.  The  internal  revenue 
system  of  old  Federalist  days  had  been  done  away ;  the  embargo  and 
non-importation  laws  had  depleted  the  Treasury,  and  Congress,  against 
the  advice  of  Gallatin,  refused  to  recharter  the  United  States  Bank 
at  the  expiration  of  the  old  charter  in  1811,  thereby  cutting  off  the 
one  sure  source  of  government  loans.  The  members  of  Congress 
seemed  to  think  that  the  people  would  readily  make  loans  to  the 

1  In  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  1839,  Jackson  stated  that  in  the  main  battle  his  loss 
was  six  killed  and  seven  wounded.    See  Parton,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  633. 

2  At  the  close  of  the  battle  some  five  hundred  of  the  British  rose  unhurt  from 
among  the  dead  and  gave  themselves  up  as  prisoners.    To  save  their  lives,  they  had 
dropped  down  and  lain  as  if  dead  until  the  battle  was  over.    Parton,  Vol.  II,  p.  209. 

3  Lambert  stopped  at  Mobile  and  captured  a  fort ;  Cockburn  ravaged  part  of  the 
coast  of  Georgia  late  in  January ;  and  the  war  on  the  ocean  continued   for  some 
months  before  the  treaty  of  peace  became  known. 


444  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

government  when  not  even  the  interest  could  be  paid  except  through 
other  loans.  But  the  people  were  slow  to  risk  their  money  with  their 
government.  The  first  loan  of  eleven  millions,  called  for  in  the 
spring  of  1812,  was  taken  but  slowly,  as  previously  stated.  The 
next  year  a  loan  of  sixteen  millions  was  authorized,  and  Gallatin 
succeeded  in  placing  it  only  with  great  effort,  paying  six  per  cent 
interest  for  the  greater  portion  of  it,  and  selling  the  stock  at  eighty- 
eight  cents  on  the  dollar.  Another  loan  of  seven  and  one  half  millions 
was  soon  afterward  placed,  the  discount  being  the  same.  Only  a  small 
portion  of  these  loans  was  taken  by  New  England,  which  was  still 
under  the  sway  of  the  Federalists.  At  the  same  time  many  people 
of  that  section  actually  lent  money  to  the  enemy  by  purchasing 
British  bills  of  credit,  and  they  also  sold  supplies  to  the  British  and 
Canadians. 

Exasperated  at  this,  President  Madison,  in  December,  1813, 
recommended  that  Congress  pass  an  effective  embargo  act,  and  it 
was  done  without  delay.  Then  arose  a  mighty  cry  from  New  Eng 
land.  In  Massachusetts  many  public  meetings  were  held  to  denounce 
the  law  as  unjust  and  oppressive.  Madison  was  not,  perhaps,  alto 
gether  without  a  vindictive  spirit  in  this  matter.  It  can  be  believed 
that  one  of  his  objects  was  to  punish  New  England  for  its  persistent 
opposition  to  his  policy.  This  embargo  was  removed  in  March,  1814. 

At  an  extra  session  of  Congress  in  1813  the  Democratic  party 
departed  from  another  of  its  theories.  It  laid  a  direct  tax  and  an 
internal  revenue  tax  on  the  people.  It  imposed  a  stamp  tax,  and 
laid  taxes  on  salt,  sugar,  carriages,  and  the  like.  Most  of  the  people 
saw  the  necessity  of  these  measures,  and  responded  cheerfully.  The 
next  year  Madison  reported  that  they  had  paid  the  extra  taxes  with 
the  "  greatest  promptness  and  alacrity." 

In  January,  1814,  a  bill  was  passed  to  refill  the  ranks  of  the 
armies,  offering  a  bounty  of  $124,  in  addition  to  a  tract  of  land  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  to  every  one  who  would  enlist  for  five 
years,  or  during  the  war.  Another  loan,  twenty-five  millions,  was 
then  authorized  (March,  1814) ;  but  the  people  were  slow  to  respond. 
Months  passed ;  Washington  was  captured  by  the  enemy ;  the  specie 
of  the  country  drifted  to  the  New  England  banks.  Public  credit  fell 
to  the  lowest  ebb  j" every  bank  in  the  Middle  and  Southern  states  sus 
pended  specie  payments ;  the  state  banks  floated  great  quantities  of 
paper,  and  all  sorts  of  corporations  issued  so-called  ticket  money,  good 
only  in  the  locality  in  which  it  was  issued.  The  country  at  large 


TREATY   OF   GHENT  445 


was  without  a  stable  and  adequate  currency,  and  was  on  the  verge 
of  bankruptcy.  The  Boston  banks  would  receive  the  notes  of  a 
Baltimore  bank  only  at  a  discount  of  thirty  per  cent,  and  the  treasury 
notes,  issued  from  time  to  time,  at  a  discount  of  twenty-five  per  cent.1 
It  was  found  that  the  new  loan  could  be  secured  only  at  the  ruinous 
rate  of  seventy-five  cents  on  the  dollar. 

At  this  juncture,  Mr.  Dallas,  who  had  succeeded  Gallatin  in  the 
treasury,2  recommended  that  a  national  bank  be  established.  After 
months  of  sparring,  Congress  passed  a  bank  bill ;  but  Madison  vetoed 
it  in  the  belief  that  it  would  not  furnish  the  needed  relief.  Another 
bank  bill  was  soon  introduced ;  but  before  it  could  be  passed  the  news 
of  peace  was  received,  and  a  further  consideration  was  postponed. 

OBSERVATIONS 

The  agents  of  the  two  belligerents  had  met  at  Ghent,  Belgium, 
in  midsummer,  1814. 3  The  instructions  from  their  respective  gov 
ernments  were  such  that  it  seemed  at  first  impossible  to  reach  an 
agreement.  The  English  demanded,  among  other  things,  that  America 
cede  large  portions  of  northern  Xew  York  and  Maine,  and  set  apart 
a  broad  tract  in  the  Northwest  for  the  Indians.  But  when  the  news 
of  the  defeat  of  Prevost  at  Plattsburg  and  of  Boss  at  Baltimore 
arrived,  they  abandoned  their  extravagant  demands ;  while  the 
Americans,  on  the  other  hand,  yielded  on  the  impressment  question. 
The  treaty,  as  finally  arranged,  is  more  remarkable  for  what  it 
omitted  than  for  what  it  contained.  It  was  little  else  Treat  Qf 
than  a  mutual  agreement  to  stop  the  war,  as  both  peace  signed, 
nations  were  tired  of  it.  The  subject  of  impressment  December  24, 
was  omitted  with  the  understanding  that,  as  the  Euro-  1814- 
pean  wars  were  apparently  over,  England  would  no  longer  need  to 
follow  the  practice.  There  was  no  cession  of  territory  by  either  side. 
The  treaty  provided  for  the  restoration  of  boundaries  as  fixed  in  1783, 
and  for  peace  with  the  Indians,  and  left  all  the  old  boundary  dis 
putes  and  the  fisheries  question,  as  also  the  British  right  to  navigate 
the  Mississippi,  for  future  negotiation.  Both  nations  agreed  to  use 
their  best  endeavors  to  promote  the  entire  abolition  of  the  slave 

1  The  government  issued  840,000,000  in  treasury  notes  during  the  war. 

2  Mr.  Campbell  of  Tennessee  served  a  short  time  between  the  terms  of  Gallatiu 
and  Dallas. 

3  The  American  commissioners  were  Albert  Gallatin,  James  A.  Bayard,  Henry 
Clay,  Jonathan  Russell,  and  John  Q.  Adams.    The  English  commissioners  were  Lord 
Gambier,  Henry  Goldburu,  and  William  Adams. 


446  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

trade.  The  news  of  peace  and  of  the  victory  at  New  Orleans  reached 
the  Northern  states  at  about  the  same  time,  and  the  rejoicing  was 
tremendous. 

The  dying  Federalist  party  had  opposed  the  war  to  the  last, 
though  many  of  its  members  had  fought  bravely  in  the  armies. 
The  legislature  of  Massachusetts  made  a  call  for  a 
Hartford  convention  of  the  New  England  states  to  meet  at  Hart 
ford  in  December,  1814.  Twenty-six  delegates  assem 
bled,  and  they  sat  for  three  weeks  with  closed  doors.  The  fact  that 
the  sessions  were  secret  gave  ground  to  the  rumor  that  the  assembly 
was  treasonable  and  sought  to  destroy  the  Union.  What  its  discus 
sions  were,  was  never  known,  except  from  its  report  embodying  a 
set  of  resolutions,  afterward  made  public. 

To  one  who  reads  this  report  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  convention  were  unpatriotic.  "  A  severance  of  the 
Union  by  one  or  more  states,  against  the  will  of  the  rest,"  says  the 
report,  "  and  especially  in  a  time  of  war,  can  be  justified  only  by  ab 
solute  necessity."  Then  it  proceeds  to  show  that  the  necessity  had 
come,  averring,  however,  that  absolute  proof  was  not  yet  conclusive 
that  the  time  for  disunion  had  come.  On  state  rights  we  find, 
"That  acts  of  Congress  in  violation  of  the  Constitution  are  ab 
solutely  void,"  and  that  the  "  states  which  have  no  common  umpire 
must  be  their  own  judges  and  execute  their  own  decisions."  Here 
was  a  reproduction  of  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  resolution  in  a 
more  virulent  form.  The  convention  made  a  demand  also  on  the 
government  for  a  share  of  the  taxes  collected  within  those  states, 
and  it  proposed  certain  radical  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  urging 
that  the  New  England  states  "  persevere  in  their  efforts  to  obtain  such 
amendments  until  the  same  shall  be  effected." l  The  apparent  inten 
tion  was  to  force  .these  demands  upon  an  unwilling  administration 
while  it  was  hampered  by  a  foreign  war,  or  in  case  of  refusal  to  make 
such  refusal  a  pretext  for  dismembering  the  Union. 

The  supposed  object  in  calling  the  Hartford  convention  was  to 
protest  against  the  refusal  of  the  general  government  to  bear  the 
expenses  of  the  Massachusetts  militia,  which  the  governor  had  re 
cently  called  out  to  protect  the  state.  The  report  complains  bitterly 

1  Among  these  proposed  amendments  are  these :  That  no  new  states  be  admitted 
to  the  Union  except  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  both  houses  of  Congress;  that  Congress 
have  no  power  to  lay  an  embargo  for  more  than  sixty  days ;  that  a  President  be 
ineligible  for  reelection,  and  that  a  President  be  not  elected  from  the  same  state  two 
terms  in  succession.  See  State  Documents,  No.  2,  p.  41,  edited  by  H.  V.  Ames. 


GAINS  AND   LOSSES   OF  THE   WAR  447 

of  this,  but  does  not  state  that  the  sole  reason  for  this  refusal  was 
that  the  governor  refused  to  place  his  militia  under  the  command 
of  Federal  officers.  An  additional  object  of  the  convention  was 
obviously  to  hamper  and  cripple  the  administration  to  the  last 
degree,  at  a  moment  when  the  country  was  overrun  by  a  foreign  foe, 
to  overthrow  the  party  in  power,  or  to  break  up  the  Union.  The 
men  of  this  convention  were  among  the  leading  Federalists  of  the 
country,  and  with  all  their  good  qualities  it  is  evident  that  their 
patriotism  was  shallow.  The  very  fact  that  the  Democrats  had 
adopted  the  loose  construction  theories  of  the  old,  the  real  Federal 
party  is  conclusive  proof  that  the  Hartford  convention  acted,  not  on 
principle,  but  from  partisan  hatred.  But  its  work  came  to  naught. 
The  news  of  peace  that  soon  reached  America  rendered  the  whole 
proceeding  ridiculous ;  and  the  members  that  composed  the  conven 
tion,  as  well  as  the  party  they  represented,  thus  brought  on  them 
selves  an  odium  from  which  they  never  recovered. 

The  war  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  was  a  serious  and  costly 
blunder.  She  did  not  acquire  a  foot  of  land,  nor  establish  a  prin 
ciple,  nor  win  a  friend.  She  might  have  conciliated  America  with  a 
few  slight  concessions,  and  have  made  us  an  ally  against  Napoleon. 
She  could  have  dealt  that  monarch  a  stunning  blow  by  opening  her 
ports  to  our  commerce,  and  thus  reducing  to  a  nullity  all  his  preten 
sions  to  blockade  her  coasts.  But  she  suffered  the  dispute  with  us 
to  come  to  blows,  and  thereby  lost  her  monopoly  on  the  sea,  never 
to  be  regained  ;  sacrificed  thousands  of  lives ;  and  expended  money 
enough  to  have  raised  the  pay  of  her  sailors  to  such  a  figure  as  to 
prevent  desertions,  and  to  render  impressment  unnecessary.  A 
remarkable  feature  of  the  war  is  found  in  the  high  mortality  of 
British  commanders.  Seven  sea  captains  were  slain  in  action,  be 
sides  Generals  Brock,  Ross,  Pakenham,  and  Gibbs,  Tecurnseh,  and 
Sir  Peter  Parker. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Americans  gained  greatly  by  the  war, 
though  this  did  not  appear  in  the  treaty,  nor  at  first  on  the  surface. 
The  war  had  been  expensive  to  the  United  States  also.  It  had  cost 
thirty  thousand  lives  and  a  hundred  million  dollars;  the  currency 
had  been  so  debased  as  to  threaten  every  business  interest  in  the 
country;  the  capital  had  been  captured  and  burned;  a  portion  of 
the  people  had  been  disaffected  and  had  given  aid  and  comfort  to  the 
enemy.  But  with  all  this,  the  war  had  been  a  successful  one  to  the 
Americans.  It  had  brought  commercial  independence  and  a  final 


448  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

separation  from  European  affairs,  so  necessary  to  national  develop 
ment.  Europe  had  decided  long  before  that  a  republican  government 
could  not  succeed,  and  ancient  Greece  and  Borne  were  always  held 
up  as  examples ;  and  even  France,  which  had-  become  a  republic 
within  that  generation,  had  again  relapsed  into  a  monarchy.  It 
was  believed  that  our  government  would  also  fail,  and  great  was 
the  contempt  across  the  Atlantic  for  the  United  States.  But  when, 
without  a  great  leader,  we  held  our  own  on  the  land  for  nearly 
three  years,  and  more  than  held  our  own  on  the  sea  against  the 
greatest  naval  power  of  the  earth,  the  whole  world  was  astonished. 
Before  this  war,  the  United  States  was  never  considered  a  first-class 
power ;  since  then  it  has  never  been  considered  anything  else.  It 
was  then  that  the  nations  began  to  realize  that  America  was  a  rising 
giant,  and  that  it  demanded  their  respect ;  and  they  have  never  since 
withheld  it. 

In  our  home  relations  our  success  was  equally  marked.  The 
people  for  the  first  time  began  to  feel  a  national  consciousness ;  they 
.saw  with  clearer  vision  than  before  that  the  nation  had  a  future,  a 
destiny,  that  no  European  interference  could  disturb.  French  and 
English  factions  in  American  politics  forever  disappeared.  Soon 
after  the  close  of  the  war  began  that  wonderful  tide  of  emigration 
from  Europe  that  has  poured  an  unceasing  stream  upon  our  shores 
from  that  day  to  the  present.  Then,  also,  began  that  wonderful  era 
of  prosperity  which  has  swept  down  through  the  century  like  a  tidal 
wave,  and  which  has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  civilization. 

NOTES   AND   ANECDOTES 

War  in  the  Mediterranean.  —  During  the  war  the  Dey  of  Algiers  had  again 
practiced  his  depredations  on  American  vessels.  In  the  spring  of  1815  Decatur 
sailed  into  the  Mediterranean  with  a  fleet  of  ten  vessels.  Two  days  later  he 
fell  in  with  the  Dey's  finest  frigate  in  search  of  American  merchantmen.  In 
half  an  hour  Decatur  had  captured  her,  and  a  few  days  later  another  met  a 
similar  fate.  Decatur  then  forced  the  Dey  to  sign  a  humiliating  treaty,  giving 
up  all  his  prisoners  without  ransom,  and  making  indemnities  for  all  his  extor 
tions.  He  then  sailed  to  Tunis  and  Tripoli  and  exacted  similar  reparation  ;  and 
from  that  time  American  shipping  was  safe  in  the  Mediterranean. 

Stories  of  Tecumseh.  —  Tecumseh  was  probably  the  greatest  orator  ever 
known  among  the  Indians.  His  language  was  remarkable  for  poetic  beauty. 
When  he  addressed  an  audience,  his  face  shone  with  a  passionate  emotion 
that  worked  like  magic  on  his  hearers.  He  was  a  man  of  sensitive  dignity,  as 
shown  by  the  following  incident :  When  he  and  his  warriors  held  the  famous 


NOTES  449 


conference  with  Harrison,  he  looked  around,  after  concluding  his  address,  for 
a  seat ;  but  none  had  been  reserved  for  him,  and  he  seemed  offended.  A  white 
man  quickly  offered  him  a  seat  near  General  Harrison,  saying,  "Your  father 
wishes  you  to  sit  by  his  side."  —  "  The  sun  is  my  father,"  answered  Tecumseh  ; 
"  the  earth  is  my  mother,  and  I  will  rest  on  her  bosom,"  and  he  sat  down  on  the 
ground. 

Tecumseh  promised  Harrison  that  in  case  of  war  between  the  whites  and  the 
Indians  he  would  not  permit  his  warriors  to  massacre  women  and  children,  and 
he  kept  his  word.  At  the  siege  of  Fort  Meigs,  while  the  Indians  were  murdering 
some  prisoners,  Tecumseh  ran  between  the  Indians  and  the  prisoners,  and  bran 
dishing  his  tomahawk  dared  the  former  to  kill  another  man.  Then  turning  to 
General  Proctor,  who  had  witnessed  the  massacre  without  protest,  he  exclaimed, 
"  Why  do  you  permit  this  ?  " — "  Your  Indians  cannot  be  restrained,"  answered 
Proctor.  "  Begone,"  cried  Tecumseh,  "  you  are  unfit  to  command  ;  go  and  put 
on  petticoats." 

At  the  opening  of  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  Tecumseh  turned  to  his  friends 
and  said,  "Brother  warriors,  I  shall  never  come  out  of  this  battle  alive  ;  my 
body  will  remain  on  the  field."  He  then  unbuckled  his  sword,  and,  handing  it 
to  a  chief,  said,  "  When  my  son  becomes  a  noted  warrior,  give  him  this,  and 
go  tell  my  people  that  Tecumseh  died  like  a  warrior  and  a  hero." 

Stories  of  Jackson.  —  In  the  early  part  of  the  war  Jackson  raised  two  thou 
sand  troops  and  was  sent  down  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  Natchez.  But  as  no 
enemy  appeared,  he  was  ordered,  in  the  spring  of  1813,  to  disband  the  army. 
Jackson  was  very  indignant  at  this  order.  It  was  cruel  and  outrageous,  he 
said,  to  lead  men  five  hundred  miles  from  home  and  turn  them  out  without 
money  or  food.  He  chose  to  disobey  the  order ;  he  marched  the  men  back  to 
Tennessee,  at  his  own  expense.  But  the  government  afterward  assumed  the 
expense.  The  general  had  three  good  horses ;  but  these  he  gave  to  the  sick, 
while  he  walked  with  the  rest.  While  tramping  along,  some  one  said,  "The 
general  is  tough,"  and  another  added,  "As  tough  as  hickory."  From  this  he 
soon  came  to  be  called  "  Old  Hickory,1'  and  the  name  clung  to  him  through  life. 

Jackson  engaged  in  a  disgraceful  street  fight  with  the  future  Senator  Benton 
and  his  brother,  and  the  latter  inflicted  a  terrible  wound  in  Jackson's  arm  with 
a  pistol  shot.  The  future  President  was  laid  up  for  many  weeks.  He  was  still 
in  bed  when  the  Tennesseeans  were  arming  to  avenge  Fort  Minis.  A  friend 
called  on  Jackson  and  expressed  his  deep  regret  that  the  commander  of  the 
militia  was  not  in  condition  to  lead  the  army  against  the  Creeks.  Jackson's 
eyes  flashed  instantly,  and  he  answered,  "The  h — I  he  isn't,"  whereupon  he 
leaped  from  his  bed,  and  an  hour  later  he  was  astride  his  horse  at  the  head  of 
the  army.  He  carried  his  arm  in  a  sling  during  the  entire  campaign.  On  one 
occasion  when  the  soldiers  mutinied  for  want  of  food  and  started  in  a  body  for 
their  homes,  Jackson  called  on  them  to  halt,  and  they  refused.  He  then  rode 
in  front  of  the  column,  and  with  a  volley  of  oaths  and  the  fire  flashing  from  his 
eyes,  drew  his  musket  with  his  one  well  arm,  and  declared  he  would  shoot  the 
first  man  that  took  another  step.  The  men  sullenly  went  back  to  their  duty. 
After  the  Creeks  had  been  crushed,  Jackson  set  a  price  on  the  capture,  dead  or 
alive,  of  the  half-breed  Wetherford,  who  had  led  the  Indians  in  the  campaign, 


450  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED    STATES 

as  also  in  the  massacre  of  Fort  Mims.  One  day  as  Jackson  sat  in  his  tent  a  big 
Indian  chief  walked  in  and  said  :  "  I  am  Wetherford.  I  have  come  to  ask  peace 
for  my  people.  I  am  in  your  power  ;  do  as  you  please  with  me.  I  am  a  soldier. 
If  I  had  an  army,  I  would  still  fight ;  but  my  warriors  hear  my  voice  no  longer. 
Their  bones  are  at  Talledega  and  the  Horse  Shoe.  Do  as  you  will  with  me.  You 
are  a  brave  man.  I  ask  not  for  myself,  but  for  my  people."  Jackson  was 
astonished  at  this  visit.  He  had  intended  to  put  Wetherford  to  death  ;  but  now 
felt  that  he  could  not  do  so.  He  gave  the  chief  his  liberty  on  his  promise  to 
keep  peace  in  the  future  —  and  the  promise  was  kept. 

Jackson's  wonderful  nerve  and  physical  courage  were  never  shown  to  greater 
advantage  than  in  his  duel  with  Charles  Dickinson  in  1806.  Dickinson  was  one 
of  the  richest  men,  and  certainly  the  best  marksman,  in  Tennessee.  He  and 
Jackson  had  long  been  enemies,  and  he  frequently  tried  to  provoke  Jackson  to 
a  duel  with  intent  to  kill  him.  At  last  he  succeeded  by  reflecting  on  the  charac 
ter  of  Jackson's  wife,  and  the  challenge  came.  The  two  parties  rode  north  into 
Kentucky,  and  at  daybreak,  on  May  30,  the  duel  was  fought.  Jackson  was  an 
excellent  shot ;  but  he  could  not  compare  with  Dickinson,  and  every  one  expected 
that  he  would  be  killed.  At  the  word  "fire,"  Dickinson  fired  instantly,  and 
a  puff  of  dust  was  seen  at  Jackson's  breast ;  but  he  stood  like  a  statue,  with 
clenched  teeth.  Dickinson  stepped  back  and  cried,  "  My  God,  have  I  missed 
him  ?  "  General  Overton,  Jackson's  second,  drew  his  pistol  and  ordered  Dickin 
son  to  stand  still.  Jackson  deliberately  fired  and  shot  Dickinson  through  the 
body.  As  they  went  to  the  inn  it  was  noticed  that  Jackson's  boots  were  full  of 
blood.  "General,  you  are  hit,"  cried  Overton.  "Oh,  I  believe  he  has  pinked 
me  a  little,"  said  Jackson  ;  "  but  don't  mention  it  over  there,"  pointing  to  the 
house  where  Dickinson  lay  dying.  It  was  found  that  Dickinson's  aim  had  been 
perfect,  but  that  his  bullet  had  only  broken  a  rib  and  raked  the  breastbone. 
Jackson,  asked  how  he  could  stand  motionless  with  such  a  wound,  said,  "  I  should 
have  hit  him  if  he  had  shot  me  through  the  brain."  See  Parton,  Vol.  I,  p.  299. 

Prohibition  of  the  Slave  Trade.  —  As  we  shall  soon  have  to  deal  with  the 
great  question  of  slavery,  it  is  well  to  notice  here  the  national  prohibition  of  the 
African  slave  trade.  A  part  of  one  of  the  compromises  of  the  Constitution  was 
that  Congress  must  not  interfere  with  the  slave  trade  before  1808.  Long  before 
this  time,  however,  the  Southern  states  put  an  end  to  the  traffic,  each  within  its 
own  bounds.  But  in  1804  South  Carolina  reopened  it  (after  it  had  been  closed 
in  that  state  for  fifteen  years),  and  in  the  remaining  four  years  imported  about 
forty  thousand  negroes.  In  1807,  Congress  passed  a  law  to  take  effect  January  1, 
1808,  prohibiting  the  trade,  under  severe  penalties.  In  1820  an  additional  act 
made  the  traffic  piracy  punishable  by  death.  But  in  spite  of  all  vigilance  of  the 
government,  aided  by  the  British  government,  there  continued  a  smuggling  trade 
up  to  the  Civil  War.  In  all  this  period  there  was  but  one  execution  for  smug 
gling  negroes,  and  that  after  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War. 


CHAPTER   XX 

DAWN   OF   NATIONAL    CONSCIOUSNESS 

NOTHIXG  is  more  interesting  to  the  student  of  American  political 
history  than  the  gradual  change  wrought  in  the  Democratic  party 
during  the  first  sixteen  years  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  party 
had  been  founded  on  the  principles  of  strict  construction  of  the 
Constitution  ;  but  it  did  not  gain  control  of  the  government  until  the 
Federalists  had  committed  the  country  to  a  policy  of  broad  construc 
tion.  Had  the  early  theories  of  Jefferson  on  construction  been 
strictly  carried  out,  the  Union  could  not  have  existed  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  Jefferson  was  wise  in  being  able  to  see  the  necessity  of 
abandoning  his  former  theories.  His  party  was  founded  on  the 
theory  of  strict  construction  and  state  rights,  and  yet  no  President 
ever  departed  farther  from  this  policy  than  he  in  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana,  and  in  the  laying  of  an  unlimited  embargo.  He  believed 
that  the  nations  could  live  in  harmony  without  war ;  his  party  waged 
a  foreign  war  eleven  years  after  it  came  into  power.  One  of  the 
party's  theories  was  that  no  navy  was  necessary ;  it  voted  in  1813 
to  build  a  navy.  Another  was  its  opposition  to  direct  taxes  and 
internal  revenue;  it  established  both  in  1813.  At  first  the  party 
opposed  internal  improvements  at  national  expense;  in  1806  it 
passed  a  law  to  build  the  Cumberland  Road,  and  internal  improve 
ments  have  flourished  from  that  time  to  the  present.  For  years  the 
party  opposed  a  national  bank ;  in  1816  it  established  one.  What, 
then,  can  we  say  of  a  party  that  abandons  the  very  foundation  stones 
on  which  it  was  built  ?  Simply,  that  it  was  wise  enough  to  grapple 
with  new  problems,  to  adapt  itself  to  new  conditions.  What,  then, 
of  Thomas  Jefferson,  who  had  been  forced  to  discard,  one  by  one, 
nearly  every  plank  on  which  he  had  stood  at  his  first  election  to  the 
presidency  ?  As  noted  on  a  former  page,  it  was  not  state  rights,  nor 
a  weak  central  government,  to  which  Jefferson  gave  his  lifework. 
These  were  but  means,  which  he  erroneously  believed  to  be  necessary 

451 


452  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

means,  to  a  sublimer  end.  The  end  was  the  rule  of  the  democracy, 
a  government  by  the  people.  And  this  he  won,  —  not  immediately, 
not  fully  during  his  lifetime ;  but  he  started  the  current,  which 
gathered  in  force  and  in  later  years  became  irresistible. 

RECUPERATING 

Marvelously  soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  the  people  returned 
to  their  respective  vocations  and  set  about  repairing  their  broken 
fortunes.  But  it  was  the  government,  rather  than  the  people,  that 
had  suffered.  The  great  question  now  before  Congress  was  that  con 
cerning  the  adjustment  of  the  finances.  The  money  of  the  country 
was  in  a  frightful  condition.  The  sources  of  issue  exceeded  four 
hundred  in  number.  Much  of  the  "  wild-cat "  money,  as  it  was  called, 
was  counterfeit ;  much  came  from  alleged  banks  that  had  no  exist 
ence.1  Mr.  Dallas  of  Pennsylvania  had  proved  himself  an  able 
financier.  He  now  sought  to  bring  about  specie  payments  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  to  do  this  he  again  urged  upon  Congress  the  advantage 
of  chartering  a  second  United  States  Bank.  The  charter  of  the  old 
United  States  bank  founded  by  Hamilton  had  expired  in  1811,  and, 
Bank  char-  as  we  have  seen,  a  recharter  was  defeated  in  Congress. 
tered,  1816.  ;gu^  now  a  twenty -year  charter  for  a  national  bank,  with 
$35,000,000  capital,  was  readily  obtained.  The  government  sub 
scribed  $7,000,000  of  this  and  the  remainder  was  taken  by  individu 
als  and  corporations.  The  bank  paid  the  government  a  bonus  of 
$1,500,000  for  the  charter.  It  had  a  wonderful  effect  in  restoring 
confidence,  and  in  a  short  time  the  national  debt  was  steadily  de 
creasing,  while  the  people  were  busy  and  prosperous  and  happy. 

To  the  two  great  industries  of  the  country,  agriculture  and  com 
merce,  a  third,  manufactures,  was  now  added.  The  temporary  sus 
pension  of  commerce,  through  Jefferson's  embargo  and  the  war,2  had 
forced  the  people  to  begin  manufacturing  on  a  large  scale  to  supply 
their  own  wants.  Before  the  embargo  all  the  cotton  and  woolen 
cloth,  tools,  china,  glass,  and  the  like  were  brought  from  England ; 
but  at  the  close  of  the  war  hundreds  of  manufactories,  encouraged 
by  societies  formed  for  the  purpose,  by  prizes  and  by  special  acts  of 
state  legislatures,  had  sprung  up,  and  most  of  these  articles  were 
made  at  home. 

1  McMaster,  Vol.  V,  p.  307. 

2  During  the  war  the  duties  on  foreign  imports  had  been  doubled. 


JAMES  MONROE  453 


Soon  after  the  coming  of  peace  the  country  was  flooded  with  all 
manner  of  merchandise  from  England,  and  the  people,  seeing  their 
new  industries  threatened,  called  upon  Congress  to  pro 
tect  by  tariff  laws  what  the  embargo  and  the  war  had 
protected  for  them  before.  The  response  was  the  tariff 
of  1816,  fathered  by  William  Lowndes  of  South  Carolina.  By  this 
tariff  duties  were  raised  to  an  average  of  about  twenty  per  cent,1  and 
this  not  only  greatly  increased  the  revenue,  but  proved  ample  for 
protection ;  and  the  business  of  manufacturing  increased  and  flour 
ished  throughout  the  land. 

There  was  little  speculation  as  to  who  would  succeed  Madison  to 
the  presidency.  It  seemed  to  be  generally  understood  that  James 
Monroe  would  be  chosen,  the  only  objection  being  that  he  was  a 
Virginian,  and  Virginia  had  furnished  all  the  presidents  thus  far 
except  Adams.  Monroe,  however,  would  have  been  eclipsed,  and 
would  probably  have  been  beaten,  by  the  more  brilliant  De  Witt 
Clinton  of  New  York,  but  for  the  fact  that  Clinton  had  Monroe 
bolted  the  regular  party  candidate  four  years  before,  and  elected 
had  permitted  himself  to  be  the  candidate  of  the  anti-  President, 
war  Democrats  and  the  Federalists.  He  never  rose  again  to  national 
favor,  and  Monroe  now  had  clear  sailing.  The  Federal  party  was 
no  longer  formidable.  The  war,  which  the  party  had  so  diligently 
opposed,  had  ended  happily,  and  this  continued  opposition,  with  the 
odium  of  the  "  Blue  Lights  "  and  of  the  Hartford  convention,  was 
a  burden  too  heavy  to  be  borne ;  and  after  casting  34  electoral  votes 
for  Eufus  King  against  Monroe's  183,  the  party  disappeared  from 
national  politics.  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  the  vigorous  war  governor 
of  New  York,  was  chosen  Vice  President. 

The  time  for  retiring,  after  a  long  and  useful  public  career,  now 
came  to  James  Madison.  With  his  accomplished  wife,  known  as 
"  Dolly  "  Madison,  he  retired  to  his  rural  home  at  Montpelier,  Vir 
ginia,  and  there  he  grew  old  gracefully  amid  the  scenes  of  his  young 
manhood.  He  was  the  last  survivor  of  the  illustrious  band  that  had 
framed  the  Constitution,  dying  in  1836,  after  twenty  years  in  private 
life.  No  President  in  his  declining  years  ever  enjoyed  a  deeper 
reverence  of  the  whole  people  than  did  Madison. 

Monroe  has  been  called  the  last  and  least  of  the  great  Virginians. 
He  was  less  original  than  his  great  predecessors,  it  is  true,  nor  was 
he  brilliant  nor  dashing  in  any  sense ;  but  none  was  better  fitted  for 
i  Tausig's  "  Tariff  History,"  p.  19. 


454  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  presidency  at  this  moment  than  he,  for  the  people  were  now 
dreaming  of  national  greatness,  and  were  not  in  the  mood  for  hero- 
worship.  Monroe  had  made  few  enemies.  He  was  so  open-hearted, 
generous,  amiable,  and  industrious  that  he  had  won  the  confidence 
of  all  classes.  "  If  his  soul  were  turned  inside  out,"  said  Jefferson, 
"not  a  blot  could  be  found  upon  it."  Soon  after  the  inauguration 
the  new  President  made  a  tour  of  the  country,  ostensibly  "to  inspect 
the  national  defenses,"  but  in  fact  to  strengthen  patriotism,  to  win 
over  disaffected  elements,  and  to  obliterate  party  lines.  And  his 
tour  was  eminently  successful.  In  New  England  the  remaining 
Federalists  vied  with  the  Democrats  in  doing  honor  to  this  "  last  of 
the  revolutionary  fathers."  In  every  town  he  was  met 
Monroe's  ^  ^e  }ea(jing  men?  an(j  was  cneered  by  thousands 

of  school  children,  and  by  young  men  and  women  of 
every  walk  in  life.  It  was  said  that  the  farmer  left  his  plow  in 
the  furrow,  the  housewife  left  her  clothes  in  the  tub  and  her  cream 
in  the  churn  and  hastened  to  the  towns  to  see  this  real  President  of 
the  United  States.  While  the  presidential  party  was  in  New  Eng 
land  a  Boston  newspaper  gave  rise  to  the  well-known  expression, 
"  Era  of  good  feeling,"  which  is  still  used  to  characterize  the  admin 
istration  of  Monroe.  From  New  England  the  President  passed 
through  northern  New  York,  to  Sacketts  Harbor,  Niagara,  and 
thence  to  Detroit,  returning  through  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  Mary 
land.  This  tour,  covering  three  and  a  half  months,  was  followed 
by  another  to  the  South,  and  their  great  usefulness  in  cementing  the 
Union  and  awakening  a  livelier  sense  of  patriotism  was  denied  by 
no  one. 

Monroe  had  chosen  a  strong  Cabinet.  John  Quincy  Adams 
became  secretary  of  state,  William  H.  Crawford,  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  Crowningshield  of  Massachusetts,  secretary  of  the  navy, 
while  John  C.  Calhoun  took  the  war  department  and  William  Wirt 
became  attorney  general.  Of  these  five  men,  three  —  Adams,  Craw 
ford,  and  Calhoun  —  were  yet  to  become  important  figures  on  the 
political  stage. 

One  of  the  most  notable  episodes  of  this  quiet  administration  was 
that  known  as  the  Seminole  War,  notable  mainly  because  it  brought 
prominently  before  the  public,  for  the  second  time,  a  remarkable 
character,  a  future  President  —  Andrew  Jackson.  The  Seminole 
Indians,  a  wandering  portion  of  the  Creeks,  together  with  some 
Spaniards  and  negroes  escaped  from  their  masters,  kept  stirring  up 


JACKSON  AND   THE   INDIANS  455 

trouble  with  the  Americans  along  the  northern  border  of  Florida, 
which  then  belonged  to  Spain,  and  Jackson  with  fifteen  hundred  men 
was  sent  against  them.  He  was  successful  at  every  turn,  and  the  war 
was  soon  over.  In  this  brief  campaign  Jackson  showed  that  spirit  of 
lawlessness  so  characteristic  of  him  through  life.  Monroe  was  care 
ful  not  to  offend  Spain,  and  through  Calhoun,  his  secretary  of  war, 
he  instructed  Jackson  not  to  lead  his  army  on  Spanish 
soil.  But  the  general  thought  he  knew  best,  and  he  led 
the  army  across  the  border  without  ceremony.1  He 
captured  St.  Marks  and  Pensacola,  both  on  Spanish  territory,  and 
even  sent  General  Gaines  against  St.  Augustine,  which  was  not  at 
all  concerned  in  the  war ;  but  Calhoun  recalled  Gaines,  and  the  town 
was  not  taken.  Again  Jackson  exhibited  his  lawless  propensities 
in  dealing  with  two  English  captives  —  Ambrister  and  Arbuthnot. 
Ambrister  was  a  young  Englishman,  who  was  taken  in  the  act  of 
leading  the  Indians  against  the  Americans.  Arbuthnot  was  an  old 
Scotch  trader  suspected  of  stirring  up  the  Indians.  A  court-martial 
sentenced  both  to  death;  but  it  reconsidered  the  decision  in  the  case 
of  Ambrister  and  gave  him  a  lighter  sentence.  But  Jackson,  believ 
ing  both  men  to  be  guilty,  reversed  the  second  decision  of  the  court 
and  ordered  both  men  to  be  put  to  death,  and  it  was  done.  Great 
was  the  indignation  in  England  against  Jackson  when  the  facts 
became  known.  .He  was  denounced  as  a  murderer  all  over  England ; 
but  Parliament  was  more  considerate  and  decided  not  to  allow  the 
matter  to  make  trouble  between  the  two  nations,  as  it  was  evident 
that  the  two  men  had  violated  international  rights.  A  British  states 
man,  however,  said  that  if  the  ministry  would  but  raise  a  finger,  all 
England  would  rush  to  arms  at  a  moment's  notice. 

But  Jackson's  trouble  was  not  over.  He  made  enemies  in  "Wash 
ington.  There  were  several  secret  cabinet  meetings  in  which  his 
conduct  was  discussed.  All  the  cabinet  were  against  him  except 
John  Quincy  Adams ;  but  none  wished  to  become  his  open  enemy,  so 
the  meetings  were  kept  secret.  Now  Jackson  thought  that  Calhoun 

1  Jackson  always  claimed  that  he  had  secret  orders  from  the  President,  through 
John  Rhea,  a  member  of  Congress,  to  conquer  Florida.  Jackson  had  said,  in  a  letter 
to  the  President,  "  Let  it  be  signified  to  me  through  any  channel  (say  Mr.  John  Rhea) 
that  the  possession  of  the  Floridas  would  be  desirable,  .  .  .  and  in  sixty  days  it  will 
be  accomplished."  This  authority  he  and  Rhea  claimed  to  have  received  ;  but  Monroe 
always  denied  having  given  it.  In  1830  the  subject  came  up  again,  and  the  aged  ex- 
President,  under  oath,  declared  that  he  had  not  granted  the  authority.  Whether 
Jackson  and  Rhea  were  right  and  Monroe  had  forgotten,  was  never  known.  See 
Magazine  of  American  History,  October,  1884. 


456  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

was  his  warmest  friend  and  most  faithful  defender  in  the  Cabinet ; 
but  Calhoun  made  the  remark  in  one  of  these  meetings  that  Jackson 
ought  to  be  court-martialed.  This  was  the  costliest  sentence  ever 
uttered  by  John  C.  Calhoun,  as  will  be  shown  in  a  later  chapter. 
Many  of  the  people  denounced  Jackson,  and  he  was  wroth ;  but  Mon 
roe  skillfully  soothed  his  feelings,  gave  up  the  Spanish  forts,  and 
avoided  war  with  Spain.  And  yet  Jackson's  tribulation  was  not  at 
an  end.  Congress  took  up  the  matter.  Jackson  had  enemies  in 
Congress,  and  a  motion  was  made  in  the  House  to  censure  him  for 
hanging  the  two  Englishmen,  and  was  debated  for  three  weeks,  much 
to  the  chagrin  of  the  administration;  for  Monroe  had  already  settled 
the  matter,  and  England  demanded  nothing.  The  war  being  over, 
Jackson  came  to  Washington  and  remained  during  this  strange  debate. 
At  length  he  was  acquitted  and  came  out  with  flying  colors.1  He 
then  made  a  tour  through  the  North,  and  was  received  with  great 
demonstration  everywhere.  An  immense  banquet  was  given  in  his 
honor  in  New  York  City.  This  was  on  Washington's  birthday, 
1819,  and  on  that  very  day,  John  Quincy  Adarns,  secretary  of  state, 
and  Don  Onis,  minister  from  Spain,  signed  the  treaty  conveying 
Florida  from  Spain  to  the  United  States.2 

THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE 

We  must  now  introduce  the  reader  to  a  great  public  question, 
which  first  became  prominent  at  this  period,  and  which  thereafter, 
with  brief  intervals,  was  the  most  overshadowing  public  issue  for  half 
a  century — the  slavery  question.  It  first  came  up  as  a  sectional 
question  in  connection  with  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union, 
and  resulted  in  the  Missouri  Compromise.  The  rising  West  had 
been  rising  with  great  rapidity.  Streams  of  emigration  from  the 
East  had  poured  into  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  one 
new  state  after  another  had  joined  the  famous  sisterhood.  Louisi 
ana  had  been  admitted  in  1812,  and  four  years  later  her  northern 
sister  of  kindred  name,  Indiana,  became  the  nineteenth  state.  Indi 
ana  was  the  first  of  six  states  to  be  admitted  in  six  successive  years, 
the  others  in  order  being  Mississippi,  Illinois,  Alabama,  Maine,  and 
Missouri.  It  was  the  last  of  these  that  brought  up  the  momentous 
issue  that  was  destined  to  shock  the  country  almost  to  its  destruc- 

1  In  this  debate  Clay  denounced  the  conduct  of  Jackson,  and  thus  incurred  his 
everlasting  enmity. 

2  See  note  at  end  of  chapter. 


SLAVERY  BEFORE  THE  REVOLUTION          457 

tion,  and  to  be  settled  at  last  in  blood.  The  Missouri  Compromise 
was  purely  a  slavery  question,  and  a  rapid  glance  at  the  existence 
of  slavery  in  America  before  this  date  is  here  in  place. 

The  enslavement  of  the  African  race  for  commercial  purposes 
had  its  beginning  in  southern  Europe  about  half  a  century  before 
the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus.  It  was  transplanted  to 
Central  and  South  America  by  the  Spaniards,  and  it  existed  there 
for  a  hundred  years  before  being  introduced  into  the  English  colo 
nies  of  North  America.  Soon  after  the  small  beginning  made  in 
Virginia  the  institution  grew  and  spread  to  other  colonies  as  they 
were  founded ;  and  at  the  opening  of  the  Revolution  there  were 
about  six  hundred  thousand  slaves  in  the  colonies.  The  slave-traffic 
during  the  colonial  period  was  very  lucrative  and  was  carried  on 
chiefly  by  English  traders.  At  various  times  the  colonies  attempted 
to  restrict  the  evil,  but  in  each  case  the  attempt  was  crushed  by  the 
British  Crown,  simply  because  the  trade  was  profitable.  As  early 
as  1712  Pennsylvania  passed  a  law  to  restrict  the  increase  of  slaves, 
but  it  was  annulled  by  the  crown.1  Virginia  made  a  similar  attempt, 
a  few  years  later,  by  laying  a  tax  on  imported  negroes.  South  Caro 
lina  attempted  to  restrict  the  trade  in  1761,  as  did  Massachusetts  a 
few  years  later;  but  in  each  case  the  effort  was  sum 
marily  crushed  by  the  Crown.  As  late  as  1770  King 
George  wrote  the  governor  of  Virginia,  commanding 
him  on  pain  of  the  royal  displeasure  "  to  assent  to  no  law  by  which 
the  importation  of  slaves  should  be  in  any  respect  prohibited  or 
obstructed."  Thus  while  the  mother  country  prohibited  slavery 
on  her  home  soil,  she  not  only  encouraged  but  enforced  it  in 
her  colonies.2  But  the  colonists  were  in  part  to  be  blamed,  for 
they  purchased  the  slaves  j  otherwise  the  traffic  would  have  died 
out. 

Slavery  in  the  colonies  was  first  opposed  by  the  Quakers  and  Penn 
sylvania  Germans  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  John 
Wesley,  the  great  founder  of  Methodism,  visited  the  South  in  later 
years  and  pronounced  the  institution  the  "  sum  of  all  villainies."  At 
the  opening  of  the  Revolution  all  the  colonies  had  slaves ;  but  the 
Northern  states  soon  began  to  emancipate,  not  so  much  from  motives 

1  Wilson's  "Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power,"  Vol.  I,  p.  4. 

2  Before  1772  slaves  were  held  in  England.     In  that  year  Chief  Justice  Mansfield 
decided,  in  the  famous  Somerset  case,  that  it  was  illegal  to  hold  slaves  in  England, 
and  that  decision,  which  freed  about  fourteen  thousand  blacks,  has  never  since  been 
reversed. 


458  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES 

of  morality  as  because  the  institution  was  unprofitable.  Massachu 
setts  abolished  slavery  by  a  decision  of  the  courts ;  Pennsylvania 
provided  for  gradual  emancipation  in  1780 ;  New  Hampshire,  Con 
necticut,  and  Rhode  Island  in  1784 ;  New  York  in  1799 ;  New  Jersey 
in  1804,  and  so  on.  There  were  a  few  left  in  New  Jersey  as  late 
as  1850.  Jefferson  inserted  a  clause  against  the  slave  trade  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  but  it  was  struck  out.  The  Ordinance 
of  1787  kept  slavery  out  of  the  Northwest.1  The  law  of  1808,  pro 
hibiting  the  slave  trade,  brought  relief  to  all  opposers  of  the  institu 
tion,  for  it  was  generally  believed  that  the  artery  of  slavery  was  now 
severed,  and  that  it  would  eventually  die  out  in  the  South,  as  it  had 
in  the  North;  and  little  was  heard  on  the  subject  during  the  next 
ten  years.  But  this  hope  was  a  delusion.  Whitney's  cotton  gin,  a 
simple  machine  for  separating  the  seed  from  the  fiber,  which  enabled 
one  man  to  do  the  work  of  three  hundred  before  its  invention,  brought 
cotton  to  the  front  and  rendered  it  eventually  the  chief  agricultural 
staple  in  America.  More  slaves  were  needed  to  raise  cotton  in  the 
growing  states  along  the  Lower  Mississippi,  while  some  of  the  Eastern 
states  had  more  than  they  needed,  and  hence  was  established  the 
interstate  slave  trade.  Meantime  slavery  was  fastening  itself  upon 
the  South  with  a  firmer  grasp,  and  at  the  same  time  the  conviction 
was  slowly  taking  possession  of  the  northern  heart  that  the  whole 
system  was  wrong  and  should  be  checked.  On  both  ethical  and 
economic  grounds  the  North  came  to  oppose  the  extension  of  slavery. 
The  South  was  quick  to  see  that  the  only  way  in  which  to  prevent 
future  legislation  unfriendly  to  slavery  was  to  increase  the  number 
of  slave  states,  and  thus  to  increase  its  representation  in  the  United 
States  Senate. 

A  vast  region  was  added  to  the  United  States  by  the  Louisiana 
Purchase,  and  as  the  time  approached  for  this  to  be  carved  into 
states,  the  all-important  question  arose,  Slavery  or  no  slavery  in  the 
great  West  ?  Missouri  was  the  first  of  the  trans-Mississippi  terri- 

1  In  1784  Jefferson  introduced  an  ordinance  for  the  government  of  the  Southwest, 
the  territory  "ceded  already  or  to  be  ceded"  to  the  United  States,  afterward  Ken 
tucky,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  etc.,  in  which  a  clause  prohibited  slavery  in  the  terri 
tory  after  the  year  1800 ;  but  this  clause  was  struck  out  by  a  majority  of  one.  Had 
it  been  carried  and  been  effective,  slavery  would  have  been  confined  to  a  few  Atlantic 
states  in  the  South,  and  would  doubtless  have  died  a  natural  death.  But  a  certain 
member  from  New  Jersey,  who  would  have  voted  for  it,  was  absent  on  the  day  when 
the  vote  was  taken.  Thus  the  entire  course  of  American  history  was  changed  by  the 
absence  of  one  man  from  Congress  on  a  certain  day  in  1784.  See  Greeley's  "  American 
Conflict,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  38-40. 


GREAT  DEBATES   IN  CONGRESS  459 

tories  to  apply  for  statehood,  and  on  its  application  the  first  great 
battle  between  the  North  and  the  South  was  fought.  The  slave 
holders  had  stolen  a  march  by  settling  in  Missouri  with  their  slaves ; 
and  when  the  application  for  statehood  came  to  the  Fifteenth  Con 
gress,  it  provided  for  slavery  in  the  new  state.  But  it  was  clearly 
seen  that  if  Missouri  were  admitted  with  slavery,  it  would  be  very 
difficult  to  keep  it  out  of  any  part  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase.  Slav 
ery  in  Missouri  must  therefore  be  opposed,  and  the  man  for  the  occa 
sion  was  at  hand. 

There  was  a  young  man  in  the  House  from  New  York,  named 
James  Talmadge,  who  now  rose  and  moved  to  strike  out  the  slavery 
clause  in  the  Missouri  bill,  or,  more  exactly,  that  there 
be  no  further  introduction  of  slavery  into  Missouri,  and   &ndT!a.vloT 
that  all  children  born  in  slavery  after  the  admission  of 
the  state  should  be  free  at  the  age  of  twenty -five  years ;  and  his 
speech  in  support  of  the  motion  was  the  most  eloquent  heard  on  the 
floor  of  Congress  since  the  time  of  Fisher  Ames.     Talmadge  was 
powerfully  aided  by  John  W.  Taylor,  also  of  New  York,  and  the 
two  succeeded  in  defeating  the  Missouri  bill  with  slavery.     But  the 
Senate  rejected  the  House  measure,  and  it  was  left  over  till  the  next 
Congress.     Daring  the  interval  the  subject  was  discussed   on   all 
sides,  and  the  agitation  was  intense ;  but  the  people  could  do  but 
little,  as  the  next  Congress  had  already  been  elected. 

The  Missouri  question  was  not  only  an  ethical  and  an  economic 
one,  it  involved  also  a  deep  constitutional  principle.  Had  Congress 
the  power  to  lay  restrictions  on  new  states  that  were  not  laid  on  the 
original  thirteen  ?  Would  the  new  states  be  coequal  with  the  old 
if  admitted  under  such  limitations  ?  The  members  from  the  South 
took  the  ground  that  the  Constitution  gave  Congress  no  such  power. 
They  argued  also  that  the  treaty  ceding  Louisiana  to  the  United 
States  contained  the  express  provision  that  all  property  rights  must 
be  protected  by  the  United  States.  Those  from  the  North,  with  some 
exceptions,  contended  that  as  Congress  had  full  control  in  governing 
the  territories,  it  had  the  power  to  place  conditions  on  their  admission 
as  states. 

One  notable  feature  of  the  debate  was  that  no  one  from  either 
section  stood  up  for  slavery  as  a  moral  or  an  economic  benefit  to  the 
country ;  all  agreed  that  it  was  an  evil.  But  the  South  contended  that 
making  a  slave  state  of  Missouri  would  simply  scatter  and  lessen  the 
evil  without  increasing  it. 


460  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

The  Sixteenth  Congress,  ever  memorable  for  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise,  met  in  December,  1819,  and  this  great  question  soon  came  up 
for  a  final  solution.  As  Talmadge  was  not  a  member 
debates  °^  ^s  Congress,  Taylor  was  the  champion  for  free 

Missouri.  The  leaders  on  the  other  side  were  Henry 
Clay,  the  speaker,  John  Tyler,  a  future  President,  Charles  Pinck- 
ney,  a  framer  of  the  Constitution,  and  William  Lowndes.  Again 
the  House  adhered  to  its  antislavery  position,  and  again  the  Senate 
disagreed.  In  the  Senate  the  debates  even  surpassed  those  of  the 
House,  the  leader  for  slavery  in  Missouri  being  William  Pinkney  of 
Maryland,  with  Kufus  King  of  New  York  as  his  leading  opponent. 
The  Senate  was  balanced,  half  from  slave  states  and  half  from  free 
states ;  but  there  were  a  few  northern  senators  who,  from  constitu 
tional  grounds,  or  from  a  desire  to  please  the  South,  voted  with  the 
southern  members.  One  from  Indiana,  and  both  from  Illinois,  now 
voted  with  the  South,  and  the  two  houses  again  reached  a  deadlock. 

It  happened  that  at  this  time  Maine,  which  had  belonged  to  Mas 
sachusetts  from  colonial  days,  was  asking  for  admission  as  a  sepa 
rate  state ;  and  the  Senate,  acting  on  a  suggestion  made  in  the  House 
by  Mr.  Clay,  brought  in  a  bill  to  admit  Maine,  and  to  this  bill  they 
attached  the  one  to  admit  Missouri,  with  slavery.  This  was  passed 
February  16,  1820,  whereupon  Senator  Thomas  of  Illinois  made  a 
motion  to  amend  the  bill  by  annexing  a  clause  prohibiting  slavery 
in  all  the  remainder  of  the  Louisiana  territory  north  of  thirty-six 
degrees  and  thirty  minutes  north  latitude,  the  southern  boundary 
of  Missouri.  This  became  the  famous  compromise  line.  It  was 
adopted  by  the  Senate,  but  the  House  rejected  it;  and  still  again 
each  House  voted  to  stand  its  ground.  Then  a  joint  committee  was 
appointed,  and  this  committee  agreed  to  admit  Maine  and  Missouri 
separately,  leaving  the  Thomas  amendment  to  the  Missouri  bill. 
This  report  was  adopted  by  both  houses;  and  Missouri,  with  the 
Thomas  compromise  line,  was  admitted  as  a  slave  state.  President 
Monroe  signed  the  Maine  bill  on  March  3,  and  the  Missouri  bill 
March  6,  1820. 

But  this  did  not  end  the  strife  concerning  Missouri.  The  act  of 
March,  1820,  was  simply  an  act  enabling  the  territory  to  form  a  con 
stitution  for  statehood.  When  the  people  of  Missouri  adopted  a 
constitution,  they  inserted  a  clause  making  it  the  duty  of  the  legisla 
ture  to  exclude  free  negroes  and  mulattoes  from  the  commonwealth. 
This  brought  on  another  great  debate  in  Congress.  The  objection  to 


MISSOURI   COMPROMISE  461 

this  clause  was  based  on  the  ground  that  the  Constitution  guarantees 
to  the  citizens  of  any  state  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  the 
citizens  of  the  several  states.  The  two  houses  again  failed  to  agree, 
and  again  the  decision  was  made  through  a  joint  committee.  Henry 
Clay  was  the  mover  and  the  chairman  of  this  committee,  and  from 
this  fact  he  became  known  as  the  author  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.1 

This  committee  reported  a  bill  to  admit  Missouri  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  original  states,  on  the  condition  that  its  constitu 
tion  should  never  be  construed  so  as  to  authorize  any  law  by  which 
a  citizen  of  any  other  state  should  be  excluded  from  the  privileges 
which  he  enjoyed  in  other  parts  of  the  Union ;  and  that  the  legisla 
ture  of  Missouri  should  pass  a  solemn  act  declaring  its  consent  to 
this  condition.  This  was  accepted  by  both  houses,  and  became  a  law 
on  the  28th  of  February,  1821  j  Missouri  accepted  the  condition  and 
became  a  state  in  the  Union. 

The  Missouri  contest  had  far-reaching  results.  It  has  generally 
been  considered  a  victory  for  the  South,  in  that  Missouri  was  actu 
ally  admitted  as  a  slave  state.  But  the  compromise  on  the  line  of 
thirty-six  thirty  probably  brought  equal  or  greater  advantage  to  the 
North.  This  part  of  the  act  was  repealed  thirty-four  years  later ; 
but  meantime  it  did  great  service  in  keeping  slavery  out  of  Iowa 
and  other  portions  of  the  Northwest. 

But  there  was  a  deeper  principle  involved  in  this  decision.  The 
fact  that  a  compromise  line  had  been  agreed  on,  thus  giving  Con 
gress  power  over  slavery  in  the  territories,  and  that  Missouri  was 
admitted  with  a  condition  which  was  not  imposed  on  the  original 
states  (both  in  accordance  with  broad  construction),  opened  the  eyes 
of  the  South  to  the  fact  that  broad  construction  had  taken  deep  root 
in  the  Democratic  party,  and  to  the  further  fact  that  the  status  of 
slavery  would,  in  a  great  measure,  rest  henceforth  on  the  will  of 
Congress.  As  Professor  Burgess  has  pointed  out,2  this  new  revela 
tion  to  the  South  brought  about  within  the  next  ten  years  a  division 
in  the  Democratic  party.  The  portion  more  favorable  to  non-inter 
ference  with '  slavery,  which  became  the  Democratic  party  of  Jack 
son,  went  back,  to  some  extent,  to  the  early  doctrine  of  Jefferson, 
and  became  strict  constructionists,  the  chief  object  being  to  protect 

1  Clay  had  appointed  the  House  members  of  the  committee  that  arranged  the 
first  compromise  of  the  year  before,  and  his  selection  of  men  favorable  to  the  com 
promise  aided  also  in  crediting  him  with  being  the  author  of  it. 

2  "  The  Middle  Period,"  p.  104. 


462  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

slavery  from  Congress,  which,  in  the  Lower  House,  must  ever  be 
dominated  by  the  North.  The  other  portion  of  the  party  at  length 
became  the  Whig  party,  under  the  leadership  of  Clay.  These  mighty 
political  forces  were  set  in  motion  by  the  Missouri  Compromise.1 

MONROE'S  SECOND   TERM 

James  Monroe  was  elected  to  the  presidency  a  second  time  by  a 
unanimous  vote,  save  one.2  This  unanimity  indicated,  not  the  over 
shadowing  greatness  of  the  President,  nor  his  inherent  power  to  draw 
all  men  unto  himself,  but  rather  that  party  lines  had  been  extin 
guished,  that  no  other  aspirant  had  secured  a  following,  and  that 
this  mediocre  President  was  considered  a  safe  man,  and  wras  trusted 
and  loved  by  all  the  people. 

In  December,  1823,  President  Monroe  set  his  hand  to  a  document 
that  has  made  his  name  more  famous  in  foreign  lands  than  that  of 
any  other  of  our  early  presidents  except  the  name  of  the  Father  of 
his  Country.  In  his  annual  message  to  Congress  that  year  he  laid 
down  a  principle  of  foreign  policy  to  which  the  government  has 
adhered  with  the  utmost  tenacity  from  that  time  to  the  present, 
and  this  policy  took  the  name  the  world  over  of  the  Monroe  Doc 
trine.  This  "  doctrine  "  grew  out  of  the  rebellion  against  Spain 
of  her  possessions  in  the  New  World.  When,  in  1808,  Napoleon 
put  his  brother  on  the  throne  of  Spain,  Mexico  and  the  Spanish 
colonies  of  Central  and  South  America  rebelled,  and  won  a  tempo 
rary  freedom;  but  on  the  restoration  of  the  old  monarchy  they 
returned  to  their  old  allegiance.  When,  however,  Spain  attempted 

1  The  aged  ex-President,  Thomas  Jefferson,  was  one  of  the  first  to  see  the  deep 
significance  of  the  Missouri  question.    Though  unfriendly  to  slavery,  he  favored  its 
extension  into  Missouri,  as  it  would  dilute  and  scatter  the  evil  without  increasing  the 
number  of  slaves.    Jefferson  was  alarmed  at  the  rise  of  parties  on  geographical  lines. 
To  John  Adams  he  wrote  concerning  the  Missouri  debate  (December  10, 1819) :  "  From 
the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill  to  the  Treaty  of  Paris  we  never  had  so  ominous  a  question. 
...    I  thank  God  that  I  shall  not  live  to  witness  the  issue."    Jefferson  was  greatly 
alarmed  for  the  future  of  the  country.     After  the  compromise  line  had  been  settled, 
he  wrote :  "  The  question  sleeps  for  the  present,  but  is  not  dead,"  and,  "  This  momen 
tous  question,  like  a  fire  bell  in  the  night,  awakened  me  and  filled  me  with  terror.    I 
considered  it  at  once  as  the  knell  of  the  Union."     But  he  seems  later  to  have  regained 
hope.    On  December  26,  1820,  he  wrote  to  Lafayette,  "  The  boisterous  sea  of  liberty, 
indeed,  is  never  without  a  wave,  and  that  from  Missouri  is  now  rolling  toward  us; 
but  we  shall  ride  over  it  as  we  have  over  all  the  others." 

2  An  elector  from  New  Hampshire,  claiming  that  Washington  should  stand  alone 
in  being  unanimously  chosen  to  the  great  office,  voted  for  John  Q.  Adams, 


MONROE   DOCTRINE  463 


to  reimpose  on  them  her  old  colonial  system,  after  this  taste  of  lib 
erty,  they  again  rebelled,  and  declared  their  independence.  After  six 
years  of  warfare,  Spain  being  too  weak  to  subdue  them,  the  United 
States  acknowledged  their  independence.  In  1823  the  king  of  Spain 
invoked  the  aid  of  other  European  powers  (the  same  that  had  formed 
the  "  Holy  Alliance  "  a  few  years  before)  to  aid  him  in  putting  down 
a  rebellion  at  home,  and  presumably  to  aid  him  in  subduing  his  rebel 
lious  American  colonies.  England  had  built  up  a  flourishing  trade 
with  South  America,  which  she  wished  to  maintain,  and  Mr.  Canning, 
the  British  premier,  now  suggested  that  England  and  the  United 
States  join  in  aiding  these  new-born  republics  to  maintain  their  free 
dom.  But  the  United  States  preferred  to  act  alone,  and  its  action 
consisted  in  a  simple  declaration  by  the  President,  in  part  as 
follows :  — 

"  The  occasion  has  been  judged  proper  for  asserting  as  a  princi 
ple  ...  that  the  American  continents  .  .  .  are  henceforth  not  to 
be  considered  as  subjects  for  future  colonization  by  any  European 
powers.  .  .  .  We  should  consider  any  attempt  on  their  part  to 
extend  their  system  to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous 
to  our  peace  and  safety."  The  message  further  states  that  the 
United  States  would  not  interfere  with  any  existing  possessions  in 
America  of  the  countries  of  Europe,  but  as  to  those 
which  had  won  their  independence,  "  we  could  not  view 
any  interposition  for  the  purpose  of  oppressing  them, 
or  controlling  in  any  other  manner  their  destiny,  by  any  European 
power,  in  any  other  light  than  as  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly 
disposition  toward  the  United  States." 

This  is  the  famous  "  doctrine,"  the  language  of  which  is  said  to 
have  been  written  by  Secretary  Adams ;  but,  being  embodied  in  the 
message  of  Monroe,  it  took  his  name,  and  has  thus  been  known  ever 
since.  The  first  part,  as  quoted  above,  was  directed  chiefly  against 
Eussia,  as  that  country  had  taken  possession  of  Alaska,  and  was 
extending  its  settlements  down  the  Pacific  Coast.  Ey__this  a  .stand 
jvas  taken  against  further  colonization  in  America  by  European 
powers.  The  second  part  was  intended  to  protect  republican  govern 
ment  in  South  America. 

This  doctrine  was  not  new  with  Monroe.  Its  roots  may  be  found 
in  the  neutrality  proclamation  of  Washington,  in  his  farewell  ad 
dress,  andTTn  Jefferson's  warning  against  "entangling  alliances." 
This  attitude  of  non-interference  in  European  affairs  expanded  until 


464  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

it  resulted  in  a  determination  to  oppose  all  European  interference  in 
matters  wholly  American.  It  was  a  settled  policy  of  the  government 
for  years  before  being  officially  proclaimed  by  Monroe.  It  was  now 
eminently  effective.  Russia  ceased  her  encroachments  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  the  European  alliance  abandoned  all  intention  of  aiding 
Spain  against  her  former  colonies.  On  various. occasions  since  then 
has  this  doctrine  been  called  into  operation,  the  most  notable  being 
in  1865  against  France  in  Mexico,  and  in  1895  against  England  in 
Venezuela.1  The  twofold  object  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  to  guard 
against  that  which  may  be  "  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety,"  and 
to  protect  republican  government  in  the  Americas.  The  Monroe  Doc 
trine  is  not  a  part  of  international  law,  nor  has  it  been  placed  on 
the  statutes  of  our  country ;  it  is  simply  a  policy,  a  declaration  of  an 
attitude  taken  by  the  Executive  of  this  government  with  reference 
to  the  relations  of  the  European  powers  to  the  republics  of  this  hemi 
sphere.  It  is  a  mistake  to  believe  that  the  doctrine  is  becoming 
obsolete  ;  it  is  more  firmly  embedded  in  the  American  heart  at  this 
time  than  ever  before.  A  still  greater  mistake  is  the  opinion  held 
by  some  that  the  ultimate  object  of  the  United  States  is  to  absorb 
the  republics  south  of  us  into  our  own  government.  Nothing  is 
farther  from  the  truth.  What  the  future  attitude  of  the  United 
States  on  this  subject  may  be,  we  do  not  pretend  to  prophesy;  but 
for  the  present  it  is  safe  to  say  that  if  any  South  or  Central  Ameri 
can  state  were  to  seek  admission  to  our  Union  as  a  state,  or  even  as 
a  dependent  territory,  the  united  voice  of  our  people  would  be 
against  it. 

One  of  the  great  subjects  that  attracted  the  attention  of  Congress 
during  the  administration  of  Monroe  was  that  of  internal  improve 
ments.  In  the  last  week  of  Madison's  administration  a  bill  was 
passed  to  set  apart  the  bonus  received  by  the  government  from  the 
bank,  and  also  the  proceeds  of  the  shares  held  by  the  government, 
for  the  purpose  of  constructing  roads  and  canals.  The  leading  advo 
cate  of  this  bill  was  John  C.  Calhoun,  and  in  the  light  of 
pro^ements"  subsequent  events  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  at  this 
period  no  statesman  had  broader  national  views  than 
Calhoun.  He  not  only  claimed  that  internal  improvements  were 
constitutional  under  the  "  general  welfare "  clause,  but  that  they 

1  For  a  fuller  account  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  in  operation,  see  Elson's  "  Side 
Lights,"  Vol.  I,  Chap.  IX. 


TARIFF   LEGISLATION  465 

would  go  far  toward  strengthening  the  government  and  counteracting 
all  tendencies  toward  sectionalism  and  disunion.  But  there  was 
much  opposition  to  the  bill  on  the  old  strict  construction  grounds, 
and  among  its  opponents  was  President  Madison,  who,  on  the  day 
before  retiring  from  office,  vetoed  the  bill. 

Five  years  later,  in  1822,  a  bill  to  repair  and  operate  the  Cumber 
land  Road,  which  it  will  be  remembered  was  authorized  in  1806,  was 
passed  by  Congress  and  vetoed  by  President  Monroe.  Two  years 
later,  however,  an  act  for  making  surveys,  plans,  and  estimates  for 
national  routes  became  a  law.  This  was  a  second  entering  wedge, 
the  first  being  the  authorizing  of  the  Cumberland  Road  nearly  twenty 
years  before.  After  this  the  government  set  apart  money  from  time 
to  time  for  internal  improvements ;  but  the  coming  of  the  railway 
rendered  the  constructing  of  roads  and  canals  less  urgent,  and 
national  aid  in  later  years  was  confined  chiefly  to  the  improvements 
of  rivers  and  harbors. 

Closely  associated  with  the  subject  of  internal  improvements  was 
that  of  the  tariff,  which  received  much  attention  at  this  period.  Not 
withstanding  the  tariff  of  1816,  the  people  suffered  a  money  panic 
two  years  later,  caused  chiefly  by  the  reaction  from  the  disturbed 
condition  during  the  war,  and  by  the  inflation  due  to  the  springing 
up  of  several  hundred  local  banks.  Most  of  the  people,  however, 
believed  that  a  higher  rate  of  protective  duties  would  prove  a  cure- 
all  for  the  ills  of  the  country.  Led  by  Henry  Clay,  who  had  now  be 
come  the  champion  of  the  "  American  System  "  of  protection,  this 
party  passed  a  tariff  bill  in  the  House  in  1820  which  was  defeated 
in  the  Senate  by  a  single  vote.  But  the  people  continued  their 
clamor  for  higher  protection,  and  in  1824  the  second 
general  tariff  of  the  century  was  enacted  into  law.  By 
this  tariff  the  duties  on  wool,  iron,  hemp,  lead,  and  many 
other  articles  were  increased,  and  an  average  scale  of  about  thirty- 
three  per  cent  was  reached.  This  tariff  was  not  a  sectional  measure.1 
Among  its  opponents  were  Daniel  Webster,  Mr.  Cambreling  of  New 
York  City,  and  several  leading  men  from  the  South.  The  North  and 
the  border  states,  led  by  Clay,  were  its  chief  supporters. 

The  Seventeenth  Congress,  expiring  in  1823,  had  done  nothing, 
almost  nothing  —  except  to  intrigue  and  plot  and  counter-plot  con 
cerning  the  presidential  succession.  Monroe's  term  was  passing  into 
history ;  somebody  must  succeed  him,  and  for  the  first  time  the  whole 

1  See  Burgess's  "  Middle  Period,"  p.  115. 
2n 


466  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

country  was  at  sea  concerning  the  choice  of  a  candidate.  The  Federal 
party  had  disappeared,  and  the  Democratic  party  had  absorbed  the 
whole  people ;  but  this  did  not  bring  political  harmony.  Four  can 
didates  early  loomed  up  on  the  political  horizon,  each  with  his  per 
sonal  following,  and  each  claiming  to  represent  the  true  democracy : 
Henry  Clay,  the  man  of  the  people,  the  idol  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  ;  John  C.  Calhoun,  the  brilliant  young  South  Carolinian, 
able,  far-sighted,  patriotic ;  John  Quincy  Adams,  son  of  former  Presi 
dent  Adams;  and  William  H.  Crawford  of  Georgia,  ex-minister  to 
France,  now  secretary  of  the  treasury,  and,  as  many  believed,  a 
designing,  intriguing  politician.  Crawford  was  Monroe's  chief  rival 
for  the  nomination  in  1816,  and  so  sure  did  he  feel  that  he  would 
The  presi-  succeed  Monroe  that  in  1820  he  piloted  an  act  through 
dential  can-  Congress  known  as  the  "  Crawford  Act,"  which  gave 
vass  of  1824.  greater  power  to  the  president  in  the  appointment  of 
civil  service  officials.  By  this  act,  which  stands  on  our  statutes  to 
this  day,  the  tenure  of  civil  service  officials  was  reduced  to  four 
years,  whereas  before  this  such  officials  had  been  appointed  without 
a  definite  time  limit.  This  gave  an  immense  appointive  power  into 
the  hands  of  every  incoming  President.  Eight  years  were  yet  to 
elapse  before  the  national  party  convention  was  to  come  into  exist 
ence  ;  the  congressional  caucus  still  assumed  the  right  to  name 
candidates.  But  the  caucus  for  this  purpose  had  lost  its  force  with 
the  people.  The  last  of  these  was  held  at  this  period,  and  it  nomi 
nated  Crawford ;  but  it  was  attended  by  less  than  half  the  members 
of  Congress.1  The  other  candidates  were  nominated  by  various  state 
legislatures. 

As  the  canvass  progressed,  another  star  was  added  to  the  constel 
lation  ;  and  now  there  were  five.  As  near  the  close  of  the  War  of 
1812  a  star  had  risen  in  the  South  that  soon  outshone  all  the  others, 
so  it  was  now,  and  it  happened  to  be  the  same  star,  —  Andrew 
Jackson.  The  rude  but  virile  state  of  Tennessee  had,  as  early  as 
1822,  boldly  put  forward  this  grim  old  hero  of  New  Orleans,  who 
was  now  nearing  the  completion  of  his  three-score  years ;  and  great 
numbers  of  the  people,  weary  of  the  intrigues  of  the  trained  politi 
cians,  turned  instinctively  to  this  "man  of  the  people"  and  made 
his  cause  their  own.  But  the  constellation  was  soon  again  reduced 

1  About  this  time  Crawford  suffered  a  severe  stroke  of  paralysis,  from  which  he 
never  fully  recovered ;  but  during  the  campaign  his  friends  kept  the  fact  from  the 
public  as  best  they  could. 


LAFAYETTE'S  VISIT  467 


to  four,  as  Calhoun  quietly  dropped  out  and  accepted  second  place 
on  the  ticket.  The  election  came  ;  the  people  spoke  through  the 
electoral  college,  electing  Calhoun  Vice  President,  but  failing  to 
choose  a  President ;  and  for  the  second  time  in  our  history,  and  the 
last  thus  far,  this  momentous  duty  fell  to  the  House  of  Representa 
tives.  Jackson  had  received  the  highest  number  of  electors,  ninety- 
nine  ;  Adams  came  next  with  eighty-four,  Crawford  securing  forty-one, 
and  Clay  thirty-seven.  The  Twelfth  Amendment  provides  that  the 
House  may  vote  for  the  three  highest  only,  and  this  shut  Clay  out, 
as  he  was  fourth  in  the  list.  But  for  this,  Clay  might  easily  have 
become  President,  had  he  chosen  to  vote  and  to  work  for  himself,  for 
he  was  speaker  of  the  House  and  was  very  popular  in  that  body.1 
The  House  dallied  with  the  great  subject,  and  before  it  came  to  a 
vote  every  member  turned  aside  to  pay  homage  to  a  stranger  who 
appeared  upon  its  floor.  He  was  an  aged,  thin-faced,  kindly  man, 
whom  every  American  revered  as  a  father,  —  Lafayette,  the  friend  of 
liberty. 

In  the  dark  days  of  the  Revolution,  when  in  the  bloom  of  his 
young  manhood,  this  doughty  Frenchman  had  left  his  youthful  wife 
and  his  luxurious  home  to  offer  his  life  and  his  fortune 
in  the  holy  cause  of  liberty ;  and  now  at  the  end  of  half  a  ayette- 
a  century  he  returned  to  visit  the  land  he  had  never  ceased  to  love. 
And  never  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  has  any  other  foreigner 
received  the  glad  welcome,  the  universal  homage  of  the  people,  as  he 
did.  Lafayette  had  greatly  changed.  His  love  of  liberty  was  still 
warm  and  young  ;  but  the  blithe  step  was  gone,  his  hair  was  silvered, 
and  his  brow  was  furrowing  with  age.  But  greater  was  the  change 
in  the  land  that  his  eyes  now  looked  upon,  —  then  a  few  distracted 
colonies  struggling  toward  the  light,  now  a  nation  that  commanded 
the  world's  respect,  with  its  rising  cities,  its  opening  industries,  its 
continental  domain. 

General  Lafayette  arrived  in  New  York  in  August,  1824.  As 
he  traveled  through  the  country,  men  and  women  of  every  rank 
hastened  to  the  towns  to  see  this  hero  of  a  past  generation  and  to 
join  in  the  universal  shout  of  welcome.  He  visited  every  state  in 
the  Union,  and  spent  the  winter  in  Washington.  Congress  voted 

1  Again,  Clay  would  have  been  third  on  the  list  instead  of  Crawford,  but  for  a 
trick  played  on  him  in  Louisiana.  When  the  legislature  of  that  state  chose  electors, 
it  did  so  when  two  or  three  of  Clay's  friends,  who  held  the  balance  of  power,  were 
absent,  and  thus  the  state  voted  for  Jackson  and  Adams  instead  of  Clay. 


468  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

him  $200,000  and  a  township  of  land  in  Florida,  which  he  was 
asked  to  accept,  not  as  a  gift,. but  as  a  partial  recompense  for  his 
Revolutionary  services;  and  this  came  good  indeed  during  the 
remaining  nine  years  of  his  life,  for  he  had  lost  his  fortune  in  the 
various  changes  of  the  French  government.  In  June,  1825,  he  was 
in  Boston,  on  the  greatest  gala  day  that  Boston  ever  saw,  and  laid 
the  corner  stone  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument,  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  the  famous  battle.  After  a  visit  of  nearly  fourteen  months  the 
nation's  guest  departed  for  his  native  land  in  the  Brandywine,  named 
for  the  battle  in  which  he  had  been  wounded,  in  southern  Penn 
sylvania. 

We  return  to  the  presidential  election.     The  eyes  of  the  nation 

turned  to  Henry  Clay.     His  power  in  the  House  was  so  great  that 

it  was  generally  believed  that  he  held  the  election  in 

Adams*  °f  his  handt  Cla^  was  no  friend  of  Jackson,  nor  of  Craw 
ford  ;  and  even  he  and  Adams  were  not,  and  had  never 
been,  close  political  friends.  But  a  choice  must  be  made,  and  one  of 
these  three  must  be  chosen.  At  length  Clay  announced  that  he 
would  vote  for  Adams ;  his  adherents  followed  his  example,  and 
Adams  was  elected,  receiving  the  votes  of  thirteen  states,  while 
seven  states  voted  for  Jackson  and  four  for  Crawford. 

Adams  made  Clay  secretary  of  state,  and  the  Jackson  party 
raised  the  cry  that  there  had  been  a  bargain,  a  corrupt  bargain, 
between  Adams  and  Clay.  This  cry  was  kept  up  for  four  years,  and 
it  played  an  important  part  in  the  next  presidential  election.1  Clay 
got  into  trouble  with  John  Randolph  about  the  matter.  Randolph 
was  a  remarkable  man  in  many  ways.  He  had  entered  Congress  in 
1799,  when  scarcely  more  than  a  boy,  and  had  soon  attracted  atten 
tion  by  his  tall,  awkward  appearance,  his  ungovernable  temper,  his 
keen  wit  and  biting  sarcasm.  During  his  long  career  in  Congress 
he  made  many  an  enemy  quail,  when  the  object  of  his  sarcasm  and 
pointed  out  by  his  long,  bony  finger.  As  a  wit  he  has  never  been 
equaled  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  He  usually  talked  as  he  chose 
about  any  one  ;  and  on  this  occasion  he  referred  to  Adams  and  Clay 
as  "  the  Puritan  and  the  Blackleg."  Clay  was  angry  when  he 

1  Through  Adams's  Diary  we  learn  that  some  of  Clay's  friends  did  approach 
Adams  on  this  subject  before  the  election ;  but  there  is  not  the  slightest  proof  that 
Adams  made  any  promises.  The  cry  of  corrupt  bargain  had,  in  fact,  been  raised 
before  the  election  in  the  House  in  the  hope  of  coercing  Clay  to  vote  for  Jackson. 
Clay's  acceptance  of  a  place  in  the  Cabinet  was  a  blunder  that  he  should  have  avoided. 


ADAMS   ELECTED   BY   THE    HOUSE  469 

heard  this.  He  had  chafed  restively  under  public  accusations. 
Now  he  could  contain  himself  no  longer.  He  challenged  Randolph 
to  a  duel.  Randolph  was  not  angry  with  Clay.  He  Duei  between 
had  called  him  a  blackleg ;  but  he  often  used  such  terms  Clay  and 
without  expecting  them  to  be  taken  too  seriously.  But  Randolph. 
Clay  was  not  to  be  appeased,  and  the  two  men  met  on  the  field  with 
loaded  pistols.  They  each  fired  once  without  effect.  Clay  fired 
again,  the  bullet  passing  through  his  antagonist's  coat.  Randolph 
then  fired  into  the  air,  threw  down  his  pistol,  and  stepped  toward  Clay 
with  extended  hand.  This  was  too  much.  Clay's  face  changed  in 
an  instant ;  he  threw  his  pistol  to  the  ground  and  ran  to  meet  Ran 
dolph,  and  the  latter  said  with  mock  seriousness,  "Mr.  Clay,  you 
owe  me  a  new  coat."  —  "  I'm  glad  the  debt  is  no  greater,"  said  Clay  ; 
and  the  two  men  indulged  in  a  long,  fervent  handshake.1 

JOHN   QUINCY   ADAMS 

As  a  boy  of  seven  years  John  Quincy  Adams  had  stood  with  his 
mother  and  viewed  the  famous  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  from  afar ;  and 
this  may  be  considered  the  beginning  of  the  longest  public  career  in 
American  history.  Two  years  later  this  boy,  who  never  knew  a 
boyhood,  was  a  regular  postrider  making  daily  trips  from  his  village 
to  Boston.  At  the  age  of  eleven  he  accompanied  his  father  to  France 
and  began  a  course  of  severe  study.  At  fourteen  he  was  a  private 
secretary  to  our  minister  at  St.  Petersburg.  At  eighteen  he  had 
visited  every  country  in  Europe ;  and,  returning  to  his  own  land,  he 
was  graduated  at  Harvard  two  years  later.  No  American  statesman 
ever  lived  a  more  strenuous  life,  none  had  a  more  varied  experience, 
and  none  a  cleaner  record.  When  elected  President  in  1825  Adams 
had  been  a  professor  at  Harvard,  and  a  practicing  lawyer  in  Boston. 
He  had  served  in  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  and  in  the  United 
States  Senate.  He  had  aided  in  framing  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  had 
been  minister  to  five  European  courts,  and  had  completed  his  eight 
years  as  secretary  of  state.  No  man  in  America  was  by  training 
better  fitted  for  the  presidency  than  Adams  ;  and  few  were  less 
fitted  by  natural  temperament. 

No  President  ever  entered  upon  the  great  office  with  a  clearer 
sense  of  duty,  or  with  nobler  motives  than  did  Adams.  But  like 
his  father  before  him  he  was  wanting  in  tact,  in  the  ability  to 

1  For  a  full  account  of  this,  see  Benton's  "  Thirty  Years'  View,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  70-77. 


470  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

manage  men.  He  was  a  man  of  the  sternest  puritanic  integrity; 
he  subjected  himself  to  severe  discipline  in  his  private  life  and 
public  duties.  He  judged  other  men  by  his  own  high  standard  of 
morality,  and  saw  their  faults  rather  than  their  virtues.1  His 
manner  was  cold  and  repelling,  and  with  all  his  wide  acquaintance 
he  had  no  intimate  personal  friend,  nor  did  he  make  any  effort  to 
win  friends.  He  enjoyed  little  popularity  among  his  own  class,  and 
still  less  among  the  masses  of  the  people.  As  Ezekiel  Webster 
wrote  his  brother  Daniel,  Mr.  Adams's  support  came  "  from  a  cold 
sense  of  duty,  and  not  from  any  liking  of  the  man."  On  the  whole, 
Adams  was,  with  all  his  defects,  one  of  the  most  admirable  public 
characters  in  our  history ;  and  his  greatest  service  was  rendered  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  where,  after  his  term  as  President,  he 
spent  seventeen  years  of  his  old  age. 

The  single  presidential  term  of  Adams  may  be  recorded  in  small 
space,  as  both  Senate  and  House  were  against  him,  and  they  refused 
to  pass  any  administration  measure  of  importance.  In  his  first 
message  the  President  recommended  a  system  of  internal  improve 
ments  on  a  far  larger  scale  than  had  been  hitherto  undertaken  ;  but 
Congress  opposed  such  extensive  improvements,  and  Adams  was  left 
powerless  to  carry  out  his  projects. 

Early  in  this  administration  the  Panama  Congress,  a  conven 
tion  of  the  American  republics  to  be  held  at  Panama,  became  the 
Panama  prominent  public  question.  The  object  was  to  delib- 

Congress,  erate  on  a  continental  policy  concerning  commercial 
intercourse,  to  restrict  the  extent  of  blockades,  to  estab 
lish  firmly  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  the  like.  Clay  was  its  chief 
promoter  in  the  United  States.  His  object  was  to  organize  the 
Americans  against  Europe  for  commercial  advantage  and  self-protec 
tion.  He  won  Adams  and  the  Cabinet  to  favor  sending  delegates, 
and  Adams  announced  in  his  message  that  this  would  be  done. 
But  the  Senate  was  obstinate,  professing  to  fear  "  entangling  alli 
ances,"  though  its  real  object  was  to  thwart  the  administration.  At 
length,  however,  after  long  delay,  the  bill  passed.  But  the  victory 
of  the  President  was  a  barren  one,  for  the  Panama  Congress  had 
adjourned  before  our  delegates  reached  the  place. 

The  only  other  matter  of  national  importance  —  except  the  "  Tariff 
of  Abominations,"  to  be  noticed  later — that  belongs  to  Adams's  term 
of  office,  was  that  concerning  the  Indians  of  Georgia.  When  Georgia 
i  Schouler,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  400. 


PRESIDENT  ADAMS   AND   GOVERNOR   TROUP  47L 


ceded  her  western  lands  to  the  United  States  in  1802,  the  latter 
engaged  to  remove  the  Indians  from  the  bounds  of  the  state  when  it 
could  be  done  peaceably.  Various  treaties  and  purchases 
were  made  subsequent  to  this,  but  in  1824  the  Indians 
declared  they  would  sell  no  more  land.  The  white  peo 
ple  of  Georgia  became  enraged  at  this  and  demanded  that  the  govern 
ment  carry  out  its  contract.  A  treaty  was  made  at  Indian  Springs, 
in  1825,  ceding  the  Indian  lands ;  but  the  tribes  refused  to  accept  it, 
and  put  to  death  the  chiefs  who  signed  it.  President  Adams  then 
notified  Governor  Troup  of  Georgia  that  he  was  expected  to  discon 
tinue  his  survey  of  the  Indian  lands  until  the  United  States  govern 
ment  had  completed  its  negotiations  with  the  Indians.1  Whereupon 
the  governor  became  frantic,  and  blustered  and  fumed  against  the 
United  States  to  his  heart's  content.  President  Adams  was  not 
appalled  by  the  irate  governor ;  he  sent  General  Gaines  to  Georgia 
with  instructions  to  prevent  the  survey  of  the  lands,  by  force  if 
necessary.  The  next  year,  1826,  another  agreement  with  the  Indians 
was  made  by  the  United  States  government.  By  this  agreement  a 
large  portion  of  the  Indian  lands  were  secured  to  Georgia.  But  the 
Georgians  were  not  content  with  the  incompleteness  of  the  work,  and 
the  governor  was  again  defiant,  and  even  prepared  to  resist  the  power 
of  the  United  States. 

President  Adams,  while  careful  to  uphold  the  dignity  and 
authority  of  the  government,  was  unwilling  to  allow  the  matter  to 
come  to  blows  without  being  sure  of  the  support  of  the  country. 
He  therefore  laid  the  subject  before  Congress ;  but  Congress  refused 
to  give  the  matter  serious  attention.  This  encouraged  the  Georgians 
in  their  attitude  toward  the  Creeks,  and  they  also  laid  claim  to  juris 
diction  over  the  lands  occupied  by  the  Cherokees  within  the  state. 
In  1827  the  legislature  passed  a  law  in  accordance  with  this  claim, 
though  the  lands  had  been  solemnly  guaranteed  to  the  Indians  in  a 
treaty  in  1785 ;  but  Governor  Troup  declared  this  treaty  not  binding 
on  the  state,  on  the  ground  that  Georgia  and  the  United  States  were 
equal  and  independent  powers !  The  Indians  appealed  to  President 
Adams  for  protection  in  their  rights ;  but  he,  about  to  retire  from 
office,  chose  not  to  embarrass  his  successor  by  committing  the  gov 
ernment  to  any  policy  in  the  matter. 

By  anticipation  it  may  here  be  stated  that  the  trouble  with  the 
Cherokees  continued  under  Adams's  successor.      Georgia  claimed 
i  See  Ames's  State  Documents,  No.  3,  pp.  25-36. 


472  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

jurisdiction  over  their  lands ;  they  resisted  and  appealed  to  the 
President,  who  refused  to  aid  them.  The  matter  came  before  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court,  and  was  decided,  in  1832,  against 
the  Georgians.1  But  President  Jackson  sympathized  with  the  state 
and  refused  to  enforce  the  decision  of  the  court.  At  length,  a  few 
years  later,  some  sort  of  agreement  having  been  reached,  the  Chero- 
kees,  who  had  made  commendable  progress  in  agriculture  and  educa 
tion,  were  removed  to  the  Indian  Territory,  beyond  the  Mississippi, 
where  they  still  remain.  The  action  of  Georgia  throughout  was 
little  short  of  nullification.2 

As  this  presidential  term  drew  to  a  close  the  country  prepared 
itself  for  a  fierce  contest.  Adams  was  a  candidate  for  reelection, 
with  Andrew  Jackson  as  his  opponent.  Unlike  Adams,  Jackson 
was  popular ;  he  could  win  friends  and  he  could  win  crowds.  He 
had  risen  from  the  lower  walks  of  life,  and  the  people  regarded  him 
as  one  of  themselves.  Adams  was  looked  upon  as  an  aristocrat, 
and,  moreover,  he  refused  to  turn  a  hand  to  secure  his  own  election. 
Many  of  the  public  servants  who  held  their  offices  at  his  discretion, 
including  some  of  his  own  Cabinet,  were  openly  working  for  Jack 
son,  but  he  refused  to  notice  the  fact.  Even  those  who  worked  for 
his  election  received  no  word  of  gratitude  or  encouragement  from 
him.  He  took  the  high  ground  that  the  influence  of  the  office 
should  not  be  used  to  further  an  election.  One  would  think  that 
such  fidelity  to  duty  would  have  been  rewarded ;  but  it  was  not. 
Jackson  was  elected  by  a  large  majority  of  the  popular  vote,  as  well 
as  of  the  electoral  college.3 

MEANS   OF   TRAVEL   AND  INVENTION 

Nothing  impresses  the  student  of  the  history  of  this  period  more 
than  the  progress  made  in  the  invention  of  machinery  and  in  the 
means  of  travel.  We  have  noticed  the  great  flow  of  humanity  across 
the  Alleghanies  to  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  the 
consequent  admission  in  rapid  succession  of  five  new  states  of  the 
West  and  South.  This  movement  of  the  population  from  the  sea 
board  to  the  interior  of  the  continent  awakened  an  intense  desire  for 
better  modes  of  travel.  The  first  important  advance  in  this  line  came 

1  Worcester  vs.  Georgia. 

2  See  Ames's  State  Documents,  No.  Ill,  p.  36  sq. 

3  All  the  states  except  two,  South  Carolina  and  Delaware,  now  chose  electors  by 
a  popular  vote ;  these  two  still  retained  the  old  system  of  choosing  by  the  legislature. 


GROWTH  IN  TRANSPORTATION 


473 


through  the  general  use  of  the  steamboat.  By  the  time  of  Monroe's 
second  election  the  western  rivers,  as  well  as  those  of  the  East,  were 
covered  with  steam  craft.  These  were  not  to  be  compared  with  the 
river  steamer  of  the  present  day.  It  required  thrice  as  many  hours 
to  run  a  hundred  miles  upstream  as  to  return  with  the  current,  but 
the  improvement  over  the  flatboat  of  earlier  days  was  very  marked. 
So  it  was  also  along  the  seacoast.  All  the  leading  ports  were  now 
connected  by  lines  of  steam  vessels,  and  a  journey  from  one  coast 
city  to  another  became  a  pleasure  trip,  and  consumed  far  less  time 
than  in  the  old  days  of  the  stagecoach. 

But  this  was  not  enough  for  the  rising  West.  The  mountain 
walls  that  nature  had  thrown  between  the  Eastern  states  and  the 
valley  of  the  great  river  must  be  overcome,  if  in  the  power  of  man 


THE  ERIE  CANAL 

to  accomplish  it.  The  great  conestoga  wagon  still  lumbered  across 
the  mountains  and  the  valleys,  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg. 
But  relief  was  soon  to  come,  and  it  came  in  two  forms,  —  the  railroad 
and  the  canal. 

The  first  great  canal  to  be  completed  in  America  was  the  Erie 
Canal  from  Albany  to  Buffalo,  363  miles,  —  often  called  Clinton's 
Big  Ditch,  as  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton  was  its  chief  Er.g  Canal 
projector.     In  October,  1825,  after  eight  years'  toil  of 
thousands  of  men  with  pick  and  spade  and  wheelbarrow,  the  great 
work  was  finished,  and  Governor  Clinton  led  a  tandem  fleet  from 
Buffalo  to  Albany  amid  the  acclamations  of   the  multitudes  that 
gathered  along  the  banks.     The  motley  fleet  bore  a  bear,  two  eagles, 
two  Indian  boys,  and  other  things  typical  of  the  land  before  the 


474  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

coming  of  the  white  man,1  and  its  coming  was  announced  by  a  con 
tinuous  line  of  cannon  placed  along  the  route.  From  Albany  Clin 
ton  proceeded  down  the  Hudson,  and,  pouring  two  kegs  of  Lakt 
Erie's  water  into  the  sea,  pronounced  the  communication  betweer 
"  our  Mediterranean  seas  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean  accomplished." 

The  Erie  Canal  proved  a  wonderful  boon  to  New  York.  Th( 
cost  of  transporting  merchandise  from  Albany  to  Buffalo  had  beer 
over  $100  a  ton;  now  it  fell  to  one  tenth  of  the  former  price,  anc 
this  opened  a  vast  market  to  the  merchants  and  manufacturers 
of  New  York  City,  which  soon  became  the  chief  metropolis  ir 
America.  Farmers  hastened  from  all  sides  to  purchase  farms  alon£ 
the  canal,  and  the  price  of  land  rose  rapidly.  But  not  only  was 
New  York  benefited  by  the  canal.  The  farmers  of  Ohio,  Indiana 
and  Illinois  could  now  purchase  their  axes,  plows,  and  other  utensil : 
for  a  fraction  of  what  they  had  formerly  paid  for  them,  and  indeec 
the  business  of  the  entire  country  was  affected  by  this  grea 
improvement.2 

One  of  its  effects  was  to  cause  a  rage  for  canals  to  spread  ove: 
the  country.  Philadelphia  saw  its  western  trade  threatened  witl 

,      ruin.     This  led  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  to  decid< 
Other  canals.  .      .  ^  ,     .          J    ,  .         .  . 

on  digging  a  canal  between  their  two  chief  cities,  am 

the  work  was  soon  begun.3  The  great  Ohio  Canal  joining  Laki 
Erie  with  the  Ohio  River,  from  Cleveland  to  Portsmouth,  wai 
begun  in  1825.  The  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal  extended  fron 
Pittsburg  to  Washington.  Many  other  canals  of  smaller  pretension: 
were  built,  and  many  were  begun  and  never  finished,  for  anothe 
and  far  superior  mode  of  inland  transportation  was  now  attracting 
the  attention  of  the  people. 

The  vast  network  of  railroads  that  now  covers  the  United  State; 
had  its  beginning  at  the  time  we  are  treating.  John  Stevens,  ai 
inventive  genius  of  the  highest  order,  who  had  done  almost,  if  no 
fully,  as  much  as  Robert  Fulton  for  the  steamboat,  was  now  tin 
chief  advocate  of  steam  railways.  A  road  was  soon  built  fron 
Philadelphia  to  the  Susquehanna,  but  the  cars  first  used  were  drawi 
by  horses.  The  action  of  Pennsylvania  in  projecting  canals  anc 

1  McMaster,  Vol.  V,  p.  132. 

2  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  1903  the  people  of  New  York  voted  to  expem 
$101,000,000  for  the  improvement  of  the  Erie  Canal. 

3  This  was  never  completed ;  or  rather,  when  it  was  completed,  it  was  part  rail 
road. 


USEFUL   INVENTIONS  475 


railways  alarmed  the  people  of  Baltimore  lest  Philadelphia  steal 
its  western  trade,  and  they  decided  to  build  a  railroad  to  some 
point  on  the  Ohio  River.  Work  on  it  was  begun  in  July,  1828,  and 
this  was  the  origin  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad.  The  first 
steam  locomotive  was  brought  from  England  in  1829,  where  experi 
ments  in  steam  railways  had  been  in  progress  for  over  ten  years,  but 
it  proved  a  failure.  In  1831,  however,  a  locomotive  was  success 
fully  used  in  South  Carolina,  and  within  a  few  years 
others  were  in  operation  in  various  parts  of  the  country. 
But  for  years  after  this  beginning  many  of  the  cars,  even  on  the 
steam  roads,  were  still  drawn  by  horse  power.  The  roads  were 
owned  by  the  state  and  the  cars  and  engines  by  individuals  or  corpora 
tions.  Any  one  owning  a  car  or  an  engine  had  the  use  of  the  road. 
The  engines  were  rude  machines  compared  with  those  of  our  own 
times,  but  they  went  faster  than  the  horses,  and  this  caused  much 
confusion.  Eventually  the  railroads  passed  into  the  hands  of  private 
corporations,  and  horses  were  everywhere  supplanted  by  the  steam 
engine. 

Some  of  the  greatest  inventions  of  our  modern  civilization  belong 
to  this  period.  The  rapid  progress  in  steam  navigation  by  land  and 
water  brought  about  a  wonderful  stimulus  in  manufacturing  and 
created  a  great  demand  for  labor-saving  machinery.  Hence  came 
the  sewing-machine,  the  threshing-machine,  the  mower 
and  reaper,  and  a  few  years  later  the  telegraph  and 
many  other  inventions  of  great  usefulness.  The  first  flannel 
made  by  machinery  was  produced  in  Massachusetts  in  1824; 
the  first  illuminating  gas  was  made  from  coal  in  New  York  in 
1827.  Thus  one  invention  followed  another,  and  they  played  a 
great  part  in  laying  the  foundations  of  our  present  industrial 
prosperity. 

In  books  and  literature  the  country  was  making  a  famous  begin 
ning.  The  newspapers,  numbering  two  hundred  at  the  beginning 
of  the  century,  seventeen  of  which  were  dailies,  had  now  greatly 
increased  in  number  ;  but  their  subscription  rates  were  still  high,  as 
printing  was  a  cumbersome  business,  the  modern  steam  press  being 
yet  a  thing  of  the  future.  The  majority  of  the  people  did  not  take 
a  newspaper.  The  postmaster  was  often  the  only  one  in  a  town  who 
took  a  paper,  and  on  its  arrival  the  villagers  would  gather  about  him 
to  hear  him  read  the  news. 

Some  of  the  most  famous  American  authors  were  writing  during 


476  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

this  period.  To  the  older  set  belonged  Washington  Irving,1  James 
Fenimore  Cooper,  Fitz-Greene  Halleck,  William  Cullen  Bryant,  and 
Noah  Webster.2  These  were  all  famous  before  the 
close  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  century.  Next  came  the 
galaxy  of  literary  men  born  in  the  early  part  of  the  century :  Henry 
W.  Longfellow,  Edgar  Allan  Foe,  John  G.  Whittier,  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Mrs.  Sigourney,  and  N.  P.  Willis,  — 
each  of  whom  had  published  one  or  more  books  by  1830.  Many  of 
these  books,  as  well  as  their  authors,  are  world-famous,  and  have 
taken  a  permanent  place  in  our  literature.  Henceforth  the  curt 
remark  of  Sidney  Smith,  "  Who  reads  an  American  book  ? "  could 
be  readily  answered  in  a  single  word,  —  everybody. 


NOTES 

Boundaries.  —  Two  important  boundary  lines  were  agreed  on  while  Monroe 
was  President.  The  boundary  between  the  United  States  and  British  America 
west  of  the  Great  Lakes  was  fixed  in  1818.  From  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  the 
forty-ninth  parallel  was  made  the  boundary  westward  to  the  summit  of  the 
Kocky  Mountains.  West  of  this  lay  the  Oregon  country  extending  to  the  Pacific 
and  claimed  by  both  the  United  States  and  England,  and  it  was  decided  that  both 
occupy  it  jointly  for  ten  years  ;  but  twenty-eight  years  elapsed  before  the  owner 
ship  was  settled. 

In  1819  the  United  States  purchased  East  and  West  Florida  from  Spain  for 
$5,000,000.  Before  this  the  United  States  had  claimed  that  Texas  was  a  part 
of  the  Louisiana  purchase ;  but  this  claim  was  now  given  up  and  the  boundary 
decided  on  was  as  follows  :  The  Sabine  River  from  the  Gulf  to  32°  and  thence 
northward  to  the  Red  River,  up  the  Red  River  to  the  one  hundredth  meridian, 
north  to  the  Arkansas  River,  up  this  river  to  the  crest  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
north  to  42°,  and  west  on  this  parallel  to  the  Pacific.  Thus  the  United  States 
did  not  reach  the  Pacific  at  any  point.  The  Pacific  slope  north  of  42°  belonged 
to  the  Oregon  country,  and  south  of  42°  were  the  possessions  of  Mexico,  known 
as  the  California  country.  The  United  States  did  not  take  possession  of  Florida 
until  1821,  when  Andrew  Jackson  became  the  first  governor. 

Migration  to  the  West.  —  A  wonderful  movement  of  the  population  to  the 
West  began  soon  after  the  war  with  England  had  closed.  Every  road  leading 
westward  from  the  East  was  covered  with  lines  of  moving  wagons,  plodding 
their  weary  way  over  hills  and  mountains,  streams  and  valleys.  At  Haverhill, 
Massachusetts,  450  emigrants  passed  through  the  town  in  thirteen  days.  At 
Easton,  Pennsylvania,  511  wagons,  bearing  over  3000  persons,  passed  in  one 
month.  These  were  moving  to  the  great  valley  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  in  the 

1  Irving  was  born  in  1783,  on  the  day  that  Washington  made  his  triumphal  entry 
into  New  York,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  receive  his  name. 

2  Webster  published  his  Dictionary  in  1828. 


NOTES  477 


South  a  similar  movement  to  the  new  states  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi  was 
going  on. 

A  farmer  wishing  to  better  his  worldly  condition  would  sell  all  his  goods 
that  he  could  not  take  with  him,  and  provide  himself  with  a  strong,  light  wagon, 
covered  with  canvas.  In  this  he  would  pack  his  goods,  leaving  only  room 
enough  for  himself  and  his  family.  Thus  equipped  they  would  bid  adieu  to  old 
neighbors,  friends,  and  kindred,  often  to  meet  them  no  more  in  this  life,  and 
start  out  upon  the  long  and  toilsome  journey  of  hundreds  of  miles  through  the 
wilderness.  Sometimes  whole  communities  went  together  and  settled  in  the 
same  neighborhood  in  the  West ;  but  more  frequently  they  moved  by  isolated 
families.  Arriving  in  the  western  wilderness,  the  pioneer  would  purchase  a 
quarter  section  of  land  of  the  government,  of  some  land  company,  or  of  some 
settler  who  had  preceded  him  and  failed,  paying  two  or  three  dollars  an  acre, 
on  the  installment  plan.  If  the  land  were  wholly  unimproved,  the  family  would 
live  in  the  moving  wagon  until  a  cabin  could  be  built.  The  cabin  was  made  of 
logs,  notched  at  the  ends  so  as  to  fit  at  the  corners,  and  laid  one  above  another 
until  the  house  was  about  ten  feet  high.  There  was  but  one  room,  one  door,  and 
one  window.  The  door  was  made  of  rough  boards  swung  on  leather  hinges,  and 
opposite  the  door  was  left  an  open  space  on  the  ground  for  a  fireplace,  the  chimney 
being  built  outside  of  flat  sticks  like  laths,  and  plastered  with  mortar.  The  floor 
was  made  of  planks  hewn  out  with  the  ax,  and  the  roof  of  lighter  planks  resting 
on  rafters  made  of  saplings.  In  such  a  home  many  a  good  family  lived  for  ten 
or  twenty  years,  the  ancestors  of  many  of  the  leading  men  of  the  nation  to-day. 
The  cabin  built,  the  pioneer  would  begin  battling  with  the  forest,  clearing  a  few 
acres  each  year,  carrying  his  grain  perhaps  twenty  miles  on  horseback  to  the 
nearest  mill.  Soon  his  land  would  become  more  productive  ;  and  at  length,  if 
thrifty  and  industrious,  he  would  build  a  good  house  and  abandon  the  cabin. 
Other  movers  would  settle  near,  then  a  town  would  be  founded,  and  another, 
and  another,  and  eventually  a  railroad  would  be  built  through  the  new  settle 
ment.  The  community  is  transformed  in  twenty-five  years  ;  the  markets  are 
near,  the  comforts  of  life  have  multiplied,  the  farm  of  the  first  settler  is  now 
worth  thousands  of  dollars,  and  he  has  added  other  hundreds  of  acres  to  it. 
His  children  settle  on  the  farm  or  enter  the  business  or  the  professional  world, 
and  the  •'  old  settler"  spends  his  declining  years  amid  peace  and  plenty  ;  and 
he  gathers  his  grandchildren  about  him  and  tells  of  the  days  of  long  ago,  of  the 
long  journey  in  the  moving  wagon,  and  of  the  time  when  the  forest  frowned  on 
every  side  and  the  wolves  howled  about  his  lonely  cabin  in  the  wilderness. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

THE   REIGN   OF   JACKSON 

AMERICAN  LIFE   IN   1830 

THE  census  of  1830  footed  up  nearly  thirteen  million  people, 
scattered  over  about  half  the  present  limits  of  the  United  States. 
West  of  the  Mississippi  River  was  a  vast  unbroken  wilderness,  save 
for  Missouri  and  some  parts  of  Louisiana  and  Arkansas.  Texas  and 
California  still  belonged  to  Mexico,  and  the  ownership  of  Oregon 
was  unsettled.  Little  else  than  a  wilderness  were  Michigan, 
Illinois,  and  large  tracts  of  other  fast-growing  states  east  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  great  cities  of  the  West  are  all  of  recent  growth. 
Cincinnati  was  then  a  considerable  town  and  was  called  the  "  Queen 
City  of  the  West " ;  but  Chicago  was  a  rude  wooden  village,  and 
the  buffalo  still  roamed  over  the  sites  of  Omaha,  Denver,  and  San 
Francisco. 

Changes  were  rapidly  going  on  in  the  East.  Virginia  was  no 
longer  the  first  state  in  population,  nor  even  second.  New  York 
was  now  first,  Pennsylvania  still  held  second  rank,  while  Virginia 
was  relegated  to  the  third  place.  The  three  leading  cities  each 
boasted  a  millionaire  of  untold  wealth  —  Girard  of  Philadelphia, 
Astor,  the  New  York  merchant-prince,  and  Lawrence,  the  founder 
of  the  Boston  cotton  mills.1  The  telegraph  was  unknown  at  this 
day,  and  our  present  vast  network  of  railroads  was  just  making  a 
beginning.  The  old  stagecoach  days  were  not  yet  over,  and  their 
relics  are  still  to  be  found  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States. 
Any  one  who  travels  through  the  country  will  find  here  and  there  a 
house  very  different  from  the  ordinary  farmhouse.  These  are  usu 
ally  large  stone  buildings,  two  stories  high,  with  spacious  rooms  and 
halls,  situated  in  old  towns  or  on  the  main  roads,  twenty  miles  or 
more  apart,  and  are  always  old.  They  are  relics  of  the  stagecoach 
period,  and  were  called  inns  or  taverns.  In  some  neighborhoods  the 
1  Schouler,  Vol.  IV,  p.  6. 
478 


CHARACTER   OF   THE   PEOPLE  479 

aged  people  still  remember  and  eagerly  tell  of  the  good  old  days 
when  travelers  from  all  parts  of  the  country  would  lodge  there ;  or 
when  political  meetings  were  held  at  the  inn,  and  the  people  would 
come  together  to  discuss  public  questions  and  sing  their  political 
songs  over  the  social  glass ;  or  when  the  young  people  from  far  and 
near  would  assemble  and  spend  the  night  in  carousal  and  merry 
making. 

The  American  of  that  day  was  known  abroad  as  the  Yankee. 
Every  country  has  its  typical  citizen,  and  the  typical  American, 
whose  likeness  has  been  preserved  to  us  in  the  well- 
known  picture  of  "  Uncle  Sam,"  was  tall,  lean,  wiry,  and 
awkward.  He  had  a  roving,  keen,  inquisitive  eye,  and  no 
stranger  could  escape  him  without  gratifying  his  appetite  for  news. 
He  was  the  keenest  bargain  driver  in  the  world.  To  foreigners  he 
was  courteous,  but  he  would  flare  up  in  an  instant,  if  any  one  spoke 
against  his  country, 

There  were  few  rich  men  and  almost  no  poverty.  The  chief 
subjects  that  engaged  attention  were  religion,  politics,  and  money- 
making.1  The  great  majority  of  the  people  Avere  religious,  though 
the  intolerant  spirit  of  colonial  days  had  passed  away.  Nearly  every 
man  was  interested  in  politics.  He  took  pride  in  the  fact  that  he 
was  part  of  the  state,  and  had  a  voice  in  shaping  the  laws.  But  the 
most  conspicuous  characteristic  of  the  Americans  was  the  wide 
spread  desire  to  become  rich.  In  wealth  there  is  power,  and  here 
were  no  social  castes  to  keep  a  man  down,  however  humble  his  birth ; 
and  the  American  sought  wealth,  not  only  for  the  distinction  and 
comfort  that  it  brings,  but  also  that  he  might  give  his  children 
advantages  that  he  did  not  have  in  his  youth. 

Democracy  reigned  supreme  by  1830.  "The  principle  of  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people,"  says  De  Tocqueville,  "  has  acquired  in  the 
United  States  all  the  practical  development  that  the  imagination 
can  conceive.  The  people  are  the  cause  and  the  aim  of  all  things ; 
everything  comes  from  them  and  everything  is  absorbed  by  them."2 
The  Declaration  of  Independence  had  set  forth  the  dogma  that  the 
rights  of  man  are  inherent  and  the  gift  of  nature ;  but  half  a  cen 
tury  passed  before  that  principle  became  triumphant.  It  reached 
high-water  mark  in  American  history  at  the  time  of  Jackson's  presi 
dency.  The  principles  of  Federalism  were  wisely  retained  in  the 
general  government,  but  the  current  of  democracy,  set  in  motion 
1  Schouler,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  4.  2  "  Democracy  in  America,"  Chap.  IV. 


480  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

by  Jefferson  in  the  closing  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century,  had 
swollen  into  a  tidal  wave,  and  Federalism  existed  now  only  at  the 
will  of  the  democracy.  Nothing  illustrates  this  triumph 
of  the  people  more  than  the  rapid  spread  of  the  suffrage 
and  of  religious  liberty.  When  the  Constitution  went 
into  operation  a  property  qualification  or  a  religious  test  was  required 
in  nearly  every  state,  and  probably  not  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  of  the  five  million  people  could  vote.1  The  new  states 
forming  constitutions,  with  rare  exceptions,  recognized  manhood  suf 
frage  without  the  religious  or  property  test.  The  old  states  brought 
about  the  same  results  by  amending  their  constitutions,  and  by  1830 
the  suffrage  of  the  adult  white  male  population  was  almost  universal. 

THE  PEOPLE'S   PRESIDENT 

Andrew  Jackson,  "the  people's  man,"  was  now  President.  He 
was  the  first  of  our  Presidents,  but  not  the  last,  to  rise  from  the 
ranks  of  the  common  people ;  all  his  predecessors  were  from  the  so- 
called  higher  class  of  society.  Until  long  past  middle  age,  Jackson 
had  shown  no  inclination  toward  a  political  career.  If  he  had  any 
ambition  beyond  the  quiet  life  of  a  planter,  it  was  a  military  ambi 
tion.  Twice  he  resigned  from  the  United  States  Senate  before  fin 
ishing  his  term.  He  made  little  impression  in  Congress,  and  seemed 
to  dislike  public  life.  Thirty  years  after  his  first  service  in  the 
House,  he  was  recalled  by  Gallatin  as  a  tall,  lank,  uncouth  frontiers 
man,  with  long  hair  gathered  in  a  queue  and  tied  at  the  back  with 
an  eelskin.  After  resigning  from  the  Senate  in  1797,  he  lived  an  ob 
scure  life  till  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  when  he  suddenly  sprung 
into  a  world-wide  fame.  As  above  stated,  he  did  not  like  public  life, 
and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  his  candidacy  for  the  presidency 
annoyed  rather  than  pleased  him 2  until  it  reached  a  certain  point, 
until  he  believed  himself  to  have  been  defeated  by  a  corrupt  bargain 
between  Adams  and  Clay.  Then  the  contest  assumed  a  different 
form,  a  victory  to  be  won,  and  his  old  warrior  spirit  arose,  and 
he  left  no  stone  unturned  until  he  was  seated  in  the  presidential 
chair. 

1  Thorpe's  "  Constitutional  History  of  the  American  People,"  Vol.  I,  p.  97. 

2  "Do  they  think,"  said  Jackson,  in  1821,  "that  I  am  such  a  darned  fool  as  to 
think  myself  fit  for  the  presidency?    No,  sir;  I  know  what  I  am  good  for.    lean 
command  a  body  of  men  in  a  rough  way,  hut  I  am  not  fit  to  he  President."    Parton's 
"Life  of  Jackson,"  Vol.  II,  p.  354. 


JACKSON   BECOMES   PRESIDENT  481 

The  outgoing  President  refused  to  attend  the  inaugural  cere^ 
monies,  as  his  father  had  done  twenty-eight  years  before.  He  felt 
that  he  had  good  grounds  for  taking  such  an  attitude.  The  facts  in 
brief  are  these:  During  the  campaign  in  the  preceding  summer, 
Jackson's  wife  was  shamefully  attacked,  and  the  poor  woman,  who 
was  doubtless  innocent,  died  a  few  weeks  before  the  inauguration. 
Jackson  believed  that  her  death  was  partially  due  to  these  attacks, 
and  he  felt  very  bitter  against  every  editor  who  had  published  them. 
The  administration  organ  at  Washington  had  copied  them,  and 
Jackson,  believing  that  Adams  had  something  to  do  with  their  pub 
lication,  and  also  remembering  the  "  corrupt  bargain,"  refused  to  call 
on  Adams,  according  to  custom,  when  he  reached  the  Capital  City 
some  days  before  the  inauguration ;  and  hence  Adams  refused  to  at 
tend  the  ceremonies.  He  remained  in  the  city  for  a  wreek,  then 
quietly  left  for  New  England. 

The  inauguration  of  the  new  President  was  a  grand  affair ;  the 
day  was  fine,  and  the  crowd  was  vast.  The  people  had  flocked  from 
every  point  of  the  compass  to  see  the  people's  man 
made  .  President.  Jackson,  despite  his  want  of  early 
training,  was  capable  of  assuming  the  manners  of  the 
most  highly  cultured.  He  was  not  in  the  least  overawed  by  the 
presence  of  the  great,  nor  did  he  affect  to  show  contempt  for  the  re 
finements  of  social  life.  His  address  to  the  great  audience  that  now 
stood  before  him  revealed  no  tendency  to  cringe,  nor  was  it  marred 
with  a  taint  of  bravado.  "  His  manner  was  faultless,"  writes  an 
eye-witness  who  was  not  his  political  friend,1  "  not  strained,  but 
natural.  There  was  no  exhibition  of  pride  or  ostentation  —  no 
straining  after  effect  or  false  show."  The  ceremonies  over,  a  great 
public  reception  with  refreshments  was  held  at  the  White  House, 
and  the  rabble  had  full  sway.  They  trampled  the  fine  carpets  with 
their  muddy  boots,  stood  on  chairs  and  upholstered  furniture,  and 
among  other  things  smashed  an  immense,  costly  chandelier.  "Let 
the  boys  have  a  good  time  once  in  four  years,"  said  Jackson^  — - 
and  nothing  he  ever  said  gives  a  deeper  insight  into  the  cause  of  his 
popularity. 

Jackson  chose  as  his  secretary  of  state  the  rising,  smooth 
tongued  Dutch  politician  of  Xew  York,  Martin  Van  Buren,  who  a 
few  months  before  had  been  elected  governor  of  his  state.  Samuel 
D.  Iiigham  was  made  secretary  of  the  treasury,  and  John  H.  Eaton 

1  Thompson's  "  Recollections  of  Sixteen  Presidents,"  p.  146. 
2i 


482  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

secretary  of  war.  The  Cabinet  was  now  increased  to  six  members, 
the  postmaster-general  being  admitted  to  it,  and  the  first  incumbent 
of  the  new  office  was  William  T.  Barry  of  Kentucky. 

During  the  early  months  of  1829  an  affair  at  Washington,  known 
as  the  Eaton  Scandal,  created  much  public  excitement.  This  mat 
ter  would  not  merit  the  notice  of  serious  history  but  for 
Scandal°n  ^e  Permanent  effect  it  had  upon  the  administration. 
Many  years  before  this  time,  a  William  O'Neal  had 
kept  a  tavern  at  Washington,  and  his  house  became  the  lodging 
place  of  many  of  the  government  officials.  Among  the  boarders 
was  Senator  John  H.  Eaton  from  Tennessee.  O'Neal  htfd  a  daugh 
ter,  a  witty  young  beauty,  known  over  the  city  as  Peggy  O'Neal. 
She  was  quite  free  with  the  inmates  of  her  father's  house,  and  es 
pecially  with  Mr.  Eaton,  —  until  the  gossips  were  set  going  and  her 
name  became  tainted.  At  length  Peggy  O'Neal  married  a  Mr.  Tim- 
berlake  of  the  navy,  but  he  died  by  suicide  in  the  Mediterranean; 
and  in  January,  1829,  Mr.  Eaton,  who  was  still  in  the  Senate, 
married  the  widow.  Mrs.  Eaton  now  set  out  to  gratify  the  ambition 
of  her  life,  —  to  become  a  leader  in  Washington  society.  But 
her  former  history  was  exhumed,  and  most  of  the  society  ladies  of 
the  city  refused  to  recognize  her.  This  was  the  state  of  affairs 
when  Jackson  arrived  in  the  city.  Eaton  had  been  one  of  his  chief 
campaign  managers,  and  the  O'Neals  had  a  warm  place  in  Jackson's 
heart,  as  he  also  had  been  their  guest  while  serving  in  the  Senate  a 
few  years  before. 

Remembering  the  slanders  against  his  own  wife,  now  deceased, 
believing  Mrs.  Eaton  to  be  innocent,  and  believing  also  that  the 
gossip  about  her  was  inspired  by  Henry  Clay  with  the  object  of 
ruining  her  husband,  Jackson  determined  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the 
Eatons.  He  appointed  Mr.  Eaton  to  his  Cabinet,  and  did  every 
thing  in  his  power  to  clear  the  name  of  his  wife,  and  to  give  her  a 
standing  in  society.  He  wrote  scores  of  letters,  he  called  Cabinet 
meetings,  he  attended  stately  dinners  — all  for  Mrs.  Eaton.  But 
the  women  who  held  the  key  to  the  inner  sacred  circle  declined 
to  open  the  door  to  Mrs.  Eaton.  General  Jackson  now  practically 
informed  the  members  of  his  Cabinet  that  their  political  fortunes 
depended  on  the  recognition  by  their  wives  of  Mrs.  Eaton ;  but  these 
men  were  powerless ;  their  wives  simply  refused,  and  that  was  the 
"  end  on't."  Even  the  President's  niece,  the  mistress  of  the  White 
House,  made  a  stand.  "Anything  else,  Uncle,  I  will  do  for  you, 


JACKSON   AND   VAN   BUREN  483 

but  I  cannot  call  on  Mrs.  Eaton."  "Then  go  back  to  Tennessee,  my 
dear,'7  said  the  President,  and  she  went  back  to  Tennessee.1  Thus 
the  hero  of  New  Orleans,  the  old  iron  warrior  who  had  never  known 
defeat  in  battle,  was  completely  defeated  by  the  women.  The  Cabi 
net  was  now  inharmonious  in  the  extreme,  and  after  hanging  to 
gether  till  the  spring  of  1831,  it  broke  to  pieces  and  a  new  Cabinet 
was  formed.2 

Aside  from  disrupting  the  Cabinet,  the  Eaton  Scandal  had 
another  and  still  more  marked  effect  on  American  history.  It  built 
the  fortunes  of  the  secretary  of  state.  Martin  Van 
Buren  was  at  this  time  a  widower  and  without  daugh- 
ters,  and  he  could  well  afford  to  give  his  energies  to 
the  cause  that  was  so  dear  to  his  chief.  He  called  on  Mrs.  Eaton ; 
he  arranged  balls  and  dinners  for  her;  he  spoke  of  her  virtue  in 
every  social  circle ;  he  sought  out  the  British  and  Russian  ministers, 
both  bachelors,  and  secured  their  aid  in  pushing  Mrs.  Eaton  to  the 
front.  And  he  succeeded,  not  in  having  her  recognized  in  Washing 
ton  society,  but  in  intrenching  himself  in  the  heart  of  General  Jack 
son.  Never  from  this  moment  was  there  a  break  between  the  two, 
though  as  unlike  they  were  as  winter  and  balmy  spring.  It  was 
soon  after  this  time  that  Jackson  decided  to  name  Van  Buren  as  his 
choice  for  the  presidential  succession,  and  his  decision  was  final,  for 
his  party  was  all  powerful,  and  he  swayed  the  party  as  Jefferson  had 
done  thirty  years  before.3 

The  chief  members  of  the  new  Cabinet  were  Edward  Livingston, 
secretary  of  state,  Lewis  Cass,  secretary  of  war,  and  Roger  B.  Taney, 
attorney-general.     Here  may  be  mentioned  also  Jack 
son's  "  Kitchen  Cabinet,"  composed  of  a  few  of  his  inti-  n  f .   1.c  en 
7  *  Cabinet. 

mate  friends,  private  advisers,  but  not  members  of  the 
real  Cabinet.     These  men  were  said  to  meet  the  President  in  a  pri 
vate  room,  which  they  reached  by  means  of  the  back  door,  hence 
the  name.     Chief  among  them  were  Francis  P.  Blair,  editor  of  the 

1  Six  months  later,  however,  this  niece,  Mrs.  Andrew  Jackson  Donelson,  was 
reinstated  in  the  White  House. 

2  Mr.  Eaton  was  sent  as  minister  to  Spain.    He  died  in  1856;  but  his  famous 
wife  lived  to  be  very  old,  dying  long  after  the  Civil  War. 

3  In  a  letter  dated  December  31,  1829,  to  Judge  Overton  of  Tennessee,  Jackson 
adroitly  names  Van  Buren  for  the  succession.    This  letter  was  to  be  used  in  case  of 
Jackson's  death,  and  his  health  was  then  frail.     But  he  grew  stronger,  and  the  letter 
remained  a  secret  for  nearly  thirty  years.    See  Parton,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  294.    But  Part-on 
wrongly  gives  the  date  as  December,  1830.     See  Von  Hoist,  Vol.  VI,  p.  163. 


484  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Globe,  founded  in  opposition  to  the  Telegraph,  which  was  under  the 
influence  of  Calhonn ;  William  B.  Lewis,  who  had  managed  Jack 
son's  first  campaign  and  was  a  master  politician ;  and,  above  all, 
Amos  Kendall  of  Kentucky,  afterward  postmaster-general.  Kendall 
was  a  strange  character.  Silent,  wiry,  seedy,  and  slovenly  in  appear 
ance,  he  glided  in  and  out  of  the  President's  private  room  more  like 
a  spirit  than  a  man.  But  withal  he  was  frugal  and  honest,  and  was 
possessed  of  remarkable  political  sagacity.  He  devoted  all  his 
powers  to  upholding  the  name  and  fame  of  the  President,  and  was 
content  to  remain  almost  unknown  himself.  It  is  believed  that 
Jackson  owed  more  to  Amos  Kendall  than  to  any  other  man  for  the 
successes  of  his  administration. 

THE    CIVIL   SERVICE 

For  three  things  the  "  reign  "  of  Jackson  will  ever  be  remembered 
in  our  history :  The  radical  changes  made  in  the  civil  service ;  nulli 
fication  in  South  Carolina  j  and  Jackson's  crushing  the  life  out  of  the 
United  States  Bank. 

*  Andrew  Jackson  was  a  man  of  intense  patriotism,  and  he  did 
much  for  which  the  country  should  hold  him  in  grateful  remem 
brance.  But  for  one  thing  he  deserves  no  credit,  and  that  was  his 
debauching  the  civil  service,  his  introducing,  or  permitting  to  be 
introduced,  the  spoils  system  into  national  politics.  Before  the 
advent  of  Jackson  civil  service  officials  usually  held  office  for  life  or 
good  behavior.  The  Crawford  Act  of  1820,  limiting  an  appointee 
to  a  four  years'  tenure,  had  not  been  enforced.  During  the  forty 
years  preceding  Jackson's  term  but  few  public  officials  had  been 
dismissed;  but  Jackson  ignored  all  precedent  and  removed  clerks, 
postmasters,  and  customhouse  officials  by  scores  and  hundreds, 
for  purely  political  reasons.  This  "  spoils  system "  had  been  in 
practice  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  state  politics.  It  was 
the  spirit  of  triumphant  democracy  that  brought  it  into  national 
politics.  Jackson  could  have  crushed,  or  at  least  deferred  it,  but 
did  riot  do  so.1  The  system,  the  motto  of  which  was  "  To  the  victors 
belong  the  spoils,"  took  a  powerful  hold  on  the  country  and  was 
followed  by  Jackson's  successors  for  many  years ;  each  became 
a  victim  to  the  system  whether  he  would  or  not;  and  it  is  only 
in  recent  years  that  the  movement  known  as  Civil  Service  Re- 

1  See  Simmer's  "  Jackson,"  p.  147;  Von  Hoist,  Vol.  II,  p.  14. 


THE  TWO   GREAT   SOUTHRONS  485 

form  has  in  part  brought  us  back  to  the  old  practice  of  the  early 
Presidents.1 

JACKSON   AND   CALHOUN 

Now  in  addition  to  the  line  by  which  we  have  traced  the  career 
of  Jackson  to  this  point,  let  us  follow  another,  almost  parallel  with 
this  one  for  a  long  distance,  when  they  diverge  never 
to  meet  again.  In  this  second  line  we  trace  the  life 
of  another  of  the  most  striking  figures  in  American  his 
tory.  Von  Hoist,  the  German  historian,  pronounces  the  life  of 
Calhoun  more  tragical  than  any  tragedy  ever  conceived  by  the 
imagination  of  man. 

The  points  of  resemblance  in  the  lives  of  Jackson  and  Calhoun 
are  very  remarkable.  They  were  both  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  born 
in  the  Carolinas,  of  revolutionary  Whig  parentage,  and  each  was 
left  fatherless  at  an  early  age.  They  were  both  tall  and  spare  in 
frame,  of  pure  morals  and  undaunted  courage,  and  each  was  a  born 
leader  and  commander  of  men.  They  both  entered  Congress  at  the 
early  age  of  thirty  years  and  were  leaders  in  the  same  great  political 
party.  In  1824  they  were  both  candidates  for  the  presidency,  one 
withdrawing  and  accepting  second  place,  the  other  being  defeated ; 
they  were  elected  four  years  later,  President  and  Vice  President  on 
the  same  ticket.2 

But  these  two  lines  are  not  wholly  parallel ;  there  is  here  and 
there  a  notable  divergence.     Jackson  was  entirely  without  a  higher 
education  ;  Calhoun  was  a  graduate  of  Yale.     Jackson  Parallel  be- 
disliked  the  tedious  work  of  lawmaking;  he  was  sent  tween  Jackson 
to  Congress  three  times,  and  resigned  each  time  with-  and  Calhoun. 
out  finishing  his  term  ;  but  he  was  a  superb  commander  on  the  battle 
field.     Calhoun,  on  the  other  hand,  never  took  the  field,  but  he  was 
a  leader  in  Congress  from  the  time  he  entered  it  in  1811  to  the  end 
of  his  long  political  career  of  thirty-nine  years,  with  the  exception 
of  the  few  years  when  he  was  not  a  member. 

1  Would  that  all  our  Presidents  had  the  conception  of  the  great  office  held  by 
Washington !     Here  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  he  wrote  to  a  friend  concerning 
another  friend  who  had  applied  for  an  office:  "He  is  welcome  to  my  house  and  to 
my  heart ;  but  with  all  his  good  qualities,  he  is  not  a  man  of  business.    His  oppo 
nent,  with  all  his  politics  hostile  to  me,  is  a  man  of  business.    My  private  feelings 
have  nothing  to  do  in  the  case.    I  am  not  George  Washington,  but  President  of  the 
United  States.     As  George  Washington  I  would  do  this  man  any  kindness  in  my 
power  —  as  President  of  the  United  States,  I  can  do  nothing." 

2  This  parallel  is  adapted  from  Greeley,  "  American  Conflict,"  Vol.  I,  p.  88. 


486  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

For  many  years  Jackson  and  Calhoun  were  fast  friends.  Cal 
houn  aided  Jackson  to  the  presidency  in  1828.  Jackson  gave  as  a 
toast  at  a  banquet,  "  John  C.  Calhoun,  an  honest  man,  the  noblest 
work  of  God."  The  great  ambition  of  Calhoun's  life  was  to  become 
President  of  the  United  States.  It  was  almost  a  passion  with  him, 
and  entered  into  all  his  political  acts.  But  Jackson  had  gained  such 
a  powerful  hold  upon  the  Democratic  party  that  no  one  could  be 
elected  without  his  support,  and  any  one  he  might  name  was  likely 
to  become  his  successor;  yet  it  was  believed  from  one  end  of  the 
land  to  the  other  that  Calhoun  would  be  the  fortunate  one  upon 
whose  shoulders  the  mantle  of  Old  Hickory  would  fall. 

But  an  evil  day  came.  Calhoun's  hopes  were  blasted  forever, 
and  he  became  a  changed  man,  so  changed  that  the  Calhoun  of  later 
years  could  scarcely  be  recognized  to  be  the  same  man  as  the  brilliant 
young  patriotic  leader  of  his  earlier  years.  It  happened  on  this  wise  : 
It  will  be  remembered  that  Jackson  in  the  Seminole  War  of  1818 
caused  trouble  by  trespassing  on  Spanish  soil.  Calhoun  was  at  that 
time  secretary  of  war  in  the  Monroe  Cabinet.  The  subject  was  dis 
cussed  in  secret  cabinet  meetings,  and  in  one  of  these  meetings  Cal 
houn  suggested  that  Jackson  be  subjected  to  a  court  of  inquiry  with 
a  view  to  his  punishment.  At  the  same  time  Jackson  believed  that 
Calhoun  was  his  warmest  friend  and  most  faithful  defender  in  the 
Cabinet.  It  was  soon  after  this  that  Jackson  had  toasted  Calhoun 
as  an  honest  man,  the  noblest  work  of  God.  Their  friendship  thus 
continued  for  many  years  longer  when,  in  1830,  Jackson  heard  of 
the  attitude  Calhoun  had  taken  in  the  Monroe  Cabinet.  Jackson 
was  dazed  at  the  information.  He  at  once  wrote  Calhoun  asking  if 
it  could  be  true.  In  vain  did  Calhoun  assert  that  he  had  never  ques 
tioned  Jackson's  patriotism  or  honesty ;  in  vain  did  he  explain  that 
whatever  he  may  have  said  in  Monroe's  Cabinet  was  in  accordance 
with  official  duty,  and  never  intended  to  mar  their  personal  friend 
ship.  But  Jackson  was  unable  to  distinguish  between  personal  and 
political  friendship.  He  denounced  Calhoun  most  bitterly,  and  gave 
him  to  understand  that  their  friendship  was  forever  at  an  end. 
And  so  it  was;  they  were  never  after  reconciled.1 

A  breach  between  two  political  leaders  is  not  an  unusual  occur 
rence,  and  may  often  be  passed  over  as  of  little  importance.  Some 
times,  however,  such  a  quarrel  may  change  the  entire  working 

1  This  incident  was  not  the  origin  or  the  sole  cause  of  the  rupture  between  Jackson 
and  Calhoun.  They  had  been  growing  apart  for  some  years. 


SOUTH   CAROLINA  487 


machinery  of  the  government.     This  quarrel  and  permanent  breach 
between  Jackson  and  Calhoun  became  a  momentous  turning  point 
in  the  life  of  the  latter.     Calhoun's  great  ambition  to  become  Presi 
dent  was  now  blasted.     He  was  a  disappointed  man,  and  the  effect 
of  his  disappointment  can  be  traced  through  his  entire  Calhoun's 
subsequent  course.     He  was  a  national  man,  with  broad   change  of 
national  views,  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  attrac-  heart, 
tive  men  in  the  nation  till  this  time.     After  this  change  came  over 
him  he  was  a  sectional  man  and  gave  his  great  talents  to  the  interests 
of  slavery  as  long  as  he  lived.1     Slavery  during  its  career  in  America 
had  many  champions  of  admirable  talents,  but  no  other  compares  at 
all  in  ability  with  Calhoun.     The  one  weapon  which  he  constantly 
used  in  dealing  his  powerful  blows  was  state  rights,  or,  more  properly, 
state  sovereignty.     And  this  brings  us  to  the  notable  outbreak  of  the 
time,  a  product  of  this  doctrine,  — 

NULLIFICATION  IN  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

The  grievance  that  caused  the  outbreak  in  this  little  state  by  the 
sea  had  been  brewing  for  ten  years,  and  especially  for  six  years  — 
since  the  defeat  of  Jackson  for  the  presidency  by  John  Quincy 
Adams.  It  had  its  origin,  not  in  the  quarrel  between  the  President 
and  the  "  great  nullifier,"  nor  even  in  the  tariff,  as  is  generally  sup 
posed,  but  in  a  growing  discontent  of  the  people,  a  feeling  that  the 
interests  of  the  North  and  the  South  were  not  identical,  and  that 
the  government  was  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  North.2  This  feel 
ing  was  intensified  by  the  tariff  of  1828,  and  a  few  years  later  it 
broke  into  open  defiance.  During  the  ten  or  fifteen  years  preceding 
this  the  North  and  the  South  had  changed  places  on  the  subject  of 
the  tariff.  At  the  close'  of  the  recent  war  with  England  the  South 
was  more  favorable  than  the  North  to  a  protective  tariff.  One  cause 
of  this  was,  it  is  claimed,  that  the  South  at  first  expected  to  work 
its  own  cotton ;  but  this  it  could  not  do.  Slave  labor  had  not  the 
intelligence  to  manufacture ;  white  labor  could  not  flourish  by  the 
side  of  slave  labor,  and  the  cotton  mills  were  built  in  New  England 
and  Liverpool.  Since,  therefore,  the  South  could  only  raise  cotton  for 
sale,  it  came  to  prefer  a  low  tariff  so  that  it  might  purchase  manu- 

1 1  would  not  be  understood  to  mean  that  the  quarrel  with  Jackson  was  the  sole 
cause  of  Calhoun's  change  of  heart ;  but  without  this  quarrel  he  might  have  become 
President,  and  remained  broad  and  national  in  his  sympathies. 

*  See  Harvard  Historical  Studies,  No.  Ill,  p.  5. 


488  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

factured  articles  more  cheaply,  and  through  fear  that  a  high  tariff 
would  disturb  the  cotton  market  in  England.  New  England,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  at  first  so  wedded  to  commerce  as  its  chief  industry 
that  it  favored  free  trade  or  a  low  tariff.  But  as  its  manufactories 
grew  and  clamored  for  more  protection,  and  as  it  was  further  dis 
covered  that  protection  did  not  seriously  injure  commerce,  that 
section  came  to  favor  a  high  protective  tariff.  Thus  in  the  years 
following  1816  the  two  sections  veered  around  and  exchanged  places 
on  this  great  national  question.1 

The  duties  of  1816  were  raised  in  1824,  and  these  again  in  1828. 
This  last  measure  was  called  the  "  Tariff  of  Abominations."  It  was 
supported  by  the  free  traders  and  made  as  obnoxious  as  possible  by 
them  in  the  hope  that  the  country  would  become  surfeited  with  pro 
tection  ;  but  New  England  swallowed  it.  This  tariff  gave  occasion 
for  the  pent-up  feelings  in  South  Carolina  to  find  an  opening;  but 
before  continuing  the  subject,  let  us  turn  aside  to  notice  an  episode, 
indirectly  connected  with  it,  which  brought  on  the  most  famous 
debate  that  ever  took  place  in  the  United  States  Senate. 

It  was  in  January,  1830,  that  Senator  Foote  of  Connecticut  intro 
duced  a  resolution  to  limit  the  sale  of  public  lands,  or  rather  to 
inquire  into  the  expediency  of  doing  so,  and  from  this  arose  the 
great  debate  which  took  a  wider  range,  lasted  over  two  months,  and 
covered  nearly  every  great  question  that  had  agitated  the  govern 
ment  since  its  foundation.  At  length,  however,  the  debate  narrowed 
down  to  the  great  rising  issue  between  the  North  and  the  South, 
with  slavery  as  its  background,  and  threats  of  nullification  and 
disunion  as  its  immediate  exponents  —  and  it  culminated  in  the 
famous  oratorical  contest  between  Robert  Y.  Hayne  and  Daniel 
Webster. 

Senator  Hayne  was  a  man  of  finished  education  and  of  refined 
and  fascinating  manners ;  he  was  as  pure  as  a  child  in  morals,  as 
charming  and  unassuming  in  his  ways  ; 2  he  had  a  soft, winning  voice, 
was  an  able  lawyer,  and  was  possessed  of  much  oratorical  ability. 
And  yet  Hayne  would  scarcely  be  known  to  our  national  history  but 

1  It  must  be  stated,  however,  that  South  Carolina  was  an  exception  in  the  South 
from  the  beginning.    In  this  state  high  protection  was  never  popular.    In  1789  Sena 
tor  Pierce  Butler  from  that  state  "  flamed  like  a  meteor  "  against  the  proposed  tariff, 
and  charged  Congress  with  "  a  design  of  oppressing  South  Carolina."     In  1816,  when 
Calhoun  supported  the  protective  tariff,  he  did  so  against  the  wishes  of  his  constitu 
ents  and  was  censured  for  it.     He  afterward  came  to  agree  with  his  constituents. 

2  Sargent's  "Public  Men  and  Events,"  Vol.  I,  p.  171. 


THE    PROPHET   OF   NATIONALITY 


for  the  fact  that  he  drew  from  the  greatest  of  American  orators  the 

greatest  oration  of  his  life.     The  speech  of  Hayne  was 

one  of  the  notable  speeches  of  the  period.     It  covered  H°  ert 

two  days,  and  was  made  to  a  crowded  chamber.     In  it 

Hayne  advocated  with  much  power  the  right  of  a  state  to  render 

null  and  void  an  unconstitutional  law  of  Congress.     The  Southerners 

gathered  around  him  at  the  close  to  show  their  delight  at  having 

a  champion,  as  they  believed,   who   was  more  than  a  match  for 

Webster. 

On  the  next  day,  with  but  one  night  for  preparation,  Webster 
rose  to  reply.  He  took  the  floor  like  a  gladiator  entering  the  arena ; 
his  appearance,  always  impressive,  was  especially  so  Webster's 
that  day.  He  was  at  the  prime  of  life,  forty-eight  great  speech, 
years  of  age;  and  his  raven  black  hair,  high  forehead,  183° 
shaggy  brow,  broad  shoulders,  and  deep,  melodious  voice  made  an 
impression  on  the  audience  never  to  be  forgotten.  Webster's  argu 
ment  was  that  the  Constitution  is  supreme,  the  Union  indissoluble, 
and  that  no  state  has  the  right  to  resist  or  to  nullify  a  national  law. 
His  well-known  closing  peroration,  ending  with  the  wrords,  "Liberty 
and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable,"  is  one  of  the  most 
eloquent  passages  in  the  English  language. 

This  great  oration  awakened  the  people  to  the  fact  that  a 
new  prophet  had  arisen  among  them  —  and  so  he  was,  a  prophet  of 
nationality.  The  old  Federalist  party  had  originally 
stood  on  the  ground  of  extreme  nationalism ;  but  that 
party  had  ceased  to  be,  and  the  Democratic  party  had 
now  been  in  control  for  thirty  years.  This  party  was  equally 
patriotic  with  its  predecessor,  but  less  pronounced  on  national 
ism,  and  had  some  great  upheaval  occurred  within  these  thirty 
years,  who  can  tell  what  might  have  become  of  the  Union  ?  But 
now  at  this  new  menace  to  the  integrity  of  the  Union  the  new 
champion  of  the  old  doctrine  of  nationality  arose  in  the  person  of 
Webster. 

But  Federalism  had  not  been  dead,  nor  even  sleeping,  nor  had  it 
hovered  as  a  disembodied  spirit  during  those  thirty  years.  Not  only 
had  its  best  principles  been  in  a  great  measure  adopted  by  the  democ 
racy  ;  but  a  bridge  of  living  Federalism  had  spanned  this  chasm  of 
thirty  years,  from  Hamilton  to  Webster,  in  the  person  of  the  great 
interpreter  of  the  Constitution,  John  Marshall.  It  was  Marshall 
above  all  men  who  gave  to  the  Constitution  the' meaning  that  it  has 


490  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

to-day.1  And  now  as  the  great  jurist  was  grown  old  and  ready  to 
close  his  earthly  labors,  it  was  Webster  who  took  up  the  cry  of 
nationality  and  sounded  it  forth  with  a  trumpet  sound ;  and  it  took 
hold  on  the  national  mind,  and  increased  more  and  more  for  thirty 
years,  when  it  was  strong  enough  to  put  down  the  mighty  rebellion 
against  the  Union  in  the  sixties. 

But  Webster  was  not  the  only  one,  not  even  the  chief  one,  to 
whom  the  nation  owes  its  preservation  in  the  thirties.  This  honor 
must  be  awarded  the  Democratic  President.  Webster  was  only  a 
voice,  and  the  case  required  action.  Webster's  doctrine  was  too 
new  to  take  immediate  hold  upon  a  people  who  had  so  long  been 
schooled  in  the  doctrine  of  state  sovereignty.  The  condition  required 
action ;  it  required  one  with  power,  and  Jackson  had  the  power. 
Had  he  the  inclination,  the  will  to  do  it  ?  That  was  the  great  ques 
tion  in  the  spring  of  1830. 

The  muttered  rumblings  of  nullification  were  increasing  in  South 
Carolina.  There  was  much  dissatisfaction  with  the  tariff  of  1828 
in  other  states,  and  some  were  belligerent  in  their 
iterances,2  but  no  other  except  South  Carolina  was  so 
audacious  as  to  defy  the  government.  But  what  will 
Jackson  do  ?  He  was  a  southern  man.  Would  he  decide  against 
his  own  section  and  espouse  the  cause  of  the  Union,  the  doctrine  of 
this  rising  sun  of  Massachusetts  ?  In  a  unique  way  it  was  decided 
to  discover  the  views  of  the  President  on  this  great  subject.  A  ban 
quet  was  to  be  held  in  Washington  on  the  birthday  of  Thomas 
Jefferson,  the  great  apostle  of  democracy,  April  13,  and  Jackson 
was  invited  to  be  present  and  to  give  a  toast  on  a  subject  of  his  own 
choosing.  He  readily  saw  that  the  general  object  was,  not  so  much 
to  honor  Jefferson  as  to  foster  nullification  and  disunion  and  to 
make  Jefferson  the  "pedestal  of  this  colossal  heresy,"  and  the  im 
mediate  object  to  discover  his  own  views  on  the  subject.  Jackson 
attended.  Many  toasts  were  given,  all  bearing  on  state  rights,  and 
savoring  of  nullification.3  Jackson  was  then  called  on  for  a  volun 
teer  toast.  He  arose  amid  profound  silence,  for  his  views  on  the 
exciting  subject  were  unknown.  He  announced  his  subject:  "The 

1  Marshall,  in  his  great  constitutional  decisions,  did  an  incalculable  service  to 
the  country  during  this  formative,  period ;  first,  in  strengthening  the  national  gov 
ernment  ;  second,  in  sustaining  the  power  and  dignity  of  the  Federal  courts ;    and 
third,  in  restricting  the  power  of  the  states. 

2  See  the  case  of  Georgia,  Ames's  State  Documents,  No.  IV,  pp.  14-16. 
8  Benton. 


SOUTH   CAROLINA   AGAINST  THE   UNION  491 

Federal  Union ;  It  must  and  shall  be  Preserved ;  "  and  he  denounced 
as  treason  all  movements  toward  nullification  and  disunion.  His 
speech  fell  like  a  bomb  in  the  ranks  of  the  South  Carolinians  ;  they  saw 
that  they  could  get  no  sympathy  from  Jackson,  that  he  was  for  the 
Union  at  all  hazards.  This  occurred  two  and  a  half  months  after 
the  great  debate  between  Webster  and  Hayne,  and  a  month  before 
the  final  break  between  Jackson  and  Calhoun. 

Notwithstanding  the  ominous  warnings,  the  South  Carolinians 
rushed  on  where  angels  might  have  feared  to  tread.  Their  state 

was  in  great  turmoil:  but  it  was  in  Washington  that        .... 

&  .  .  .  ,        Nullification, 

the  seeds  of  disunion  were  nourished  into  growth  under 

the  leadership  of  Hayne.  But  Hayne  was  not  the  real  leader; 
those  who  looked  deeper  than  the  surface  could  see  the  master 
hand  of  Calhoun  beneath  it  all.  Again  in  1832  some  tariff  duties 
were  raised,  and  South  Carolina  grew  desperate.  In  November, 
1832,  the  crisis  came.  A  convention  with  the  governor  of  the 
state  as  chairman,  met  at  Columbia,  and  solemnly  decided  the  tariff 
of  1B28  and  that  of  1832  null  and  void  in  that  state  after  the 
first  of  the  following  February,  authorized  the  calling  out  of  the 
militia,  forbade  any  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  declared 
that  if  the  government  attempted  to  use  force,  the  state  would  set 
up  a  government  of  its  own.  This  was  the  famous  ordinance  of 
nullification.  It  was  a  bold  and  daring  step  for  the  little  state  to 
make,  especially  with  such  a  man  as  Jackson  to  deal  with  at  Wash 
ington.  A  few  weeks  after  this  the  President  came  out  with  his 
famous  December  proclamation  to  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  in 
which  he  showed  them  the  folly  of  their  action,  appealed  to  them 
to  pause  in  their  madness,  and  warned  them  that  if  they  went  on 
the  soil  of  their  beloved  state  would  be  drenched  in  blood ;  for 
the  general  government  could  not  and  would  not  yield  to  their 
demands.1 

The  government,  however,  did  yield  to  a  compromise,  the  author 
of  which  was  Henry  Clay.     By  this  compromise  the  duties  above 
twenty  per  cent  were  to  be  reduced  gradually  for  ten  Com  romise 
years,   when  the  uniform  duty  should  be  twenty  per 
cent.     It  was  agreed  to  by  Calhoun,  but  was  signed  with  reluctance 
by  the  President,  as  it  was  a  partial  yielding  to  the  hotspurs  of 

1  To  this  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina  made  a  rather  defiant  answer,  and 
solemnly  declared  that  any  state  had  the  right  to  secede  from  the  Union.  Ames's 
State  Documents,  No.  IV,  p.  43. 


492  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

South  Carolina.  At  the  same  time,  however,  he  had  put  through 
Congress  the  so-called  Force  Bill,  which  enabled  him  to  send  troops 
to  South  Carolina  to  enforce  the  collection  of  the  revenue.  This  he 
did  under  General  Scott ;  but  no  blood  was  shed  and  all  was  soon 
peaceful.  South  Carolina  had  made  one  serious  miscalculation  from 
the  first.  She  expected  other  cotton  states  to  follow  her  example ; 
but  instead  of  doing  so,  nearly  all  of  them  condemned  her  action. 
This  fact  doubtless  explains  her  willingness  to  yield  to  compromise. 

THE   REELECTION   AND   THE   BANK 

When  Jackson  first  became  President  he  had  no  thought  of  a 
second  term,  but  at  the  urgent  request  of  his  friends,  he  decided  to 
stand  for  reelection,  and  Van  Buren,  whom  the  Senate  had  rejected 
as  minister  to  England,  was  elected  Vice  President.  Erom  Jackson's 
private  correspondence  we  learn  that  he  would  have  preferred  to 
spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  at  the  Hermitage,  near  the  grave  of 
his  departed  wife,  and  that  with  all  his  successes  and  with  all  his 
friends  and  admirers,  he  was  a  "  sad  and  lonely  old  man."  His 
chief  object  in  consenting  to  serve  a  second  term,  if  elected,  was  to 
carry  out  his  designs  against  the  United  States  Bank.  His  leading 
opponent  was  Henry  Clay,  whose  party  used  the  name  National 
Kepublican. 

There  was  another  party  also  in  the  field  in  this  election  of  1832 
—  the  Anti-Masonic  party.  It  arose  in  the  following  way  :  A  man 
named  William  Morgan  of  New  York  published  a  book 
Masons*'  disclosing  the  secrets  of  Freemasonry  and  in  so  doing 
awakened  the  implacable  hostility  of  the  Masons.  One 
day  he  was  abducted  at  Canandaigua,  carried  away  in  a  closed  car 
riage  to  Fort  Niagara,  and  was  never  afterward  seen  or  heard  of  by 
his  friends.  It  was  believed  that  he  was  sunk  into  the  depths  of 
Lake  Ontario,  and  the  deed  was  ascribed  to  the  Masons.  A  violent 
wave  of  indignation  against  the  Masonic  fraternity  spread  through 
New  York  and  adjoining  states.  Anti-Masonic  societies  were  formed 
on  all  sides  and  they  resolved  themselves  into  apolitical  party  and 
entered  the  arena  of  national  politics  for  the  election  of  1832.  This 
party  nominated  William  Wirt,  twelve  years  attorney-general  of  the 
United  States,  for  President,  and  carried  one  state,  Vermont,  in  the 
election.  The  party  soon  dissolved,  and  it  would  scarcely  be  remem 
bered  but  for  the  fact  that  it  introduced  into  national  politics  three 


CLAY'S   BANK   BILL  493 


statesmen  destined  to  great  renown  in  the  coming  generation,  — 
William  H.  Seward,  Thurlow  Weed,  and  Thaddeus  Stevens,  —  and 
the  more  important  fact  that  it  instituted  the  national  nominating 
convention,  an  example  soon  followed  and  still  followed  by  all 
other  parties. 

But  the  real  contest  in  1832  was  between  Jackson  and  Clay ;  and 
there  was  but  one  prominent  issue  —  the  United  States  Bank.1  Jack 
son  was  hostile  to  the  bank  and  sought  to  destroy  it.  Clay  was  its 
friend,  and  he  made  a  bold  move,  which  proved  to  be  a  blunder.  He 
had  put  through  Congress,  in  the  midst  of  the  campaign,  a  bill  to 
recharter  the  bank.  The  old  charter  had  four  years  yet  to  run, 
and  there  was  no  need  of  such  haste;  and  Clay's  sole  object  was 
to  force  the  issue  by  forcing  the  President  to  sign  or  to  veto  the  bill, 
and  it  was  sent  to  him  on  the  4th  of  July. 

The  country  waited  in  deep  anxiety  for  the  action  of  the 
President.  The  test  was  a  severe  one.  Jackson  was  known  to  be 
altogether  hostile  to  the  bank ;  he  had  thundered  against  it  in 
his  first  annual  message  in  1829,  and  again  in  1830.  He  had 
said  again  and  again  that  Nicholas  Biddle,  the  bank  president, 
and  the  directors  were  using  their  influence  and  the  bank's  money 
to  corrupt  the  people  and  carry  the  elections,  and  that  no  such 
corporation  should  exist  in  a  free  government.  Could  he  sign 
the  bill  in  the  face  of  all  that  ?  But  could  he  veto  it  and  risk 
awakening  the  wrath  of  the  people  within  four  months  of  the  elec 
tion  ?  The  money  of  the  country  was  still  good,  and  there  were  yet 
no  signs  of  corruption.  What  could  Jackson  do  ?  Whatever  Jack 
son  may  have  been,  he  was  no  coward.  He  waited  six  days  and  then 
vetoed  the  bank  bill.  As  the  news  of  this  veto  spread,  the  majority 
of  the  people  were  struck  with  consternation,  for  most  of  them  had 
come  to  believe  that  the  bank  was  necessary  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
country. 

The  issue  of  the  campaign  was  now  settled  —  it  was  the  bank 
and  nothing  but  the  bank.  The  great  trio  in  the  Senate,  Clay,  Web 
ster,  and  Calhoun,  combined  against  Jackson,  and  the  bank  officials, 
led  by  "Nick"  Biddle,  were  active  in  assisting  them.  Their  claim 
was  that  the  financial  equilibrium  was  so  disturbed  by  the  veto  that 
widespread  ruin  must  result.  On  the  other  hand,  Jackson  railed 
against  the  bank ;  his  followers  took  up  the  cry,  and  erelong  the 
whole  Democratic  press  was  accusing  the  bank  of  corruption,  and 
1  For  an  account  of  the  bank  see  supra,  p.  452. 


494  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

they  kept  it  up  until  the  masses  of  the  people  believed  that  there 
was  truth  in  the  accusation  —  and  so  there  was. 

For  some  time  before  the  election  the  popular  tide  set  toward 
Jackson,  and  Clay  received  but  forty-nine  electoral  votes  out  of  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five. 

This  appeal  to  the  people  sustained  Jackson  on  the  question 
before  the  country  ;  but  the  old  bank  had  four  years  yet  to  live  j  and 
Jackson  ^he  next  year  Jackson  made  the  boldest  stroke  ever 

removes  the  made  by  a  President  of  the  United  States.  He  removed 
deposits.  the  government  deposits  from  the  bank,  on  his  own 
authority.  He  had  determined  to  destroy  the  institution,  and  fear 
ing  that  by  his  death  or  through  some  great  change  in  Congress,  the 
bill  to  recharter  it  might  yet  become  a  law,  he  decided  to  ruin  the 
bank  by  withholding  the  government  moneys  on  which  its  life  de 
pended.  Calling  his  Cabinet  together,  he  made  known  his  purpose. 
But  the  entire  Cabinet,  except  Mr.  Taney,  the  attorney-general,  dis 
approved.  It  was  believed  that  such  an  act  would  ruin  the  business 
of  the  country  by  ruining  this  great  fiscal  corporation,  which  had 
practical  control  of  the  finances  of  the  nation,  and  hundreds  of 
smaller  banks  dependent  on  it.  But  Jackson  believed  the  bank  to 
be  corrupt  and  even  insolvent,  and  he  was  determined  on  his  course ; 
nothing  could  stay  his  hand.  By  the  charter  no  one  but  the  secre 
tary  of  the  treasury  had  power  to  remove  the  public  money  from  the 
bank.  Jackson  ordered  his  secretary  of  the  treasury,  Mr.  Duane, 
to  do  this  ;  but  Duane  refused  and  was  immediately  dismissed  from 
the  Cabinet.  Taney  was  then  transferred  to  the  treasury,  and  he 
immediately  proceeded  to  obey  his  chief. 

Little  can  we  realize  at  this  day  the  excitement  into  which  the 
people  were  thrown  by  this  action  of  the  President.  Public  meet 
ings  were  held  in  every  part  of  the  country  to  protest  against  it. 
Thousands  who  had  voted  for  Jackson  the  year  before  now  be 
lieved  that  he  had  gone  entirely  too  far.  Petitions  came  from 
all  sides  praying  that  he  replace  the  bank  funds.1  Jackson,  when 
approached  on  the  subject,  would  become  furious;  he  would  walk 
the  floor  like  a  caged  lion.  "  Go  to  the  monster,  Nick  Biddle,"  he  . 

1  The  government  deposits  in  the  bank,  amounting  to  near  $10,000,000  at  this 
time,  were  removed  gradually  in  the  course  of  business.  The  accumulating  surplus 
was  placed  in  "pet  banks  "  to  the  amount  of  $11,000,000,  when  Congress  passed  a  law 
loaning  the  unused  surplus  to  the  various  states.  But  after  three  quarterly  pay 
ments,  aggregating  some  $28,000,000,  had  been  so  distributed,  a  financial  crash,  to 
be  noticed  later,  put  a  stop  to  them. 


FIERCE   CONTEST   OVER   THE   BANK  495 

would  say,  "  he  has  millions  ;  it's  all  a  job  of  the  politicians  ;  I  will 
not  yield  a  hair's  breadth."  l  And  he  did  not  yield. 

But  the  trouble  did  not  stop  here.  In  a  few  months  the  business 
of  the  country  was  greatly  disturbed.  Banks  closed  their  doors  and 
manufactories  were  shut  down.  Distress  meetings  were  held  in 
every  center  of  trade,  and  they  poured  their  memorials  into  Congress 
by  the  hundreds.  Congress  met  in  December,  and  the  Senate  de 
bated  the  subject  for  weeks  amid  the  wildest  excitement.  The 
leader  against  Jackson  was  Clay;  but  Clay  had  been  so  recently 
defeated  by  Jackson  that  personal  grievance  was  thought  to  have 
something  to  do  with  his  opposition.  Clay's  right-hand  man  was 
Calhoun  ;  but  his  recent  quarrel  with  the  President  weakened  him 
also  with  the  people. 

Jackson  was  not  without  friends  in  the  Senate,  the  ablest  and 
most  devoted  of  whom  was  Thomas  H.  Benton,  thirty  years  a  sena 
tor  from  Missouri.  Benton  was  a  national  character,  known  as 
"  Old  Bullion,"  from  his  hard  money  proclivities.  Many  years  be 
fore  he  and  Jackson  had  been  enemies  and  had  fought  an  impromptu 
duel,2  but  all  this  was  changed,  and  with  unwearied  effort  and  much 
ability  he  now  defended  Jackson  against  the  combination  in  the 
Senate.  He  claimed  that  the  sudden  distress  of  the  country  had 
been  caused  by  the  willful  designs  of  the  bank  directors  with  a  view 
of  overthrowing  Jackson's  popularity  and  forcing  him  to  replace  the 
deposits.  The  bank  refused  its  accustomed  loans  to  business  men, 
and  had  forced  smaller  banks  to  the  wall  by  demanding  immediate 
payment  in  coin  of  all  debts  due  it.  Benton  also  showed  that  the  old 
bank  in  1811,  in  order  to  force  the  government  to  grant  a  recharter, 
had  brought  on  the  country  a  temporary  distress  of  the  same  kind 
and  in  the  same  way.  He  drew  from  this  a  strong  argument  against 
the  existence  in  a  free  country  of  a  corporation  so  powerful  as  to  be 
able  to  do  this.  His  points  were  well  taken,  and  in  the  end  had 
great  effect  on  the  people. 

The  fury  of  the  Senate  against  the  President  did  not  abate ;  but 
that  body  was  powerless.  It  was  under  the  magic  spell  of  Clay,  and 
would  have  impeached  Jackson  beyond  a  doubt,  but  the  Constitution 
gives  all  power  of  impeachment  to  the  House,  and  the  House  was 
Democratic  by  a  majority  of  fifty.  The  Senate,  however,  rejected 
Taney  as  secretary  of  the  treasury,  and  adopted  strong  resolutions 
of  censure  against  the  President;  who  in  turn  sent  a  long  written 
1  Schouler,  Vol.  IV,  p.  161.  2  See  note  on  p.  449. 


496  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

protest,  which,  the  Senate  refused  to  receive.  Benton  then  gave 
notice  that  he  would  move  to  expunge  the  resolutions  of  censure 
from  the  Senate  journal,  and  that  he  would  succeed  in  this  or  keep 
up  the  subject  to  the  end  of  his  official  life.  He  did  succeed  about 
three  years  later,  after  the  Senate  had  changed  political  complexion. 

FOREIGN   RELATIONS   AND   INDIAN   WARS 

So  great  were  the  domestic  achievements  of  the  Jacksonian  epoch 
that  little  notice,  usually,  is  given  to  foreign  affairs ;  yet  these  were 
important,  and  in  every  dispute  with  a  foreign  power,  as  well  as  in 
his  contests  at  home,  the  old  warrior  President  was  successful  in 
French  tne  en(^-  First  came  a  wrangle  with  France.  The 

spoliation  United  States  held  a  claim  of  $5,000,000  against  that 
claims.  country  for  spoliations  of  American  shipping  after 

1803.  In  a  treaty  of  1831  Louis  Philippe,  the  newly  crowned  King 
of  France,  acknowledged  the  claim.  But  three  years  passed  and 
the  money  was  not  forthcoming,  whereupon  Jackson  came  forth  in 
a  vigorous  message  in  which  was  couched  a  menace.  This  offended 
the  French  Chambers,  and  they  refused  to  pay  the  claims  unless  the 
President  would  modify  his  message.  This  attitude  brought  from 
Jackson  a  second  message,  threefold  more  offensive  than  the  first. 
In  this  message  he  threatened  reprisals  on  French  commerce. 
Congress  then  took  up  the  matter;  but  the  French  government 
soon  ended  the  trouble  by  paying  the  claims.  The  administration 
demanded  and  received  payment  also  of  long-standing  claims  against 
Spain,  Denmark,  and  the  Sicilies.  These  things  touched  the  popular 
heart  and  strengthened  the  administration.  But  still  more  were  the 
people  pleased  with  the  opening  of  the  West  India 
trade.  Great  Britain  had  closed  the  ports  of  the  West 
Indies  to  American  ships  some  years  before.  The 
Adams  administration  had  sought  with  unwearied  effort  to  have 
this  trade  reopened,  but  in  vain.  Jackson  renewed  the  negotiation 
through  his  secretary  of  state,  Van  Buren,  and  by  making  some  con 
cessions  to  British  commerce,  won  a  complete  victory. 

Our  relations  with  Mexico  were  strained  during  the  whole  of 
this  administration,  and  so  continued  for  more  than  ten  years  longer. 
Mexico  emancipated  her  slaves  in  1827,  but  her  northern  province, 
Texas,  refused  to  do  so,  and  soon  afterward  revolted  under  the  lead 
ership  of  Sam  Houston.  Jackson  sent  an  army  under  General 


INDIAN   WARS  497 


Gaines  to  the  gulf  coast  "  to  keep  Texan  Indians  off  our  soil,"  but 
in  fact  to  connive  with  Houston.  Gaines's  troops  deserted  freely 
and  joined  Houston,  and  received  no  rebuke  from  the  government. 
Jackson  even  demanded  damages  of  Mexico  and  threatened  reprisals, 
when  the  damage  claims  should  have  come  from  the  other  side. 
Nothing  was  plainer  than  that,  contrary  to  his  usual  honesty, 
Jackson  was  unfair  in  his  dealings  with  Mexico. 

Two  Indian  wars  marked  the  administration  of  Jackson.  The 
first  occurred  in  the  Northwest  and  is  known  as  the  Black  Hawk 
War.  Black  Hawk,  a  former  pupil  of  Tecumseh,  who  had,  like 
that  great  chief,  espoused  the  cause  of  the  British  in  the  War  of 
1812,  was  now  chief  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  tribes.  His 
war  with  the  whites  in  1832  arose  from  the  usual  cause 
of  Indian  wars  —  land  cessions.  General  Gaines,  and 
later  General  Atkinson,  were  sent  against  him.  Black  Hawk  was 
defeated  and  at  length  taken  captive.  He  was  then  taken  East  that 
he  might  see  the  greatness  of  the  United  States.  He  called  on  the 
President  at  Washington  and  visited  most  of  the  great  cities  of  the 
East.  He  was  highly  honored  in  this  tour,  thousands  of  people 
swarming  to  the  towns  to  see  this  monarch  of  the  forest.  While 
bearing  himself  with  the  dignity  of  a  ruler,  Black  Hawk  was  deeply 
impressed  with  the  white  man's  government,  and  returning  to  his 
western  home,  was  faithful  to  his  promise  to  keep  the  peace  in  future. 

Ear  more  formidable  was  the  war  with  the  Indians  of  the  South, 
beginning  in  1835,  and  known  as  the  Second  Seminole  War,  the 
first  being  that  of  1818  with  Jackson  as  the  chief  figure.  The  various 
southern  tribes  had  been  slow  to  remove  to  the  lands  allotted  to 
them  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  in  1834  the  President  sent  Gen 
eral  Wiley  Thomson  to  Florida  to  urge  their  departure. 
But  the  Indians,  led  by  the  strong  chieftain,  Osceola, 
rose  in  rebellion.  In  December,  1835,  Major  Dade  and 
a  hundred  soldiers  whom  he  led  were  ambushed  and  massacred  in  a 
Florida  swamp ;  and  on  the  same  day  Osceola,  with  his  own  hand, 
assassinated  and  scalped  General  Thomson,  while  the  latter  was 
sitting  at  the  table  dining  with  friends.  These  acts  stirred  the 
government  to  vigorous  action.  General  Scott  was  sent  to  take 
command,  and  he  soon  subdued  the  Creeks,  and  removed  thousands 
of  them  to  their  new  home.  But  the  Seminoles  were  still  hostile, 
and  they  extended  their  forays  into  Alabama  and  Georgia,  attacking 
mail  carriers,  stagecoaches,  and  even  towns,  from  which  the  people 

2K 


498  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

fled  for  their  lives.  General  Jessup  commanded  in  Florida.  He 
made  a  treaty  with  the  Indians,  but  Osceola  trampled  it  under  foot 
and  refused  to  be  bound  by  the  most  sacred  promises.  Hundreds 
of  the  troops  perished  in  the  swamps  of  fevers  and  of  the  bites 
of  venomous  serpents.  At  length  Osceola  came  to  General  Jessup 
under  a  flag  of  truce,  and  was  detained,  sent  to  Charles- 
ton>  an(^  connne(i  i*1  F°rt  Moultrie.  Jessup  was  se 
verely  censured  for  violating  the  sanctity  of  a  flag  of 
truce ;  but  he  explained  that  as  this  was  the  only  way  in  which  he 
could  stop  the  career  of  this  treacherous  chief  who  violated  every 
obligation,  he  felt  justified  in  doing  as  he  did.  Osceola  died  of  fever 
at  Fort  Moultrie  in  1839.  But  the  war  went  on,  continuing  in 
all  about  seven  years,  and  costing  the  United  States  $30,000,000. 

CHARACTER   OF  JACKSON 

The  student  of  history  must  search  long  to  find  a  parallel  to  this 
remarkable  man,  who  has  been  pronounced  "the  incarnate  multi 
tude,"  and  whose  will  dominated  the  government  of  the  United 
States  for  eight  years.  The  period  was  noted  for  its  great  men,  and 
yet  Jackson  stood  alone  as  the  transcendent  figure  of  the  times. 
Such  leaders  as  Clay,  Webster,  and  Calhoun  were  powerless  while 
Jackson  occupied  the  political  stage.  His  popularity  in  his  party 
was  unbounded.  The  people  came  to  believe  that  he  could  do  no 
wrong,  and  that  he  stood  like  an  angel  with  a  flaming  sword,  guard 
ing  their  interests  against  the  designs  of  the  politicians.  It  is  difficult 
to  rate  Jackson  as  a  statesman.  He  had  little  training  in  statecraft, 
but  he  was  gifted  with  an  intuition  that  proved  remarkable  for  its 
accuracy.  His  insight  into  human  nature  was  almost  unerring.1 

The  most  conspicuous  element  in  Jackson's  character  was  his 
will.  This  was  as  inflexible  as  steel.  He  usually  reached  his  con 
clusion  on.a  great  subject  without  apparently  considering  the  mat 
ter,  and  then,  deciding  on  his  course  with  equal  suddenness,  he  bent 
every  energy  to  attain  his  object  and  trampled  every  foe  and  every 
obstacle  that  came  in  his  way.  No  expostulations  of  friends  or 
threats  of  enemies  could  change  his  marvelous  will.  He  had  a 
Cabinet,  it  is  true,  but  no  real  advisers.  He  called  his  Cabinet  to 
gether,  not  to  seek  advice,  but  to  inform  them  of  his  intentions,  and 

1  He  could  be  imposed  on,  however,  by  artful  politicians.  But  with  the  excep 
tion  of  Swartwout,  who  stole  a  million  dollars  as  collector  of  the  port  of  New  York, 
and  a  few  others,  his  appointments  were  generally  commendable. 


VICTORIES  FOR  JACKSON  499 

to  bid  them  what  to  do.  Some  of  them  had  ten  times  his  experience 
as  statesmen,  but  they  sat  in  his  presence  as  children  with  their 
schoolmaster,  and  none  that  crossed  his  will  or  refused  to  humor  his 
foibles  or  to  bend  to  his  purpose  could  remain  long  in  his  favor.1 
Jackson  held  his  party  in  a  grasp  of  iron,  and  his  discipline  was  that 
of  a  general  commanding  an  army.  He  was  not  a  partisan  in  the 
ordinary  sense  ;  he  was  simply  master.  Every  contest  with  him  was 
a  battle,  and  every  battle  brought  him  victory.  It  is  a  remarkable 
fact  that,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Eatons,  Jackson  gained  every 
important  object  on  which  he  set  his  heart  during  his  entire  admin 
istration.  His  few  apparent  defeats  were  more  than  victories  in  the 
end.  He  nominated  Van  Buren  minister  to  England.  The  Senate 
rejected  his  nominee,  and  Jackson  made  him  Vice  President  and  then 
President  of  the  United  States.  He  then  named  former  Speaker 
Stevenson  for  the  place.  The  Senate  again  refused  its  consent,  and 
Jackson  left  the  office  vacant  for  two  years,  and  again  sent  the  same 
name  to  the  Senate,  and  it  was  confirmed.  His  appointment  of 
Taney  to  the  treasury  was  also  rejected,  and  he  made  Taney  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  Senate  at  last  seemed  to  gain 
a  crowning  victory  over  the  President  —  by  passing  its  resolutions 
of  censure.  This  annoyed  him  exceedingly;  but  his  friends,  after 
laboring  for  three  years,  succeeded  in  expunging  the  hated  censure 
—  and  Jackson  was  ahead  again.  Both  Clay  and  Webster  were  so 
wearied  at  their  successive  defeats  at  the  hands  of  this  untutored 
President,  that  they  determined  to  abandon  public  life,2  and  would 
doubtless  have  done  so,  but  for  the  retirement  of  their  unconquer 
able  enemy. 

Andrew  Jackson  had  faults  —  glaring  faults.  One  was  his  law 
lessness.  He  was  a  law  unto  himself,  and  was  impatient  of  the 
restraints  of  civil  law.  This  was  shown  in  his  Seminole  campaign, 
as  we  have  noticed.  When  President  he  refused  to  be  bound  by  the 
Supreme  Court,  on  the  ground  that  he  would  sustain  the  Constitu 
tion  as  he  understood  it,  and  not  as  it  was  interpreted  by  others. 
For  example,  when  Georgia  had  trouble  with  the  Creeks,  she  con 
demned  a  half -breed  named  Tassells  to  be  hanged.  Tassells  appealed 
to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  decision  was  reversed,  and  the  state 
was  cited  on  a  writ  of  error.  But  Georgia  was  defiant,  and  refused 
to  be  bound  by  this  decision.  It  was  now  Jackson's  plain  duty  to 
enforce  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  but  he  refused  to  do  so. 
i  Schouler,  Vol.  IV,  p.  266.  2  Sargent,  p.  344. 


500  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

"  John  Marshall  has  made  his  decision,"  he  is  reported  to  have  said, 
"  now  let  him  enforce  it "  —  and  Tassells  was  hanged.  Very  similar 
was  his  action  in  the  case  of  Georgia  and  the  Cherokees,  as  noted  on 
a  preceding  page. 

Jackson  was  a  man  of  quarrels.  He  conldn't  be  happy  without 
one.  He  loved  his  friends  and  hated  his  enemies.  He  was  not  able 
to  distinguish  between  a  personal  and  a  political  enemy,  nor  was  he 
broad  enough  to  give  an  opponent  credit  for  honestly  differing  from 
him  in  opinion ;  but  he  never  grew  weary  of  showering  favors  on  his 
devoted  followers. 

Now  a  hurried  glance  at  the  other  side  of  his  nature.  It  has  been 
truly  said  that  Andrew  Jackson,  with  his  vast  power,  could  have 
done  his  country  irreparable  harm,  had  he  been  a  bad  man;  but  this 
he  was  not.  He  was  a  true  child  of  nature,  born  with  an  unhappy 
temper,  of  which  he  never  had  the  good  fortune  to  become  master; 
while  the  half-civilized  society  of  the  frontier  had  "set  its  mark 
indelibly  upon  his  life.  But  his  heart  was  right.  No  trace  in  him 
of  selfish  ambition  of  the  Aaron  Burr  type ;  no  enemy,  even,  could 
accuse  him  of  dishonesty,  or  couple  his  name  with  political  corrup 
tion.  His  devotion  to  his  country  was  equal  to  that  of  Washington. 
His  unjust  dealing  with  Mexico  arose  from  his  too  great  love  of 
country  —  his  longing  to  see  Texas  a  part  of  the  Union.  When  he 
disobeyed  orders  while  a  commander  in  the  field,  it  was  because  he 
thought  he  knew  best.  When  he  quarreled  with  enemies,  he  doubt 
less  thought  he  was  right  and  they  were  wrong,  and  compromise  was 
a  meaningless  word  with  Jackson. 

The  story  of  Jackson's  home  life  is  scarcely  credible  to  the 
reader  who  knows  him  only  in  the  hurricane  of  battle,  and  in  the 
caldron  of  political  strife.  In  the  domestic  circle  Jackson  was 
the  gentlest  and  most  lovable  of  men.  His  servants,  white  and 
black,  revered  him  as  a  father.  His  devotion  to  his  wife  while  she 
lived,  and  to  her  memory  after  she  was  gone,  was  rarely  beautiful. 
For  years  after  her  death  he  would  place  her  picture  in  front  of  him 
on  the  table  before  retiring  at  night,  and  alternately  look  at  it  and  read 
from  the  prayer  book  that  she  had  given  him,  and  late  in  life  he  ful 
filled  his  promise  to  her  that  he  would  become  a  member  of  the  Church. 
In  morals  he  was  as  chaste  as  a  child,  and  one  of  his  striking  char 
acteristics  was  his  courtesy  and  chivalry  to  women.  In  appearance 
he  was  tall  and  thin,  with  an  erect  military  bearing,  his  iron-gray 
hair  thrown  back  in  ridges  from  his  forehead,  while  in  his  eye  was 


PEKSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  JACKSON  501 

a  "dangerous  fixedness,"  and  down  his  cheeks  deep  furrows  ran. 
The  prevailing  expression  of  his  face  showed  energy  and  will  power. 
He  would  be  singled  out,  even  among  extraordinary  men,  says  an 
English  writer,  as  a  man  of  superior  cast. 

The  most  serious  accusation  brought  against  Jackson  was  that 
his  want  of  respect  for  law  would  infuse  a  similar  spirit  into  his 
followers ;  but  it  cannot  be  shown  that  any  such  result  followed. 

The  political  influence  of  Jackson  upon  the  country,  especially 
upon  the  northern  Democrats,  was  very  great.  At  the  time  of  his 
power  the  murmurs  of  sectionalism  and  disunion  were  distinctly 
heard  from  the  South ;  but  Jackson,  while  a  strong  friend  of  state 
rights,  was  an  unrelenting  foe  to  sectionalism  and  disunion.  He 
was  national  in  the  broadest  and  best  sense,  and  this  spirit  he 
infused  into  the  multitude.  Above  all  men  of  his  times  Jackson 
was  the  idol,  the  oracle,  the  teacher  of  the  great  unformed  democracy, 
the  untutored  masses,  many  of  whom  had  but  recently  received  the 
franchise.  What  they  needed  above  all  things  was  a  lesson  in 
nationality  —  and  they  received  it  from  Jackson.  Through  him  vast 
numbers  of  men  came  to  love  the  nation  above  the  state,  and  it  was 
largely  through  the  memory  and  influence  of  Jackson  that  the  north 
ern  Democrats  came  forward  in  1861  to  aid  in  saving  the  Union, 
which  he,  through  their  fathers,  had  taught  them  to  love.1 

While  we  cannot  sympathize  with  the  spoils  system  of  Jackson, 
nor  with  his  harsh  treatment  of  the  Seminoles,  nor  his  double  deal 
ing  with  Mexico,  nor  his  belligerent  propensities  in  general,  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  he  was  a  true  patriot  and  an  honest  man.  In  ability 
he  was  almost  a  Caesar ;  and  while  it  is  perhaps  well  that  the  Ameri 
can  people  are  inclined  to  place  few  Caesars  in  the  presidential  chair, 
may  it  be  hoped  that  whenever  they  do  they  will  choose  as  honest 
and  unselfish  a  one  as  was  Andrew  Jackson. 

MARTIN   VAN  BUREN 

The  administration  of  Van  Buren  properly  belongs  to  the  Jack 
son  epoch ;  but  the  term  "  reign  "  can  be  used  no  longer,  as  the  new 
President  lacked  the  dictatorial  power  and  the  popularity  of  his 
predecessor.  It  was  the  intense  desire  of  the  outgoing  President 
that  his  favorite  from  New  York  become  his  successor.  His  wishes 
were  respected  by  the  party,  and  Van  Buren  became  President  —  but 

1  This  thought  is  brought  out  by  A.  D.  Morse,  in  an  able  article  in  the  Political 
Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  I,  p.  154  sq. 


502  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

not  without  a  contest.  A  new  political  party  had  been  born.  Henry 
Clay,  who  had  served  with  the  Democrats  for  twenty  years,  but  who 
was  now  at  variance  with  them  at  all  points,  determined  after  his 
defeat  by  Jackson  in  1832  to  break  away  entirely  from 
b  rn*  ^^  y  ^e  °^  Party-  And  while  casting  about  for  a  party 
name  the  old  Revolutionary  name  Whig  was  decided  on, 
and  was  first  used  in  1834.  The  Whig  party  absorbed  the  National 
Republican  party,  the  name  by  which  the  opposition  had  been  known 
for  some  years  past.  As  the  old  Whig  party  in  England  and  the 
colonies  had  opposed  the  high  prerogative  of  the  King,  the  new 
party  now  opposed  the  encroaching  power  of  the  Executive.  The 
Whigs  did  not  expect  to  win  in  1836,  nor  was  their  party  sufficiently 
united  to  concentrate  on  one  man.  Their  aim  was  to  throw  the  elec 
tion  into  the  House.  Their  votes  in  the  electoral  college  were  scat 
tered  among  four  men,  William  H.  Harrison  of  Ohio,  Judge  White 
of  Tennessee,  Daniel  Webster  of  Massachusetts,  and  William  P. 
Mangum  of  North  Carolina.  Their  combined  vote,  however,  reached 
but  124,  while  Van  Buren  received  167.  The  electoral  college  made 
no  selection  for  Vice  President,  and  Richard  M.  Johnson  of  Ken 
tucky  was  chosen  by  the  Senate. 

As  it  was  at  the  inauguration  of  1797,  so  it  was  now  —  the  eyes 
of  the  multitude  were  turned  toward  the  setting  rather  than  the 
rising  sun.  The  quick-moving,  smooth-shaven  little  man  who  read 
his  inaugural  on  that  bleak  March  day  in  1837,  and  promised  to 
tread  "  in  the  footsteps  of  his  illustrious  predecessor,"  won  little 
applause  from  the  vast  crowd  compared  with  that  given  the  aged 
specter  by  his  side.  Now  for  the  last  time  this  old  warrior,  who 
had  been  dictator  of  American  policy  for  eight  years,  leaning  heavily 
upon  his  staff  under  his  burden  of  three-score  and  ten  and  the  ravages 
of  long  disease,  came  forth  and  received  the  homage  of  the  masses. 
A  few  days  later  he  departed  for  his  southern  home,  and  the  troubles 
of  the  new  President  began. 

Martin  Van  Buren,  the  son  of  an  innkeeper  and  small  farmer  of 
New  York,  had  been  initiated  into  politics  by  Aaron  Burr,  and  he  was 
a  prominent  lawyer  before  the  War  of  1812.  He  was  a  man  of  greater 
individuality  and  ability  than  is  generally  put  to  his  credit  by  his 
torians.  In  1821  he  entered  the  United  States  Senate  and  was  the 
leader  in  that  body  during  the  administration  of  Adams.  On  the 
death  of  De  Witt  Clinton  in  1828  Van  Buren  was  easily  the  foremost 
man  in  the  Empire  State.  Resigning  the  governorship  of  that  state 


MARTIN   VAN   BUREN  503 


to  take  the  chief  place  in  the  Cabinet  of  Jackson,  he  was  by  no 
means  a  figurehead  even  there ;  for  it  was  largely  due  to  his  skill 
that  Jackson  made  the  two  brilliant  strokes  in  his  foreign  policy  — 
opening  of  the  West  India  trade  and  settling  the  French  spoliation 
claims.  But  with  all  this,  Van  Buren  could  not  have  become  Presi 
dent  without  the  aid  of  his  powerful  friend ;  and  while  he  inherited 
the  office  without  the  popularity  of  Jackson,  he  also  inherited  the 
evils  of  Jackson's  administration. 

Van  Buren  has  been  pronounced  the  cleverest  political  manager 
in  American  history,  and  no  other  man  has  held  so  many  high 
national  offices.  He  was  small  in  stature,  had  a  round,  red  face  and 
quick,  searching  eyes.1  He  was  subtle,  courteous,  and  smooth  in  con 
versation.  His  enemies  charged  him  with  being  noncommittal  on 
all  subjects.  At  a  great  tariff  meeting  in  Albany  he  was  invited  to 
make  a  speech ;  he  did  so,  and  at  its  close  not  a  man,  woman,  or  child 
in  the  audience  could  tell  whether  he  was  for  or  against  a  high  tariff.2 
For  two  things  the  administration  of  Van  Buren  is  prominent  in 
history :  First,  the  panic  of  1837 ;  and  second,  the  establishing  of  the 
independent  treasury. 

THE  PANIC  AND  THE  INDEPENDENT  TREASURY 

This  panic  was  probably  the  most  disastrous  that  the  American 
people  have  yet  experienced.  Every  bank  in  the  country  suspended 
specie  payments,  thousands  of  leading  merchants  and  manufacturers 
were  forced  to  the  wall,  and  the  business  of  the  country  was  utterly 
demoralized.  As  to  the  cause  of  the  panic,  there  are  various  versions. 
The  Whigs  were  prompt  to  put  all  the  blame  on  the  Democrats.  It 
is  not  unusual  in  American  politics  for  the  party  out  of  power  to 
arraign  the  party  in  power,  guilty  or  not  guilty,  for  every  distur 
bance  in  financial  and  business  circles.  Few  statesmen  have  risen 
above  this  practice,  especially  when  their  own  advancement  depended 
on  it  —  and  in  that  degree  a  statesman  becomes  a  demagogue. 

1  Schouler. 

2  One  day  Van  Buren  handed  an  official  paper  that  he  had  written  to  a  clerk  to 
be  criticised,  and  the  latter  declared  that  he  couldn't  tell  what  it  was  about.     "  Very 
well,"  answered  Van  Buren,  "  it  will  answer,  then."     A  member  of  Congress,  it  was 
said,  made  a  bet  with  another  that  if  Van  Buren  were  asked  if  the  sun  rose  in  the 
east  or  the  west,  he  would  not  give  a  direct  answer.     The  question  was  asked,  and 
his  answer  was,  "  My  friend,  east  and  west  are  altogether  relative  terms."     The 
reputation  of  being  a  wily  politician  rather  than  a  statesman  was  very  annoying 
to  Van  Buren  all  through  his  public  career. 


504  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

This  panic,  like  most  of  its  kind,  was  the  resultant  of  various 
causes,  some  of  which  elude  the  pen  of  the  wisest  political  economist. 
A  few  of  the  causes,  however,  are  not  far  to  seek. 
Jackson's  specie  circular,  by  which  payments  for  public 
lands  were  to  be  made  in  coin,  when  the  people  had  but 
little  coin,  hastened  the  crisis.  Another  cause  was  the  act  of 
Congress  distributing  the  surplus  of  the  treasury  to  the  various 
states.  This  made  the  states  reckless  in  spending  money,  and  when 
the  payments  were  withheld,  the  states  found  themselves  with  many 
expensive  projects  in  hand  which  they  could  not  carry  out.  But 
the  chief  cause  of  the  panic  was  the  wild  spirit  of  speculation  that 
had  seized  the  people.  The  national  debt  was  paid,  banks  every 
where  flooded  the  country  with  paper  money  far  beyond  their 
ability  to  redeem  in  coin  ;  and  moreover,  English  capital  poured 
into  the  country  at  this  time  and  played  its  part  in  throwing  the 
people  off  their  guard.1  The  wildest  schemes  of  speculation  were 
set  on  foot.  Prices  rose  and  work  was  plentiful  at  high  wages. 
Great  manufactories  were  begun  arid  never  carried  out.  Scores 
of  towns  were  laid  out  in  the  West,  many  of  which  are  not  built 
up  to  this  day.  The  sale  of  public  lands,  which  had  often  fallen 
below  12,000,000  a  year,  ran  up  to  $ 24,000,000  in  1835.  Banks 
sprung  up  on  all  sides,  and  they  inflated  the  country  with  worth 
less  paper  money.  Railroads,  canals,  and  all  manner  of  internal 
improvements  were  projected.  Men  were  intoxicated  with  their 
dreams  of  growing  rich  in  a  night;  and  the  crash  came,  as  it 
always  will  under  such  conditions. 

The  panic  reached  its  height  soon  after  Van  Buren  became 
President,  and  he  was  besieged  from  every  part  of  the  country  by 
delegations  representing  mass  meetings,  which  had  condemned  the 
government  for  bringing  about  the  hard  times.  The  people  raged 
and  clamored,  and  begged  the  President  to  bring  back  their  good 
times,  of  which  they  seemed  to  think  he  had  robbed  them. 

Van  Buren's  bearing  was  courteous  and  firm.  His  position  was 
very  difficult,  but  he  faced  the  storm  with  great  courage  and  for  once 
evinced  statesmanship  of  a  high  order.  He  assured  the  people  that 
the  object  of  government  was  not  to  manage  the  private  affairs  of 

1  Von  Hoist  shows  that  English  capital,  which  was  at  high  tide  at  this  time,  also 
flooded  other  countries  and  produced  a  similar  effect.  This  is  conclusive  proof  that 
the  panic  in  the  United  States  was  not  wholly  caused  by  the  administration.  The 
President's  annual  message  of  1839  says  that  $200,000,000  of  foreign  capital  were 
then  afloat  in  the  United  States.  See  "Jackson's  Administration,"  p.  173. 


THE   INDEPENDENT   TREASURY  505 

the  people,  and  that  frugality  and  industry  with  careful  management 
of  business  would  alone  bring  prosperity.  The  President,  however, 
yielded  to  popular  clamor  in  so  far  as  to  call  a  special  session  of 
Congress  to  meet  in  September,  1837  ;  and  in  his  message  to  Con 
gress  at  this  session,  a  very  able  state  paper,  he  urged  with  much 
force  the  one  and  only  great  measure  of  his  administration  —  the 
establishing  of  the  Independent  Treasury,  which,  from  its  many 
subordinate  branches  in  the  various  cities,  has  come  to  be  known  as 
the  "  Subtreasury."  This  is  simply  a  special  place  or  places  for 
the  funds  of  the  government.  Thus  the  government  becomes  the 
custodian  of  its  own  surplus  and  is  divorced  from  all  dependence  on 
the  banks.  The  measure,  as  urged  by  the  President,  was  ably  dis 
cussed  during  this  extra  session,  and  again  at  the  regular  session. 
It  was  bitterly  opposed  by  the  Whigs  and  by  many  Democrats.  It 
passed  the  Senate  in  June,  1838,  but  was  defeated  in  the  House.  The 
administration,  however,  did  not  give  the  matter  up,  and  in  1840 
the  bill  for  an  independent  treasury  passed  both  houses,  was  signed 
by  the  President  on  the  4th  of  July,  and  became  a  law.  A  year 
later  the  Whigs  had  control  of  the  government,  and  they  repealed 
the  act.  But  the  Democrats  still  clung  to  their  favorite  measure, 
and  in  1846  the  law  was  reenacted.  From  that  time  to  the  present, 
this  law  has  been  in  force,  and  as  all  parties  now  favor  it,  it  seems 
to  be  a  fixture  in  our  government. 

THE   HARRISON  CAMPAIGN 

The  most  remarkable  presidential  contest  in  our  history  was  that 
of  1840.  In  spite  of  anything  that  the  Democrats  could  do,  they 
steadily  lost  ground  during  the  administration  of  Van  Buren.  This 
was  largely  because  of  the  reiterated  cry  of  the  Whigs  that  the 
party  in  power  had  brought  about  the  great  industrial  depression 
known  as  the  Panic  of  1837.  Every  sign  seemed  now  to  point  to  a 
Whig  victory  in  1840.  That  party  held  its  convention  at  Harris- 
burg  in  a  newly  erected  Lutheran  church,  almost  a  year  before  the 
election.  Three  prominent  candidates  were  before  the  convention  — 
Henry  Clay,  William  Henry  Harrison,  and  Winfield  Scott  —  all 
born  in  Virginia,  but  now  of  different  states. 

Scott  was  widely  known  for  his  deeds  at  Queenstown  Heights,  at 
Chippewa  and  Lundy's  Lane  ;  but  the  greatest  work  of  his  life  — his 
march  upon  Mexico  —  was  still  in  the  future,  and  he  was  not  seriously 


506  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

considered  by  the  convention.  The  real  contest  lay  between  Clay  and 
Harrison.  Against  Clay  many  forces  were  at  work.  He  had  been  in 
the  forefront  of  public  life  for  thirty  years,  and  his  outspoken  manner 
had  made  him  enemies ;  his  views  on  the  tariff  were  not  popular  in 
the  South,  and  moreover  he  was  a  Freemason.  This  was  his  weakest 
point,  for  the  Anti-Masonic  party  had  dissolved,  most  of  its  members 
had  joined  the  Whigs,  and  they  would  not  have  given  Clay  a  hearty 
support.  Harrison,  on  the  other  hand,  had  been  out  of  public  life 
for  many  years.  His  views  on  the  great  questions  of  the  day  were 
scarcely  known,  and  this,  according  to  our  anomalous  American  poli 
tics,  was  considered  a  point  in  his  favor  as  a  vote  getter.  But 
Harrison  had  a  record.  He  was  the  son  of  a  "  signer  "  ;  he  was  the 
hero  of  Tippecanoe ;  he  had  done  valiant  service  in  the  Northwest 
during  the  war  with  England.  He  had  also  served  in  both  houses  of 
Congress,  and  had  been  sent  by  John  Quincy  Adams  as  minister  to 
Colombia,  South  America.  After  a  brief  service  he  was  recalled  from 
this  mission  by  Jackson,  when  he  settled 'down  to  the  quiet  life  of 
a  farmer  at  North  Bend,  an  Ohio  village  near  Cincinnati. 

The  majority  of  the  delegates  to  this  convention  preferred  Clay; 
but  the  leaders,  led  by  that  master  political  manager  of  New  York, 
Thurlow  Weed,  and  the  rising  young  editor  of  the  same  state,  Horace 
Greeley,  determined  to  secure  the  nomination  of  Harrison  if  possible. 
They  succeeded  by  skillfully  manipulating  the  committees.  Clay 
was  disappointed.  True,  he  had  written  his  friends  to  withdraw 
his  name,  if  in  their  eyes  it  seemed  the  right  thing  to  do ;  he  had 
also  about  this  time  given  rise  to  the  oft-quoted  statement,  "I 
would  rather  be  right  than  be  President."  Nevertheless  he  was 
disappointed  at  the  outcome,  and  so  were  his  friends.  One  of  these 
whose  heart  was  set  on  Clay  burst  into  tears,  it  was  said,  when 
his  favorite  was  set  aside.  This  was  John  Tyler  of  Virginia. 

Harrison's  friends  now  determined  to  conciliate  the  Clay  people 
by  offering  to  place  one  of  their  number  second  on  the  ticket.  When 
looking  about  for  a  suitable  choice  —  behold  John  Tyler  in  tears ! 
and  he  was  straightway  nominated  for  the  vice  presidency.1  But 
Tyler  was  not  a  cipher.  He  had  attracted  attention  in  Congress 
away  back  in  the  days  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  He  had 
been  governor  of  Virginia  and  a  United  States  senator.  For  many 
years  he  had  been  a  Democrat,  but  revolting  against  the  iron  rule 

1  This  nomination,  it  should  be  stated,  was  declined  by  two  or  three  others 
among  Clay's  friends  before  it  was  offered  to  Tyler. 


THE   LOG  CABIN  CAMPAIGN  507 

of  Jackson,  he  became  an  ardent  supporter  of  Cla}7".     His  selection 
was  a  concession  to  southern  Democrats  who  had  broken  with  Jackson. 

The  Democrats  met  in  Baltimore  and  renominated  Van  Buren. 
They  put  forth  a  platform  of  principles,  pronouncing  against  a 
United  States  Bank,  internal  improvements  at  national  expense, 
a  high  tariff,  and  the  like.  The  Whigs  had  no  platform,  and  they 
made  no  avowal  of  principles;  their  sole  cry  during  the  campaign 
was,  in  substance,  Down  with  the  administration. 

The  wild  enthusiasm  of  the  Whigs  increased  in  volume  during 
the  summer  and  autumn.  Harrison  was  known  by  his  popular  mili 
tary  name  of  Tippecanoe,  and  the  shouts  for  "  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler 
too"  were  long  and  lusty.  A  Baltimore  paper  having  suggested  that 
Harrison  was  more  in  his  element  in  his  log  cabin  with  his  barrel  of 
hard  cider  than  he  would  be  in  the  White  House,  the  Whigs  took  up 
the  cry  of  "  Log  Cabin  and  Hard  Cider,"  and  made  these  the  emblems 
of  the  campaign.  Horace  Greeley  started  a  newspaper  in  «  Log.  Ca^^ 
New  York  which  he  called  TJie  Log  Cabin,  and  it  and  hard 
bounded  into  great  popularity.1  The  Whig  mass  meet-  cider." 
ings  were  vast  beyond  any  before  known  in  the  country.  Men  would 
come  for  many  miles  in  farm  wagons,  bringing  their  families,  and 
remaining  whole  days  and  nights  at  these  great  meetings.  At  first 
the  people  were  counted  at  these  gatherings,  but  as  the  crowds 
grew  larger  counting  became  impossible,  and  they  were  measured 
by  the  acre  by  surveyors  brought  for  the  purpose.  The  most  notable 
feature  of  the  campaign  were  the  songs,2  written  for  the  occasion, 
and  learned  and  sung  by  the  shouting  multitudes.  As  Clay  remarked, 
the  country  was  "  like  an  ocean  convulsed  by  a  terrible  storm." 

The  Democrats  affected  to  treat  the  Whig  enthusiasm  with  con 
tempt,  but  in  reality  they  were  very  angry,  and  very  much  alarmed.3 
They  too  held  meetings,  but  these  fell  far  short  of  those  of  the  Whigs 
in  numbers  and  enthusiasm.  They  attempted  to  reason  and  argue ; 
but  the  people  preferred  to  sing  and  shout.  And  the  result  was  a 
crushing  defeat  for  Van  Buren.  He  received  but  sixty  electoral 
votes  to  234  for  Harrison. 

NOTES 

Minor  Events.  — Imprisonment  for  debt  by  the  United  States  courts  was 
abolished  in  1833,  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  Richard  M.  Johnson,  the  slayer 

1  The  Log  Cabin  was  merged  into  the  Tribune  in  September,  1841. 

2  For  samples,  see  Greeley's  Log  Cabin  or  Elson's  "  Side  Lights,"  II,  p.  234. 

3  Stanwood's  "  History  of  Presidential  Elections,"  p.  136. 


508  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

of  Tecumseh.  The  states  soon  followed  the  example  of  the  general  government, 
and  the  barbarous  practice  became  a  thing  of  the  past.  — The  death  of  some  of 
the  most  prominent  men  occurred  within  this  period.  Ex-President  Monroe 
died  on  July  4,  1831,  in  the  city  of  New  York.  The  last  signer  of  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  died  in  1832  at  the  great 
age  of  ninety-two  years ;  and  James  Madison,  the  last  of  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution,  died  in  1836.  John  Marshall,  America's  greatest  jurist,  and  La 
fayette,  the  most  highly  honored  in  America  of  all  foreigners,  both  passed  away 
in  1835.  — In  January,  1835,  President  Jackson  narrowly  escaped  assassination. 
While  attending  the  funeral  of  a  member  of  Congress,  a  man  from  the  crowd  in 
the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol  snapped  two  pistols  at  his  breast.  Both  missed  fire, 
and  the  President  rushed  upon  the  man  with  his  cane.  The  man  was  arrested 
and  was  found  to  be  a  demented  Englishman  named  Lawrence.  He  was  sent 
to  an  insane  asylum.  The  President's  escape  was  very  narrow,  as  both  pistols 
were  afterward  fired  at  the  first  trial. 

The  Caroline  Affair.  —  In  1837  a  portion  of  the  people  of  Canada,  led  by 
William  Lyon  MacKenzie  and  Louis  J.  Papinau,  rose  in  rebellion  against  British 
rule  in  the  province  with  the  view  of  setting  up  a  republic.  After  a  few  sharp 
skirmishes  the  insurrection  was  put  down,  and  many  of  the  insurgents  took 
refuge  on  Navy  Island,  in  the  Niagara  River.  The  Caroline,  a  little  steamer 
owned  by  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  was  employed  in  carrying  supplies  to 
the  island,  and  the  British  determined  to  destroy  her.  On  the  night  of  Decem 
ber  29,  1837,  a  flotilla  of  five  boats  set  out  for  this  purpose,  but  not  finding  her 
here,  they  searched  until  they  found  her  moored  at  Grand  Island,  which  is  part 
of  the  territory  of  New  York.  The  British  boarded  the  vessel,  overpowered  the 
crew,  killing  one  man,  set  the  boat  on  fire,  and  sent  her  burning  over  the  falls. 
The  American  government  then  made  a  demand  on  the  British  government  for 
reparation  ;  but  the  matter  was  left  unsettled  for  several  years,  and  was  at 
length  dropped  by  the  United  States. 

Meantime,  one  Alexander  McLeod,  a  worthless  resident  of  Ontario,  made 
the  boast  that  he  was  with  the  party  that  destroyed  the  Caroline,  and  had  him 
self  killed  one  of  the  Yankees.  One  day  while  in  Buffalo  he  repeated  his  boast, 
and  was  instantly  arrested  and  clapped  into  prison.  The  British  government 
now  made  a  demand  that  he  be  released,  and  the  President  would  gladly  have 
released  McLeod,  but  he  was  in  the  hands  of  New  York  State,  and  she  refused  to 
give  him  up.  Great  Britain  began  to  mobilize  armies  and  prepare  for  war. 
New  York,  meantime,  having  no  foreign  relations,  calmly  held  the  prisoner  and 
had  him  tried  before  a  court  at  Lockport  for  murder  and  arson.  It  all  turned 
out  to  be  ludicrous  in  the  extreme.  It  was  proved  that  the  blustering  braggart, 
McLeod,  had  not  been  present  at  the  destroying  of  the  Caroline.  His  boast 
was  an  idle  and  a  false  one.  He  was  acquitted,  and  all  signs  of  war  disappeared. 
Nothing  in  our  history  shows  more  clearly  how  a  trifling  matter  may  disturb  the 
peace  of  two  great  nations,  and  how  the  defect  in  our  dual  system  of  government, 
state  and  national,  may  prove  disastrous  to  the  peace  of  the  country.  For  a 
fuller  account  of  the  Caroline  affair,  see  Elson's  "  Side  Lights,"  Series  I,  Chap.  XL 


CHAPTER   XXII 

RISE  OF  THE  SLAVERY  QUESTION 

TWENTY  years  had  passed  since  the  adoption  of  that  famous  com 
pact  known  as  the  Missouri  Compromise.  That  measure  was 
expected  to  give  peace  to  the  land,  and  so  it  did  for  about  ten 
years.  Nevertheless  the  debates  on  it  left  a  sting,  a  wound  that 
could  not  altogether  heal ;  and  they  also  awakened  here  and  there 
a  moral  consciousness  that  eluded  the  grasp  of  the  lawmaker,  that 
could  not  die ;  it  could  only  slumber. 

During  this  period  there  were  a  few,  a  rare  few,  who,  like  the 
ancient  prophets  of  Israel,  ceased  not  to  cry  out  day  and  night 
against  the  evil  of  the  land.  First  among  these  was  Benjamin 
Luiidy.  A  saddler  by  trade,  he  worked  for  many  years  at  Wheel 
ing,  Virginia,  until  his  interest  in  the  black  man  became  so  overmas 
tering  that  he  determined  to  give  his  life  to  the  cause  of  emancipation. 
Abandoning  his  occupation,  leaving  his  wife  and  his  children  behind, 
he  traveled  over  the  country  making  speeches  and  organizing  socie 
ties.  He  traveled  in  nearly  all  the  states  of  the  Union,  in  Canada, 
Mexico,  and  the  West  Indies,  in  the  interest  of  the  cause  he  had 
espoused.  In  1821  he  established  The  Genius  of  Universal  Emanci 
pation.  In  one  of  his  tours  to  New  England,  Lundy 
met  at  a  boarding  house  a  young  man  of  ardent  spirit, 
who  became  a  convert  and  a  co-worker  with  him  in  the 
cause  —  William  Lloyd  Garrison.  Together  the  two  men  went  to 
Baltimore  and  became  joint  editors  of  an  antislavery  journal.  But 
they  soon  parted.  Garrison  now  became  the  leading  Abolitionist 
in  the  country,  and  after  serving  a  time  in  prison  for  his  violent 
utterances,  went  to  Boston.1  Here  in  1831  he  founded  TJie  Libera 
tor,  and  in  it  he  denounced  all  slaveholders  with  unsparing  severity. 
He  demanded  the  unconditional  emancipation  of  all  slaves,  and  pro 
nounced  the  Constitution,  for  permitting  slavery,  "  A  covenant  with 

1  Burgess  says  if  a  name,  a  date,  and  a  place  must  be  given  the  new  movement,  the 
name  is  Garrison,  the  date  is  1831,  and  the  place  is  Boston.  "  Middle  Period,"  p.  246. 

509 


610  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

death,  an  agreement  with  hell."  Another  noted  agitator  was  the 
Rev.  E.  P.  Lovejoy  of  St.  Louis,  who,  after  publishing  an  anti- 
slavery  paper  for  several  years,  was  murdered  in  November,  1837, 
by  a  proslavery  mob  at  Alton,  Illinois.  Antislavery  societies 
were  formed  in  various  states ;  but  they  were  composed  chiefly 
of  the  poorer  classes,  and  had  little  effect  on  public  opinion.  And 
besides,  the  violence  of  such  men  as  Garrison  produced  among 
lovers  of  peace,  even  in  the  North,  a  proslavery  reaction.  This 
was  intensified  by  a  slave  insurrection  in  Virginia, 
^  ^7  Nat  Turner,  a  negro,  in  which  sixty-one  whites, 
mostly  women  and  children,  were  killed.  This  inci 
dent  sent  a  shiver  of  horror  throughout  the  South.  It  showed  what 
might  occur,  if  great  numbers  of  the  bondsmen  should  rise  against 
their  masters.  At  this  moment  slaveholding  Virginia,  through  her 
legislature,  seriously  considered  the  subject  of  emancipation  in  that 
state.  And  here  the  institution  was  denounced  as  it  had  seldom 
been  denounced  at  the  North.  "  Tax  our  lands,"  said  one  speaker, 
"  vilify  our  country,  carry  the  sword  of  extermination  through  our 
defenseless  villages,  but  spare  us,  I  implore  you  —  spare  us  the 
curse  of  slavery,  that  bitterest  drop  from  the  chalice  of  the  de 
stroying  angel." 

There  was  a  rising  sentiment  against  slavery  in  the  North,  but 
it  was  not  yet  strong  nor  widespread.  Two  or  three  incidents  will 
readily  show  that  the  sympathies  of  the  people  were 
the  iTrtlT  generally  with  the  slaveholder,  whose  desire  was  to 
keep  the  black  man  in  ignorance,  that  he  might  not  be 
come  dangerous.  In  1831  it  was  proposed  to  found  a  school  for 
colored  children  in  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  but  a  town  meeting 
declared  against  it  as  "  destructive  of  the  best  interests  of  the  city." 
Two  years  later  Prudence  Crandall,  a  school-teacher  of  the  same 
state,  was  cast  into  prison  for  admitting  colored  girls  into  her  school, 
and  the  school  was  broken  up  by  a  mob.  A  similar  occurrence  took 
place  at  Canaan,  New  Hampshire,  in  1835,  and  in  New  York  the  en 
deavors  to  suppress  the  Abolitionists  caused  serious  riots. 

The  cloud  that  presaged  the  coming  storm  seemed  as  yet  no 
larger  than  a  man's  hand,  but  its  increase,  though  slow,  was  steady 
and  irresistible.  The  antislavery  societies  numbered  three  hundred 
and  fifty  in  1835.  Such  men  as  Dr.  Channing,  the  famous  Boston 
divine,  and  Wendell  Phillips  began  to  defend  the  Abolitionists,  and 
these  were  afterward  joined  by  Emerson,  John  G.  Whittier,  Theo- 


ANTISLAVERY   PETITIONS  511 

dore  Parker,  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  And  further,  there  was  a 
little  political  party  founded  in  the  North,  known  as  the  Free  Soil 
party.  In  1840  it  cast  but  seven  thousand  votes,  but  in  18-44  the 
number  was  increased  to  sixty-two  thousand ;  still  small,  it  is  true, 
but  the  increase  showed  the  direction  of  the  political  wind.  The 
South  now  became  thoroughly  alarmed.  Before  this  most  of  the 
southern  leaders  had  frankly  confessed  that  slavery  was  an  evil,  and 
had  deplored  its  existence ;  but  this  growing  abolition  feeling  crys- 
talized  the  South  against  abolition.  The  antislavery  societies  in 
that  section  soon  dwindled  away,  and  at  length  the  whole  South, 
led  by  Calhoun,  took  the  ground  that  slavery  is  a  good  —  a 
positive  good.1 

But  this  new  attitude  of  the  South  was  not  caused  wholly  by  the 
opposition  of  the  Abolitionists.  It  accepted  Calhoun's  views  partially 
from  economic  grounds.  The  southern  people  had  come  to  believe 
that  slavery  was  indispensable  to  their  social  and  economic  welfare, 
and,  believing  this,  they  could  not  do  otherwise  than  defend  it. 
This  new  position  taken  by  the  South,  that  slavery  is  a  positive 
good,  together  with  the  fear  of  insurrection,  led  that  section,  in 
cluding  non-slaveholders,  to  unify  in  the  defense  of  slavery. 

Not  long  could  this  great  question  be  kept  from  the  halls  of 
Congress,  and  in  two  ways  it  came  to  be  forced  upon  the  govern 
ment —  through  petitions  to  Congress  and  the  use  of 
the  mails  for  distributing  Abolition  literature.  For 
many  years  an  occasional  petition  had  come  in,  chiefly 
from  Quakers,  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Colum 
bia.  About  the  time  Garrison  began  his  agitation  these  petitions  be 
gan  to  come  rapidly.  For  some  years  after  this  the  custom  of  both 
Senate  and  House  was  to  receive  all  such  petitions  and  refer  them 
to  a  committee,  in  which  they  were  quietly  strangled.  This  refusal 
of  Congress  to  consider  the  petitions  did  not  discourage  or  quiet  the 
Abolitionists.  The  petitions  increased  in  numbers,  and  at  length  the 
southern  members  became  irritated  at  this  continuous  goading.  In 
1834  sharp  debates  began  to  be  heard  in  the  House  on  the  subject, 
and  in  March,  1836,  a  resolution  was  adopted  to  lay  all  such  peti 
tions  on  the  table,  and  that  no  further  notice  be  taken  of  them. 
This  action  only  stirred  up  the  Abolitionists  to  greater  efforts,  and 
during  the  two  years  following  the  adoption  of  this  rule  the  number 
of  petitions  increased  tenfold.  In  January,  1840,  the  House  went 
1  This  new  doctrine  was  first  set  forth  by  Calhoun  in  the  Senate  in  1836. 


512  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

still  further.  It  adopted  a  standing  rule  that  no  petitions  or  memo 
rials  concerning  the  abolition  of  slavery  or  the  slave  trade  in  any 
part  of  the  country  "  shall  be  received  by  this  House,  or  entertained 
in  any  way  whatever."  This  was  known  as  the  "gag  rule." 

The  Senate  had  arrived  at  a  practice  similar  to  that  of  the 
House,  and  the  condition  in  both  was  brought  about  by  the  radical 
men  of  the  South.  These  men  felt  that  they  had  won  a  victory ; 
but  quite  the  opposite  was  true.  The  Constitution  guarantees  the 
right  of  petitioning  the  government,  and  refusing  to  receive  a 
petition  implied  a  denial  of  the  right  to  make  it.  This  attitude  of 
Congress  drew  the  attention  of  the  whole  country ;  it  led  the  people 
to  identify  the  denial  of  the  constitutional  right  with  the  interests 
of  slavery;  it  awakened  sympathy  with  the  Abolitionists  and  made 
many  converts  to  their  cause. 

Most  of  the  petitions  that  came  to  the  House  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  venerable  John  Quincy  Adams,  who  now  became  the  cham 
pion  of  the  right  of  petition.  With  infinite  moral 
courage  ne  bore  every  insult,  and  waged  unceasing  war 
on  the  gag  rule  in  the  House,  and  after  continuing  his 
efforts  for  nearly  ten  years  he  won  the  victory  of  his  life  by  secur 
ing  its  repeal.  When  the  vote  was  counted,  and  Adams  saw  that  he 
had  won,  he  sank  back  into  his  chair  and  exclaimed,  "  Blessed  be 
the  name  of  God." 

The  southern  resistance  to  the  use  of  the  mails  for  the  distribu 
tion  of  Abolition  literature  in  the  South  furnished  another  cause  for 
national  commotion.  In  July,  1835,  a  mob  of  respectable  citizens 
broke  into  the  post  office  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  seized  a 
bag  of  Abolition  pamphlets  arid  burned  it  in  the  street.  The  matter 
was  soon  brought  before  the  postmaster-general,  Amos  Kendall,  but 
his  decision  was  undecisive,1  and  in  December  President  Jackson  in 
his  message  recommended  that  Congress  pass  a  law  refusing  the  use 
of  the  mails  to  "  incendiary  publications  intended  to  instigate  the 
slaves  to  insurrection."  This  would  probably  have  been  done  but 
for  the  fact  that  Calhoun  took  the  extreme  state  rights  ground  that 
each  state  should  decide  the  matter  within  its  own  bounds.  Thus 

1  Mr.  Kendall  wrote  the  postmaster  at  New  York  City,  who  had  asked  his 
opinion  after  excluding  Abolition  matter  from  the  mails,  "  The  postmaster-general 
has  no  legal  authority  to  exclude  from  the  mails  any  species  of  newspapers."  And 
he  adds,  "  If  I  were  situated  as  you  are,  I  would  do  as  you  have  done."  To  the  post 
master  at  Charleston  he  wrote,  "  We  owe  an  obligation  to  the  laws,  but  a  higher  one 
to  the  communities  in  which  we  live." 


HARRISON'S   BRIEF   TENURE  513 

the  South  lost  the  aid  of  the  government  in  its  first  battle  with  the 
Abolitionists. 

These  early  contests  concerning  the-  right  of  petition  and  the  use 
of  the  mails  had  a  profound  effect  on  the  future  of  the  country. 
They  directed  the  eyes  of  the  people  to  the  Abolitionist  party,  raised 
it  to  national  importance,  and  vastly  increased  its  power.  They 
awakened  the  South  to  a  sense  of  the  fact  that  an  ever  increasing 
party  in  the  North  existed  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  slavery  at 
every  point,  and  from  this  time  forth  the  North  and  the  South 
drifted  steadily  apart. 

HARRISON'S  BRIEF  TENURE 

The  joy  of  the  Whigs  at  their  great  victory  over  the  Democrats 
was  little  short  of  delirium.  The  winter  following  the  election  was 
one  long  jollification,  and  little  did  they  dream  of  the  disasters  that 
were  before  them.  General  Harrison  reached  Washington,  after  a 
week's  toilsome  journey,  on  the  sixty-eighth  anniversary  of  his 
birth.  Inauguration  day  was  dreary  and  cold ;  a  chilling  northeast 
wind  blew  all  day,  yet  the  new  President  rode  on  horseback  in  a 
procession  for  two  hours  without  overcoat  or  gloves.  He  then  stood 
for  another  hour  in  the  open  air  to  read  his  inaugural  address.  It 
was  believed  that  the  President  in  exposing  himself  thus  without 
an  overcoat,  sought  to  dispel  the  floating  rumor  that  he  was  in  poor 
health.  He  recovered,  however,  from  this  exposure,  and  the  admin 
istration  started  out  on  a  promising  voyage,  with  Daniel  Webster  at 
the  helm  as  secretary  of  state. 

The  President,  used  to  the  easy  life  of  his  rural  home,  now  en 
tertained  visitors  till  long  after  midnight  every  night.1    In  the  morn 
ing  he  rose  at  a  very  early  hour  and,  against  the  advice   Death  of 
of  his  friends,  took  long  walks  in  the  chilly  air.     More-  President 
over,  the  office  seekers  clamored  by  the  hundreds  for  Harnson- 
positions ;  and  the  President  was  a  man  of  such  kindliness  of  heart 
that  it  pained  him  deeply  that  he  could  not  gratify  them  all.     His 
health  bore  this  strain  but  three  weeks  when  he  fell  ill;  and  half  an 
hour  after   midnight   on  the  4th  of  April,  an  exact  month  after 
the  day  of  his  inauguration,  President  Harrison  was  dead. 

The  nation  was  shocked  at  the  sudden  death  of  the  President. 
He  was  not  a  great  statesman,  as  compared  with  some  of  his  con- 

i  Sargent,  Vol.  II,  p,  114, 
2L 


514  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

temporaries,  nor  a  party  leader  in  any  sense ;  but  he  was  a  sincere, 
honest  man,  and  he  had  won  the  esteem  of  all  parties.  Sadly  and 
slowly  moved  the  funeral  pageant  through  the  city  to  the  beat  of  the 
muffled  drums  and  the  mournful  wail  of  the  trumpet.  The  casket 
in  which  the  dead  President  lay  was  enwrapped  with  the  American 
flag,  and  the  funeral  car  with  nodding  plumes  was  drawn  by  six  white 
horses,  and  followed  by  a  vast  multitude  of  sorrowing  friends.  The 
body  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  congressional  burying  ground,  but  in 
the  summer  it  was  taken  to  the  West  and  was  placed  in  its  last  rest 
ing  place  at  the  little  town  where  the  President  had  lived,  on  the 
bank  of  the  river  Ohio. 


TYLER  AND  THE  WHIGS 

The  Whigs  were  dismayed  at  the  death  of  their  President.  Fifty 
years  had  passed  since  the  inauguration  of  Washington,  and  no 
President  had  before  died  in  office,  and  the  Whigs  had  not  taken 
such  a  possibility  into  account.  Tyler  at  once  became  President,  it 
is  true,  but  the  Whigs  were  not  sure  of  Tyler.  He  had  been  placed 
on  the  ticket  with  Harrison  to  console  the  Clay  men  and  to  win,  if 
possible,  a  floating  vote  from  the  South.  He  had  been  a  Democrat 
until  within  recent  years,  and  his  views  on  the  great  issues  between 
the  two  parties  were  not  known.  He  had  been  simply  known  as 
"  Tyler  too,"  and  now  for  the  first  time  people  began  to  inquire  who 
he  really  was.  One  thing,  however,  was  known  of  Tyler.  He  was  a 
southern  man  to  the  core ;  he  believed  in  state  rights  in  the  narrow 
sense  and  not  in  the  broad  Jeffersonian  sense ;  he  alone  of  all  the 
senators  cast  his  solitary  vote  against  forcing  South  Carolina  at  the 
time  of  her  nullification. 

Congress  had  been  called,  by  the  late  President,  to  meet  in  May 
for  the  purpose  of  dealing  with  the  finances.  In  the  campaign  of 
the  preceding  year  it  was  generally  understood,  though  little  had 
been  said  on  the  subject,  that  if  the  Whigs  elected  a  President  and 
gained  control  of  Congress,  they  would  establish  a  national  bank 
similar  to  one  that  Jackson  had  killed,  and  to  do  this  was  the  chief 
object  in  convening  Congress  in  extra  session.  Accordingly  Mr. 
Clay  proceeded,  soon  after  Congress  met,  to  frame  a  bank  bill.  But 
rumors  were  soon  going  around  that  Tyler  was  not  in  favor  of  a 
national  bank  and  also  that  a  rupture  between  him  and  Clay  was 
imminent.  These  rumors  proved  to  be  well  founded.  Tyler,  it 


TYLER  VETOES   NATIONAL  BANK  BILLS  515 

seems,  had  determined  to  rid  himself  of  the  influence  of  the  great 
Whig  leader.     The  bill  creating  a  "  Fiscal  Bank  "  was  passed  by  both 
houses,  and  was  sent  to  the  President  early  in  August.   Tyler  vetoes 
He  returned  it  in  a  few  days  with  his  veto.     The  Whigs  first  bank 
were  highly  indignant  and  chagrined  at  this  action  of  bm» 
the  President,  whom  they  had  elevated  to  power.     But  the  Demo 
crats  were  elated  with  the  veto,  and  in  the  evening  of  the  day  of  its 
reception   many  of  the   Democratic   senators   and   representatives, 
headed  by  a  future  President,  James  Buchanan,  marched  to  the 
White  House  to  offer  him  their  congratulations. 

The  Whigs  were  discouraged,  but  a  gleam  of  hope  returned  to 
them  when  the  President  caused  the  word  to  go  out,  through  his 
Cabinet,  that  he  would  sign  a  second  bank  bill,  if  purged 
of  the  features  to  which  he  had  objected  in  the  first. 
A  second  bill  creating  a  "Fiscal  Corporation"  was 
therefore  passed,  and  was  sent  to  Mr.  Tyler  in  September.  Whig 
hopes  now  trembled  in  the  balance,  for  they  distrusted  their  Presi 
dent  despite  his  promise.  Five  days  of  suspense  passed  when  the 
bill  was  returned  to  the  House  with  a  veto. 

The  Whigs  now  burst  forth  in  an  uncontrollable  storm  of  wrath. 
The  entire  Cabinet,  except  Webster,  resigned.  Clay  denounced 
Tyler  and  his  "  corporal's  guard "  of  advisers  in  unsparing  terms, 
while  the  friends  of  Tyler  pronounced  Clay  the  self-appointed  dic 
tator  of  the  Whig  party.  Tyler  claimed  to  have  vetoed  the  bill  on 
the  pure  ground  of  conscience  and  his  ideas  of  the  public  good. 
This  may  have  been  true,  but  he  was  utterly  in  the  wrong,  neverthe 
less.  That  the  chartering  of  the  bank  would  have  been  a  serious 
blunder  few  will  now  venture  to  doubt,  but  there  was  no  excuse  for 
Tyler.  If  he  were  not  a  Whig  at  heart,  he  should  have  come  out  in 
his  true  colors  before  the  election.  He  permitted  himself  to  be  ele 
vated  to  the  great  office  and  then  he  turned  traitor  to  the  party  that 
had  elected  him.1 

The  breach  between  President  Tyler  and  the  Whigs  was  now 
irreconcilable.  The  leaders  of  the  party  met  in  solemn  conclave 
and  deliberately  read  the  President  out  of  the  party,  putting  forth 

1  The  opinion  of  some  that  the  action  of  President  Cleveland  in  1896  in  opposing 
his  party  on  the  silver  question  was  similar  to  that  of  Tyler  is  entirely  erroneous. 
Free  silver  was  not  a  tenet  of  the  party  when  he  was  elected,  and  when  it  became 
such  he  had  as  much  right  to  his  convictions  on  the  subject  as  any  other  man  in  the 
country.  Had  he  been  elected  on  a  free  silver  platform  and  then  turned  against  it, 
his  case  would  be  parallel  to  that  of  Tyler. 


516  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

at  the  same  time  a  manifesto  to  the  Whigs  of  the  country.  In  this 
they  set  forth  the  hopes  of  the  party  and  disclaimed  all  responsibility 
Tyler  read  ^or  tne  acts  °f  tne  administration.  In  consideration  of 
out  of  the  the  fact  that  three  and  a  half  years  of  this  presidential 
Whig  party.  term  ye^  remained,  and  of  the  vast  patronage  at  the 
disposal  of  the  President,  this  action  of  the  party  was  a  bold  stroke, 
and  admirable  for  its  courage.  There  was  now  presented  a  spectacle, 
unknown  before  —  a  President  without  a  party  —  and  such  a  crea 
ture  is  almost  as  helpless  in  shaping  legislation  as  the  commonest 
laborer  in  the  street. 

The  President  had  evidently  hoped  to  win  the  Whig  party  from 
Clay  and  to  become  its  head,  but  that  matchless  leader  held  the 
party  in  a  grasp  that  could  not  be  broken,  Tyler  then  attempted  to 
form  a  new  party  of  the  milder  Whigs  and  Democrats.  Not  suc 
ceeding  in  this,  he  used  his  utmost  efforts  to  win  the  Democratic 
party  and  to  become  its  standard  bearer.  He  called  Democrats  into 
his  Cabinet  and  filled  many  of  the  best  offices  with  them.  But  the 
Democrats,  while  they  accepted  these  favors  and  rejoiced  that  Tyler 
had  foiled  the  bank  measure,  at  heart  despised  the  man.  They  refused 
to  make  a  man  the  leader  of  their  party  who  had  been  a  traitor  to  his 
own ;  and  Tyler  was  left  without  a  party  to  the  end  of  his  term. 

When  the  Cabinet  resigned,  Webster,  as  stated  above,  remained, 
his  avowed  object  being  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  England  which  was 
then  pending.  This  treaty,  fixing  the  eastern  boundary  of  Maine, 
was  arranged  with  Lord  Ashburton,  and  is  known  as  the  Webster- 
Ashburton  Treaty.  Webster,  however,  continued  in  the  Cabinet  for 
nearly  a  year  after  this  treaty  was  concluded,  and  he  was  severely 
criticised  by  his  fellow  Whigs.  The  fact  is,  Webster  and  Clay  had 
not  been  on  the  most  friendly  terms  for  some  years,  and  had  Tyler 
succeeded  in  forming  a  new  party,  Webster  would  no  doubt  have 
gone  with  him.  But  the  President,  failing  in  this,  at  length  came 
to  desire  the  retirement  of  the  great  New  Englander  from  his 
Cabinet ;  not  on  personal  grounds,  but  because  he  had  now  set  his 
heart  on  a  great  project,  and  Webster  was  not  the  man  to  carry  it 
out.  His  project  was  the  annexation  of  Texas. 

THE  STORY   OF  TEXAS 

As  stated  on  a  preceding  page,  when  Mexico  emancipated  her 
slaves,  in  1827,  Texas  refused  to  dc?  so,  and  there  wa?  strife  from 


THE   STORY   OF   TEXAS  517 

this  time  forth  between  the  mother  country  and  her  northern  prov 
ince.  In  1836  Texas  declared  its  independence,  and  it  was  after 
ward  recognized  by  the  United  States  and  by  several  European 
powers  as  a  separate  nation.  This  same  year,  1836,  witnessed  the 
massacre  of  the  Alamo,  in  which  the  famous  Davy  Crockett  was 
killed,  and  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  in  which  Santa  Anna  was 
routed  by  General  Sam  Houston,  former  governor  of  Tennessee. 
Texas  desired,  however,  not  to  lead  a  separate  existence,  but  to  join 
the  Union  as  a  state.  Of  the  sixty  men  who  signed  the  declaration 
of  independence,  fifty-three  had  been  bom  in  the  United  States,  and 
this  fact  explains  why  Texas  soon  afterward  knocked  at  the  door  of 
the  Union  for  admission.  But  Texas  lay  in  the  slave  belt  and,  if  ad 
mitted,  would  become  a  slave  state ;  and  on  this  ground  its  admission 
was  sure  to  awaken  strong  opposition  at  the  North.  President 
Jackson,  with  all  his  courage,  hesitated  to  risk  a  party  rupture  by 
coming  out  openly  for  annexation,  though  he  greatly  favored  it. 
The  matter  then  rested  till  the  time  of  Tyler,  who,  having  now 
alienated  his  party,  had  nothing  to  lose,  and  he  boldly  decided  on 
annexation  as  the  great  measure  of  his  administration.  His  hope 
was  to  win  the  South  for  the  coming  presidential  election. 

But  he  must  get  rid  of  Webster,  and  this  he  did  by  simply  freez 
ing  him  out  of  the  Cabinet.  Webster  was  made  to  see  that  his 
counsels  were  not  wanted,  and  that  he  was  in  uncongenial  company, 
and  in  May,  1843,  he  resigned  from  the  Cabinet.  Mr.  Upshur  of  Vir 
ginia  became  secretary  of  state.  Upshur  was  a  man  of  much  ability 
and  was  fully  in  sympathy  with  the  interests  of  the  slave  power. 
He  would  no  doubt  further  the  President's  project  with  the  utmost 
vigor;  but  suddenly  the  whole  project  was  thrown  out  of  balance 
for  a  time  by  a  calamity  such  as  no  human  eyes  can  foresee. 

One  bright  day  in  February,  1844,  a  gay  company  of  about  a 
hundred  persons  made   an   excursion   down   the  Potomac  River  in 
a  war  vessel.     This  distinguished  company  included  the  Explosion  of 
President,  his  Cabinet,  and  many  members  of  Congress   the  great 
with  their  families,  and  also  the  former  queen  of  the   ^un- 
White  House,  the  aged  Mrs.  Madison.     One  object  of  the  excur 
sion   was   to   witness   the   working   of  the  great   gun,   the   Peace 
maker,  which  threw  a  225-pound  ball.     Several  times  the  gun  was 
fired  without  incident,  but  on  the  return,  as  they  neared  the  city,  a 
heavy  charge  was  put  into  it  for  a  final  salute,  and  it  exploded  with 
a  terrific  noise.     When  the  smoke  cleared  away  a  dozen  persons  lay 


518.  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

dead  or  dying  on  the  deck.  Among  the  dead  were  Mr.  TJpshur, 
secretary  of  state ;  Mr.  Gilmer,  secretary  of  the  navy  ;  and  Mr. 
Gardner,  whose  daughter  was  soon  to  become  the  wife  of  President 
Tyler.  Senator  Benton  and  others  were  knocked  senseless,  while 
the  President  had  a  narrow  escape,  he  having  been  playfully  called 
below  by  Miss  Gardner  a  moment  before  the  explosion  took  place. 

The  President  now  chose  John  C.  Calhoun  secretary  of  state. 
The  great  South  Carolinian  was  not  desirous  of  the  honor,  but,  see 
ing  that  he  could  do  a  real  service  for  the  South,  he  accepted.  With 
remarkable  energy  he  took  hold  of  the  business,  and  a  secret  treaty 
of  annexation  was  arranged  with  the  Texan  government.  This 
treaty,  sent  to  the  Senate  by  President  Tyler  on  April  22,  1844,  met 
with  fatal  opposition.  Instead  of  receiving  the  two-thirds  vote 
necessary  to  ratify,  the  treaty  was  rejected  by  a  two- thirds  vote.1 
This  was  a  shock  to  the  administration.  The  Texan  question  was 
thus  left  over,  and  it  became  the  most  vital  issue  in  the 

PRESIDENTIAL   ELECTION  OF   1844 

The  Whigs  were  united  in  1844.  Clay  was  the  all  in  all  to 
the  Whig  conscience  in  this  campaign.  The  vagaries  of  Tyler  had 
cemented  the  party  and  it  suffered  with  remorse  that  the  noble 
"  Harry  of  the  West,"  the  "  Mill  Boy  of  the  Slashes,"  had  not  been 
chosen  four  years  before.  The  Whig  convention  now  nominated 
him  by  acclamation  and  without  a  dissenting  voice,  while  Theodore 
Frelinghuysen  was  placed  second  on  the  ticket. 

The  Democratic  convention  met  a  few  weeks  later  in  the  same 
city,  Baltimore,  and  attracted  far  greater  interest  because  of  the 
uncertainty  of  the  outcome.  Van  Buren  was  supposed  to  be  the 
coming  man.  More  than  half  the  delegates  had  been  instructed  for 
him  ;  but  there  were  forces  working  against  him.  The  chief  of  these 
was  his  attitude  on  the  Texan  question.  His  enemies,  by  a  decoy 
letter,  had  obtained  from  Van  Buren  a  statement  that  he  was  opposed 
to  immediate  annexation,  and  this  greatly  injured  him  in  the  South. 
Other  candidates  were,  James  Buchanan  of  Pennsylvania,  who,  how 
ever,  withdrew  his  name ;  Calhoun,  who  followed  the  example  of 
Buchanan ;  Lewis  Cass  of  Michigan ;  and  Eichard  M.  Johnson  of 
Kentucky. 

1  Some  voted  against  the  treaty  because  they  did  not  approve  of  the  method  of 
annexing  Texas.  They  thought  it  should  be  done  by  a  vote  of  both  houses. 


POLK   NOMINATED  519 


The  two-thirds  rule  was  adopted,  and  the  balloting  began.  Van 
Buren  led  with  a  good  majority  over  all  others,  but  fell  a  little  below 
the  required  two  thirds.  Again  on  the  second  and  third  p0ik  nomi- 
ballots,  and  so  on  till  seven  ballots  had  been  taken,  Van  natedbythe 
Buren  kept  the  lead ;  but  he  lost  a  little  each  time,  and  Democrats- 
it  became  evident  that  his  nomination  was  impossible.  There  was  a 
man  from  Tennessee  who  had  been  timidly  mentioned  for  the  second 
place,  —  James  K.  Polk,  —  but  on  the  eighth  ballot  he  received  a  few 
votes  for  first  place.  And  then,  by  one  of  those  strange  stam 
pedes  that  sometimes  take  possession  of  such  a  body,  the  convention 
nominated  Polk  on  the  ninth  ballot  by  a  unanimous  vote.  The  news 
was  flashed  to  Washington  by  telegraph.  This  was  the  first  practi 
cal  use  of  that  marvelous  invention  by  which  time  and  space  are 
reduced  to  nothing  in  the  transmission  of  news,  by  which  a  man  can 
converse  with  his  brother  man  with  a  thousand  leagues  of  rolling  sea 
between  them. 

Polk  was  the  first  "  dark  horse  "  candidate,  that  is,  an  unexpected 
candidate,  one  not  put  forward  by  any  party  before  his  nomination.1 
Polk  had  been  governor  of  Tennessee,  and  had  served  fourteen  years 
in  Congress,  being  four  years  Speaker  of  the  House ;  but  he  was 
not  a  well-known  statesman  nor  a  national  party  leader,  and  the 
question  arose  on  all  sides,  "  Polk,  —  who  is  Polk  ?  "  The  convention, 
after  nominating  George  M.  Dallas  of  Pennsylvania  for  the  vice 
presidency,  adopted  a  strong  platform,  pronouncing  for  the  immedi 
ate  occupation  of  Oregon  and  the  annexation  of  Texas. 

A  third  convention  was  held  in  the  same  city  during  this  same 
week.     President  Tyler  had  attempted  to  win  the  Whig  party  from 
Clay,  but  had  failed.     He  then  made  efforts  to  divide 
the  party  and  failed  again.     After  this  he  cast  every   ^vention 
Whig  from   his  Cabinet   and   courted  the  Democrats, 
equally  without  success.     But  even  now  he  did  not  despair.     He  set 
out  to  create  a  Tyler  party,  and  to  build  it  up  he  used  the  government 
patronage  for  all  it  was  worth ;    yet  with  all  this   immense  power 
his  converts  were  few.     Nevertheless  he  sent  a  band  of  his  office 
holders  to  hold  a  so-called  national  convention  at  Baltimore.     They 
nominated  him  without  division,  and  "  Tyler  and  Texas  "  became 
their  party  slogan.     The  Tyler   party  presented  a  sorry  spectacle 
indeed,  but  the  oversanguine  Tyler  still   had  hopes.     He  seemed  to 
think  that  the  misguided  people  would  yet  see  their  folly  and  flock 

1  Other  "  dark  horse  "  candidates  were  Pierce,  Hayes,  Garfield,  and  Bryan. 


520  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

to  his  standard  —  but  they  failed  to  do  so.  At  last  the  President 
awakened  to  the  fact,  which  everybody  else  knew  long  before,  that 
he  had  no  following,  and  he  withdrew  from  the  field  in  August. 

There  was  one  man  in  America  who  was  alarmed  at  the  work 
of  the  Democratic  convention  at  Baltimore,  and  that  was  Henry 
Clay.  Clay  had  counted  on  Van  Buren  as  his  antagonist,  and 
as  he  and  Van  Buren  stood  together  in  opposing  the  immediate 
annexation  of  Texas,  that  all-absorbing  question  would  have  been 
thrown  out  of  the  canvass.  But  Polk  with  his  vigorous  Texas- 
Oregon  platform  was  stunning  to  Clay,  who  well  knew  that  the 
prospect  of  acquiring  Texas  would  please  the  South  and  that  the 
Oregon  plank  would  please  the  North,  while  his  own  platform  dealt 
with  such  tame  subjects  as  a  protective  tariff  and  the  distribution  of 
the  land  sales.  The  campaign,  as  it  progressed,  waxed  hot.  The 
Whigs  at  first  felt  confident ;  but  as  the  summer  passed  they  realized 
that  the  fight  would  be  a  close  one.  Clay  and  Polk  were  as  unlike 
as  two  men  could  be.  Clay  was  the  brilliant  leader  who  for  many 
years  had  been  the  idol  of  a  great  party ;  Polk  was  plodding,  sturdy, 
and  straightforward.  The  Whigs  ridiculed  the  idea  that  their  fine 
thoroughbred  could  be  beaten  in  the  race  by  the  unknown  pack 
horse.  But  in  the  fact  that  Polk  was  an  unknown  quantity  lay  his 
greatest  strength. 

In  the  South  the  Democrats  laid  great  stress  on  the  acquisi 
tion  of  Texas ;  in  the  North  it  was  Oregon,  and  the  boundary 
must  be  54°  40'  north  latitude ;  and  "  Fifty-four  Forty  or  fight " 
became  a  campaign  cry.  But  the  Democrats  needed  Pennsyl 
vania,  and  Pennsylvania  cared  less  for  Texas  or  Oregon  than 
for  a  protective  tariff.  The  Democrats  therefore  preached  protection 
throughout  the  state.  Mr.  Polk  wrote  a  letter  to  a  Mr.  Kane  of 
Philadelphia  in  which  he  pronounced  himself  in  favor  of  moderate 
protection.  This  was  taken  up  by  the  Democratic  orators  and  they 
brazenly  pronounced  Polk  "  a  better  tariff  man  than  Clay  " ;  they 
even  circulated  the  statement  that  Clay  had  become  a  free  trader  and 
that  the  only  salvation  for  the  iron  industry  lay  in  the  election  of 
Polk  —  and  by  this  means  they  secured  the  vote  of  Pennsylvania. 
Clay  felt  himself  on  the  defensive.  He  wrote  letters  and  letters, 
defining  his  position.  These  did  little  good  or  harm  until  his 
"  Alabama  letter,"  written  to  a  friend  in  that  state,  came  out  in  July. 
In  this  letter  Clay  dealt  with  the  Texan  question,  stating  that  he 
had  no  personal  objection  to  annexation,  that  if  it  could  be  accom- 


CLAY'S  FATAL  LETTER  521 

plished  without  dishonor,  without  war,  on  just  and  fair  terms,  he 
would  be  glad  to  see  it.  This  sentiment  was  directly  opposite  to  that 
expressed  in  his  well-known  "  Raleigh  letter,"  and  to 
the  equally  well-known  position  of  the  Whig  party  on  J^rs  fatal 
this  great  subject.  It  was  intended  to  do  good  at  the 
South,  but  in  this  it  failed,  and  it  did  immeasurable  harm  at  the  North. 
Clay's  friends  were  thunderstruck ;  they  were  chilled  to  the  bone 
when  this  letter  was  published  over  the  land.  The  Democrats  rung 
every  change  on  the  phrase,  "  He  would  be  glad  to  see  it,"  repeating 
it  over  and  over  from  every  platform  to  show  that  Mr.  Clay  stood  on 
no  real  principle,  but  would  hedge  on  any  issue  to  win  the  election. 
In  vain  did  the  Whig  orators  and  editors  attempt  to  explain  ;  in  vain 
did  Clay  write  additional  letters  declaring  that  he  still  stood  by  his 
Raleigh  letter.  It  was  too  late;  the  mischief  was  done;  Clay  had 
signed  his  political  death  warrant  in  writing  his  Alabama  letter,  and 
from  this  moment  the  cause  of  the  Whigs  slowly  declined. 

There  was  a  little  party  at  the  North  known  as  the  Free  Soil  or 
Liberty  party,  and  James  G.  Birney  was  its  candidate.  It  held  the 
balance  of  power  in  a  few  Northern  states,  notably  New  York  and 
Michigan.  This  party  had  no  hope  of  success,  and  many  of  its  mem 
bers  were  inclined  to  vote  for  Clay,  as  the  less  of  the  two  evils.  But 
when  his  Alabama  letter  came  out  they  turned  fiercely  against  Clay 
and  supported  Birney,  who  drew  enough  votes  from  the  Whigs  to 
throw  New  York  and  Michigan  to  Polk  and  to  give  him  the  election. 
The  election  was  held  on  different  days  in  the  various  states,  and  the 
excitement  became  intense  as  the  long-drawn-out  returns  came  in. 
At  length  New  York  cast  her  vote  for  Polk,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
many  former  Whigs  voted  for  Birney,  and  decided  the  contest ;  but 
Massachusetts,  faithful  old  Whig  state  that  she  was,  cast  her  vote 
for  Clay  after  it  was  known  that  he  was  defeated.1 

This  was  the  third  time  that  the  great  Kentucky  chieftain  made 
a  fruitless  race  to  win  the  glittering  prize  of  his  life's  ambition ; 
and  it  was  the  last.  He  had  passed  the  meridian  of  life,  the 
youthful  luster  of  his  eye  was  fading,  and  never  again  could  he 
hope  to  make  so  strong  a  race  as  he  had  now  made,  for  the  time 
was  near  when  the  destinies  of  the  nation  must  pass  into  younger 
hands. 

1  When  Congress  met  a  few  weeks  later  it  passed  a  law  fixing  a  uniform  day  for 
the  presidential  election  in  all  the  states,  and  it  has  continued  in  force  from  that  time. 


522  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 


NOTES 

Morse  and  the  Telegraph.  —  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  had  labored  for  years  on 
the  telegraph,  and  had  almost  reduced  himself  to  penury.  In  18-42  he  was 
granted  the  privilege  of  setting  up  his  telegraph  in  the  lower  rooms  of  the  Capi 
tol.  The  experiment  was  successful,  and  the  members  of  Congress  could  hardly 
believe  their  senses  as  Morse  enabled  them  to  converse  with  one  another  from 
the  different  rooms.  And  yet  when  he  asked  an  appropriation  of  $30,000  to 
establish  an  experimental  line  from  Washington  to  Baltimore,  there  was  much 
opposition.  Many  were  the  shafts  of  ridicule  thrust  at  the  new  invention.  One 
member  moved  that  half  the  appropriation  be  used  to  experiment  in  mesmerism  ; 
another,  that  an  appropriation  be  made  to  construct  a  railroad  to  the  moon. 
One  prominent  member  pronounced  all  "  magnetic  telegraphs  miserable  chimeras, 
fit  for  nothing."  Another  lost  his  seat  in  the  House  at  the  next  election  because 
he  voted  for  the  appropriation.  While  the  debate  was  in  progress,  Morse  stood 
leaning  against  the  railing  in  the  House  in  great  agitation.  A  friend  went  to 
console  him,  and  Morse,  placing  his  hand  to  his  head  said,  "  I  have  an  awful 
headache.  ...  I  have  spent  seven  years  in  perfecting  this  invention,  and  all 
that  I  had.  ...  If  the  bill  fails,  I  am  ruined.  ...  I  have  not  money  enough 
to  pay  my  board  bill."  He  was  greatly  relieved  soon  after  by  the  passing  of 
the  bill.  His  fortune  was  made,  and  the  name  of  Morse  must  forever  be  insep 
arable  from  the  telegraph.  See  Sargent's  "Public  Men  and  Events,"  Vol.  II, 
p.  193. 

The  Creole  Affair.  —  The  Creole  was  a  slave  ship.  While  on  a  voyage  from 
Norfolk  to  New  Orleans  in  November,  1841,  with  135  slaves,  a  portion  of  them 
rose  in  mutiny,  killed  the  masters  of  the  vessel,  and  steered  to  a  British  port  in 
the  West  Indies.  Here,  according  to  the  laws  of  England,  they  were  free. 
The  slaveholders  in  Congress  determined  that  a  demand  be  made  on  England 
that  the  slaves  be  given  up,  and  many  from  the  North  agreed  with  them.  At 
this  point  a  young  representative  from  Ohio,  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  rose  and  made 
a  strong  speech  in  favor  of  the  slaves,  claiming  that  they  had  a  right  to  use  any 
means  in  their  power  to  gain  their  freedom,  and  that,  being  on  the  high  seas, 
their  masters  had  no  longer  the  right  to  hold  them  in  bondage.  Giddings  was 
at  once  censured  by  a  vote  of  the  House,  whereupon  he  resigned  his  seat,  bade 
his  friends  adieu,  and  repaired  to  his  home  in  Ohio.  His  constituents  held  an 
election  and  reflected  him  by  three  thousand  majority.  He  returned  to  Con 
gress,  and  from  that  time  to  the  Civil  War  he  was  a  leading  opponent  of  the 
slave  power. 

The  Dorr  Rebellion.  —  Rhode  Island,  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
retained  its  charter  government,  and  many  of  the  people  were  dissatisfied  at  the 
limited  suffrage.  In  1842  a  portion  of  the  citizens  rose  in  an  effort  to  secure 
a  new  constitution,  and  they  were  led  by  Thomas  W.  Dorr,  a  young  lawyer. 
A  new  government  was  set  up,  but  the  insurgents  were  dispersed  by  national 
aid,  and  Dorr  was  taken  captive.  He  was  tried  for  treason,  and  sentenced  to 
prison  for  life,  but  was  afterward  pardoned.  Dorr's  principles  prevailed  in  the 
end,  and  were  embodied  in  the  new  constitution. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

THE  MEXICAN   WAR   AND   THE   COMPROMISE   OF   1850 

THE  lonely  administration  of  Tyler  came  to  an  end  unwept  and 
unsung.  The  few  friends  who  had  fawned  upon  him  because  favor 
followed  fawning,  now  melted  away  rapidly  since  his  power  to  be 
stow  offices  on  them  was  drawing  to  an  end,  and  the  last  weeks  of 
his  term  were  spent  in  solitude.  Tyler  was  a  man  of  sanguine 
spirit  and  of  abounding  faith  in  himself,  and  not  until  near  the  close 
of  his  official  life  did  he  see  that  he  had  failed  to  impress  himself 
upon  the  country  and  that  the  Tyler  party  could  be  expressed  by 
zero.  He  returned  to  his  home  in  Virginia  and  soon  disappeared 
from  public  notice ;  but  sixteen  years  later,  at  the  out 
break  of  the  Civil  War,  he  reappeared  at  Washington 
as  president  of  the  "  Peace  Congress."  This  came  to  nothing,  and 
Tyler  cast  his  lot  with  the  South  and  became  a  member  of  the  Con 
federate  Congress;  but  he  died  the  next  year.  Of  the  fact  that  it 
is  perilous  for  an  American  public  man  to  betray  the  party  that  gives 
him  his  power,  John  Tyler  is  a  conspicuous  example  —  and  no  one 
envies  him  his  memory. 

James  K.  Polk,  born  in  North  Carolina,  was  the  son  of  a  sturdy 
farmer  and  the  eldest  of  ten  children.  Polk  was  a  serious  man, 
able,  industrious,  and  religious.  His  defects  lay  in  his  narrow  par 
tisanship  and  his  tendency  for  political  intrigue.  He  could  see  no 
good  in  the  creed  of  the  Whig  party  and  nothing  but  good  in  the 
creed  of  his  own,  nor  was  he  scrupulous  as  to  his  methods  in  win 
ning  an  election.  His  Cabinet  was  a  strong  one  and  included  at 
least  four  men  well  known  to  fame.  James  Buchanan,  the  bachelor 
statesman  of  Pennsylvania,  became  secretary  of  state  ;  William  L. 
Marcy  of  the  "  Hunker " 1  faction  in  New  York  and  author  of  the 

1  The  Democrats  of  New  York  were  at  this  time  divided  into  two  factions,  the 
"Hunker,"  or  conservatives,  or  old-time  Democrats,  and  the  "Barnburners,"  the 
progressive,  antislavery  Democrats.  The  latter,  it  was  said,  were  ready  to  destroy 
the  Union  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  evils  such  as  slavery,  and  they  were  compared  to 
the  Dutchman  who  burned  his  barn  to  get  rid  of  the  rats  —  hence  the  name.  The 
origin  of  the  word  "Hunker  "  is  unknown. 

623 


524  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

well-known  phrase  in  our  political  parlance,  "  To  the  victors  belong 
the  spoils,"  secretary  of  war ;  Robert  J.  Walker  of  Mississippi,  who 
was  to  find  his  political  grave  in  "  bleeding"  Kansas  in  the  following 
decade,  secretary  of  the  treasury ;  and  George  Bancroft,  America's 
leading  historian,  secretary  of  the  navy.1 

The  chief  issue  of  the  campaign  of  the  preceding  summer  had 
already  been  settled.  Arrangements  had  been  made  in  the  last  days 
of  Tyler's  administration  by  which  Texas  in  the  following  months 
became  a  member  of  the  Union.  The  new  state  was  annexed  by  a 
joint  resolution  of  Congress.  This  raised  a  cry  of  "unconstitu 
tional  "  among  northern  Whigs,  and  from  the  Massachusetts  legis 
lature.  Little  heed  was  paid  to  this  protest,  and  a  half  century 
later,  when  Hawaii  was  annexed  by  a  similar  joint  resolution,  little 
opposition  to  the  method  was  awakened.  A  vast  and  fertile  domain 
is  Texas,  an  empire  in  extent,  with  unbounded  resources  for  agricul 
ture  and  grazing.  Every  American  rejoices  that  this  broad,  fair 
land  is  part  of  our  glorious  Union,  but  no  one  takes  pride  in  the 
political  intrigues  by  which  it  was  secured.2 

But  there  was  an  abundance  of  business  left  for  the  Polk  admin 
istration.  "  There  are  four  great  measures,"  said  the  new  President 
with  great  decision,  "  which  are  to  be  the  measures  of  my  adminis 
tration  ; "  and  these  were  a  reduction  of  the  tariff,  the  reestablish- 
ment  of  the  independent  treasury,  the  settlement  of  the  Oregon 
boundary,  and  the  acquisition  of  California.  The  first  of  these,  the 
reenactment  of  the  independent  treasury  bill,  was  accomplished  in 
1846,  as  stated  on  a  preceding  page.  The  second,  the  reduction  of 
the  tariff,  dates  from  the  same  year.  In  spite  of  the  plaintive  pro 
tests  from  Pennsylvania,  the  state  that  had  given  its 
Tariff  ai846  vote  to  ^°^  because  he  was  "  a  better  tariff  man  than 
Clay,"  the  «  Walker  Tariff  of  1846  "  was  enacted.  By 
it  many  of  the  higher  duties  of  the  "  Whig  Tariff  of  1842  "  were 
lowered.  This  tariff  was  in  force  for  eleven  years,  and  it  became 
popular  with  all  classes.  Again  the  tariff  question  ceased  to  be  a 
party  measure,  and,  owing  to  a  surplus  in  the  treasury,  the  duties 
of  the  Walker  Tariff  were  reduced  still  further  in  1857,  with  the 

1  After  a  short  service  Bancroft  resigned   and  became  minister  to  England. 
Another  literary  appointment  of  Polk  was  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  as  collector  of  the 
port  at  Salem,  Massachusetts. 

2  The  term  "  reannexation  "  was  constantly  used,  because,  it  was  claimed,  Texas 
had  been  a  part  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  but  had  been  ceded  back  to  Spain  in  part 
payment  for  Florida. 


OREGON   AND   CALIFORNIA  525 

consent  of  all  parties;    and  there  was  no  further  tariff  legislation 
till  the  opening  of   the  Civil  War. 

OREGON  AND   CALIFORNIA 

The  remote,  unpeopled  region  in  the  Northwest  known  as  Oregon 
lay  between  42°  and  54°  40'  north  latitude,  and  extended  from  the 
crest  of  the  Itocky  Mountains  to  the  waves  of  the  Pacific.  The 
ten-year  joint  occupation  between  the  United  States  and  England 
had  been  extended  indefinitely,  either  country  to  give  a  year's  notice 
to  have  it  discontinued.  This  notice  was  given  by  the  United  States 
in  1846.  For  some  years  before  this  it  was  seen  that  Oregon  was 
about  to  become  the  home  of  civilized  man.  In  1835  Marcus  Whit 
man,  with  a  few  companions,  crossed  the  mountains  and  entered  the 
Columbia  Valley  as  a  missionary  to  the  Indians.  A  few  settlers 
arrived  in  the  following  years.  In  1842  W7hitman  came  east  on 
business  connected  with  his  mission  work,  and  on  returning  he  was 
accompanied  by  a  train  of  moving  wagons  leaving  Missouri  for  the 
Columbia  Valley.  It  was  a  long  and  weary  journey,  but  others  soon 
followed,  and  within  three  years  some  ten  thousand  Americans  had 
settled  in  the  Oregon  country. 

The  whole  of  Oregon  was  claimed  by  each  country.  The  Ameri 
can  claim  was  based  on  the  discovery  of  the  Columbia  River  by  Cap 
tain  Grey  in  1792,  on  the  explorations  of  Lewis  and  Clarke,  and  on 
the  actual  settlements.1  President  Polk  had  said  in  his  inaugural 
address  that  our  right  to  all  of  Oregon  was  indisputable,  and  this  he 
reiterated  in  his  first  message  to  Congress.  But  England  had  no 
thought  of  giving  up  all  her  seacoast  on  the  Pacific.  Yet  neither 
country  wished  to  go  to  war,  and  it  was  decided  to  compromise,  to 
split  the  Oregon  country  in  the  middle,  each  to  take  half. 
A  few  Democratic  hotspurs  in  Congress  still  shouted  for 
54°  40',  but  while  this  was  a  good  campaign  cry,  it 
could  not  now  be  adhered  to.  England  at  length  offered  to  extend 
the  boundary  line  of  49°  to  the  Pacific,  retaining  for  herself  the 
whole  of  Vancouver  Island.  President  Polk  could  not  accept  this 
without  abandoning  his  former  position,  and  that  of  the  platform  on 
which  he  was  elected.  But  he  could  not  do  otherwise  without  risk 
ing  a  war  far  greater  than  that  now  brewing  on  the  South,  and  to 

1  The  English  claim  was  based  on  the  discoveries  of  Mackenzie  and  on  the  occu 
pation  of  the  country  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company. 


526  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

let  himself  down  as  gracefully  as  possible,  lie  shifted  the  responsi 
bility  to  the  Senate  by  asking  the  advice  of  that  body.  The  Senate 
advised  that  the  British  offer  be  accepted,  and  49°  was  made  the 
boundary  between  the  United  States  and  British  Columbia.  Our 
portion  of  Oregon,  some  three  hundred  thousand  square  miles, 
includes  the  entire  Columbia  Valley,  and  is  of  far  greater  value  than 
that  retained  by  the  British.  The  people  of  the  North  were  espe 
cially  pleased  with  this  new  acquisition,  for  it  balanced  the  recent 
extension  of  slave  territory  through  the  admission  of  Texas. 

This  brings  us  to  the  last  of  the  four  great  measures — the  acqui 
sition  of  California.  Why  should  the  American  President  put  this 
in  his  programme?  California  belonged  to  another  nation,  a  sister 
republic.  It  was  the  boundless  region  in  the  Southwest  out  of  which 
four  or  five  states  and  territories  have  since  been  carved.  Mexico 
had  refused  to  sell  it.  By  what  means,  then,  could  the  acquisition  be 
made  ?  By  simply  conjuring  up  a  quarrel  with  Mexico,  "  conquer 
ing"  the  uninhabited  territory,  and  then  holding  it  by  "right"  of 
conquest.  And  a  good  casus  belli  was  at  hand.  Texas  claimed  all 
the  territory  between  the  Nueces  Eiver  and  the  Rio  Grande,  which 
was  also  claimed  by  Mexico.  But  Congress  had  ignored  the  claim 
of  Mexico,  and  had  passed  an  act  extending  the  revenue  laws  to  the 
disputed  territory.  Mexico  could  not  give  this  up  without  fighting. 
Here,  then,  was  cause  enough  for  war. 

And  yet  Polk  did  not  want  war.  His  honest  desire  was  to  avoid 
it.  He  professed  to  believe  that  Mexico  would  not  fight  on  account 
of  Texas,  though  all  diplomatic  relations  had  ceased  at  the  time  of 
annexation ;  or  even  on  account  of  the  disputed  boundary  line,  and 
he  congratulated-  Congress  and  the  country  on  having  acquired  the 
new  territory  without  bloodshed.  He  apparently  expected  to  acquire 
California  by  negotiation  or  purchase,  and  he  sent  John  Slidell  to 
the  Mexican  capital  with  full  power  to  settle  all  differences  and  to 
offer  a  good  round  sum  for  California;  but  Slidell  was  not  received 
by  the  Mexicans.  In  his  anxiety  to  avoid  war  the  President  made 
a  serious  blunder  at  the  beginning.  He  restored  Santa 
Santa  Anna.  Aima>  w^0  was  }iving  jn  exile  at  Havana,  to  his  Mexi 
can  home.  Santa  Anna  was  one  of  the  noted  characters  of  his 
time,  imperious,  deceitful,  revengeful,  yet  not  without  bravery  and 
military  skill.  He  was  a  typical  revolutionist  of  the  Latin  American 
states.  As  early  as  1833  he  became  President  of  Mexico,  and  at 
various  times  thereafter ;  but  usually  after  a  brief  service  the  people 


ZACHARY   TAYLOR   IN   MEXICO  527 

rose  against  him  and  sent  him  for  a  time  into  exile.  His  most  recent 
banishment  took  place  in  1845.  President  Polk  now  sent  a  war 
vessel  to  convey  Santa  Anna  back  to  Mexico,  in  the  hope,  first, 
that  he  would  overthrow  the  new  President,  Paredes,  which  he  did ; 
and  second,  that  he  would  treat  with  the  United  States  for  peace 
out  of  gratitude  for  the  favor  —  which  he  did  not.1  Polk  mistook 
his  man.  Santa  Anna  was  not  a  man  of  gratitude.  On  reaching 
Mexico,  he  discovered  that  he  could  best  restore  his  popularity  by 
making  war  against  the  United  States,  and  he  instantly  set  about 


doing  so. 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR   IN   MEXICO 


President  Polk,  with  all  his  avowals  that  there  would  be  no  war, 
had  taken  the  precaution  to  send  General  Zachary  Taylor  to  the 
disputed  territory  with  an  "  Army  of  Occupation  "  and  a  fleet  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  ownership  of  this  territory  should  have 
been  settled  by  treaty,  if  possible,  and  its  occupation  in  this  high 
handed  way  pointed  clearly  to  the  fact  that,  if  California  could  not 
be  had  for  gold,  the  feeble  sister  republic  must  be  goaded  into  war. 
But  Mexico  had  also  invited  hostilities  by  placing  an  army  at  Mata- 
inoras.  The  Army  of  Occupation  moved  on  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kio 
Grande,  and  the  Mexican  general,  Arista,  crossed  the  river  to  meet 
it.  The  two  armies  came  together  on  two  successive  days,  and  the 
so-called  battles  of  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma 
were  fought.  The  Mexicans  were  worsted,  but  a  JSu*  a 
few  Americans  were  killed,  and  this  was  enough. 
President  Polk  at  once  sent  a  message  to  Congress  declaring  that 
"American  blood  had  been  spilt  on  American  soil,"  that  Mexico 
had  struck  the  first  blow,2  and  that  a  state  of  war  existed,  "  notwith 
standing  all  our  efforts  to  avoid  it !  " 

But  war,  righteous  or  unrighteous,  will  always  stir  the  people 
to  action.  Congress  voted  supplies  and  called  for  fifty  thousand 
volunteers.  Many  of  the  northern  Whigs  opposed  the  war,  but  few 
of  them  were  willing  to  go  on  record  as  voting  against  its  prosecu 
tion.3  The  people  quickly  responded,  and  the  war  was  vigorously 

1  It  is  believed  that  Santa  Anna  promised  that  if,  on  being  restored,  he  again 
got  control  of  Mexico,  he  would  cede  California  to  the  United  States  for  a  sum  of 
money,  but  his  word  was  worthless. 

2  This  referred  to  the  capture  of  a  few  American  scouts  before  the  battles  above 
mentioned  had  taken  place. 

8  "The  Biglow  Papers,"  written  by  James  Russell  Lowell,  humorously  set  forth 
the  opposition  of  the  Whigs. 


528  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

prosecuted.  Taylor's  little  army  was  augmented,  and  he  crossed 
the  Bio  Grande,  occupied  Matamoras  and  relieved  Fort  Brown. 
During  the  summer  he  advanced  up  the  river,  taking  one  point  after 
another,  and  in  September  captured  Monterey  after  a  bloody  siege. 
Polk  had  assured  his  friends  that  the  war  would  not  continue  longer 
than  three  months,  but  even  with  the  capture  of  Monterey,  the  chief 
stronghold  in  northern  Mexico,  the  Mexicans  refused  to  give  up, 
and  Taylor  was  instructed  to  press  the  war  to  a  finish. 

There  was  one  man  in  Washington  all  this  time  who  was  very 
impatient  and  restless.  General  Winfield  Scott  was  the  commander 
in  chief  of  the  armies,  next  to  the  President,  and  he  felt  that  he 
ought  to  be  sent  to  the  front  to  take  general  command  of  the  war. 
But  the  administration  held  him  back  for  no  given  reason.  The 
true  reason,  however,  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  President,  as  above 
stated,  was  a  narrow  partisan.  Scott  was  a  leading  Whig  and  had 
been  an  aspirant  to  the  presidency.  If  now  he  were  sent  to  the 
front,  he  might  win  such  laurels  as  would  make  him  a  dangerous 
candidate  for  President.  Hence  he  was  kept  at  home.  But  another 
horn  to  the  dilemma  appeared.  Taylor  was  also  a  WThig,  or  was 
supposed  to  be,  though  he  had  never  voted,  and  his  victories  in 
Mexico  were  now  giving  him  a  name  among  the  greatest  heroes  of 
the  age.  He  even  began  to  be  mentioned  as  the  coming  Whig  candi 
date.  Something  must  be  done  to  head  off  Taylor,  and  at  length 
the  authorities  decided  to  send  Scott  to  share  the  laurels 

Mexico8611*  t0  — not  that  they  loved  him  more' but  Taylor  less-  Scotfc 
was  now  ordered  to  proceed  to  Vera  Cruz  by  sea,  to  cap 
ture  that  port,  and  to  march  overland  to  the  Mexican  capital.  Taylor 
was  not  only  to  have  a  rival  in  the  field ;  he  was  ordered  to  send  a  large 
portion  of  his  army  to  Scott.  This  he  did  like  a  true  soldier,  though 
it  was  a  bitter  medicine  to  take.  Taylor  was  thus  left  in  the  midst 
of  a  hostile  people  with  but  a  fraction  of  his  former  army  ;  but 
strange  to  say,  his  greatest  victory  was  yet  before  him. 

Santa  Anna  had  landed  at  Vera  Cruz  from  Cuba  but  a  short  time 

before  the  siege  and  fall  of  Monterey.     Hearing,  late  in  the  autumn, 

of  Taylor's  weakened  condition,  he  gathered  an  army 

BuenaVit        °^  twenty  thousand    men    and  marched   against   him. 

Taylor  was  joined  by  General  Wool,  who  had  recently 

led  an  army  into  Mexico,  and  his  force  was  thereby  raised  to  five 

thousand  men.     He  took  a  position  in  a  mountain  defile  near  the 

fine  estate  of  Buena  Vista,  and  awaited  his  foe.      On  the  22d  of 


THE   CONQUEST  OF   CALIFORNIA  529 

February,  1847,  the  enemy  had  almost  surrounded  the  Americans, 
and  the  Mexican  general  sent  word  to  Taylor  that  if  he  wished  to 
save  his  little  army  from  being  cut  to  pieces  and  captured,  he  could 
do  so  by  surrendering  at  discretion.  "  General  Taylor  never  sur 
renders,"  was  the  laconic  answer,  and  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista  was 
fought.  It  began  on  the  morning  of  the  23d  and  raged  all  day. 
Toward  evening  Taylor  saw  the  Mexicans  waver,  and  his  order, 
"Give  'em  a  little  more  grape,  Captain  Bragg,"  was  vigorously 
obeyed,  and  by  nightfall  the  Mexicans  were  fleeing  in  confusion. 
The  Mexican  loss,  including  prisoners,  reached  nearly  two  thousand, 
while  the  American  loss  was  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty.  Among 
the  slain  was  a  son  of  Henry  Clay.  This  battle  closed  the  career  of 
Zachary  Taylor  in  the  Mexican  War ;  but  his  fame  was  now  secure. 
He  returned  to  his  native  land  some  months  later  to  receive  the 
highest  honors  that  can  be  awarded  an  American  citizen.  General 
Scott  was  now  to  take  the  helm  and  to  win  even  greater  achieve 
ments  than  Taylor  had  done,  though  not  an  equal  reward.  But 
before  recounting  the  deeds  of  Scott,  let  us  take  a  brief  note  of 

THE   CONQUEST  OF   CALIFORNIA 

The  Mexican  War  was  waged  by  the  United  States,  not  on 
account  of  a  boundary  dispute,  as  the  world  was  made  to  believe, 
but  because  Ahab  coveted  Naboth's  vineyard,  because  the  slave 
holder  cast  his  eyes  over  the  vast,  fertile  Southwest  aud  desired  it 
for  his  own.  More  tempting  by  far  than  Oregon  was  this  beautiful 
land  of  perpetual  summer,  where  "  the  flowers  ever  blossom,  and  the 
beams  ever  shine."  It  was  this  garden  of  the  West  that  must  now 
be  secured  as  the  chief  prize  of  a  victorious  war.  General  Stephen 
W.  Kearny  was  sent  with  a  competent  force  at  the  opening  of  hos 
tilities  to  secure  this  golden  fleece.  He  entered  New  Mexico,  and, 
capturing  the  ancient  town  of  Santa  Fe  without  firing  a  gun,  raised 
the  American  flag  and  took  possession  of  the  province  in  the  name  of 
the  United  States.  Kearny  was  then  ordered  to  proceed  to  Califor 
nia  and  to  take  possession  of  the  country,  as  he  had  done  in  the  case 
of  New  Mexico.  Arriving  at  Los  Angeles  late  in  December,  he  met 
the  explorer,  John  C.  Fremont,  who,  with  Commodore  Stockton,1 
had  already  taken  possession  of  California.  Fremont,  for  whom 

1  Stockton  had  succeeded  Commodore  Sloat,  who  had  captured  the  Mexican 
towns  on  the  California  coast. 

2M 


530  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES 

there  was  much  notoriety  yet  in  store,  had  attracted  attention  by 
his  daring  exploits  in  this  far  western  country,  and  by  his  romantic 
marriage  with  Jessie  Benton,  daughter  of  the  famous  Missouri 
senator.  The  Mexican  general,  De  Castro,  had  moved  against  the 

settlers  of  the  Sacramento  Valley,  who  then  rallied  to 
Fremont  ^ne  camP  °^  Fremont.  In  several  skirmishes  Fremont 

beat  De  Castro,  at  length  capturing  Sanoma  Pass  and 
nine  cannon.  The  Mexicans  were  driven  out  of  the  country  and 
the  American  settlers  chose  Fremont  governor  of  the  province  — 
all  this  before  it  was  known  that  war  existed  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico.1 

Thus  the  immense  region  from  the  Cordilleras  to  the  sea,  on 
which  the  President  had  looked  with  covetous  eyes,  fell  into  his 
hands  like  mellow  fruit,  and  almost  without  bloodshed. 

THE   GREAT  MARCH  UPON  MEXICO 

From  this  moment  to  the  end  of  the  war  the  chief  military  glory 
centers  about  one  man  —  General  Winfield  Scott.  It  had  been  con 
fidently  believed  at  Washington  that  Mexico  would  yield  after  our 
first  hostile  demonstrations,  but  the  Mexicans  were  defending  their 
country  with  desperate  valor ;  and  now  it  was  seen  that  nothing 
short  of  striking  the  heart  of  their  republic  and  humbling  them  to 
the  dust  could  subdue  them.  Accordingly  General  Scott  was  borne 
by  sea  with  twelve  thousand  men  to  Vera  Cruz,  where  he  entered 
upon  one  of  the  most  successful  military  campaigns  of 
modern  history.  Arriving  on  March  9  at  the  entrance 
of  the  harbor,  the  Americans  beheld  the  old  town  nestled 
quietly  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea,  and  presenting  anything 
but  the  aspect  of  war.  On  a  little  island  at  the  entrance  of  the  har 
bor  stood  the  ancient  castle  of  Ulloa,  while  in  the  background  rose 
in  lonely  majesty  the  lofty  peak  of  Orizaba,  its  snow-covered  summit 
buried  in  the  skies. 

Scott  landed  his  army  without  incident  or  opposition.  The  town 
and  castle  were  garrisoned  by  some  five  thousand  Mexicans  under 
Juan  Morales.  The  demand  of  Scott  that  the  town  surrender  was 
declined,  and  he  opened  a  tremendous  cannonade  on  the  city  and  its 
defenses.  Hundreds  of  shells  fell  and  exploded  in  the  streets  and 

1  H.  H.  Bancroft,  Vol.  XVII,  p.  208.  Fremont  and  Kearny  had  a  quarrel  over 
the  governorship,  and  Fremont  was  court-martialed  and  dismissed  from  the  service, 
was  but  pardoned  by  the  President. 


THE    MEXICAN   CAMPAIGN 


531 


on  the  housetops,  causing  great  destruction  of  life  and  property. 
For  five  days  and  nights  the  continuous  roar  of  artillery  resounded 
from  the  besieging  army,  from  the  fleet  of  Commodore  Conner  in 
the  harbor,  and  from  the  answering  guns  of  the  besieged  city.  Scott 
is  said  to  have  thrown  half  a  million  pounds  of  metal.  Many  Mexi 
cans  and  a  few  Americans  were  killed.  On  the  29th  of  March  the 
Mexicans  surrendered  the  city  and  the 
garrison  marched  out  with  the  honors 
of  war. 

Scott  now  prepared  for  his  great  over 
land  march  to  the  interior  of  Mexico. 
Sending  his  advance  column  under  Gen 
erals  Twiggs  and  Patterson  by  way  of 
the  road  that  winds  among  the  moun 
tains  to  Jalapa,  Scott  joined  them  by 
the  middle  of  April,  and  here  amid  the 
rugged  steeps  that  frowned  from  every 
side,  he  was  obliged  to  fight  a  desperate 
battle.  Santa  Anna,  after  his  disastrous 
encounter  with  Taylor  at  Buena  Vista, 
had  collected  an  army  of  about  ten  thou 
sand  men,  and  he  met  the  advancing 
Americans  in  a  mountain  pass  near 

the  village  of  Plan  del  Rio  and  under  the  shadow  of  a  lofty  hill 
called  Cerro  Gordo.  The  Mexican  commander  had  chosen  his 
position  with  admirable  skill.  The  tops  of  the  surrounding  hills, 
save  one,  were  planted  with  cannon,  while  the  main  army  occupied  a 
level  place  between  a  dashing  mountain  stream  and  a  rocky  wall  a 
thousand  feet  high.  But  Santa  Anna  left  one  lofty  eminence  unoc 
cupied,  believing,  as  he  said,  a  goat  could  not  approach 
him  from  that  point.  Scott  detected  the  omission,  and 
while  he  engaged  the  enemy  in  front  he  sent  a  detachment 
to  scale  the  unoccupied  height  and  to  command  the  Jalapa  road  above 
the  Mexican  army.  This  was  done  by  Twiggs  with  no  less  energy 
and  success  than  the  Heights  of  Abraham  at  Quebec  had  been  scaled 
by  Wolfe  nearly  a  hundred  years  before.  Santa  Anna  saw  his  mis 
take  when  too  late  to  correct  it ;  yet  the  Mexicans  fought  bravely, 
and  yielded  only  when  all  hope  of  success  had  vanished.  A  thou 
sand  of  them  were  killed  or  wounded  and  three  thousand  were  taken 
prisoners.  Santa  Anna  started  to  flee  in  his  carriage,  but  it  was 


532  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

overturned,  and  he  escaped  astride  a  mule,  leaving  with  his  carriage 
a  large  quantity  of  gold,  his  private  papers,  and  his  wooden  leg.1 
The  American  loss  slightly  exceeded  four  hundred. 

The  American  army  swept  on  like  a  tidal  wave,  capturing  every 
thing  before  it.  Jalapa,  Perota  with  its  impressive  castle,  and 
Puebla  fell  successively  into  the  hands  of  the  Americans.  In  mid 
summer  they  reached  the  summit  of  the  Cordilleras,  eight  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  here  they  opened  their  eyes  upon  one  of  the 
sublimest  scenes  in  the  world  —  the  panorama  of  the  Mexican  Valley, 
hemmed  in  by  mountain  walls  with  here  and  there  a  snow-capped 
peak  gleaming  in  the  sun ;  the  long  slopes  covered  with  the  luxuriance 
of  a  tropical  summer ;  the  sleeping  valley  with  its  glittering,  sunlit 
lakes,  and  the  ancient  city  of  the  Montezumas  nestled  in  the  midst. 

The  20th  of  August,  1847,  was  a  great  day  in  the  Mexican  War. 
Scott  had  advanced  slowly  from  Puebla  toward  the  Capital  city. 
His  four  divisions  were  commanded  respectively  by  Generals  Worth, 
Twiggs,  Pillow,  and  Quitman,  and  Franklin  Pierce,  who  was  soon  to 
outdo  his  military  chief  in  a  presidential  race,  arrived  early  in 
August  with  twenty -five  hundred  fresh  troops.  The  army  now 
numbered  eleven  thousand,  and  Scott  pressed  on  toward  the  doomed 
city  as  relentlessly  determined  on  its  fall  as  was  the  inexorable 
Cortez  who  had  marched  over  the  same  route  for  the  same  purpose 
more  than  three  hundred  years  before.  The  ever  sanguine,  irre 
pressible  Santa  Anna  had  gathered  another  army,  much  larger  than 
before.2  On  this  fateful  20th  of  August  Generals  Twiggs  and  Pillow 
with  forty -five  hundred  men  made  a  wild,  tumultuous 
dash  at  daybreak  upon  the  strong  Mexican  camp  at 
Coritreras,  held  by  General  Valencia  with  seven  thousand  men.  In 
less  than  half  an  hour  the  place  was  carried  and  three  thousand 
Mexicans  with  most  of  their  artillery  were  captured.  A  few  hours 

later  the  strongly  garrisoned  village  of  San  Antonio 
San  Antonio  ,  ,  r™  ,P  ,,.  -,  . 

was  taken.  The  Mexicans  now  rallied  in  great  num 
bers  at  the  village  of  Cherubusco  with  its  great  stone  citadel,  a  forti 
fied  convent.  This  was  within  four  miles  of  the  city  gates.  After 
a  fierce  bombardment  of  some  hours  the  outer  field  works  were 
carried.  But  the  convent  —  from  its  loopholes  bristled  many  can 
non,  and  numberless  sharpshooters  plied  their  deadly  work  from  its 
walls.  War  knows  no  religion,  and  the  American  guns  were  trained 

1  He  had  lost  a  leg  in  battle  in  1837. 

2  Scott  estimated  the  number  at  27,000.     See  "  Memoirs,"  II,  p.  487. 


THE    MEXICAN   WAR  633 


on  the  sacred  edifice.     After  a  short,  terrific  bombardment,  the  white 
flag  was  seen  waving  above  the  somber  walls  of  the  convent.     The 
Americans  had  lost  a  thousand  men  on  this  day,  and 
the  Mexicans  four  times  that  number  in  addition  to  the   cherubusco- 
prisoners  taken  in  the  morning.     The  way  was  now  open  for  the 
invading  army  to  march  upon  the  city  of  Mexico. 

President  Polk  had  sent  the  chief  clerk  of  the  state  department, 
Nicholas  B.  Trist,  to  arrange  for  peace,  and  two  weeks  were  spent 
in  negotiation.  This  came  to  naught,  and  hostilities  were  resumed. 
On  September  8  General  Worth  made  an  assault  on  the  near-by  vil 
lage  of  Molino  del  Key  to  destroy  a  cannon  foundry;  but  from  a 
stone  castle  on  the  hill  of  Chapultepec  near  the  town  Worth  was 
assaulted  with  great  vigor,  and  the  proportion  of  Amer 
ican  loss  was  greater  than  in  any  other  engagement 
during  the  war.  Some  days  later  the  castle  of  Cha 
pultepec  was  taken  by  storm,  and  on  the  14th  of  September  General 
Scott  marched  at  the  head  of  his  victorious  army  into  the  city  of 
Mexico.1  A  few  hours  later  the  stars  and  stripes  were  waving  from 
the  walls  of  the  ancient  palace  of  the  Montezumas.  The  war  was 
over;  and  it  is  notable  from  the  fact  that  the  Americans  won  every 
battle.  The  Mexicans  had  fought  nobly,  but  they  were  wanting  in- 
scientific  training,  and  moreover  many  of  them  were  half-breeds  —  a 
cross  between  the  Spaniards  and  the  ancient  Aztecs  —  and  were  no 
match  for  the  more  virile  Anglo-Saxon ;  and  now  at  the  close  of  a 
brief  war  of  a  year  and  a  half,  not  only  their  proud  city,  but  their 
whole  land  lay  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  the  conquerors  from  the 
North. 

RESULTS   OF   THE   WAR 

A  view  of  Congress  during  the  progress  of  the  war  reveals  a 
state  of  agitation  unequaled  since  the  debates  on  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  in  1820.  The  chief  result  of  the  war,  as  every  one  foresaw, 
would  be  the  addition  to  our  national  domain  of  the  immense  region 
in  the  Southwest ;  and  the  question  rose  spontaneously  in  every  mind, 
Will  it  be  free  soil,  or  slave  soil  ?  Aside  from  the  moral  aspects  of 
the  question,  the  South  had  the  right  of  priority  of  claim,  for  it  was 
the  South  that  had  brought  about  the  war,  and  its  chief  object  was 

1  Santa  Anna  had  fled  in  the  preceding  night  with  a  large  part  of  his  army,  after 
setting  free  and  arming  about  two  thousand  criminals  from  the  prisons.  These  men 
attacked  the  invading  army  from  the  housetops,  but  were  soon  put  to  rout. 


534  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

to  extend  slave  territory.  In  another  sense  the  North  had  the  first 
right,  for  this  land  had  already  been  dedicated  to  freedom  by 
Mexico.  The  Louisiana  Purchase  was  wedge-shaped,  the  larger  end 
lying  north  of  36°  30'.  The  South  had  used  up  its  smaller  end  be 
ginning  with  the  admission  of  Louisiana  in  1812,  and  ending  with 
the  admission  of  Arkansas  in  1836.  There  remained  to  the  South 
Florida  and  the  Indian  Territory,  and  now  came  Texas ;  but  these 
were  no  match  for  the  vast  territory  in  the  Northwest  to  be  carved 
into  free  states.  Almost  from  the  beginning  of  the  government  the 
states  had  been  admitted  in  pairs,  one  in  the  North  and  one  in  the 
South,  so  as  to  preserve  equal  power  in  the  Senate  between  the  free 
and  the  slave  states.  The  South  now  began  to  view  with  alarm  the 
exhaustion  of  its  territory,  while  that  of  the  North  seemed  inex 
haustible.  Hence  came  the  Mexican  War. 

But  the  South  had  not  clear  sailing ;  there  were  breakers  ahead. 
A  great  majority  of  the  people  of  the  North  opposed  the  further 
extension  of  slave  territory,  and  this  feeling  found  expression  in 
the  national  legislature.  The  storm  broke  forth  when,  in  August, 
1846,  a  young  Democrat  in  the  House,  from  Pennsylvania,  having 
been  chosen  for  the  purpose,  made  the  motion  that 
WUmot  slavery  be  forever  excluded  from  the  territory  about  to 

be  acquired  from  Mexico.  His  motion,  known  as  the 
Wilmot  Proviso,  was  an  amendment  to  a  bill  for  the  appropriation 
of  $2,000,000  for  settling  the  difficulties  with  Mexico.  The  whole 
South  flared  up  in  a  moment  in  fierce  opposition.  The  proviso  did 
not  become  a  law,  but  the  principle  it  involved  became  the  apple  of 
discord  between  the  two  sections  for  years,  and  even  threatened  the 
foundations  of  the  Union. 

The  treaty  of  peace,  signed  at  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  conveyed  to 
the  United  States  the  territory  which  has  since  become  the  states  of 
Treaty  of  California,  Nevada,  and  Utah,  part  of  Colorado,  and 
peace,  Febru-  the  largest  parts  of  the  territories  of  New  Mexico  and 
ary  2, 1848.  Arizona.1  Mexico  gave  up  the  territory  with  reluctance, 
but  she  was  prostrate  and  powerless.  She  feebly  requested,  how 
ever,  that  slavery  be  not  established  in  the  ceded  territory ;  but  Mr. 
Trist,  who  acted  for  the  United  States,  refused  even  to  mention  the 
subject  to  his  government. 

1  Five  years  later  the  United  States  purchased  from  Mexico  the  Messilla  Valley, 
about  forty-five  thousand  square  miles  of  southern  Arizona,  for  $10,000,000.  The 
purchase  was  arranged  by  Captain  Gadsden,  and  is  known  as  the  Gadsden  Purchase. 
See  map  following  p.  896. 


DISCOVERY   OF   GOLD  535 

No  true  American  is  proud  of  the  Mexican  War.  The  ceded 
territory  is  vastly  better  oh0,  it  is  true,  in  industrial  development 
and  in  civil  and  religious  liberty,  than  it  could  have  been  had  it 
remained  a  part  of  Mexico ;  but  the  means  by  which  it  was  acquired 
were  out  of  harmony  with  the  general  policy  of  the  United  States 
in  its  dealings  with  foreign  nations,  and  we  rejoice  that  this  inuova- 
vation  did  not  intrench  itself  in  the  national  mind  and  become  the 
settled  policy  of  our  country.  One  honorable  thing,  however,  we 
did  in  the  matter.  We  paid  Mexico  $15,000,000  for  the  land  ceded, 
and  this  of  our  own  free  will,  for  Mexico  was  powerless  and  could 
not  have  resisted  had  our  government  chosen  to  pay  nothing.  This 
great  acquisition  of  territory,  if  Texas  be  included,  aggregated  about 
850,000  square  miles,  —  more  than  the  whole  United  States  at  the 
close  of  the  Revolution. 

Little  did  Mexico  dream  of  the  hidden  wealth  that  lay  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  lands  she  ceded  to  her  great  rival.  Nine  days 
before  the  treaty  was  signed  the  discovery  of  gold  was  made  in 
California.  Some  years  before  this  the  enterprising  Swiss,  John  A. 
Sutter,  had  settled  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Sacra-  Discovery  Of 
mento,  had  possessed  himself  of  several  thousand  acres  gold  in 
of  land,  and  had  built  a  fort,  which  he  called  after  his  California, 
own  name.  He  owned  many  thousand  head  of  sheep  and  cattle,  had 
several  hundred  men  in  his  employ,  and  was  truly  a  prince  in  the 
western  wilds.  In  the  employ  of  Sutter  was  a  carpenter  from.  New 
Jersey  named  James  Marshall,  and  it  was  he  who  first  made  the 
discovery.  Marshall  was  superintending  the  building  of  a  mill  on  a 
branch  of  the  American  River  near  the  base  of  the  Sierra  Nevada 
Mountains,  when  he  observed  little  shining  particles  in  the  mill  race 
that  proved  to  be  gold.  The  news  soon  spread  to  the  surrounding 
settlements,  but  the  people  were  slow  to  believe. 

At  length,  however,  with  the  opening  of  spring,  the  conversion 
of  the  coast  was  complete.  The  village  of  San  Francisco  went  wild 
over  the  great  discovery.  Many  sold  all  their  possessions  and  has 
tened  to  the  gold  fields.  All  other  business  came  to  a  standstill. 
The  judge  abandoned  the  bench,  and  the  physician  his  patients  ;  the 
town  council  was  broken  up  for  want  of  a  quorum  ;  farms  were  left 
tenantless,  and  waving  fields  of  grain  were  allowed  to  run  to  waste.1 

The  news  that  gold  had  been  discovered  in  California  spread 
slowly  at  first,  as  the  railroad  and  the  telegraph  had  not  reached  the 
i  H.  H.  Bancroft,  Vol.  XXIII,  p.  62. 


536  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

remote  regions  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  ;  but  at  length  it 
reached  the  East,  spread  across  the  Atlantic  to  Europe,  and  was 
published  in  all  the  leading  newspapers  of  the  world.  Great  was 
the  excitement  in  every  land,  and  ships  from  every 
clime  were  diverted  from  the  channels  of  trade  and 
headed  for  the  Pacific  Coast.  Many  came  by  way  of 
Cape  Horn  ;  others  braved  the  deadly  climate  of  Panama,  while  thou 
sands  from  every  part  of  the  Union  crossed  the  western  plains  in 
moving  wagons.  Long  trains  of  wagons  "wound  their  way  across 
the  plains  and  over  the  mountains  toward  the  setting  sun.  Many 
were  the  perils  of  this  long  and  weary  journey  —  the  wild  animal 
and  the  wild  Indian,  exposure  to  the  mountain  snows,  and,  above  all, 
the  cholera.  The  cholera  attacked  these  west-bound  trains,  and  many 
a  weary  traveler  never  reached  his  El  Dorado,  but  found  a  nameless 
grave,  far  from  home  and  kindred,  in  the  vast  and  trackless  regions 
of  the  West.  It  was  in  the  summer  of  1849  that  this  tide  of  hu 
manity  from  afar  began  to  pour  into  the  Sacramento  Valley  —  a  few 
to  realize  the  dream  of  wealth,  more  to  gain  a  modest  competence, 
but  the  majority  to  meet  disappointment,  to  return  broken  in  health 
and  spirits,  or  to  fill  an  unknown  grave  in  the  wilderness. 

California  was  peopled  as  no  other  colony  or  territory  in  the 
Western  World  had  been,  and  in  less  than  two  years  after  the  golden 
discovery,  the  number  of  inhabitants  exceeded  a  hundred  thousand  ; 
and  it  was  this  discovery  that  came  to  the  rescue  of  Congress  in 
deciding  the  great  question  involved  in  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  But 
before  disposing  of  the  subject  we  must  stop  and  note  the  election 
of  a  new  President. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  Democrats  slowly  lost  in  power  dur 
ing  the  Polk  administration.  A  great  movement  usually  wins  friends 
as  it  proves  its  ability  to  succeed,  but  not  so  with  the  Mexican  War. 
The  reason  of  this  change  of  heart  was  that  many  of  the  people 
lost  interest  in  the  war  and  in  the  party  that  had  waged  it,  when 
they  saw  that  the  chief  object  was  to  humble  a  weak  sister  republic 
for  the  purpose  of  robbing  her  of  her  territory.  Moreover,  the 
slavery  question  played  its  part.  The  North  feared  that  the  newly 
acquired  lands  would,  and  the  South  feared  that  they  would  not, 
become  slave  territory ;  and  for  these  opposite  reasons  the  interest 
waned  on  both  sides  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  Much  would 
depend  on  the  next  President.  Who  would  he  be  ?  This  was  the 
absorbing  question  of  the  moment. 


TAYLOR   AND   SCOTT  637 


The  Whigs  were  hopeful ;  their  star  was  rising.  From  three 
prominent  candidates  they  were  to  make  their  nomination  —  Henry 
Clay,  "the  same  old  coon,"  as  the  Democrats  put  it,  and  the  two 
successful  generals  of  the  war.  But  Clay  was  rapidly  growing  old, 
the  great  questions  with  which  he  had  been  identified  were  now 
settled,  and  more  than  once  he  had  led  the  party  to  defeat.  His 
star  was  visibly  waning,  and  no  longer  could  the  magic  name  of  Clay 
awaken  the  enthusiasm  of  bygone  years.  Of  the  two  military 
commanders,  Taylor  had  a  clear  advantage  over  Scott.  His  achieve 
ments  in  Mexico  were  no  greater  than  those  of  Scott ;  but  he  won 
his  laurels  while  the  war  was  still  popular  and  the  eyes  of  the  coun 
try  were  riveted  upon  it.  Scott's  victories  came  later,  when  the 
people  had  begun  to  compare  the  war  with  a  fight  between  a  big 
bully  and  a  child.  Scott  therefore  never  received  the  honor  accorded 
Taylor.  But  the  respective  personalities  of  the  two  men  had  some 
thing  to  do  with  deciding  the  contest.  Taylor  was  wanting  in 
education  and  social  polish;  he  refused  to  wear  the 
uniform,  and  cared  little  for  his  personal  appearance.  S^t1°r  an 
He  received  the  sobriquet  of  "Rough  and  Ready." 
These  qualities  appealed  to  the  masses.  Scott,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  highly  cultured,  urbane,  self-conscious,  and  dignified.  He  was 
exceedingly  exact  in  his  dress,  speech,  and  actions.  He  was  nick 
named  "  Fuss  and  Feathers."  Taylor  had  the  further  advantage  of 
being  new  to  fame,  while  Scott  had  been  in  the  public  eye  for  nearly 
forty  years,  and  he  was  almost  as  much  a  politician  as  a  soldier. 

When  Taylor  was  first  informed  that  he  was  spoken  of  for  the 
presidency  he  was  astonished ;  then  he  laughed  at  the  ridiculous 
idea.  But  as  the  months  passed  and  the  newspapers  were  full  of 
the  subject,  he  began  to  take  it  seriously.  Clay  wrote  him  suggest 
ing  that  he  withdraw  his  name,  but  this  the  old  hero  refused  to  do, 
and  he  entered  the  lists,  determined  to  win  if  he  could. 

Taylor  received  the  nomination  at  the  Whig  convention  in  Phila 
delphia.  Clay  was  disappointed  and  refused  to  support  him.  Web 
ster  pronounced  the  nomination  one  "  not  fit  to  be  made."  Horace 
Greeley  and  Thurlow  Weed  held  aloof  till  late  in  the  fall,  when  they 
came  into  line.  But  Taylor  had  won  the  great  popular  heart.  As 
Taylor  was  a  resident  of  the  South  and  a  slaveholder,  it  was  neces 
sary  to  give  the  second  place  to  a  northern  man,  and  Millard  Fillmore 
of  New  York  was  nominated. 

The  Democrats  met  in  Baltimore  and  nominated  General  Lewis 


638  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

Cass  of  Michigan  for  President,  and  William  0.  Butler  of  Kentucky 
for  Vice  President.  Cass  was  a  man  with  an  interesting  record. 
We  first  meet  him  in  the  War  of  1812.  He  was  a  young  officer 
under  Hull  at  the  surrender  of  Michigan,  and  rather  than  surrender 
his  sword  to  the  British  officer,  he  broke  it  across  a  stone.  After 
the  war  he  became  governor  of  Michigan  Territory  and 
Lewis  Cass.  jie^  ^  pOSt  for  eighteen  years.  Seeing  that  Detroit 
would  grow  into  a  city,  he  purchased  a  large  farm  just  outside  the 
village,  and  as  the  town  expanded  the  farm  grew  in. value  until  its 
owner  became  a  millionaire.1  Next  we  find  Cass  in  the  Cabinet  of 
Jackson,  then  minister  to  France,  and  finally  in  the  United  States 
Senate.  But  Cass  lacked  one  of  the  most  essential  qualities  of  the 
modern  politician  —  he  was,  like  General  Scott,  self-conscious,  urbane, 
and  he  held  himself  aloof  from  the  vulgar  crowd.  Nevertheless 
Cass  would  probably  have  been  elected  but  for  the  defection  of  his 
old  enemy  and  rival,  Martin  Van  Buren.  The  Democrats  of  New 
York  were  divided  into  two  factions,  the  Hunkers  and 
the  Barnburners.  The  latter  were  not  in  sympathy 
with  the  slave  propagandists  ;  they  refused  to  support  Cass,  joined 
the  Free-soilers,  and  nominated  a  third  ticket  with  Van  Buren  at  its 
head.  Van  Buren  did  not  love  Cass,  nor  had  he  forgiven  the  party 
for  choosing  Polk  instead  of  himself  four  years  before.  But  at  that 
time  his  great  benefactor  of  Tennessee  was  still  living,  and  this 
fact  probably  held  the  New  Yorker  in  line  with  his  party.  But 
now  Jackson  was  dead,  and  Van  Buren  took  the  opportunity  to  take 
vengeance  on  the  party.  He  was  quite  successful.  His  personal 
following  in  his  own  state  was  sufficient  to  split  the  party  almost  in 
the  middle  and  to  give  the  electors  to  Taylor ;  and  New  York  was 
again  the  pivotal  state  and  decided  the  election. 


ZACHARY   TAYLOR 

Zachary  Taylor  was  a  soldier  and  only  a  soldier.  Of  the  wiles 
of  the  politician,  of  the  wonderful  machinery  of  party  organization, 
he  was  as  ignorant  as  a  child.  Of  the  vast  responsibility  of  the 
presidency  he  knew  almost  nothing.  But  withal  he  was  a  rugged, 
powerful,  honest  personality.  He  loved  his  country  above  all  things, 

1  Had  Cass  been  elected,  he  would  be,  thus  far,  our  only  millionaire  President. 
It  is  a  significant,  fact,  in  this  age  of  colossal  fortunes,  that  we  have  never  had  a  very 
rich  President. 


SLAVERY-   AGITATION  539 


and  his  motives  were  without  a  flaw.  The  son  of  a  patriot  who  had 
fought  in  the  Ilevolution,  he  was  born  in  Virginia  the  year  after 
General  Clinton  had  evacuated  New  York.  At  an  early  age  he 
entered  the  army  and  saw  service  through  the  War  of  1812,  and  the 
Black  Hawk  and  Seminole  wars.  Humbly  he  served  his  country  for 
forty  years,  wholly  unknown  to  fame  until  his  sudden  bound  into 
prominence  in  the  war  with  Mexico. 

Scarcely  was  Taylor  installed  in  the  great  office  when  the  whole 
country  turned  to  him  for  a  solution  of  the  momentous  issue  on 
which  neither  party  had  dared  give  expression  in  the  campaign  of 
the  preceding  year  —  that  involved  in  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  Cali 
fornia  was  now  knocking  for  admission  into  the  Union  —  as  a  free 
state.  As  stated  above,  the  discovery  of  gold  had  aided  in  settling 
the  slavery  question  for  the  Southwest.  The  men  who  went  to  the 
mines  were  not  slaveholders,  though  many  were  from  the  South. 
The  slave  owner  must  remain  with  his  plantation  and  his  family. 
The  men  who  flocked  to  the  coast  were,  for  the  most  part,  laborers, 
nor  could  they  endure  the  thought  of  inviting  the  black  bondsmen 
into  their  midst  to  become  their  comrades  in  the  field  of  toil.  When, 
therefore,  the  Californians,  in  the  autumn  of  1849,  framed  a  state 
constitution,  they  excluded  slavery  from  the  soil  by  a  unanimous 
vote.  At  this  the  South  was  deeply  stirred.  The  war  had  been 
pressed  to  a  finish  by  a  southern  President  and  by  a  Congress  domi 
nated  by  the  South ;  the  chief  object  had  been  to  extend  slave  terri 
tory  ;  and  now  to  have  the  fairest  portion  of  the  newly  acquired 
land  snatched  forever  from  their  grasp  was  more  than  the  slave 
holders  could  bear.  They  turned  with  hopeful  eyes  to  the  new 
President.  What  would  he  do  ?  He  was  a  southern  man,  and  he 
owned  a  large  plantation  and  several  hundred  slaves  in  Louisiana. 
On  this  the  hopes  of  the  South  were  based,  though  Taylor  had  said 
that  he  would  not  be  a  sectional  nor  a  partisan  President.  At  length 
all  doubts  were  set  at  rest  when  the  President  proved  that  his  pa 
triotism  towered  above  his  sectional  or  partisan  feeling  by  recom 
mending  that  California  be  admitted  as  a  free  state. 

The  slave  power  now  became  enraged  ;  it  demanded  that  California 
be  divided  in  the  middle  and  that  the  southern  half  be 
made  a  slave  state,  or  that  the  Missouri  Compromise   s^^ 
line  be  extended  beyond  its  original  limits,  the  Loui 
siana  Purchase,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.      Threats  of  destroying  the 
Union  began  to  spread  through  the  South.     Alexander  H.  Stephens 


640  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

wrote  in  December,  1849,  that  the  feeling  among  the  southern  mem 
bers  for  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  was  becoming  far  more  general. 
Robert  Toombs  declared  in  the  House  that  he  did  not  hesitate  "  to 
avow  before  this  House  and  the  country,  and  in  the  presence  of  the 
living  God,  that  if  by  your  legislation  you  seek  to  drive  us  from 
the  territories  of  California  and  New  Mexico  ...  I  am  for  dis 
union."  Calhoun,  the  greatest  of  southern  leaders,  had  made  artful 
efforts  to  unite  all  slaveholders  in  Congress  to  demand  concessions 
from  the  North  and  to  foster  the  spirit  of  disunion,  if  their  demand 
was  refused.  Such  was  the  condition  of  the  country  —  California 
knocking  for  admission  as  a  free  state,  the  South  demanding  that  it 
be  divided  in  the  middle,  the  North  in  equal  turmoil,  many  of  the 
people  ready  to  yield  to  southern  demands  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
but  a  greater  number  declaring  frantically  that  slavery  should  en 
croach  no  farther  on  free  soil  —  such  was  the  condition  at  the  open 
ing  of  that  memorable  year  in  American  history, 

EIGHTEEN   HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY 

From  the  time  of  the  launching  of  the  government  under  the 
new  Constitution  to  the  Civil  War  the  darkest  year  of  all  was  1850. 
There  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  threat  of  wholesale  secession  was 
serious.  A  convention  of  leading  southern  statesmen  met  at  Nash 
ville  in  June,  1850,  and  solemnly  declared  that  a  state  had  the  ab 
stract  right  to  secede  from  the  Union.  Not  one  lone  state,  as  in 
1832,  but  most  of  the  slave  states  seemed  to  contemplate  taking  the 
fatal  step.1  Had  secession  now  been  accomplished,  our  glorious 
Union  would  probably  have  perished.  Jackson  was  in  his  grave 
and  Lincoln  was  unknown;  nor  was  there  any  great  political  party, 
as  ten  years  later,  pledged  to  the  maintenance  of  its  integrity. 

While  the  country  was  in  this  state  of  unrest  the  Thirty-first 
Congress  met.  The  House  chose  Howell  Cobb  of  Georgia  speaker, 
after  a  wrangle  of  three  weeks.  The  Senate  was 
Lte'  the  ablest  that  ever  .  sat  in  Washington.  Here  for 
the  last  time  was  the  great  triumvirate,  —  Clay,  Webster,  and 
Calhoun,  —  all  of  whom  had  figured  in  every  great  governmental 
movement  for  forty  years.  Here,  too,  were  Benton,  serving  his  thir 
tieth  year  in  the  Senate,  the  stentorian  Hale  of  New  Hampshire, 

1  Benton  took  the  ground,  however,  and  with  some  show  of  reason,  that  the 
bluster  would  subside,  and  that  there  was  no  serious  danger  to  the  Union. 


GREAT   DEBATES   IN   THE   SENATE  541 

Stephen  A.  Douglas  from  Illinois,  and  Jefferson  Davis  of  Missis 
sippi ;  Seward  of  the  Empire  State,  and  the  powerful  pair  from 
Ohio,  Salmon  P.  Chase  and  Thomas  Corwin.  Early  in  the  session 
Clay  assumed  the  leadership,  as  always,  and  he  brought  forward  a 
series  of  compromise  measures  which  he  hoped  would 
restore  harmony  between  the  warring  sections.  These  Clay'8 
are  known  as  the  Compromise  Measures  of  1850,  or  the 
Omnibus  Bill.  In  this  famous  bill  were  eight  items,  the  most  im 
portant  being  the  first,  which  called  for  the  admission  of  California 
as  a  free  state;  the  sixth,  which  prohibited  the  slave  trade  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia ;  and  the  seventh,  which  called  for  a  new  fugitive- 
slave  law.  These  measures  absorbed  the  attention  of  Congress  for 
more  than  eight  months.  The  bill  was  eventually  torn  to  pieces 
and  passed  in  sections.  Clay  was  the  champion  and  leader  through 
out.  He  had  passed  his  seventy-second  year,  and  his  health  was 
broken ;  but  the  fire  of  his  eloquence  still  glowed  with  the  luster  of 
former  days.  Clay  was  the  most  national,  the  broadest  in  his  sym 
pathies,  of  all  men  in  Congress  at  this  time.  A  resident  of  a  border 
state  and  the  owner  of  slaves,  he  was  as  truly  a  northern  as  a  south 
ern  man.  When  Jefferson  Davis  declared  in  the  Senate  that  the 
Missouri  line  must  be  extended  to  the  Pacific,  Clay's  instant  retort 
was  that  he  could  never  agree  to  it,  that  the  Southwest  was  free  ter 
ritory  and  must  remain  so,  that  we  justly  reproached  our  British 
ancestors  for  introducing  slavery  on  this  continent,  and  he  was  un 
willing  that  the  future  inhabitants  of  California  and  New  Mexico 
should  reproach  us  for  the  same  offense.  Clay  announced  that  on  a 
certain  day  in  February  he  would  speak  on  his  bill,  and  thousands 
of  people,  many  from  distant  cities,  came  to  hear  this  last  great 
speech  of  this  most  magnetic  of  American  orators. 

In  March  three  speeches  of  much  historic  importance  were 
delivered  in  the  Senate,  by  Calhoun,  Webster,  and  Seward.  Cal- 
houn  was  slowly  dying;  but  his  unconquerable  will  fought  down 
disease  until  he  had  prepared  an  elaborate  speech  on  the  compro 
mise  measures.  Supported  by  two  friends,  he  tottered  into  the 
senate  chamber;  but  he  was  unable  to  read  his  speech,  and  this 
was  done  by  another.  The  utmost  attention  was  paid  to  this  final 
word  from  the  greatest  of  the  living  sons  of  the  South.  In  front 
of  the  reader  sat,  with  half-closed  eyes,  in  rigid  silence,  the  ghost 
like  form  of  the  author.  Calhoun  was  an  honest  man,  and  in  this 
speech  he  gave  expression  to  the  honest  convictions  of  his  soul.  He 


542  HISTORY   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES 

showed  how  the  North,  in  his  belief,  had  encroached  on  the  rights 
of  the  South  until  the  Union  was  in  danger,  —  how  the  great  Protes 
tant  churches  had  separated  into  northern  and  southern 
Ssfspeech  branches,  —  how  one  cord  after  another  that  bound 
the  two  sections  of  the  country  together  had  snapped, 
and  soon  there  would  be  none  remaining.  He  appealed  to  the 
North  to  consent  to  amend  the  Constitution  so  as  to  give  the  South 
the  power  to  protect  herself.1  Thus  ended  the  public  career  of  the 
great  South  Carolinian.  He  died  on  the  last  day  of  March. 

It  is  not  true  that  Calhoun  sought  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 
He  probably  loved  his  state  and  section  more  than  the  Union;  and, 
believing  that  slavery  was  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  his  section, 
he  espoused  the  cause  of  slavery.  But  as  well  say  that  Chatham, 
in  defending  the  rights  of  the  colonies,  ceased  to  be  a  loyal  English 
man,  as  that  Calhoun  no  longer  loved  his  country.  And  nothing  in 
his  life  showed  more  conclusively  that  he  still  loved  the  flag  than 
did  this  last  great  speech  of  his  life,  in  which  he  pleads  from  the 
depths  of  his  honest  soul  for  the  removal  of  the  evils  that  in  his 
judgment  menaced  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union. 

Many  and  able  were  the  other  champions  of  the  slave  power 
during  the  generation  preceding  the  Civil  War;  but  Calhoun  towers 
above  them  all.  His  prophetic  vision  exceeded  that  of  any  of  his 
contemporaries.  He  saw  the  gathering  storm,  the  implacable  strife 
between  the  slave  states  and  the  free,  long  before  it  assumed  threat 
ening  proportions.  He  saw,  too,  that  the  little,  despised  Abolition 
societies  of  the  North  would,  by  their  unceasing  cry  against 
slavery,  eventually  mold  the  conscience  of  millions,  and  he  called 
for  their  suppression  by  legislation.  Calhoun  was  right  in  believ 
ing  that  if  the  moral  consciousness  of  the  nation  opposed  slavery, 
slavery  must  fall.  But  he  made  mistakes.  He  was  wrong  in  believ 
ing  that  human  legislation  can  govern  the  conscience  of  the  people ; 
wrong  in  predicting  that  the  Union  could  not  survive  a  bloody  war ; 
and  strangest  of  all,  he  and  all  his  brethren  were  wrong  in  their 
claim  that  social  conditions  in  the  South  would  be  unendurable,  if 
the  black  man  were  given  his  freedom. 

The  next  great  speech  of  the  month  was  made  by  Daniel  Webster, 

1  It  was  not  then  known  to  what  Calhoun  referred  in  this  suggestion ;  but  his 
posthumous  papers  explained  that  he  would  have  the  Constitution  amended  so  as  to 
elect  two  Presidents,  one  from  the  slave  states,  and  one  from  the  free  states,  each  to 
have  a  veto  on  all  national  legislation. 


SEVENTH   OF   MARCH   SPEECH  543 

but  three  days  after  that  of  Calhoun,  and  it  is  known  as  his  "  Seventh 
of  March  Speech."  A  voice  from  this  great  son  of  New  England 
had  been  eagerly  awaited.  Since  his  reply  to  Hayne  in  1830  Web 
ster  had  easily  held  the  palm  as  the  greatest  orator  in  America.  As 
an  intellectual  giant  Webster  surpassed -all  men  of  his  generation. 
As  he  stood  before  an  audience  the  sweep  of  his  eloquence,  like  a 
rushing  river,  bore  everything  before  it.  His  mind  grasped  under 
lying  principles,  and  these  he  made  so  clear  that  the  unlearned  man 
could  readily  comprehend  them.  Webster  has  often 
been  compared  to  Edmund  Burke ;  and  the  speeches 
of  both  have  the  rare  distinction  of  holding  a  permanent  place  in 
the  literature  of  their  common  language. 

Twenty  years  had  now  passed  since  the  mighty  voice  of  Webster 
had  spoken  for  nationality  in  tones  that  stirred  the  world.  Old  age 
was  now  creeping  upon  his  frame  and  his  powers  were  beginning  to 
wane ;  but  he  roused  himself  like  a  Hercules  for  this  one  powerful  final 
effort.  The  country  was  in  deep  agitation.  The  North  had  shown 
even  greater  inclination  to  rebel  against  the  proposed  Fugitive  Slave 
Law  than  the  South  had  done  against  free  California.  But  all  waited 
eagerly  to  hear  from  Webster,  the  greatest  representative  of  the  North. 
There  was  a  feeling  of  uncertainty  among  his  friends,  and  not  with 
out  reason.  At  various  times  Webster  had  shown  his  independence 
of  party  or  sectional  adherence.  He  had  acted  with  the  Democratic 
President  in  1833 ;  he  had  sided  with  the  South  in  the  Creole  affair 
of  1841 ;  and  above  all  he  had  abandoned  his  party  while  a  member 
of  the  Tyler  Cabinet.  But  these  episodes  had  only  temporarily 
broken  the  magic  spell  in  which  he  held  the  northern  heart.  It 
was  left  for  this  Seventh  of  March  Speech  to  shatter  the  idol  that 
the  people  had  worshiped  so  long.  The  speech  he  made  on  this 
day  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  his  life.  His  constitu 
tional  discussion  of  the  slavery  question  was  learned 
and  profound,  and  for  the  most  part  pleasing  to  his 
constituents.  But  his  views  on  the  Wilmot  Proviso  and  the  Fugi 
tive  Slave  Law  caused  great  offense.  It  was  needless,  he  claimed,  it 
was  a  "  taunt  and  reproach  "  to  the  slaveholders  to  exclude  slavery 
by  law  from  California  and  New  Mexico,  as  the  laws  of  nature  had 
already  done  this.  "  I  would  not  take  pains,  uselessly  to  reaffirm 
an  ordinance  of  nature,  nor  to  reenact  the  will  of  God."  He  also 
declared  that  the  North  had  lacked  in  its  duty  to  the  South  in  the 
matter  of  runaway  slaves,  that  the  South  had  just  grounds  of  com- 


544  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

plaint ;  and  he  went  out  of  his  way  to  denounce  the  Abolition 
societies  of  his  own  section. 

This  oration  of  Webster  created  consternation  throughout  the 
North  and  brought  the  severest  denunciations  upon  the  head  of  its 
author.  He  was  condemned  on  every  side  as  a  traitor  to  the  cause 
of  liberty.  Giddings  declared  that  the  speech  had  struck  a  blow  at 
freedom  such  as  no  southern  arm  could  have  given.  Horace  Mann 
said  that  Webster  had  played  false  to  the  North,  that  he  was  a 
fallen  star,  a  Lucifer  descending  from  heaven.  Whittier,  in  the 
little  poem  "  Ichabod,"  mourned  the  fall  of  one  in  whom  honor  and 
faith  were  dead.  At  a  great  meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall  Theodore 
Parker  compared  the  action  of  Webster  to  that  of  Benedict  Arnold, 
and  declared  that  AVebster  was  only  seeking  southern  support  for 
the  presidency.  In  the  course  of  a  few  months,  this  wave  of  indig 
nation  spent  itself  to  some  extent;  but  never  again  did  Webster 
regain  the  popularity  that  he  lost  on  this  fatal  day.  It  is  difficult 
for  us  to  understand  at  this  day  how  Webster's  apparently  moderate 
statements  could  have  raised  such  a  storm,  but  it  must  be  remem 
bered  that  the  country  was  greatly  excited  over  this  all-absorbing 
slavery  question. 

On  the  llth  of  March  Seward  delivered  in  the  Senate  the 
third  of  the  great  speeches  of  the  month.  Seward  had  been  twice 
governor  of  New  York ;  his  fame  was  national,  and  he 
was  looked  on  as  one  of  the  leaders  in  political  thought. 
His  effort  on  this  day  fell  far  below  that  of  Webster  in  rhetorical 
finish,  but  it  made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  country ;  and 
from  that  moment  Seward  became  the  leader  of  northern  thought  on 
the  great  subject  that  disturbed  the  harmony  between  the  two  sec 
tions.  This  leadership  continued  to  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War, 
when  a  greater  than  Seward  laid  his  hand  upon  the  helm. 

In  this  discourse  of  March  11  Seward  took  strong  ground 
against  the  pending  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  declaring  that  public  senti 
ment  at  the  North  would  not  support  it,  and  that  no  government 
could  change  the  moral  convictions  of  the  people  by  force.  He  also 
stated  that  there  was  a  "  higher  law  than  the  Constitution,"  and 
this  maxim  became  the  ground  on  which  the  people  of  the  North 
resisted  the  law,  afterward  enacted,  for  the  capture  of  fugitive 
slaves.  He  further  advanced  the  opinion  that  the  fall  of  slavery  in 
the  United  States  was  inevitable,  evidently  by  peaceful  means,  as 
he  disclaimed  all  belief  in  secession  or  disunion.  By  this  speech 


DEATH   OF   THE    PRESIDENT  545 

Seward  assumed  the  leadership  that  would  have  remained  with 
Webster  had  the  latter  not  taken  a  position  at  variance  with  the 
prevailing  sentiment  at  the  North. 

The  debates  on  these  great  measures  continued  for  many  months, 
sometimes  reaching  a  state  of  extreme  acrimony.  In  April  Senator 
Benton  almost  came  to  blows  with  Senator  Foote  of  Mississippi. 
Benton  came  from  a  slave  state,  but  his  views  for  the  most  part 
coincided  with  those  of  the  North,  and  the  southern 
members  considered  him  a  renegade  and  lost  no  oppor- 
t unity  to  taunt  him.  Foote  was  making  some  caustic 
and  insulting  remarks  about  Benton,  when  the  latter  rose  from  his 
seat  and  advanced  toward  the  speaker  in  a  hostile  attitude ;  where 
upon  Foote  drew  a  loaded  revolver.  At  this  Benton  became  greatly 
excited  and  cried  to  his  friends,  who  were  attempting  to  restrain 
him  :  "  I  am  not  armed  ;  I  disdain  to  carry  arms.  Stand  aside  and 
let  the  assassin  fire."  A  committee  of  investigation  afterward 
reported  that  no  similar  scene  had  ever  before  been  witnessed  in  the 
Senate.  But  the  matter  was  dropped  and  nothing  further  was  done. 

The  measures  under  discussion  were  at  length  referred  to  a  grand 
Senate  committee  of  thirteen,  with  Clay  as  its  chairman.  This  com 
mittee  soon  made  its  report,  which  differed  little  from  Clay's  com 
promise  measures  offered  in  January.  President  Taylor  openly 
opposed  the  measures  as  a  whole,  and  especially  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law  and  the  offer  to  pay  Texas  a  large  sum  of  money  for  her  claims 
on  New  Mexico.  His  sympathies  were  evidently  with  the  northern 
Whigs.  But  his  course  was  run.  The  hero  of  many  battles  at  last 
met  a  foe  that  he  could  not  conquer. 

On  the  4th  of  July  the  President  attended  a  mass  meeting  at 
the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  Washington  Monument,  and  he 
sat  for  several  hours  in  the  broiling  sun.  Partially  over-  Death  of 
come  by  heat,  he  returned  to  the  White  House,  drank   President 
large  draughts  of  iced  milk  and  ate  iced  fruits.     That  Taylor, 
evening  he  was  taken  ill  with  cholera  morbus.     In  a  few  days  it 
merged  into  typhoid '  fever,  and  on  the  9th  of  July  Zachary  Taylor 
was  dead.     Sadly  the  funeral  procession  moved  through  the  streets 
of  the  capital  city,  and  not  the  least  impressive  feature  was  "  Old 
Whitey,"  the  faithful  steed  that  General  Taylor  had  ridden  through 
the  Mexican  War,  now  led  behind  the  casket,  bearing  an  empty  sad 
dle.     Thus  for  a  second  time  the  unfortunate  Whig  party  had  lost 
its  President  by  death.     The  ultra-southerners  received  the  news  of 


546  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  President's  death  with  complacency  ;  in  the  North  the  mourning 
was  sincere  and  widespread.  Strange  too,  for  the  dead  President  was 
a  southern  man  and  the  incoming  President  a  northern  man.  But 
the  former  was  broad  and  national  in  his  views  ;  the  latter  was  "a 
northern  man  with  southern  principles." 

Millard  Fillmore,  born  in  the  wilderness  of  northern  New  York 
in  1800,  was  a  self-made  man  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term.  He 
picked  up  a  meager  education  as  best  he  could,  became 
a  leading  lawyer  of  Buffalo  and  a  member  of  his  state 
legislature,  and  served  for  several  years  in  the  Lower  House  of  Con 
gress.  As  a  member  of  the  House  he  was  noted  for  his  conservatism 
and  for  painstaking  industry.  For  several  years  he  labored  shoulder 
to  shoulder  with  John  Quincy  Adams  for  the  right  of  petition,  and 
it  was  not  until  the  higher  honors  of  the  presidency  came  to  him 
that  he  became  known  as  "  a  northern  man  with  southern  princi 
ples."  Even  then  he  was  not  a  radical,  and  his  favoring  the  com 
promise  measures,  contrary  to  the  Whig  sentiment  of  his  own  section, 
was  doubtless  based  on  an  honest  desire  to  do  the  best  in  his  power 
for  his  country.  The  President  tendered  the  position  of  secretary 
of  state  to  Webster,  who  accepted  it;  and  this  fact,  since  it  was 
known  that  Webster  favored  the  compromise,  and  the  further  fact 
that  four  of  the  six  other  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  from  the 
South,  revealed  to  the  country  that  the  new  President  held  different 
views  on  the  great  questions  of  the  day  from  those  held  by  his  prede 
cessor.  The  advice  of  Seward,  who  had  been  the  chief  counsellor 
of  President  Taylor,  was  now  no  longer  sought.  Seward  men  were 
removed  from  office  and  their  places  were  filled  with  conservative 
Whigs,  and  it  was  plain  that  the  administration  intended  to  use  the 
patronage  wherever  possible  to  unify  the  party  on  the  compromise. 

The  great  debates  went  on,  and  soon  the  fruit  of  the  long  toil 
began  to  appear.  Before  the  end  of  August  the  Senate  had  passed 
Passage  of  ^he  bill  settling  the  boundary  of  Texas  and  giving 
the  com-  that  state  $  10,000,000  for  the  relinquishment  of  her 

promise.  claims  on  New  Mexico,1  also  the  bill  admitting  Cali 

fornia,  another  organizing  New  Mexico  as  a  territory  without  the 
Wilmot  Proviso,2  and,  most  important  of  all,  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law. 

i'This  act  brought  forth  grave  accusations  of  jobbery.  Texas  scrip,  which  had 
fallen  to  one  sixth  of  its  face  value,  now  rose  to  par,  and  it  was  believed  that  many 
speculators  in  this  scrip  made  fortunes  by  this  act  of  Congress. 

2  A  similar  act  concerning  Utah  had  passed  on  the  last  day  of  July. 


THE   COMPROMISE   ADOPTED  547 

The  bill  abolishing  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia  passed 
the  Senate  in  September.  All  these  measures  passed  the  House  in 
September  with  little  debate,  and  all  were  signed  by  the  President. 

From  the  foundation  of  the  government  there  had  seldom  been  a 
measure  enacted  into  law  of  more  far-reaching  consequence  than 
were  some  of  the  enactments  of  this  Compromise  of  1850.  The 
measures  were  non-partisan  ;  they  were  sectional.  The  Democrats 
and  Whigs  of  the  North  joined  in  opposing  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act, 
while  both  parties  at  the  South  joined  in  opposing  free  California 
and  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
For  some  years  the  two  great  parties  had  grown  nearer  together,  and 
now  their  chief  cause  of  rivalry  was  based  on  a  desire  for  supremacy.1 
The  great  questions  of  the  times  were  sectional  and  not  partisan, 
and  the  fact  that  the  two  great  parties  now  stood  on  common  ground 
and  no  longer  represented  opposing  schools  of  thought  explains  in 
great  part  the  dissolution  of  the  one  in  the  near  future,  for  in  the 
world  of  politics  the  coexistence  of  two  of  a  kind  is  impossible. 
But  this  must  be  noticed  later. 

The  compromise  measures  were  on  the  whole  favorable  to  the 
North  rather  than  to  the  South.2  Two  items  in  this  famous  mid- 
century  legislation  were  of  momentous  interest  to  the  nation.  One, 
the  admission  of  California  as  a  free  state,  was  deeply  offensive  to 
the  South,  but  there  it  stood  on  the  statutes,  a  permanent  fact  that 
could  never  be  undone.  The  other,  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  was 
equally  offensive  to  the  North ;  but  it  was  not  an  abiding  fact ;  it 
was  a  temporary  measure,  and  its  enforcement  depended  largely  upon 
its  individual  reception  by  the  people  of  the  North.  Moreover,  it 
worked  irretrievable  injury  to  the  slave  power  by  awakening  an 
antislavery  sentiment  in  the  North  as  nothing  else  could  have  done. 
The  vicious  law  for  the  rendition  of  runaway  slaves  had  been  forced 
upon  the  North  for  other  reasons  than  the  desire  to  recover  lost 
property.3  It  was  not  the  border  states,  but  the  cotton  states  of  the 
far  South,  from  which  few  of  their  bondsmen  escaped,  that  were 
most  instrumental  in  placing  this  law  upon  the  statutes.  Their 
motive  was  to  humble  the  North  for  having  forced  upon  them  the 

1  Von  Hoist,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  102. 

2  If  we  include  the  admission  of  California  as  part  of  the  compromise ;  but  more 
strictly  speaking  it  was  not,  as  this  item  had  previously  been  decided  by  the  people 
of  California. 

3  See  Khodes,  "  History  of  the  United  States  from  the  Compromise  of  1850,"  Vol. 
I,  p.  187. 


548  HISTOHY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

bitter  medicine  of  free  California.  Neither  section  was  pleased  with 
the  compromise.  The  great  mass  of  conservatives  was  desirous 
that  the  agitation  be  stopped,  but  the  radicals  of  both  sections  were 
again  ready  to  throw  down  the  gage  of  battle.1  In  Mississippi  and 
South  Carolina  many  of  the  leaders  threatened  secession.  The 
Southern  Rights  Association  held  a  convention  at  Charleston  in 
May,  1851,  and  declared  that  South  Carolina  could  no  longer  submit 
to  the  wrongs  and  aggressions  of  the  federal  government.  But  in  an 
election  to  a  secession  Congress  the  following  autumn  the  secession 
party  was  defeated.  In  Mississippi  a  similar  result  was  reached 
when  Foote,  who  represented  the  Union  sentiment,  was  elected  gov 
ernor  over  Jefferson  Davis,  who  represented  the  radical  party.  In 
'the  North  we  find  great  discontent  in  the  ultra-antislavery  districts.2 
Massachusetts  rebuked  Webster  by  placing  Charles  Sunnier  in  his 
seat  in  the  Senate,  elected  by  Democrats  and  Free-soilers  wholly  on 
account  of  his  antislavery  position.  On  the  same  ground  Ohio  sent 
the  rugged,  heroic  Benjamin  Wade  to  the  Senate.  In  Congress  the 
southern  radicals  gave  notice  that  all  was  not  settled,  that  they  must 
have  Cuba  and  more  territory  from  Mexico  when  needed,  while  the 
northern  radicals,  led  by  Seward,  Sumner,  and  Giddings,  declared 
that  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act  could  not  be  enforced.  Meantime  the 
great  body  of  conservatives  fondly  hoped  that  the  compromise  would 
be  accepted  as  a  finality  and  that  the  hated  slavery  question  would 
trouble  them  no  more  for  many  years  to  come.  At  length  the 
southern  leaders,  with  rare  exceptions,  came  to  this  view  :  they 
agreed  to  accept  the  compromise  as  a  finality,  on  the  one  condition 
that  the  North  would  honestly  enforce  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  The 
northern  politicians  would  doubtless  have  agreed  to  this  ;  but  the 
enforcement  of  that  law  rested  with  the  conscience  of  the  people, 
not  with  the  politicians,  and  it  remains  for  us  to  notice 

THE   FUGITIVE   SLAVE  LAW  IN  OPERATION 

It  has  been  said,  and  truly  said,  that  Millard  Fillmore,  when  he 
signed  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  on  September  18,  1850,  signed  his 
own  death  warrant  as  a  national  statesman.  By  this  little  act  he 
covered  his  name  with  dishonor,  and  no  subsequent  show  of  patriot 
ism  could  redeem  it ;  by  this  he  offended  the  great  section  of  the 
country  to  which  he  belonged,  and  for  this  he  is  remembered  in 

i  "  Seward's  Works,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  446.         2  New  York  Tribune,  May  13,  1851. 


OPPOSITION  TO   FUGITIVE   SLAVE   LAW  549 

American  history.  Yet  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  Fillmore  could  have 
done  otherwise  than  he  did,  as  the  South  had  been  so  deeply  offended 
over  free  California  that  a  rejection  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  would 
probably  have  brought  immediate  secession. 

The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  was  a  vicious  and  inhuman  measure,  to 
say  the  least.  When  captured  by  the  pretended  owner  or  his  agent, 
the  alleged  runaway  was  carried  before  a  magistrate  or  commissioner 
who  should  hear  and  determine  the  case.  The  law  was  so  framed 
as  to  work  against  the  prisoner  at  every  point.  The  oath  of  the 
owner  or  agent  (and  the  agents  were  often  coarse,  brutal  men  whose 
better  instincts  were  smothered  by  years  of  slave  driving)  was  usu 
ally  sufficient  to  decide  the  matter.  The  black  man  could  not  testify 
in  his  own  behalf.  The  benefit  of  a  jury  was  denied  him.  Even  the 
commissioner  was  bribed  by  the  law,  for  if  he  awarded  the  captive 
to  his  captor,  he  received  ten  dollars  as  his  fee ;  if  he  set  him  free, 
he  received  but  five.  The  worst  feature  of  the  law  was  that  it  com 
pelled  any  bystander  to  assist  in  making  a  capture,  if  summoned  to 
do  so  by  the  slave  catcher.  This  was  revolting  to  the  average  citi 
zen  of  the  free  states,  for  the  impulse  was  to  aid  the  fleeing  man  in 
making  his  escape  rather  than  to  aid  his  pursuer. 

Could  such  a  law  be  enforced  ?  Thousands  of  people  throughout 
the  North  believed  that  a  man  held  in  bondage  for  no  crime  —  simply 
on  account  of  the  accident  of  his  birth  and  the  color  of  his  skin  — 
had  a  right  to  escape  if  he  could.  Conscience  demanded  that  they 
aid  him  in  his  flight ;  the  law  demanded  that  they  aid  his  pursuer ; 
and  many  decided  to  obey  the  "  higher  law  "  of  conscience  rather 
than  this  law  of  their  land.  It  is  easy  to  see  with  what  difficulty  a 
law  could  be  enforced  when  opposed  by  the  moral  consciousness  of 
the  people  in  the  midst  of  whom  it  is  expected  to  oper-  Great  oppo. 
ate.  From  thousands  of  pulpits,  from  a  large  portion  sition  to  the 
of  the  northern  press,  and  from  mass  meetings  held  for  law- 
the  purpose,  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act  was  denounced  as  an  unjust  and 
wicked  measure.1  This  feeling  of  the  people  was  reflected  in  the 
state  legislatures.  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  all  the  New  England 
states  passed  personal  liberty  laws,  for  the  protection  of  free  blacks ; 
and  most  of  them  made  laws  to  regulate  the  business  of  the  slave 
catcher,  such  as  denying  him  the  use  of  the  jails  and  other  public 

1  Wilson's  "Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power,"  Vol.  II,  p.  305.  The  conserva 
tives  also  held  meetings  in  the  large  cities  of  the  North,  and  demanded  that  the  com 
promise  be  accepted  in  good  faith  and  that  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  be  enforced. 


550  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

buildings,  while  a  few  states  demanded  a  jury  trial  for  the  alleged 
fugitive.1  These  items  show  the  general  reception  of  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  at  the  North,  but  this  may  be  shown  still  more  vividly  by 
citing  a  few  examples  of  its  practical  operation. 

There  were  probably  twenty  thousand  negroes  in  the  free  states 
who  had  at  some  past  time  escaped  from  slavery.  Many  of  these 
were  quiet,  industrious  people,  earning  an  honest  living  for  their 
families ;  all  were  liable  to  be  dragged  back  to  slavery  by  this  law.2 
Scarcely  had  the  law  gone  into  effect,  when  many  parts  of  the  North 
were  overrun  by  man  hunters.  Many  of  the  fugitives  residing  in 
the  free  states  now  hurried  off  to  Canada,  where  the  laws  of  England 
made  them  free ;  others  remained  in  the  hope  of  escaping  detection. 
Sometimes  the  fugitive  was  caught  and  taken  back  to  his  former 
master ;  sometimes  he  was  killed  in  the  chase ;  but  usually  he  made 
good  his  escape,  owing  to  the  aid  and  sympathy  he  received  from  the 
people  of  the  North. 

One  of  the  first  instances  to  attract  attention  was  that  of  William 
Smith  of  Columbia,  Pennsylvania.  Many  years  before  this  law  was 
passed  Smith  had  escaped  from  slavery,  had  settled  in  this  quiet 
town  on  the  Susquehanna,  and  was  now  an  industrious  laborer,  sup 
porting  a  wife  and  family.  He  knew  that  he  might  be  taken  back 
to  slavery  at  any  moment  under  this  law  of  1850,  but  he  hoped  to 
remain  undiscovered.  One  day  while  working  on  the  streets  he  saw 
some  slave  hunters  approaching  him.  He  threw  down  his  tools  and 
started  to  run,  but  he  was  shot  dead  by  his  pursuers.  Another 
instance  in  this  same  county  (Lancaster,  Pennsylvania)  attracted  far 
wider  attention,  and  turned  out  very  differently.  Near  the  village 
of  Christiana  lived  a  colored  man  named  William  Parker,  himself  a 
fugitive,  and  his  house  became  a  place  of  refuge  for  other  fleeing 
negroes.  It  was  learned  that  he  was  harboring  two  men  of  his  race 
who  had  escaped  from  their  master,  a  Baltimore  physician  named 
Examples  of  Gorsuch.  In  September,  1851,  Gorsuch,  with  a  party 
slave  of  armed  men,  including  his  son,  entered  the  town  and 

catching.  demanded  his  property.  The  party  surrounded  the 
Parker  house;  the  colored  people  of  the  neighborhood  were  sum 
moned  by  the  sound  of  a  horn,  and  in  the  fusillade  that  ensued  Gor- 

1  Vermont,  Michigan,  and  Massachusetts  demanded  a  jury  trial.     This  was  a 
practical  nullification  of  the  national  law.     Most  of  these  laws  were  enacted  after 
the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Law  in  1854. 

2  The  law  was  retroactive,  and  it  was  denounced  as  unconstitutional  by  its 
enemies,  who  claimed  that  it  was  ex  post  facto. 


EXAMPLES   OF   SLAVE   CATCHING  551 

such  was  killed,  and  his  son  severely  wounded.  This  affair  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  country.  President  Fillmore  sent  a  body  of  ma 
rines  from  Philadelphia  to  the  scene  of  the  riot.  Thirty-five  per 
sons  were  arrested,1  but  no  jury  could  be  found  to  convict  them,  and 
all  were  released.  The  two  fugitives  were  never  captured. 

Another  incident,  known  as  the  "  Jerry  rescue,"  that  took  place 
at  Syracuse,  New  York,  attracted  much  attention.  Jerry  Me  Henry, 
an  industrious  mechanic,  who  had  worked  at  his  trade  for  some  years 
at  Syracuse,  was  claimed,  under  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  by  a  man 
from  Missouri.  Jerry  was  found  and  captured  by  the  slave  hunters. 
He  was  imprisoned  to  await  trial  the  next  day.  Before  morning  a 
large  party  of  men,  led  by  Gerrit  Smith,  a  wealthy  member  of  Con 
gress,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  May,  went  to  the  prison,  battered  down 
the  door,  rescued  the  prisoner,  and,  after  concealing  him  for  a  few 
days,  sent  him  off  to  Canada.  The  leaders  of  this  rescue  openly  pro 
claimed  their  part  in  it,  but  none  of  them  was  punished. 

Many  of  the  runaway  negroes  did  not  go  to  Canada,  but  settled 
in  the  Northern  states,  as  far  as  convenient  from  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line.  At  Young's  Prairie,  in  Cass  County,  Michigan,  a  considerable 
colony  had  located,  and  here  they  lived  in  contentment  in  the  little 
houses  they  had  built.  But  their  location  was  discovered  by  their 
various  masters,  and  a  party  of  thirty  armed  men  rode 
from  Kentucky  to  capture  the  fugitives  at  Young's  p°un? s 
Prairie.  The  party  separated,  and  made  several  simul 
taneous  attacks  on  the  negro  village  at  dead  of  night.  Awakened 
suddenly  from  sleep,  the  blacks  fought  bravely  for  their  liberty,  but 
in  a  short  time  most  of  them  were  overpowered,  fettered,  and  thrown 
into  large  wagons  brought  for  the  purpose.  But  one  woman,  while 
her  husband  was  fighting  in  the  only  door  of  their  cabin,  escaped 
through  a  back  window  and  gave  the  alarm  to  some  white  neighbors. 
In  a  few  minutes  a  white  man  was  galloping  about  the  country  on  a 
fleet  horse,  giving  a  general  alarm.  By  daylight  the  whole  neigh 
borhood  was  aroused,  and  a  band  of  two  hundred  men,  led  by  Bill 
Jones,  a  brawny-armed  blacksmith,  were  dashing  to  the  rescue  of 
the  blacks.  They  fell  upon  the  Kentuckians,  arrested  them  for  kid 
naping,  and  lodged  them  in  the  county  jail  to  await  trial.  At  the 
trial  they  were  acquitted ;  but  they  returned  to  their  homes  empty- 
handed,  after  all  their  trouble  and  expense,  for  while  the  trial  was 
pending,  the  colored  colony  was  transferred  to  Canadian  soil.2 
1  Siebert's  "  Underground  Railroad,"  p.  280.  2  Coffin's  "  Reminiscences,"  p.  366. 


552  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Usually  the  slave  hunter  failed  to  secure  his  runaway ;  and,  even 
when  he  succeeded,  the  expense  was  often  so  great  as  to  render  the 
undertaking  unprofitable.  The  most  famous  case  that 
Anthony  came  under  this  law  was  that  of  Anthony  Burns,  a 

colored  waiter  in  a  Boston  hotel.  He  had  escaped  from 
his  Virginia  master,  and  he  was  now  arrested  as  a  fugitive.  When  the 
people  of  the  city  heard  of  the  arrest,  they  were  soon  wrought  up  to 
a  wild  state  of  excitement.  A  great  meeting  held  at  Farieuil  Hall 
was  addressed  by  Wendell  Phillips  and  Theodore  Parker,  and  late 
at  night  it  practically  resolved  itself  into  a  mob  and  proceeded  to 
the  courthouse  where  Burns  was  confined,  to  attempt  his  rescue. 
Here  was  found  another  band  of  infuriated  men,  led  by  Thomas 
Wentworth  Higginson,  battering  at  the  doors.  The  mob  was  driven 
back  by  troops  called  out  by  the  mayor,  one  man  was  killed,  several 
were  arrested,  and  Burns  was  not  rescued.  A  few  days  later  he  was 
remanded  to  slavery.  The  people  made  no  further  attempt  to  effect 
his  rescue ;  but  fifty  thousand  of  them  lined  the  streets  hissing  and 
jeering  as  the  negro  was  led  to  the  revenue  cutter  in  the  harbor, 
guarded  by  the  police  force  of  the  city  and  several  thousand  soldiers 
armed  with  muskets  and  artillery.  The  South  had  won  its  victory, 
but  it  was  an  expensive  one,  for  public  feeling  against  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  was  roused  throughout  the  North  as  never  before,  and 
the  Richmond  Enquirer  was  led  to  say,  "  A  few  more  such  victories 
and  the  South  is  undone." 1 

Scarcely  less  than  the  excitement  over  Burns  was  that  over  the 
"  Glover  rescue "  in  Wisconsin  in  the  spring  of  the  same  year. 
Joshua  Glover  was  a  black  man  who  lived  near  Kacine,  Wisconsin. 
He  was  claimed  by  a  man  from  St.  Louis,  and  was  captured,  knocked 
down,  bound,  carried  in  a  wagon  to  Milwaukee,  and  lodged  in  jail. 
The  people  of  Racine  soon  heard  of  the  proceedings,  and  held  a 
mass  meeting  which  declared  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  "disgraceful 
and  repealed."  About  a  hundred  men  then  proceeded  to  Milwaukee 
and  on  arriving  found  the  city  in  a  wild  tumult.  The  excitement 
gained  in  volume,  and  the  authorities  called  on  the  militia  to  quell 
the  riot,  but  the  militia  refused  to  respond.  At  length  the  crowd 
became  dangerous,  and  when  it  surged  upon  the  jail  and  demanded 

1  Siebert's  "Underground  Railroad,"  p.  331;  Wilson's  "Rise  and  Fall  of  the 
Slave  Power,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  435-441.  Burns  was  afterward  purchased  hy  friends  at 
the  North  and  sent  to  Oberlin  College,  in  Ohio,  but  he  died  a  few  years  later.  The 
judge  who  awarded  him  to  his  captors  was  removed  from  the  bench  through  a 
petition  of  the  people. 


THE    UNDERGROUND    RAILROAD  553 

the  prisoner,  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  give  him  up.  Glover 
was  soon  landed  in  Canada,  and  the  people  returned  quietly  to  their 
homes.  Nearly  every  newspaper  in  the  state  applauded  the  Glover 
rescue,  and  the  leaders  of  the  riot,  afterward  arrested,  were  acquitted 
by  a  decision  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  state  on  the  ground  that 
the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  was  unconstitutional.  The  examples  above 
mentioned  are  but  a  few  of  the  most  conspicuous  out  of  hundreds. 
A  half-witted  person  could  have  seen  that  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
could  not  be  enforced  in  most  sections  of  the  North ;  and  any  slave 
holder  could  have  seen,  and  most  of  them  did  see,  that  the  law  was 
doing  irreparable  harm  to  the  institution  of  slavery  by  unifying  the 
North  against  it. 

THE  UNDERGROUND   RAILROAD 

For  more  than  half  a  century  before  the  Civil  War  there  was  an 
ever  increasing  stream  of  slaves  fleeing  from  their  masters  into  the 
free  states.  In  the  years  immediately  preceding  the  war  the  num 
ber  was  estimated  at  about  a  thousand  a  year.  It  is  true  that  many 
of  the  slaves  were  so  well  treated  by  their  owners,  or  so  grossly 
ignorant,  that  they  had  little  or  no  desire  to  escape.  But  there  were 
others,  and  their  name  was  legion,  in  whose  bosom  burned  a  longing 
for  liberty,  so  natural  to  the  human  heart.  Especially  was  this  true 
of  those  who  had  picked  up  the  rudiments  of  an  education.  Many 
in  the  far  South  knew  only  that  freedom  lay  in  the  direction  of  the 
North  Star,  that  the  distance  was  great,  and  that  the  way  was  fraught 
with  unknown  perils.  The  fugitives  usually  traveled  by  night  and 
secreted  themselves  in  the  mountains  or  thickets  during  the  day. 
Most  of  them  came  from  the  border  states,  and  they  comprised  the 
most  intelligent  of  their  race.  Some  fled  because  of  cruel  treatment, 
but  with  the  great  majority  it  was  the  fear  of  the  dreaded  auction 
block  that  drove  them  to  seek  the  land  of  liberty.  However  kind 
the  master  might  be,  however  reluctant  to  part  with  his  servants,  his 
death  or  business  reverses  might  at  any  time  send  them  to  the  great 
cotton  plantations  or  to  the  rice  swamps  of  the  far  South,  the  most 
dreadful  calamity  that  could  come  to  a  border-state  slave.  When 
once  a  slave  was  carried  by  a  trader  to  the  southern  market,  it  was 
seldom  that  he  was  again  seen  or  heard  of  by  his  friends  and  kindred. 

The  fleeing  black  man  was  often  recaptured  before  reaching  the 
free  states,  after  which  his  condition  was  made  worse  than  before. 


554  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

But  thousands  succeeded  in  crossing  the  border  line  and  in  breathing 
the  air  of  freedom.  But  even  then,  after  the  Compromise  of  1850, 
their  chances  of  evading  capture  would  have  been  very  meager  but 
for  the  aid  rendered  them  by  persons  living  along  their  route. 
There  were  hundreds  of  people  in  the  free  states,  some  colored,  but 
most  of  them  white,  who  were  systematically  engaged  in  giving  aid, 
comfort,  and  advice  to  the  fleeing  slave.  These  lawbreakers  were 
for  the  most  part  respectable  and,  in  other  respects,  law-abiding 
citizens.  They  acted  on  principle  :  they  believed  in  a  higher  law 
than  any  framed  by  human,  legislators  ;  they  believed  that  a  man 
held  in  bondage  by  no  fault  of  his  own  had  a  right  to  his  freedom, 
if  he  desired  it,  and  they  felt  it  a  duty  to  aid  him  in  gaining  it,  if  in 
their  power.  But,  in  addition  to  the  pleasure  of  relieving  the  suffer 
ings  of  the  fleeing  slave,  there  was  in  the  business  of  aiding  the  run 
away  "  the  excitement  of  piracy,  the  secrecy  of  burglary,  the  daring 
of  insurrection." l  The  work  was  carried  on  with  the  utmost  secrecy 
and  in  the  most  systematic  manner.  The  system  was  known  as  the 
Underground  Railroad. 

It  consisted  of  many  different  routes  across  the  free  states.  The 
"  stations,"  twenty  miles  or  more  apart,  were  usually  private  homes 
in  the  garrets  or  cellars  of  which,  or  in  nearby  caves  or 
Sacrifices  haymows,  the  fugitives  were  kept  and  fed  during  the 
day,  and  from  which  they  were  sent  on  their  way  at 
nightfall.  Many  of  those  who  engaged  in  the  work  did  so  at  their 
own  peril  and  often  at  great  self-sacrifice,  for  the  law  was  persist 
ently  against  them.  Mr.  Rush  Sloane  of  Sandusky,  Ohio,  paid  $8000 
in  fines  for  assisting  runaways  to  Canada ;  Thomas  Garrett  of  Wil 
mington,  Delaware,  assisted  twenty-seven  hundred  fugitives  and 
paid  $ 8000  in  fines  for  violating  the  slave  laws.  Calvin  Fairbank 
spent  seventeen  years  in  the  penitentiary  for  similar  offenses.2 

One  of  the  most  active  workers  in  connection  with  the  Under 
ground  Eailroad,  and  the  reputed  president  of  the  system  was  Levi 
Coffin,  a  prosperous  merchant  who  managed  the  station  at  Newport, 
Indiana,  for  twenty  years.  During  this  period  he  and  his  faithful 
wife,  who  were  Quakers,  harbored  at  least  one  hundred  fugitives 
each  year.  The  story  in  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin"  of  the  slave  woman 
crossing  the  Ohio  River  on  the  floating  ice  with  her  child  was  a 
true  story,  and  after  this  woman  reached  the  home  of  the  Coffins, 

1  Hart's  Introduction  to  Siebert's  "  Underground  Railroad." 

2  Siebert's  "  Underground  Railroad,"  pp.  110,  159,  254,  277. 


ESCAPES   FROM    SLAVERY  555 

Mrs.  Coffin  gave  her  the  name  "  Eliza  Harris,"  and  Mrs.  Stowe 
used  this  name  in  her  novel.1  The  largest  number  ever  harbored  by 
Levi  Coffin  in  one  night  was  seventeen.  For  this  he  was  arraigned 
before  the  grand  jury.  He  was  known  to  be  a  man  of  great  probity, 
and  nothing  could  lead  him  to  speak  falsely.  When  arraigned  and 
asked  under  oath  if  he  had  harbored  fugitive  slaves,  he  answered 
that  he  had  no  legal  knowledge  that  he  had  done  so ;  he  admitted 
having  received  and  ministered  unto  certain  persons  who  had  come 
to  his  house  destitute  and  homeless.  He  had  done  this  in  obedience 
to  the  injunctions  of  the  Bible.  These  persons,  it  is  true,  had  said 
they  were  fugitive  slaves ;  but  he  had  nothing  but  their  word  for  it, 
and  as  the  testimony  of  a  slave  could  not  be  received  in  court  there 
was  no  proof  of  his  guilt.2  Mr.  Coffin  was  released. 

One  of  the  most  active  of  the  underground  workers  was  William 
Still,  a  free  colored  man  of  Philadelphia,  who  served  for  many  years  as 
chairman  of  the  Vigilance  Committee  of  that  city,  and  who  after  the 
war  published  a  large  volume  giving  the  experiences  of  the  fugitives 
as  related  by  themselves.  No  career  in  the  underground  work  was 
more  picturesque  and  romantic  than  that  of  Harriet  Tubman,  her 
self  a  fugitive  from  Maryland.  She  was  almost  white,  was  very 
religious  and  intelligent,  and  she  earned  the  name  of  'f  The  Moses  of 
her  People."  With  Philadelphia  as  her  headquarters  she  would 
collect  money  from  sympathizers  and  make  a  journey  to  slave  land. 
After  collecting  a  company  of  her  people,  she  piloted  them  across  the 
border  and  sometimes  accompanied  them  to  Canada.  She  would 
quiet  babies  with  drugs  and  have  them  carried  in  baskets.  She  is 
said  to  have  made  nineteen  excursions  into  the  slave  states  and  to 
have  abducted  three  hundred  slaves  without  detection.3  Josiah 
Henson,  also  a  fugitive,  founded  a  colony  and  a  school  in  Canada,  and 
made  various  journeys  to  the  South,  abducting  in  all  118  slaves.4 

One  of  the  most  powerful  agencies  in  shaping  the  political  con 
science  at  the  Xorth  during  the  decade  preceding  the  war  was 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  by  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe.  This  novel  cannot 

1  Coffin's  "Reminiscences,"  p.  113. 

2  Coffin,  p.  192. 

8  This  woman  was  employed  as  a  scout  and  spy  in  the  Civil  War.  She  is  still 
living  (1903)  near  Auburn,  New  York. 

4  It  has  been  estimated  that  as  many  as  sixty  thousand  or  even  seventy  thousand 
colored  people,  a  large  majority  of  whom  were  fugitives,  resided  in  Canada  in  1860. 
Many  of  them  purchased  small  farms  and  built  houses;  others  hired  out  as  farm 
laborers,  lumbermen,  etc.  Family  life  soon  became  far  more  regular  than  in  slavery, 
and  the  moral  condition  was  greatly  improved. 


556  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

be  named  among  the  greatest  works  of  genius.  The  narrative 
shows  much  bias  in  the  writer,  and  she  is  often  unfair  to  the  South ; 

but  as  a  series  of  pictures  of.  slave  life,  colored  with 
"uncle  Toms  a  profounc[  human  sympathy,  the  book  attracted  and 

held  the  attention  of  readers  of  every  class.  It  sprung 
into  immediate  popularity ;  three  hundred  thousand  copies  were  sold 
within  the  first  year  after  publication  ;  the  sales  soon  exceeded  a 
million  ;  the  book  spread  over  England  and  her  colonies,  and  was  trans 
lated  into  twenty  languages.  The  political  effect  of  this  novel  did  not 
appear  at  first,  but  it  eventually  became  an  important  agent  in  the 
world  of  politics.1  The  story  appealed  particularly  to  the  young,  and 
thousands  of  the  boys  who  in  the  fifties  laughed  at  Topsy,  loved  little 
Eva,  wept  over  the  fate  of  Uncle  Torn,  and  became  enraged  at  the  brutal 
Lagree,  were  voters  in  1860 ;  and  their  votes,  as  determined  by  that 
book,  which  led  them  to  believe  that  slavery  was  wrong,  became  a 
powerful  element  in  effecting  the  political  revolution  of  that  year. 

SLAVE  LIFE   IN   THE    SOUTH 

A  hundred  years  ago  the  universal  verdict  of  the  American  peo 
ple  was  that  slavery  was  an  evil.  Such  leaders  as  Washington  and 
Jefferson,  themselves  slaveholders,  deplored  the  existence  of  the 
institution  as  long  as  they  lived.  In  later  years,  when  slavery  be 
came  the  chief  political  issue,  almost  the  entire  South,  follow 
ing  the  lead  of  Calhoun,  pronounced  slavery  in  the  United  States  a 
positive  good.  This  change  was  partially  due  to  conviction ;  but  un 
doubtedly  it  arose  in  part  from  the  fact  that  the  slaveholder 
grew  weary  of  defending  what  he  confessed  to  be  an  evil,  and,  in 
answer  to  the  cry  of  the  Abolitionist,  he  veered  around,  took  the 
offensive,  and  pronounced  slavery  a  good  thing.  The  question  was 
also,  as  we  have  seen,  an  economic  one.  If  slavery  was  an  economic 
good,  as  the  people  of  the  South  believed,  it  must  also  be  a  moral 
good ;  and  if  both,  it  ought  to  be  defended  and  extended.  In  these 
latter  days,  since  the  institution  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  the  univer 
sal  verdict  is  that  which  antedated  the  career  of  Calhoun  —  that 
slavery  was  an  evil,  an  unmitigated  evil.2 

1  Rhodes,  Vol.  I,  p.  284. 

2  That  slavery  was  a  great  drawback  to  the  South,  from  an  economic  standpoint, 
is  shown  very  forcibly,  with  many  statistics,  in  the  first  chapter  of  Helper's  "  Im 
pending  Crisis."    This  book,  written  by  a  southerner  and  published  in  1857,  was  an 
unanswerable  arraignment  of  slavery. 


HOME    LIFE    OF   THE    SLAVE  557 

Nevertheless  there  were  pleasant  features  in  connection  with 
slavery,  especially  in  the  border  states,  where  it  existed  in  a  mild 
form.  Many  a  slave  was  better  kept  by  a  humane  master  than  he 
could  have  kept  himself  had  he  been  free.  In  many  a  home  the 
attachment  between  the  owner  and  his  slave  was  a  sincere  one ;  the 
slave  was  educated  and  taught  religion,  and  was  practically  a  mem 
ber  of  the  family.  Many  of  this  class  had  little  desire  for  freedom. 
But  the  great  majority  of  slaves  were  not  of  this  class.  Except 
the  house  servants,  coachmen,  and  the  like,  the  slaves  of  the  cotton 
states  were  toilers  in  the  field.  They  spent  their  lives  in  unrequited 
toil ;  and  to  one  who  had  a  spark  of  the  consciousness  of  manhood 
or  womanhood,  what  a  dreary,  cheerless,  hopeless  life  it  must  have 
been! 

On  the  great  plantations  the  negroes  lived  in  filth  and  wretched 
ness  in  villages  of  huts.  Their  clothing  was  made  of  "  negro  cloth," 
the  cheapest  and  coarsest  material  that  could  be  had ;  their  food  was 
almost  exclusively  corn  meal,  which  they  prepared  in  addition  to  the 
day's  toil,  often  exceeding  fifteen  hours,  in  the  field.  Meat  was 
occasionally  allowed  to  those  engaged  in  the  most  exhausting  labor. 
And  yet,  where  the  conditions  were  at  all  favorable,  the  slave  was  a 
happy  creature.  This  was  due  to  the  inherent  quality  of  the  race, 
and  to  the  fact  that  he  had  no  care  of  his  own,  no  anxiety  for  the 
morrow.  The  chief  punishment  of  the  negro  was  flogging,  and  this 
was  often  administered  with  great  severity,  not  only  for  insubordi 
nation,  but  for  failure  to  perform  the  allotted  task  of  labor.  If  a 
slave  turned  against  his  master,  or  attempted  to  escape,  he  was  shot, 
or  he  received  other  punishment  that  often  resulted  in  his  death. 
There  was  no  law  against  killing  a  slave  for  such  provocation ;  but 
the*willful  murder  of  a  negro  was  a  crime  in  all  the  Southern  states. 
If,  however,  a  negro  was  killed  by  a  white  man,  it  often  happened 
that  there  were  no  witnesses,  or  none  but  slaves,  whose  testimony 
was  not  good  in  law,  and  for  this  reason  punishment  seldom 
followed. 

The  slave  lived  in  gross  ignorance.  Nearly  all  the  cotton  states 
forbade  the  teaching  of  slaves  to  read  or  write.  In  Virginia  the 
owner  alone  was  permitted  to  do  this ;  in  North  Carolina  the  slaves 
might  be  taught  arithmetic.1  The  Episcopal  bishop  of  Louisiana, 
Leonidas  Polk,  who  afterward  became  prominent  in  the  Civil  War, 
owned  four  hundred  slaves,  and  he  had  them  carefully  trained  in 
i  Rhodes,  Vol.  I,  p.  327. 


558  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

religion.  But  he  was  a  rare  exception.  Many  of  the  large  slavehold 
ers  cared  little  for  the  moral  training  of  their  servants.  In  morals 
the  average  slave  was  utterly  wanting.  The  women  were  without  a 
vestige  of  womanly  chastity,  and  the  men  were  almost  universally 
dishonest.  This  may  have  been  partly  due  to  the  natural  tendencies 
of  the  race  ;  but  it  was  in  a  great  measure  due  to  the  evils  of  the 
system.  A  woman  who  felt  herself  owned  absolutely  by  a  master 
could  hardly  be  expected  to  take  an  interest  in  herself,  or  to  cherish 
a  feeling  of  womanhood.  A  man  who  did  not  and  could  not  own 
property,  not  even  himself  or  his  children,  could  not  have  much  idea 
of  the  rights  of  property.1 

The  most  revolting  feature  of  slavery  in  America,  one  thac  the 
historian  blushes  to  record  (but  history  must  deal  with  facts),  was 
that  too  often  the  attractive  slave  woman  was  a  prostitute  to  her 
master,  that  her  children  bore  the  stamp  of  his  countenance ;  and 
yet  according  to  the  inflexible  rule  of  the  slave  states,  they  shared 
the  condition  of  the  mother,  and  were  sold  by  their  own  father. 
This  evil  was  widespread  at  the  South,  as  the  mixed  condition  of 
the  black  race  to-day  will  testify.  A  sister  of  President  Madison 
declared  that  though  the  southern  ladies  were  complimented  with 
the  name  of  wife,  they  were  only  the  mistresses  of  seraglios.  A 
leading  southern  lady  declared  to  Harriet  Martineau  that  the  wife 
of  many  a  planter  was  but  the  chief  slave  of  his  harem.  Some  slave 
owners,  however,  could  not  bear  the  thought  of  selling  their  own 
children,  and  they  planned  for  their  ultimate  freedom.  But  the 
death  of  the  master  often  caused  his  plans  to  miscarry.  An  ex 
treme  example  from  Coffin  will  vividly  illustrate  this  point.2 

A  Virginian  owned  a  beautiful  octoroon  who  became  the  mother 
of  a  son  in  whose  veins  flowed  the  blood  of  the  master.  No  eue 
could  detect  a  trace  of  African  blood  in  the  child.  When  still  a 
child  the  father  sent  him  into  another  state  to  be  educated  and 
taught  a  useful  trade.  He  grew  to  manhood,  married  a  white 
woman,  had  a  family  of  five  children,  and  was  a  highly  respected 
citizen.  Neither  he  nor  his  friends  had  the  remotest  knowledge 
that  he  had  been  born  of  a  slave  woman.  Meanwhile  his  father 
died,  and  the  heirs  in  settling  the  estate  remembered  the  beautiful 

1  Some  humane  masters,  however,  permitted  their  slaves  to  spend  their  leisure 
hours  in  earning  money  for  themselves.    Coffin  reports  that  one  man  and  wife  saved 
$300,  which  they  used  in  escaping  to  Canada  and  setting  up  a  home. 

2  "Reminiscences,"  p.  28  sq. 


INTERSTATE    SLAVE   TRADE  559 

white  child  that  had  been  sent  away  many  years  before.  Knowing 
that  he  was  now  a  valuable  piece  of  property,  they  resolved  to  find 
him,  and  did  so  after  a  long  search.  They  sold  him  to  a  trader 
without  his  own  knowledge.  He  had  spent  many  vigilant  nights  at 
the  bedside  of  a  sick  wife,  but  one  night,  as  she  seemed  better,  he 
intrusted  her  with  friendly  neighbors  and  retired  for  a  much-needed 
rest.  That  night  the  trader  with  a  gang  of  ruffians  burst  into  the 
house,  seized  their  victim  while  sleeping,  and  bound  him.  He  de 
manded  the  cause  of  the  seizure  and  was  informed,  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life,  that  he  was  a  slave.  His  captors  took  him  from  the 
neighborhood,  and  to  make  him  look  less  like  a  white  man,  they 
washed  his  face  in  tanooze  and  tied  him  in  the  sun,  and  seared 
his  hair  with  a  hot  iron  to  make  it  curly.  He  was  sold  to  the  far 
South,  but  some  months  later  he  made  his  escape  and  returned  to 
his  former  home.  His  wife  had  died  of  the  shock  when  informed 
of  his  capture,  and  his  children  were  scattered.  Again  the  slave 
catchers  were  on  his  trail,  with  bloodhounds.  He  eluded  the  keen- 
scented  animals  by  wading  through  a  mill  pond  and  spending  a  night 
in  the  branches  of  a  tree.  He  now  sought  counsel,  and  determined 
to  make  a  legal  fight  for  his  freedom ;  but  his  health  was  broken 
from  exposure,  and  he  died  before  the  next  term  of  court.  Such 
was  one  phase  of  slavery  in  America. 

Another  feature  of  the  institution  that  brought  it  general  condem 
nation  was  the  interstate  slave  trade,  with  the  evils  that  grew  out  of 
it.  This  did  not  exist  in  colonial  days,  when  the  African  trade  was 
open;  it  belonged  wholly  to  a  later  period.  The  great  cotton  belt  of 
the  South  and  the  rice  swamps  were  always  in  want  of  more  slaves, 
while  the  border  states  had  more  than  they  needed ;  and  hence  was 
established  the  interstate  slave  trade.  This  brought  on  two  evils  that 
must  be  condemned  by  every  unbiased  observer :  the  separation  of 
families  and  the  breeding  of  slaves  for  the  market.  It  is  no  doubt 
true  that  the  negro,  especially  while  in  bondage,  did  not  experience 
in  the  same  degree  those  intense  family  ties  which  are  characteris 
tic  of  our  own  race.  But  that  the  black  race  was  not  devoid  of 
these  finer  feelings  was  shown  by  many  heartrending  scenes  at 
the  auction  block.1  To  sell  a  man  and  his  wife  and  children  to 
different  masters,  living  hundreds  of  miles  apart,  when  there  was 

1  John  Randolph,  once  asked  to  name  the  most  eloquent  speech  he  ever  heard, 
answered  that  it  was  made  hy  a  slave-woman,  and  her  rostrum  was  the  auction 
block.  She  was  pleading  for  her  children. 


560  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

no  hope  of  their  meeting  again,   was  legalized  cruelty  that  finds 
few  parallels  in  history. 

From  this  brief  glance  at  slave  life  as  it  existed  before  the  war 
any  one  can  see  why  the  national  conscience  was  disturbed,  why 
the  voice  of  the  Abolitionist  arose  from  the  North  and  increased 
more  and  more,  and  why  that  voice  could  not  be  stifled  until  the 
system  itself  was  swept  away.  But,  withal,  it  was  the  misfortune 
rather  than  the  crime  of  the  South  that  this  baneful  system  had 
taken  such  a  relentless  hold  upon  its  life.  While  the  conditions  at 
the  North  were  unfavorable  to  slavery  and  the  institution  in  that 
section  slowly  loosened  its  hold  and  disappeared,  it  was  otherwise 
with  the  South.  Here  its  roots  had  struck  deeply  into  the  soil ;  its 
branches  had  spread  like  the  arms  of  an  octopus  until  they  embraced 
everything  southern  in  their  fatal  grasp.  From  far  back  in  colonial 
times  the  monster  had  been  tightening  its  coils  from  year  to  year 
and  from  generation  to  generation.  And  now  at  last  this  blighting 
institution  had  become  so  interwoven  with  the  political  and  social 
fabric  of  the  South  that  the  South  no  longer  had  power  to  deliver 
itself  from  the  cruel  bonds.  While  the  leaders  of  the  slave  power 
cannot  be  held  guiltless  at  the  bar  of  history,  it  is  certain  that  the 
South 'as  a  whole  was  the  victim  of  this  curse  of  slavery,  bequeathed 
to  it  by  former  generations. 

NOTES   AND  ANECDOTES 

The  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty.  —  This  subject  has  been  relegated  to  a  note, 
not  because  it  is  of  minor  importance,  but  because  it  did  not  exactly  fit  in  our 
slavery  discussion.  John  M.  Clayton  was  secretary  of  state  under  President 
Taylor.  He  arranged  with  Henry  Lytton  Bulwer,  the  British  minister  at  Wash 
ington,  the  famous  treaty  that  bears  the  name  of  both.  The  object  of  this 
treaty  was  to  facilitate  and  protect  the  construction  of  a  canal  at  Nicaragua 
between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans.  By  this  treaty  both  countries  pledged 
themselves  never  to  obtain  exclusive  control  over  said  proposed  canal,  nor  to 
erect  fortifications  commanding  it,  nor  to  colonize  or  exercise  dominion  over 
any  portion  of  Central  America.  They  further  agreed  to  protect  any  company 
that  should  undertake  the  work,  and  to  facilitate  its  construction,  and  they 
guaranteed  the  neutrality  of  such  canal  when  completed.  But  few  years  passed 
after  the  consummation  of  the  treaty  before  it  became  the  object  of  serious  dis 
cussion,  the  provisions  being  differently  construed  in  the  two  countries.  At 
length  the  canal  question  subsided,  and  for  many  years  it  attracted  little  atten 
tion.  Meantime  the  Pacific  Coast  of  the  United  States  became  filled  with  people, 
the  relative  interests  of  the  two  countries  were  greatly  changed,  and  it  was 
evident  that  the  terms  of  the  treaty  were  disadvantageous  to  the  United  States. 


NOTES  561 


After  many  years'  negotiation,  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  was  abrogated  by  a 
new  treaty  (1902),  known  as  the  Hay-Pauncefote  Treaty,  by  which  the  United 
States  secures  full  power  to  construct  and  to  operate  the  proposed  canal. 

Louis  Kossuth.  —  In  that  great  year  for  revolutions  in  Europe,  1848,  Hun 
gary  made  a  brave  effort  to  cast  off  the  Austrian  yoke,  and  might  have  succeeded 
but  for  the  interference  of  Russia.  Louis  Kossuth,  the  governor  of  Hungary, 
and  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his  time,  took  refuge  in  Turkey,  on  the 
failure  of  the  Hungarians  to  win  their  freedom.  From  Turkey  he  was  conveyed 
in  a  United  States  war  vessel  to  New  York  in  1851,  and  was  received  with 
demonstrations  accorded  to  no  other  foreigner  that  ever  visited  America,  except 
Lafayette.  His  reception  by  the  administration  and  by  both  houses  of  Congress 
was  extremely  cordial.  He  traveled  through  the  country  and  spoke  in  many 
cities,  having  an  excellent  command  of  the  English  language,  and  being  pos 
sessed  of  extraordinary  powers  of  eloquence.  But  on  the  whole  his  visit  was  a 
failure.  His  object  was  to  secure  the  intervention  of  the  United  States  in  behalf 
of  his  downtrodden  country.  But  the  government  could  not  see  its  way  clear 
to  suspend  its  traditional  attitude  of  neutrality  in  European  affaire.  Kossuth 
then  sought  private  contributions  for  the  cause  of  his  people,  but  even  in  this  he 
was  not  very  successful.  He  returned  to  Europe  in  July,  1852. 

Anecdotes  of  Clay.  —  No  man  ever  in  public  life  in  America  had  greater 
power  in  winning  personal  friends  than  Henry  Clay.  When  John  Randolph, 
who  had  been  Clay's  political  enemy  for  many  years,  and  with  whom  he  had 
fought  a  duel,  visited  Washington  in  the  last  year  of  his  life,  he  called  on  Clay. 
Clay  received  him  very  kindly,  and  asked  about  his  health.  Randolph  replied, 
"  I'm  dying,  Clay,  I'm  dying."  —  "  Why,  then,"  asked  Clay,  "  do  you  venture 
so  far  from  home?  Why  did  you  come  here?"  —  "To  see  you,"  answered 
Randolph  ;  "  to  see  you  and  have  one  more  talk  with  you." 

When  Clay  made  his  famous  farewell  address  to  the  Senate  in  1846,  he 
brought  tears  to  every  eye.  At  the  close  of  the  speech,  as  he  was  passing  out  of 
the  chamber,  he  came  face  to  face  with  Calhoun.  They  had  been  enemies,  and 
had  not  spoken  for  five  years,  but  at  heart  each  really  loved  the  other.  Now, 
at  this  meeting,  all  animosity  was  forgotten,  and  without  a  word  they  fell  into 
each  other's  arms  and  wept  silently.  On  one  occasion  when  Clay  was  making 
a  tour  through  the  South,  there  was  on  the  same  train  a  farmer,  an  old-school 
Democrat,  who  was  invited  to  step  into  the  next  car  and  meet  Clay.  "No," 
he  answered,  "  I  would  not  be  seen  shaking  hands  with  Henry  Clay,  the  old 
Whig."  He  was  informed  that  his  idol,  Van  Buren,  had  often  done  so.  The 
farmer  declared  that  he  did  not  believe  it,  that  Van  Buren  would  never  do  such 
a  mean  thing.  He  offered  to  make  a  bet  that  he  was  right  and  agreed  to  let 
Clay  himself  decide  the  bet.  They  came  to  Clay's  seat  and  stated  the  case. 
"Yes,"  answered  Clay,  "  Van  Buren  is  a  good  friend  of  mine,  and  he  made  me 
a  visit  at  my  home  in  Lexington.  Setting  aside  his  bad  politics,  he  is  an  agree 
able  gentleman  and  a  right  clever  little  fellow."  The  man  paid  his  bet,  and 
went  away  muttering  that  if  that  is  the  way  the  great  men  acted  they  might 
fight  their  own  battles  hereafter,  he  didn't  believe  they  were  in  earnest  anyhow, 
only  pretended  to  be  so  as  to  set  others  by  the  ears.  See  Sargent's  "Public 
Men  and  Events,"  Vol.  II,  p.  221. 
2o 


562  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Clay  was  a  man  of  ready  wit,  and  he  often  astonished  his  friends  by  his 
quick  answers.  The  following  is  a  sample  :  One  day  while  at  a  Philadelphia 
hotel,  he  was  called  on  by  John  W.  Forney,  editor  of  the  Press,  in  company 
with  Forrest,  the  actor.  It  was  just  after  the  great  debates  in  the  Senate  on  the 
Omnibus  Bill,  and  these  debates  soon  became  the  topic  of  conversation,  espe 
cially  the  opposition  Clay  had  encountered  from  Senator  Soule*  of  Louisiana. 
Whereupon  Clay  exclaimed,  "  Soule"  is  no  orator,  he  is  nothing  but  an  actor,  a 
mere  actor."  No  sooner  had  he  said  this  than  he  realized  the  presence  of 
Forrest,  the  actor,  and  turning  to  him,  added,  "  I  mean,  my  dear  sir,  a  French 
actor,  a  mere  French  actor."  Forney's  "  Anecdotes  of  Public  Men." 

Anecdote  of  Cass.  —  General  Lewis  Cass  was,  as  stated  in  the  text,  a  digni 
fied,  urbane  man,  who  could  brook  no  familiarity  from  his  inferiors.  The  follow 
ing  incident,  given  by  Forney,  will  illustrate  the  point:  One  of  the  leading  hotels 
in  Washington  at  this  period  was  Guy's  Hotel,  and  here  many  of  the  leading 
government  officials,  including  General  Cass,  stayed  while  at  the  Capital.  It 
happened  that  General  Cass  and  Mr.  Guy,  the  hotel  keeper,  both  large,  corpu 
lent  men,  looked  very  much  alike,  and  each  was  often  mistaken  for  the  other. 
One  day  a  western  man  came  to  the  hotel  and  met  General  Cass  on  the  porch 
and,  taking  him  for  Guy,  slapped  him  on  the  shoulder  and  began,  "  Here  I  am 
again,  old  fellow  ;  last  time  I  hung  up  my  hat  in  your  shanty,  they  put  me  up  on 
the  fourth  floor.  Want  a  better  room  this  time.  How  about  it,  old  man  ?  " 
Cass  braced  himself  up  with  great  dignity  and  answered  :  "  Sir,  you've  com 
mitted  a  blunder,  I'm  General  Cass  of  Michigan,"  turned  about,  and  walked  off. 
The  man  stood  and  looked  after  him,  dazed  at  his  mistake.  Presently  Cass 
walked  around  that  way  again  and  the  man  again  took  him  for  Guy  and  ex 
claimed  :  "  Here  you  are  at  last ;  I've  just  made  a  divil  of  a  blunder.  I  met  old 
Cass  and  took  him  for  you,  and  I'm  afraid  the  old  Michigander  has  gone  off 
mad."  Just  then  Guy  appeared  on  the  scene. 

Items  of  Interest.  —  The  coming  of  Jenny  Lind,  the  "  Swedish  Nightingale," 
in  1851,  served,  like  the  visit  of  Kossuth,  to  divert  public  attention  from  the  all- 
absorbing  slavery  question.  Her  tour  of  the  United  States,  Canada,  and  Mexico, 
managed  by  Mr.  P.  T.  Barnum,  was  a  brilliant  success,  the  receipts  exceeding 
$600,000. 

The  reduction  of  postal  rates  in  1851  was  an  event  of  historic  interest. 
There  had  been  two  reductions  before  this,  and  at  this  time  the  rate  for  a  letter 
weighing  a  half  ounce  or  less  was  five  cents  for  three  hundred  miles  or  less  ;  over 
three  hundred  miles,  ten  cents,  and  to  the  Pacific  Coast  by  way  of  Panama, 
forty  cents.  The  rate  was  now  made  three  cents  for  three  thousand  miles  or 
less,  and  six  cents  for  more  than  that  distance.  This  act  continued  in  force 
until  1883,  when  two  cents  was  made  the  letter  rate. 

In  1849,  and  again  in  1851,  Narcisco  Lopez  led  a  filibustering  expedition  to 
Cuba  for  the  purpose  of  rescuing  the  island  from  Spanish  control.  The  expedi 
tion  was  supposed  to  be  in  the  interests  of  the  slave  states  with  the  annexation 
of  Cuba  to  the  United  States  for  its  ultimate  object.  But  the  Cubans  did  not 
join  Lopez  as  the  latter  expected.  His  company  was  routed  by  the  Spanish 
soldiers  in  1851,  and  he  himself  was  taken  captive  and  was  garroted  in  the 
public  square  in  Havana. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  GREAT   POLITICAL   DUEL   BETWEEN   THE   NORTH   AND 
THE   SOUTH   PRECEDING   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1852 

THE  excitement  over  the  compromise  measures  had  scarcely 
subsided  when  the  quadrennial  election  of  a  President  claimed  the 
country's  attention.  Seldom  had  the  political  sky  been  less  clear. 
The  advantage  seemed  to  lie  with  the  Democrats,  not  that  their 
party  had  been  wiser  than  the  opposite  party,  nor  that  it  had  done 
anything  to  deserve  the  support  of  the  country,  but  because  it  had 
been  out  of  power  and  was  less  responsible  than  its  rival  for  the 
fierce  agitation  over  the  Omnibus  Bill. 

The  Democratic  convention  met  in  Baltimore  on  the  1st  of  June. 
Four  notable  aspirants  for  the  honor  were  prominently  spoken  of : 
General  Cass,  the  stalwart  and  dignified  leader;  James  Buchanan 
of  Pennsylvania,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  "  The  Little  Giant,"  and  ex- 
Governor  Marcy  of  New  York.  But  each  had  his  element  of  weak 
ness,  and  after  many  ballots  it  was  seen  that  none  of 
these  four  could  command  the  necessary  two  thirds, 
and  the  convention  cast  its  eyes  about  for  a  dark  horse. 
The  mantle  fell  on  the  shoulders  of  Franklin  Pierce  of  New  Hamp 
shire.  Pierce  was  the  son  of  a  soldier  of  the  Eevolution,  and  he 
learned  his  first  lessons  of  patriotism  while  sitting  at  his  father's 
hearthstone  listening  to  the  stories  of  that  long  and  dreary  war,  told 
over  and  over  again  by  his  father  and  the  comrades  who 
often  gathered  at  his  fireside  to  talk  of  the  olden  days. 
The  son  grew  to  manhood,  became  a  leading  member 
of  the  bar,  and  served  in  both  houses  of  Congress.  He  declined  an 
invitation  to  enter  the  Cabinet  of  President  Polk,  but  he  volunteered 
his  services  to  the  Mexican  War,  and,  though  he  knew  little  of  mili 
tary  affairs,  the  favor  of  the  President  soon  made  him  a  brigadier 
general.  In  no  sense  was  Franklin  Pierce  a  great  man.  He  had 

563 


504:  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

not  won  great  distinction  as  a  lawyer,  nor  as  a  statesman,  and  still 
less  as  a  soldier. 

But  Pierce  possessed  some  of  the  needful  qualities  of  a  success 
ful  candidate.  He  was  hale  and  jovial,  and  he  won  friends  on  every 
side.  Being  a  secondary  man  in  public  life,  he  had  awakened  few 
antagonisms.  Moreover,  he  accepted  unreservedly  the  Democratic 
platform,  the  chief  plank  of  which  was  that  indorsing  the  compro 
mise  measures,  including  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  A  wave  of  dis 
appointment  spread  over  the  party  at  the  nomination  of  Pierce. 
Why  should  the  great  party  leaders,  who  had  spent  their  lives  in 
the  forefront  of  battle,  be  set  aside  for  this  mediocre  man  ?  But 
this  feeling  subsided  and  the  party  was  soon  united  as  one  man  for 
its  candidate. 

The  Whig  convention  met  ten  days  after  the  adjournment  of  the 
Democrats,  in  the  same  hall  of  the  same  city.  The  party  was  hope 
lessly  divided ;  it  was  little  more  than  a  disorganized  mass,  and  the 
herculean  efforts  of  the  leaders  to  bring  harmony  proved  fruitless. 
The  chief  candidates  for  the  nomination  were  three  :  Winfield  Scott, 
Millard  Fillmore,  and  Daniel  Webster.  But  the  rock  that  threatened 
to  wreck  the  party  was  the  platform,  rather  than  the  choice  of  can 
didates.  The  southern  wing  of  the  party  demanded  that  the  con 
vention  indorse  the  compromise  measures  as  a  finality.  Such  an 
act  would  be  equivalent  to  a  promise  to  agita,te  the  sub- 
convention  Ject  no  more>  and  to  aid  in  the  enforcement  of  the  Fugi 
tive  Slave  Law.  How  could  the  Seward  Whigs  do  this  ? 
How  could  the  men  who  had  fought  that  measure  in  Congress,  or 
those  who  had  been  enraged  at  the  seizure  of  Anthony  Burns,  had 
exulted  at  the  rescue  of  Joshua  Glover  —  how  could  they  now  pro 
nounce  that  hated  law  a  final  settlement  of  the  great  question  ? 

Yet  the  southern  Whigs  were  inflexible  in  their  demand  that 
the  convention  indorse  this  measure,  as  the  Democratic  convention 
had  done.  Many  Democrats  had  also  opposed  the  passage  of  this 
law ;  but  most  of  these  had  reentered  the  party  fold ;  a  few  had 
swung  away  into  the  ranks  of  the  Free-soilers.  The  defection  in 
that  party  was  not  serious.  It  was  like  a  tiny  satellite  cast  off  from 
the  major  planet.  But  it  was  different  with  the  Whigs.  Under  the 
powerful  leadership  of  Seward  nearly  half  the  party  was  ready  to 
resist  the  demands  of  the  South.  At  length,  however,  the  Seward 
people,  after  coming  to  a  tacit  understanding  with  some  of  the 
southern  delegates  that  the  northern  wing  should  name  the  candi- 


CAMPAIGN  OF   1852  565 


date,  yielded  the  point,  and  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act  was  indorsed 
as  a  finality  by  the  convention.  Yet  it  was  with  exceeding  diffi 
culty  that  Scott  was  nominated.  The  South  objected 
to  Scott  because  he  stood  too  near  to  Seward,  the  origi- 
nator  of  the  higher-law  doctrine,  because  he  refused  to 
express  himself  on  the  compromise,  and  because  he  had  written  a 
letter  some  years  before  which  seemed  to  indicate  that  he  desired 
the  ultimate  extinction  of  slavery.1  The  South  wanted  Fillmore, 
a  northern  man,  it  is  true,  but  he  had  signed  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
and  had  shown  great  vigor  in  enforcing  it.2 

Then  there  was  Webster,  who  fondly  hoped  that  the  prize  would 
fall  to  him.  But  Webster  was  the  idol  of  no  great  section.  He  had 
a  few  faithful  friends,  but  he  had  forfeited  the  allegiance  of  the 
North  by  his  Seventh  of  March  Speech.  Whatever  may  have  been 
his  motives  in  making  that  speech,  whatever  may  be  the  judgment  of 
history  in  regard  to  it,  it  is  certain  that  his  contemporaries  could  not 
shake  off  the  belief  that  he  was  bidding  for  southern  support  in  the 
presidential  race,  and  that  thenceforth  he  was  classed  with  the  north 
ern  men  of  southern  principles.3  But  the  South  would  not  support 
Webster.  He  was  too  new  a  convert  to  win  their  confidence.  They 
remembered  him  as  the  author  of  the  mighty  speech  against  Hayne,  as 
the  reviver  of  the  doctrine  of  nationality ;  and  if  now  he  would  bar 
ter  the  convictions  of  a  lifetime  to  win  the  favor  of  the  South,  what 
might  he  do,  if  he  became  President,  to  regain  the  favor  of  his  own 
section  ?  No,  the  South  could  not  trust  the  great  New  Englander 
with  the  sacred  interests  of  slavery,  and  in  all  the  fifty-three  ballots 
of  the  convention  he  received  not  one  vote  from  that  section.4 

Scott  was  nominated  on  the  fifty-third  ballot;  but  this  did  not 
bring  harmony  to  the  party.  His  name  awakened  little  enthusiasm 

1  Von  Hoist,  Vol.  IV,  p.  160. 

2  The  Fillmore  followers  were  called  "  Silver  Grays." 

3  Horace  Mann  declared  that  if  President  Jackson,  to  win  a  third  term,  had 
defended  the  United  States  Bank  and  made  Nicholas  Biddle  his  bosom  friend ;  if 
Clay  had  abandoned  his  protective  principles  and  become  a  free  trader ;  if  Calhoun 
had  raised  the  standard  of  immediate  emancipation — none  of  these  changes  would 
have  furnished  such  material  of  contradiction  and  amazement  as  that  of  Webster. 
"Mr.  Webster  espouses  doctrines  more  southern  than  South  Carolina,  and  becomes 
Calhouner  than  Mr.  Calhoun."  —  Congressional  Globe,  1st  Session  32d  Cong.,  App., 
p.  1079. 

4Jt  is  said,  however,  that  the  southern  delegates  promised  Webster  their  votes 
if  he  could  come  down  to  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  with  forty.  But  this,  as  they 
probably  knew,  he  could  not  do. 


566  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES 

in  the  North  and  still  less  in  the  South.  Alexander  H.  Stephens, 
Robert  Toombs,  and  other  leading  southern  Whigs  put  forth  a  mani 
festo  declaring  that  they  would  not  support  Scott.  Such  was  the 
condition  of  the  Whig  party  when  it  went  before  the  people  asking 
their  suffrages  in  1852.  Twice  had  the  Whigs  won  by  choosing  a 
soldier  to  head  their  ticket,  and  now  they  had  chosen  a  third,  greater 
than  either ;  but  the  times  had  changed.  Scott  lost  ground  through 
out  the  campaign,  and  carried  only  four  states  in  the  election.1  The 
victory  of  Pierce  was  more  sweeping  than  any  since  the  second  elec 
tion  of  Monroe,  though  the  campaign  was  notable  for  the  extreme 
apathy  of  the  people.  William  R.  King  of  Alabama,  who  had  served 
many  years  in  the  Senate,  was  elected  Vice  President. 

The  cause  of  the  great  Democratic  victory  was  the  fact  that  the 
party  was  unanimous  and  doubtless  sincere  in  its  promise  to  leave 
the  slavery  question  undisturbed,  a  matter  on  which  the  Whigs,  not 
withstanding  their  forced  platform,  were  yet  divided.  The  people, 
especially  the  business  men  of  the  country,  were  utterly  weary  of  the 
agitation,  and  they  gave  their  suffrages  to  the  party  that  promised 
them  rest.2 

DEATH  OF  CLAY  AND  WEBSTER 

While  the  Whig  convention  sat  in  Baltimore,  the  founder  of  the 
party  lay  on  his  deathbed  in  Washington.  But  once  since  the  open 
ing  of  Congress  had  Clay  been  able  to  go  to  the  Senate.  He  was 
dying,  and  the  summons  came  ere  the  close  of  the  month  that  had 
witnessed  this  last  national  convention  of  the  party  in  which  he  had 
so  long  been  the  leading  figure.  His  end  was  peaceful  and  calm  ; 
he  passed  away  with  sincere  confidence  in  the  Christian  religion. 
Few  men  have  been  so  deeply  mourned  by  the  whole  nation  as 
was  Henry  Clay.  The  solemn  funeral  procession  passed  through 
various  cities  of  the  North  before  crossing  the  Alleghanies ;  and,  as 
it  moved  to  the  mournful  music,  the  evidence  of  sorrow,  shown  by 
the  vast  crowds  that  gathered,  betokened  the  love  in  "which  the 
deceased  was  held. 

Henry  Clay  possessed  some  great  qualities.  As  a  parliamentary 
leader  he  has  no  equal  in  American  history.  As  a  party  leader,  as 

1  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee.    See  Stanwood's  "  Presi 
dential  Elections,"  p.  191. 

2  The  Free  Soil  party  had  also  its  ticket  in  the  field,  headed  by  Senator  Jghn  P. 
Hale  of  New  Hampshire;  but  it  carried  no  state,  and  its  popular  vote  was  much 
lighter  than  in  1848,  when  Van  Buren  headed  the  ticket. 


CLAY   AND   WEBSTER  567 

an  idol  of  the  people,  he  stood  in  the  highest  rank ;   and  indeed,  but 
three  men  in  our  history  —  Jefferson,  Jackson,  and  Elaine  —  can  be 
classed  with  him  in  this  respect.     Clay  was  a  man  of  definite  party 
principles  and  aims,  but  at  a  time  of  imminent  peril  he  would  waver 
and  stoop  a  little  below  his  ordinary  level  to  carry  his  ends.     This 
is  shown  by  his  Alabama  letter,  and  by  his  hedging  on 
the  tariff   in  the  campaign  of   1844.     As  a  statesman  ^racter  of 
Clay  cannot  be  placed  in  the  very  first  rank.    He  lacked 
the  broad,  analytic  mind  of  Jefferson,  the  deep  foresight  of  Hamil 
ton,  and  the  prophetic  intuition  of  Jackson.     His  judgment  was  too 
often  at  fault.     Some  of  the  greatest  achievements  of  his  life  proved 
to  be  political  blunders,  notably  his  forcing  the  bank  charter  through 
Congress  in  1832. 

Clay  has  been  called  the  great  compromiser,  though  he  was  the 
author  of  but  two  compromises  in  his  long  career :  first,  that  of  1833 
on  the  tariff,  and  second,  the  Compromise  of  1850.1  But  the  wisdom 
of  both  of  these  is  open  to  question.  The  compromise  measures  of 
1850  may  have  been  necessary  to  avert  greater  dangers  ;  but  its 
author  did  not  foresee  that  he  was  sacrificing  his  own  beloved  party 
upon  the  altar,  and  that  the  evils  he  sought  to  avert  were  only  post 
poned  for  a  very  few  years.  But  Nature  kindly  spared  him  from  see 
ing  those  evils,  and  Henry  Clay,  after  a  long  public  career,  strangely 
mingled  with  light  and  shadow,  laid  aside  his  staff  "  like  one  that  is 
weary,"  and  his  ashes  were  laid  to  rest  in  his  own  beloved  Kentucky. 

Daniel  Webster,  a  few  years  younger  than  Clay,  was  associated 
with  him  in  public  life  for  nearly  forty  years,  and  their  names  are 
frequently  linked  together  in  history.     They  were  leaders  in  the 
same  great  party;  usually,  but  not  always,  they  were  personal  as 
well  as  political  friends.     But  the  two  men  were  so  unlike  that  it  is 
difficult  to  find  a  point  of  resemblance.    As  a  party  leader  Clay  stood 
far  above  Webster ;  as  a  giant  in  intellect  Webster  overshadowed 
Clay.     Clay  won  the  love  of  the  people  ;  Webster  won  their  admira 
tion  and  praise.     Clay  made  many  warm  friends,  and   Clay  and 
had  bitter   enemies;  Webster  had  fewer  friends,   and  Webster 
almost   no    personal    'enemies.      Both   were    intensely  compared. 
American,  and  the  passionate  desire  of  each  was  to  become  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.     WTith  Clay  this  longing  covered  most  of 

1  Clay  has  often  been  called  the  author  of  the  Missouri  Compromise ;  but  aside 
from  the  second  compromise  concerning  the  admission  of  free  blacks  into  Missouri, 
he  had  no  more  to  do  with  it  than  some  of  his  colleagues. 


568  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

his  political  life ;  with  Webster,  only  a  few  of  his  latter  years.  Both 
failed,  but  each  made  a  permanent  name  in  American  history  far 
above  that  of  the  average  President. 

As  an  orator  Webster  holds  the  first  place  in  our  history ;  as  a 
constitutional  lawyer  he  stands  without  a  peer,  and  he  was  singularly 
powerful  in  developing  a  constitutional  principle.  But  he  was  not 
painstaking ;  he  disliked  the  routine  work  of  Congress,  and  one  of 
his  lifelong  drawbacks  was  indolence.  Webster  was  not  without 
faults,  the  most  notable  of  which  was  a  want  of  thrift.  His  income 
from  his  profession  was  large,  but  he  had  no  power  to  keep  out  of 
debt,  and  his  life  work  would  have  been  thereby  weakened  but  for 
the  aid  of  some  of  his  rich  friends,  who  now  and  then  came  to  the 
rescue.  The  last  years  of  WTebster's  life  were  weakened  by  his 
inordinate  desire  to  be  President;  but  he  always  fell  far  short  of 
receiving  the  nomination  of  his  party.  He  was  more  popular  with 
the  masses  than  with  the  politicians,  but  not  even  among  the  people 
was  there  any  great  desire  for  his  candidacy.  He  had  never  been 
a  party  leader,  nor  had  he  proved  himself  a  safe  party  man;  and,  as 
above  stated,  he  appealed  to  the  intellect  rather  than  to  the  heart. 
The  last  great  effort  of  his  friends  to  secure  his  nomination  at  Balti 
more  in  1852  proved  a  disastrous  failure. 

Webster's  grief  and  disappointment  at  this  crushing  defeat  fur 
nish  the  saddest  incident  in  his  great  life.  The  account  of  his  inter 
view  with  his  friend,  Rufus  Choate,  the  great  Boston  lawyer,  after 
the  convention  had  adjourned,  is  inexpressibly  sad,  and  Choate 
afterward  referred  to  it  as  the  most  mournful  experience  of  his  life.1 
A  few  months  later  the  great  New  England  statesman  sank  down 
into  the  grave,  denouncing  the  pursuit  of  politics  as  vanity  of  vani 
ties,  and  advising  his  friends  to  vote  for  the  Democratic  candidates. 
Thus  the  most  brilliant  star  in  the  political  firmament,  after  waning 
from  the  passing  of  its  zenith,  was  obscured  at  its  setting  by  a  dark 
cloud.2 

But  Webster's  final  days  were  days  of  peace.  As  he  lay  at  his 
Marshfield  home  waiting  for  the  final  call,  he  seemed  to  have  for 
gotten  all  about  the  turmoils  of  political  strife,  and  his  mind  soared 
through  the  realms  of  the  unknown.  He  spoke  of  the  wondrous 
works  of  God ;  he  requested  that  on  his  tombstone  be  inscribed 
a  statement  of  his  profound  belief  that  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 

1  Harvey,  quoted  by  Rhodes,  Vol.  I,  p.  260. 

2  See  Von  Hoist,  Vol.  IV,  p.  204. 


DEATH   OF   WEBSTER 


must  be  a  divine  reality ;  he  discussed  the  gradual  steps  of  dissolu 
tion  with  his  physician,  and  said  that  no  man  who  is  not  a  brute  can 
say  that  he  is  not  afraid  of  death.  "  I  shall  die  to-night," l  said  he  to 
his  physician,  as  the  sun  rose  on  the  last  day  of  his  life.  It  was  on 
one  of  those  dreamy  October  days,  known  as  Indian  summer,  when 
Nature  invites  everything  that  hath  breath  to  love  her  and  to  praise 
the  Lord,  that  the  great  man  cast  his  eyes  for  the  last  time  on  her 
changing  forms,  that  he  heard  for  the  last  time  the  murmuring 
waves  of  the  Atlantic  through  his  open  window,  that  he  called  his 
family  one  by  one  and  bade  them  farewell.  At  nightfall  he  sank 
into  a  gentle  slumber.  Waking  after  midnight,  he  said,  "I  still 
live,"  his  last  intelligible  words.  In  the  early  morning  his  life  went 
out  with  the  ebbing  of  the  tide.2 

The  mourning  for  Webster  was  widespread  and  sincere.  The 
attitude  of  the  South  at  the  Whig  convention  had  caused  a  re 
action  throughout  the  North.  Boston  had  given  him  a  grand  recep 
tion  in  July,  and  now  Massachusetts  was  heartbroken  at  the  death 
of  her  great  son. 

All  human  talents  and  virtues  have  their  limitations.  Nature 
is  not  uniform  in  distributing  her  gifts.  When  she  makes  a  man 
great  in  this  or  in  that  line,  she  often  leaves  him  in  other  respects, 
like  Samson  with  the  shorn  locks,  as  weak  as  other  men.  Webster's 
life  was  a  great  life ;  but  he  was  weak  in  some  points.  Strange 
that  such  a  man  should  pine  for  an  office  that  so  many  smaller  men 
had  filled.  Strange,  too,  that  he  could  not  see,  as  we  now  see,  that 
the  presidency,  had  he  attained  it,  would  not  probably  have  added  a 
jot  to  his  illustrious  name  in  American  history.  But  we  must  re 
member  Webster,  not  by  the  weaknesses  of  his  later  years,  but  for 
his  whole  life,  especially  for  the  principle  of  nationality  of  which  he 
was  our  greatest  exponent,  a  principle  epitomized  in  his  own  undying 
words :  "  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable." 

FALL   OF   THE   WHIG  PARTY 

We  have  taken  leave  of  the  two  great  leaders  of  the  Whig  party ; 
we  must  now  give  a  parting  word  to  the  party  itself.  But  a  few 
weeks  after  the  death  of  the  great  New  England  statesman  at 
Marshfield  the  party  to  which  he  belonged  received  a  blow  at  the 
polls  from  which  it  could  not  recover.  This  was  the  last  national 

1  Curtis's  "  Life  of  Webster,"  Vol.  II,  p.  696.  2  j&id.,  697-701. 


570  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

campaign  of  the  Whig  party.  The  structure  was  tottering  to  its 
fall,  and  ere  the  return  of  the  next  quadrennial  election  the  story  of 
its  existence  was  history.  Of  the  many  political  organizations  in 
our  history  the  Whig  party  was  one  of  only  four  that  became  so 
powerful  as  to  secure  control  of  the  government ;  and  it  differs  from 
the  other  three  in  that  it  has  left  us  no  legislation  of  permanent 
value,  by  which  to  enrich  our  national  life  and  to  distinguish  its  name 
in  history.1  During  the  twenty  years  of  its  existence  it  had  but  one 
rival,  the  Democratic  party,  and  by  that  party  it  was  beaten  in  all 
its  great  measures.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  compromise 
measures  of  1850  were  sectional  and  not  partisan  in  their  nature, 
and  while  most  of  the  country  seemed  disposed  to  accept  them  as  a 
finality,  they  awakened  the  lasting  opposition  of  many,  and  the 
odium  had  to  be  borne  by  the  Whig  party.  Many  Democrats  had 
supported  the  measures,  but  they  were  fathered  by  the  great  Whig 
leader  and  signed  by  a  Whig  President,  and  the  resentment  they 
awakened  north  and  south  was  visited  upon  that  party.  On  this 
rock  the  party  became  hopelessly  divided,  and  these  measures  are 
usually  regarded  as  the  cause  of  its  downfall.  But  there  were  other 
causes. 

The  old  Federal  party  had  been  overthrown  because  it  was  too 
aristocratic  arid  centralizing  in  its  tendencies,  because  it  differed  too 
widely  from  its  Democratic  rival.  The  Whig  party's  downfall  was 
due  in  part  to  the  opposite  reason  —  it  had  become  too  Democratic. 
It  had  yielded  to  the  Democrats  on  all  the  great  issues  between 
them  :  the  bank,  the  independent  treasury,  the  tariff,  and  at  length 
the  issues  of  the  Mexican  War.  Not  one  of  these  did  the  Whigs 
attempt  to  disturb  when  they  regained  power  in  1848 ;  and  the  only 
other  great  question  before  the  country,  slavery,  was  sectional  and 
not  partisan.  After  1850,  therefore,  the  two  great  parties  stood  on 
common  ground.  No  longer  were  there  principles  to  fight  for  — 
only  spoils.  And  since,  as  before  stated,  in  the  world  of  politics 
two  of  a  kind  cannot  exist  together,  one  of  these  two  parties  must 
disappear. 

But  the  Democratic  party  was  no  better  than  the  Whig.  Why 
then  did  it  survive  while  its  rival  perished  ?  Because,  first,  its 
traditions  and  history,  almost  coexistent  with  the  government,  ap 
pealed  to  the  sentiment  of  its  adherents  ;  second,  it  had  held  a 
steady  course  while  the  Whigs  had  yielded  every  important  issue 
i  See  Schouler,  Vol.  IV,  p.  261. 


A  FAR-REACHING   MEASURE  671 

between  them ;  and  third,  it  escaped  the  odium  of  the  compromise. 
Thus,  from  various  causes,  the  Whig  party  passed  into  history,  and 
by  so  doing  it  made  way  for  another  that  was  soon  to  be  born,  one 
destined  to  do  a  mighty  work  for  the  nation  which  the  old  party 
could  not  have  done. 

Millard  Filhnore,  the  last  of  the  Whig  Presidents,  was  a  man  of 
sincere  and  honest  motives.  The  odium  of  signing  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  he  could  not  outlive ;  but,  as  before  stated,  there  is  little 
doubt  that  he  meant  it  for  the  best,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  he 
could  have  done  otherwise  without  bringing  disaster  on  the  country. 
He  was  the  victim  of  conditions  that  he  could  not  control. 

THE   KANSAS-NEBRASKA   BILL 

Franklin  Pierce  was  the  youngest  man  ever  made  President  up 
to  that  time.1  His  inaugural  address  was  generally  well  received ; 
but  the  statement  that  new  territory  should  be  acquired  (and  this 
meant  Cuba)  confirmed  the  belief  that  in  the  great  controversy  that 
had  convulsed  the  country  the  sympathies  of  the  new  President  were 
writh  the  South.  And  so  it  proved ;  whenever  it  became  the  duty  of 
this  northern  President  to  show  his  hand  on  the  slavery  question, 
he  invariably  decided  with  the  slaveholder. 

In  his  cabinet  we  find  three  men  of  national  fame.  Marcy  of 
New  York,  who  had  served  in  Polk's  cabinet,  became  secretary  of 

state  ;  Jefferson  Davis  of  Mississippi,  secretary  of  war  ; 

-.ATI-,!-          n,r  i     The  Cabinet, 

and  Caleb  dishing  of  Massachusetts,  attorney-general. 

Marcy  had  for  many  years  been  a  leader  in  New  York,  had  been  gov 
ernor  of  the  state  and  senator  in  Congress.  His  famous  phrase 
"  To  the  victors  belong  the  spoils,"  has  been  quoted  by  unnum 
bered  millions  —  at  first  as  a  happy  statement  of  a  policy  accepted 
by  all ;  now,  only  to  be  condemned.  Davis  had  risen  rapidly 
in  public  life  after  the  Mexican  War,  in  which  he  had  proved 
himself  a  brave  and  skillful  officer.  But  his  strange  career  was  only 
begun,  and  we  leave  a  further  account  of  him  to  a  later  page.  Gush 
ing  was  one  of  the  most  learned  men  ever  in  public  life  in  America. 
He  had  been  a  Whig  in  ante-Tyler  days,  had  performed  a  most 
useful  service  as  commissioner  to  China,  and  on  his  return  had 

1  Mr.  King,  who  had  gone  to  Cuba  for  his  health,  was  there  sworn  into  office  as 
Vice  President.  He  returned  to  his  Alabama  home  a  few  weeks  later,  and  died  on 
April  18. 


572  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

joined  the  little  Tyler  party  ;  but  on  its  collapse  he  refused  to  return 
to  the  Whig  fold,  and  joined  the  Democrats.  It  was  said  that  Cush- 
ing's  linguistic  knowledge  was  so  extensive  that  he  could  converse 
with  every  foreign  minister  at  Washington  in  the  latter's  own  lan 
guage.  The  other  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  inconspicuous,  and 
even  their  names  would  not  interest  the  reader.  This  Cabinet  is  the 
only  one,  even  to  this  day,  that  remained  unbroken  during  an  entire 
presidential  term. 

Not  long  had  Pierce  been  President  when  his  popularity  began 
to  wane,  and  so  it  continued  steadily  to  the  end  of  his  term.  It  was 
evident  that  he  lacked  executive  ability  and  firmness.  He  received 
every  office  seeker  with  suavity  of  manner,  and  led  him  to  believe 
that  he  would  receive  the  desired  appointment.  But  many  had  to 
be  disappointed,  and  this  failing  gave  the  President  much  trouble 
and  made  him  many  enemies.  But  with  all  his  vacillating  he  was 
constant  in  one  thing  —  his  desire  to  please  the  South  and  to  crush 
the  Abolitionists.1  To  annex  Cuba  was  the  first  great  aim  of  the 
administration.2  To  further  this  end  Buchanan  was  selected  as 
minister  to  England,  Mason  to  France,  and  Soule  to  Spain  ;  all  of 
whom  were  determined  advocates  of  the  project.  These 
feat?  ISsT1"  tnree  ministers,  directed  by  the  President  to  meet  at  a 
convenient  place  to  consider  the  subject,  met  at  Ostend, 
a  little  town  in  Belgium,  and  issued  an  address,  known  as  the  Ostend 
Manifesto.  In  this  they  urged  the  transfer  of  Cuba  to  the  United 
States,  by  purchase  if  possible,  by  force  if  necessary.  This  was 
not  acted  on  by  the  administration. 

In  his  inaugural  address  President  Pierce  had  promised  the  coun 
try  a  rest  from  the  distracting  slavery  question,  and  this  promise 
he  renewed  in  more  emphatic  words  in  his  first  annual  message  to 
Congress.  And  the  people  were  pleased ;  the  compromise  as  a  final 
settlement  was  taking  a  firmer  hold  upon  the  public  mind.  The  North 
had  even  become  quiescent  on  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.3  The  country 

1  Gushing,  who  was,  in  an  extreme  sense,  a  northern  man  with  southern  princi 
ples,  stated  in  a  letter  that  the  administration  was  determined  to  crush  out  aboli 
tionism  in  every  form.    Gushing,  as  well  as  Pierce,  came  to  sympathize  with  secession 
in  the  sixties. 

2  Our  filibusters  had  awakened  apprehension  in  Europe,  and  in  1852  England  and 
France  had  proposed  a  tripartite  agreement  with  the  United  States  to  disclaim  all 
intention  to  get  possession  of  Cuba;  but  the  United  States  declined  to  enter  the 
agreement. 

3  Sumner  had  made  a  powerful  speech  in  the  Senate,  calling  for  the  repeal  of  the 
law  (July,  1852) ;  but  the  effect  of  this  had  largely  subsided. 


THE    KANSAS-NEBRASKA   BILL  573 

was  prosperous ;  railroad  systems  were  extending  in  every  direction ; 
manufacturing  and  commerce  were  at  high  tide ;  the  national  treas 
ury  was  full  to  overflowing.  Moreover,  the  Democratic  party  had  a 
powerful  hold  upon  the  country.  Not  only  the  President  and  both 
houses  of  Congress,  but  also  the  governor  and  legislature  of  nearly 
every  state,  were  Democratic.  Surely  the  party  had  every  promise  of 
another  long  lease  of  power.  Such  was  the  condition  of  the  country 
and  the  party  at  the  opening  of  the  year  1854,  when  suddenly  there 
broke  forth  from  the  political  sky  a  storm  more  terrific  than  any 
that  had  preceded  it  in  the  history  of  the  government.  It  came  in 
the  form  of  a  legislative  act,  and  its  author  was  Stephen  A.  Douglas. 

Douglas  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  ambitious  men  in  pub 
lic  life.  Though  less  than  forty  years  old,  he  had  vied  with  the  old 
leaders  of  the  party  for  the  presidential  nomination  in 
1852,  and  had  received  nearly  a  hundred  votes.  His  oug  as' 
support,  however,  had  come  from  the  North,  and  it  was  necessary  in 
those  days  for  a  candidate  to  win  southern  support  in  order  to  gain 
the  presidency,  or  even  the  nomination  of  either  of  the  great  parties. 
Cass,  Marcy,  Gushing,  Buchanan,  Fillmore,  Pierce,  and  even  Webster 
had  shown  themselves  ready  to  aid  the  slave  power  in  its  contest 
with  the  rising  abolitionism  of  the  North;  but  Douglas  had  done 
nothing  to  win  the  favor  essential  to  the  realization  of  his  ambition. 
He  was  now  chairman  of  the  Senate  committee  on  territories,  and 
here  was  his  opportunity. 

The  northern  part  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  a  vast  uninhabited 
region  of  nearly  half  a  million  square  miles,  lay  northwestward  from 
Missouri  and  extended  to  the  boundary  of  British  America.  The 
territory  was  known  as  Nebraska.  Douglas  now  brought  a  report 
before  the  Senate  to  give  this  region  territorial  organization.  In  this 
report  were  two  statements  of  far-reaching  importance :  first,  that 
the  provision  in  the  Compromise  of  1850  —  that  Utah  and  New 
Mexico  be  organized  with  no*  decision  for  or  against  slavery  —  was 
designed  to  establish  certain  great  principles,  namely,  that  all  other 
territories  be  organized  in  the  same  way  —  that  is,  the  subject  of 
slavery  in  each  must  be  decided  by  its  future  inhabi-  j^e  firgt  feiu 
tants ;  second,  that  in  the  opinion  of  eminent  states-  January  4, 
men  Congress  had  no  authority  to  legislate  on  the  subject  1854- 
of  slavery  in  the  territories,  and,  therefore,  the  eighth  section  of  the 
Missouri  Bill  of  1820  is  null  and  void.  Now  the  eighth  section  of  the 
Missouri  Bill  is  that  which  established  the  compromise  line  of  36°  30'. 


574  HISTORY    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

In  few  words  the  above  meant  this:  first,  that  Congress  in  deciding 
in  1850  to  keep  its  hands  off  the  slavery  subject  in  Utah  and  New 
Mexico,  meant  that  this  decision  should  apply  to  all  future  territories — 
which  every  intelligent  man  in  and  out  of  Congress  knew  to  be  false ; 
and  second,  that  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  unconstitutional. 

Douglas  professed  to  believe  that  he  had  found  a  way  by  which 
to  secure  eternal  rest  for  the  country  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the 
territories,  by  relegating  the  matter  to  the  territories  themselves. 
But  Douglas  knew  better.  He  must  have  known  that  his  bill,  if  it 
became  a  law,  setting  aside  the  Missouri  Compromise,  though  not 
actually  repealing  it,  would  be  sternly  resisted  at  the  North.  The 
Congress  of  1820  had  no  power  to  bind  its  successors;  but  that 
solemn  agreement  between  the  North  and  the  South  that  slavery  be 
forever  prohibited  north  of  36°  30'  in  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  made 
when  Douglas  was  a  toddling  child  of  seven  years,  had  received  the 
sanction  of  the  greatest  statesmen  of  the  time,  and  had  stood  like  a 
wall  for  thirty-four  years.  It  was  more  than  an  act  of  Congress. 
It  was  an  agreement,  almost  as  binding  as  a  treaty,  between  two 
great  sections  of  the  country.  What  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  was  to 
the  East,  the  line  of  36°  30'  was  to  the  West.  Could  Douglas  now 
suppose  that  he  could  set  aside  this  compact,  and  enable  the  slave 
holders  to  fill  the  heart  of  the  continent,  even  to  the  Canadian 
border,  with  their  human  property,  without  raising  a  storm  of  indig 
nation  ?  But  the  end  had  not  yet  come.  Douglas  knew  that  his 
report  would  please  the  South,  though  he  had  consulted  with  no 
Dixon's  southern  men  in  its  framing.  Scarcely,  however,  had 

amendment,  the  country  caught  its  breath  when  Dixon,  a  Kentucky 
January  16.  Whig  who  was  filling  the  unexpired  term  of  the  la 
mented  Clay,  arose  and  offered  to  the  Nebraska  Bill  an  amendment 
actually  repealing  the  Missouri  Compromise.  This  was  startling  to 
the  Senate  and  especially  so  to  Douglas.  He  had  not  intended  to  go 
to  such  lengths ;  but  seeing  that,  if  he  rejected  the  amendment,  he 
would  displease  the  South  and  lose  all  credit  for  what  he  had  done, 
he  embodied  the  amendment  in  his  report. 

The  rising  storm  of  indignation  at  the  North  was  now  swelling 
in  volume,  and  it  threatened  to  become  a  resistless  hurricane.  Doug 
las  saw  that  to  escape  being  overwhelmed  he  must  secure  the  support 
of  the  administration.  President  Pierce  was  known  to  disfavor  the 
Dixon  amendment,1  nor  was  Douglas  in  intimate  relations  with  the 

1  This  was  shown  by  the  Washington  Union,  the  organ  of  the  administration. 


DOUGLAS   ON  THE   DEFENSIVE  675 

President.  But  he  knew  that  the  secretary  of  war,  Jefferson  Davis, 
belonged  to  the  inner  circle  of  the  President's  counselors,  and  he 
believed  that  Davis  could  not  oppose  a  measure  so  favorable  to  the 
South.  Douglas  therefore  sought  Davis,  and  Davis  sought  the 
President.  The  three  men  had  a  long  conference  on  Sunday,  Janu 
ary  22.  The  vacillating  Pierce  soon  yielded,  and  the  three  agreed 
that  the  Missouri  Compromise  ought  to  be  repealed.  Only  a  few 
months  before  Pierce  had  renewed  his  promise  that  the  repose  of  the 
people  should  suffer  no  shock  during  his  official  term,  if  it  were  in 
his  power  to  prevent  it.  Here  was  the  opportunity  of  a  lifetime, 
not  only  to  keep  a  solemn  pledge,  but  to  show  himself  capable  of 
making  a  stand  on  principle,  and  thus  to  do  his  country  a  great  ser 
vice  and  to  make  for  himself  a  name  in  history.  The  opportunity 
was  lost.  Pierce  desired  the  support  of  the  South  in  the  next  presi 
dential  race ;  this  fact  would  explain  his  action ;  so  with  Douglas. 
Of  the  three  men  Davis  alone  acted  on  principle  and  conviction.1 

On  the  day  following  this  conference  Douglas  offered  a  second 
bill  in  the  Senate,  embodying  the  substance  of  the  first,  with  the 
addition  that  it  provided  for  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise2  by  declaring  it  inoperative,  and  divided 
the  territory  into  two  parts  to  be  known  as  Kansas  and 
Nebraska.  The  Illinois  senator  defended  his  bill  with  great  power ; 
but  he  had  not  smooth  sailing.  There  were  strong  men  in  his  own 
party  whom,  he  could  not  control.  Before  the  close  of  January  a 
protest  known  as  an  "  Appeal  of  the  Independent  Democrats  in  Con 
gress  to  the  People  of  the  United  States,"  written  by  Chase  and 
signed  by  the  Free-soil  Democrats,  was  published  and  sent  broad 
cast  through  the  Xorth.  This  was  a  powerful  arraignment  of  the 
proposed  law,  pronouncing  it  a  "  gross  violation  of  a  sacred  pledge, 
a  criminal  betrayal  of  precious  rights,  ...  an  atrocious  plot  to 
exclude  from  a  vast  unoccupied  region  immigrants  from  the  Old 
World  and  free  laborers  from  our  own  states."  The  Appeal  was 

1  The  view  of  Professor  Burgess,  that  Douglas  may  have  been  actuated  by  his 
exaggerated  notion,  as  a  radical  Democrat,  of  the  virtues  of  the  western  people  and 
of  the  importance  of  local  autonomy,  should  not  be  wholly  rejected.     But  this  view 
cannot  alone  account  for  Douglas's  extraordinary  action. 

2  In  actual  practice  the  Missouri  Compromise  had  been  violated.    By  act  of 
Congress  in  June,  18:3(1  a  large  tract  of  land  lying  north  of  the  Missouri  River  and 
belonging  to  the  territory  of  Nebraska  was  incorporated  into  the  state  of  Missouri. 
This  was  soon  occupied  by  slaveholders  with  their  slaves;  but  the  matter  attracted 
little  attention  at  the  time. 


576 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


published  in  all  parts  of  the  free  states,  and  the  response  of  the 
people  was  astonishing  for  its  suddenness  and  its  vehemence. 

Chase  led  the  oppostion,  and  his  speech,  on  February  3,  revealed 
his  powers  and  stamped  him  as  one  of  the  strongest  men  of  his 
time.  Chase  was  followed  by  Seward,  Wade,  Simmer,  and  Edward 
Everett,  all  of  whom  took  strong  ground  against  the  proposed  legis 
lation.  Douglas's  management  of  his  bill  in  the  Senate  showed  him 
a  master  parliamentarian.  At  length  the  time  came  that  the  final 
vote  was  to  be  taken.  It  was  near  midnight  on  the  3d  of  March 
when  the  Little  Giant  rose  to  close  the  debate.  Small  of  stature, 


-io'-MOy  J-Co..A'.r. 


Douglas 'was  nevertheless  impressive  in  appearance,  and  as  he  rose 
on  this  occasion  his  face  shone  with  animation  and  conscious  power. 
Never  before  had  he  spoken  with  such  force  as  he  did  that  night. 
The  Senate  chamber  and  the  galleries  were  crowded,  and,  though 
Douglas  spoke  all  night,  the  audience  remained  to  hear  the  last 
word.  Douglas  knew  that  the  bill  would  easily  pass 
grea/t  Speech  ^ne  ^ena^e'  ^u^  Be  a^so  knew  that  the  North  had  con 
demned  him,  and  this  was  his  great  opportunity  to  vin 
dicate  himself  before  the  people.  The  burden  of  his  speech  was  an 
endeavor  to  show  that  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  of 
which  his  critics  had  made  so  much,  was  only  an  incident  of  the  bill 
before  the  Senate ;  that  the  main  object  was  to  establish  the  "  funda- 


GREAT  OPPOSITION   TO   THE   BILL  577 

mental  principle  of  popular  sovereignty,"  to  relieve  Congress  and 
the  country  in  future  of  all  trouble  about  slavery  in  the  territories, 
and  to  remove  the  vexed  question  from  politics  by  leaving  the 
whole  matter  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  respective  territories. 

The  sleeping  city  was  roused  that  morning  by  the  boom  of 
cannon  that  announced  the  passage  of  the  measure.  As  Chase 
walked  down  the  Capitol  steps,  he  exclaimed  to  Sumner,  "  They 
celebrate  a  present  victory,  but  the  echoes  they  awake  will  never 
rest  until  slavery  itself  shall  die." 

The  bill  then  went  to  the  House.  Here  the  opposition  was  for 
midable,  and  the  bill  passed  only  after  a  fierce  debate,  amid  some  of 
the  wildest  scenes  ever  known  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
Among  the  negative  votes  was  that  of  the  sturdy  old  Missourian, 
Thomas  H.  Bentou,  who,  having  lost  his  seat  in  the  Senate  because 
of  his  independence  on  the  slavery  question,  had  become  a  member 
of  the  House. 

The  reception  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act  at  the  North  was  such 
as  to  make  the  politicians  stand  aghast.     The  voice  of 
the  people  began  to  be  heard  while  the  measure  was   {^fif81^11  ' 
yet  pending.    It  came  through  the  press  and  the  pulpit, 
and  through  great  mass  meetings  in  the  large  cities.     A  majority  of 
the  northern  state  legislatures  recorded  their  disapproval.1     Douglas 
was  denounced  on  every  hand  as  the  betrayer  of  his  country,  the 
Judas  Iscariot,  and  a  society  of  women  in  Ohio  sent  him  thirty  pieces 
of  silver.     His  middle  name,  "Arnold,"  was  emphasized  to  connect 
him  with  the  archtraitor  of  the  Revolution.     Attempting  to  speak 
in  his  own  city  of  Chicago,  he  was  hooted  off  the  stage.      By  his 
own  statement  he  "  could  travel  from  Boston  to  Chicago  by  the  light 
of  his  own  effigies." 

Douglas  had  made  a  frightful  blunder.  He  and  his  followers  had 
enacted  into  law  a  measure  of  vast  moment,  without  having  made 
it  an  issue  in  any  campaign,  without  consulting  their  masters,  the 
people.  However  popular,  however  powerful  a  political  leader  may 
be,  if  he  presume  too  far  on  the  rights  and  the  patience  of  the  multi 
tude,  he  will  find  himself  crushed  by  the  ponderous  weight  of  public 
opinion.  Douglas  was  no  doubt  an  honest  man  at  heart.  But  in 
this  daring  play  in  the  presidential  game  he  had  failed  to  count  the 

1  A  few  of  them  took  no  action.  Illinois  alone  of  all  the  Northern  states  approved 
the  measure  by  a  small  majority  of  the  legislature.  The  bill  was  received  with  great 
applause  at  the  South. 


578  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

cost.  Brilliant,  popular  young  leader  that  he  was,  he  had  won  the 
American  heart  as  few  had  ever  done ;  but  now  he  overstepped  the 
bounds  of  public  forbearance,  and  he  soon  found  himself  dashed  to 
the  ground  like  a  broken  toy,  and  his  presidential  prospects  forever 
blasted.1 

The  promoters  and  friends  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act  could 
hardly  have  been  sincere  in  their  claim  that  it  would  take  the  slavery 
question  out  of  national  politics.  Any  one  might  have  foreseen  that 
if  the  people  of  a  territory  had  this  matter  to  decide,  and  the  friends 
of  slavery  and  of  freedom  would  meet  on  the  ground,  each  aiming  to 
gain  the  mastery,  there  would  be  a  clash.  And  yet  by  this  law  Con 
gress  had  bound  itself  not  to  interfere.  The  one  and  only  instance 
in  which  this  law  was  put  into  operation  was  in  Kansas,  and  a  sorry 
exhibition  it  was,  as  will  be  shown  hereafter.  Again,  the  seeds  of 
endless  strife  were  sown  with  the  very  inception  of  this  bill.  The 
South  chose  to  understand  it  to  mean  that  a  territory  has  no  right  to 
prohibit  slavery  from  its  bounds,  that  it  can  do  this  only  on  becom 
ing  a  state.  On  the  other  hand,  the  people  of  the  North,  including 
Douglas,  took  the  ground  that  the  people  of  a  territory  had  the  power 
to  vote  on  the  subject  of  slavery  among  them  at  any  time  during  the 
territorial  state.  This  point  of  contention  alone  proved  that  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill  had  settled  nothing. 

This  act  had  never  been  equaled  in  results  by  any  legislation 
since  the  foundation  of  the  government.  It  gave  the  finishing 
blow  to  the  dying  Whig  party  by  a  final  alienation  of  its  northern 
and  southern  wings.  It  brought  disruption  to  the  Democratic  party, 
alienated  the  German  vote,  hitherto  almost  solidly  Democratic,  sacri 
ficed  the  prestige  of  the  party  in  New  England,  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
in  the  Northwest,  and  it  marked  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  the 
long  lease  of  Democratic  rule,  which  had  begun  with  the  century 
under  Jefferson.  It  opened  the  way  for  the  founding  of  another 
great  political  party  with  antislavery  extension  as  its  corner  stone.2 

FOUNDING  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY 

The  powerful  revulsion  in  Democratic  ranks,  occasioned  by  the  Kan 
sas-Nebraska  bill,  would  not  subside.  Thousands  of  men  who  had 
adhered  to  the  party  of  Jefferson  for  a  lifetime,  men  who  had  stood 

1  Douglas  now  enjoyed  popularity  at  the  South ;  hut  this,  as  will  appear  later, 
he  had  to  sacrifice  in  order  to  win  back  the  North. 

2  Rhodes,  Vol.  I,  p.  490. 


THE   KNOW-NOTHINGS  579 

by  Jackson  on  the  bank  issue,  by  Van  Buren  on  the  subtreasury, 
who  had  adhered  to  the  policy  of  Polk  on  the  tariff  and  the  results 
of  the  Mexican  War,  men  who  frowned  on  abolitionism  and  made 
no  quarrel  with  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  —  thousands  of  such  men 
found  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Law  unendurable,  and  they  broke  away 
from  the  party  of  their  fathers  and  wandered  homeless,  seeking  a 
political  fold.  Then  there  were  the  northern  Whigs.  Their  party 
was  shattered  to  fragments,  and  its  future  was  hopeless.  Some  of 
them  joined  the  Democrats,  but  the  great  majority  were  deterred  by 
prejudice,  by  conviction,  or  by  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Law.  The  old 
Free-soilers  were  also  ready  for  some  new  movement. 

A  third  element  of  homeless  wanderers  came  a  little  later  from 
the  American  or  Know-nothing  party,  to  which  it  is  now  time  to 
give  a  moment's  notice. 

From  far  back  in  the  thirties  a  strong  feeling  of  nativism,  aimed 
against  foreigners,  and  especially  against  Roman  Catholic  foreigners, 
showed  itself  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  it  origin  of 
often  resulted  in  riots.  In  1841  a  state  convention  in  Know- 
Louisiana  founded  the  American  Republican  party,  nothings, 
afterward  called  the  Native- American  party.  This  movement,  whose 
chief  principles  were  to  put  only  native  born  Americans  into  office 
and  to  extend  the  naturalization  period  to  twenty-one  years,  soon 
spread  to  the  North.  It  elected  a  mayor  in  New  York  City  in  1844, 
and  had  half  a  dozen  members  of  Congress  the  following  year.  But 
as  the  Mexican  War  and  slavery  came  to  absorb  public  attention,  the 
movement  subsided,  and  not  a  member  did  the  party  send  to  the  Con 
gress  that  met  in  1849.  But  the  upheavals  in  Europe  in  1848  and 
the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  caused  a  rush  of  emigrants  from 
Europe  greater  than  ever  before  to  the  shores  of  America.1  This 
reawakened  the  old  anti-foreigner  feeling,  and  in  1852  the  Know- 
nothing  party,  based  on  the  principles  of  the  old  Native- Am  eric  an 
party,  was  founded.  At  first  it  was  a  secret,  oath-bound  organization, 
and  when  its  members  were  asked  on  what  the  order  was  based  and 
what  it  stood  for,  they  answered,  as  their  oath  required,  "  I  don't 
know  ; "  hence  the  name  Know-nothing.  The  movement  spread 
like  a  conflagration.  Many  joined  it,  not  because  they  were  in  sym 
pathy  with  it,  but  because,  as  Von  Hoist  says,  they  were  ready  to 
grasp,  "  with  impatient  and  uncritical  zeal,  the  first  new  thing  " 
that  pleased  their  fancy.2  After  the  Compromise  of  1850,  and  the 

i  McMaster's  "  With  the  Fathers,"  p.  97.  2  Vol.  V,  p.  82. 


580  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

crushing  defeat  of  Scott  in  1852,  a  great  number  of  Whigs,  no  longer 
interested  in  their  own  party,  joined  the  Know-nothings.  The 
secret  vote  of  the  party  determined  many  local  elections  and  upset 
all  calculations  of  the  politicians. 

As  the  Know-nothings  grew  to  national  dimensions,  they  threw 
aside  their  secrecy,  and  nominated  their  own  candidates  for  office. 
In  1854  they  carried  the  elections  in  Massachusetts  and  Delaware. 
The  following  year,  when  the  revulsion  against  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
Democrats  was  at  its  height,  the  Know-nothings  carried  a  majority 
of  the  Northern  states  and  a  few  in  the  South.  But  the  party  could 
not  endure  as  a  permanent  political  factor.  It  lacked  the  moral 
background,  the  broad,  fundamental  principles  necessary  to  the  gov- 
Decline  of  the  erninS  °f  the  nation.  Moreover,  it  refused  to  express 
Know-  an  opinion  on  the  greatest  issue  of  the  times,  the  exten- 

nothings.  siOn  of  slavery  into  the  territories.  Most  men  had  posi 
tive  convictions  on  this  question,  and  they  would  remain  with  a 
party  that  refused  to  take  one  side  or  the  other  only  so  long  as 
there  was  no  better  one  to  join.  The  party  began  crumbling  before 
the  close  of  the  year  1855,  and  in  consequence  a  vast  number  of 
voters  was  free  to  join  the  new  political  party  that  was  about  to  be 
formed. 

With  all  this  material  at  hand  —  the  anti-Nebraska  Democrats, 
the  old  line  Whigs,  the  Free-soilers,  and  the  fragments  of  the  dis 
solving  Know-nothing  party — the  time  was  ripe  for  the  formation 
of  a  new  political  party.  In  the  early  spring  of  1854  the  rumor  was 
rife  at  Washington  that  a  new  national  party  would  be  formed  on 
the  basis  of  non-extension  of  slavery;  but  some  of  the  northern 
leaders,  including  Seward,  were  not  favorable  to  the  new  movement. 
Seward  took  the  ground  that  the  Whig  party  should  be  reorganized 
on  the  slavery  subject,  and  continued  under  the  old  name.  There 
were  several  objections  to  this,  the  chief  of  which  was  that  .the 
Democrats  who  wished  to  join  the  movement  were  loath  to  unite  with 
their  old  political  rival.  Meantime,  while  the  politicians  were  unde 
cided,  there  was  a  movement  of  the  people.  As  early  as  March  20, 
1854,  in  the  little  town  of  Kipon,  Wisconsin,  several  hundred  citi- 
Beginnings  of  zens  met  in  tne  townhall,  and  passed  resolutions  declar- 
the  Republi-  ing  that  a  new  national  party  should  be  formed,  and 
can  party.  they  suggested  the  name  Republican.  A  similar  move 
ment  in  Vermont  followed  a  few  days  later.  On  the  6th  of  July  a 
great  mass  meeting  was  held  at  Jackson,  Michigan,  and  in  the 


COMPONENTS   OF   THE    REPUBLICAN   PARTY  581 

resolutions  adopted  amid  the  greatest  enthusiasm  it  demanded  the 
repeal  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  and  the  Fugitive  Slave  laws,  pro 
nounced  slavery  a  "moral,  social,  and  political  evil,"  and  agreed, 
under  the  name  Republican,  to  oppose  the  extension  of  slavery.  On 
the  13th  of  July  anti-Nebraska  state  conventions  were  held  in  Wis 
consin,  Indiana,  Ohio,  and  Vermont.  Nothing  was  easier  to  see 
than  that  the  North  was  on  the  eve  of  an  unusual  uprising  of  the 
people. 

The  temperance  question  also  received  much  attention  at  this 
period.  In  1851  Maine  passed  her  anti-liquor  law,  which  is  still  in 
force.  The  movement  spread  through  the  North,  and  resulted  in 
the  enactment  of  prohibitory  laws  in  Michigan  and  in  most  of  the 
New  England  states.  The  temperance  movement  was  therefore  a 
powerful  political  factor  at  the  moment  when  the  new  party  was 
coming  into  existence,  and  the  leading  temperance  men  were,  for  the 
most  part,  among  the  leaders  against  the  extension  of  slavery. 

Soon  came  the  autumn  elections,  and  the  anti-Nebraska  people 
were  successful  in  almost  every  northern  state.  They  won  their  vic 
tories  under  different  names,  such  as  Fusion,  Whig,  anti-Nebraska,  and 
the  like,  the  name  Republican  not  having  come  into  general  use,  but 
the  slavery  question  was  the  chief  issue  in  every  case.  The  House 
of  Representatives  that  passed  Douglas's  famous  bill  was  Democratic 
by  a  majority  of  eighty-four;  in  the  next  House  the  Democrats  were 
in  the  minority  by  seventy-five.  The  party  had  lost  in  the  North 
above  three  hundred  and  forty  thousand  in  the  popular  vote.  This 
was  the  preliminary  answer  of  the  North  to  the  repeal  of  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise ;  but  this  was  only  a  beginning. 

The  Thirty-fourth  Congress  met  in  December,  1855.  In  the 
House  the  Democratic  majority  had  been  swept  away,  but  the  oppo 
sition  was  a  motley  crowd.  There  were  Whigs,  anti-Nebraskas, 
Know-nothings,  and  Republicans,  all  commingled,  and  while  they 
were  easily  able  to  prevent  the  election  of  a  Democratic  speaker, 
they  found  it  very  difficult  to  concentrate  on  a  choice  of  their  own. 
At  length  their  attention  was  turned  toward  Nathaniel  P.  Banks  of 
Massachusetts.  Banks  was  a  man  of  commanding  presence  and  of 
fluent  rhetoric.  He  had  been  elected  to  the  preceding 
Congress  as  a  Democrat,  but,  having  now  joined  the  Re- 
publican  movement,  he  stood  for  the  restoration  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise.  After  a  most  exciting  contest  of  two  months, 
the  House  having  decided  that  a  plurality  should  elect,  the  prize 


582  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

fell  to  Banks.  This  election  was  pronounced  by  Greeley  the 
first  victory  of  freedom  over  slavery  in  the  memory  of  living 
men. 

We  return  to  our  subject,  the  formation  of  the  Republican 
party.  During  the  speakership  contest,  the  opposition  was  often 
spoken  of  as  "Republican."  This  the  Democrats  did  not  like,  as 
it  was  the  old  name  used  by  Jefferson  to  designate  their  own  party 
in  its  youth.  They  suggested,  therefore,  that  the  new  organization 
be  termed  "  Black  Republican,"  as  it  persistently  favored  the  black 
man.  The  Republican  party,  however,  had  as  yet  no  official  exist 
ence.  The  movement  had  been  spontaneous,  and  had  spread  over 
the  entire  North,  and  it  was  left  for  Pittsburg  to  become  the  official 
birthplace  of  the  new  party.  But  three  weeks  after  the  election  of 
Banks,  a  national  convention  met  in  that  city,  and  all  the  free  states 
except  California  were  represented.  Francis  P.  Blair,  the  former 
friend  and  confidant  of  President  Jackson,  was  made  chairman,  and 
the  address  was  drawn  up  by  Henry  J.  Raymond,  editor  of  the  New 
York  Times.  Here  the  Republican  party  was  officially  founded,  with 
the  non-extension  of  slavery  as  its  chief  corner  stone.  Meeting  on 
Washington's  birthday,  the  convention  called  for  another  national 
convention  of  the  newly  founded  party,  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia 
on  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  for  the  purpose  of 
nominating  candidates  for  President  and  Vice  President.  This 
brings  us  to  the 

PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1856 

On  the  same  day  of  the  meeting  of  the  Pittsburg  convention  the 
American  or  Know-nothing  party  held  its  national  convention  in 
Philadelphia.  The  keynote  of  its  platform  was  that  Americans 
must  rule  America.  It  nominated  former  President  Fillmore  for 
President,  and  Andrew  Jackson  Donelson  of  Tennessee  for  Vice 
President.  Before  adjourning,  however,  this  convention  suffered  a 
serious  disruption.  The  northern  delegates  demanded  an  expres 
sion  on  the  slavery  question,  and,  on  being  refused,  they,  to  the  num 
ber  of  seventy-one,  seceded  from  the  convention.  They  afterward 
met  and  nominated  Speaker  Banks ;  but  he  declined,  and  they  joined 
the  Republicans.  The  scattered  remaining  fragments  of  the  Whig 
party  ratified  the  nominations  of  the  Know-nothings,  in  a  conven 
tion  held  in  Baltimore  in  September. 


NATIONAL   CONVENTIONS  583 

The  Democratic  convention,  which  met  at  Cincinnati  on  the 
2d  of  June,  directed  all  eyes  to  itself.  Three  prominent  candi 
dates  had  been  freely  talked  of  for  several  months  —  Douglas, 
Pierce,  and  James  Buchanan.  The  support  of  Douglas  and  Pierce 
came  chiefly  from  the  South.  But  there  were  grave  fears  that 
neither  could  carry  a  single  northern  state.  The  call  for  Buchanan 
came  from  the  North,  and  for  two  reasons  he  was  a  far  stronger  can 
didate  than  either  of  the  others :  first,  he  had  spent  the  preceding 
three  years  in  England  and  was  the  only  leading  man  in  the  party 
who  was  not  tainted  with  Kansas-Nebraskaism  ;  second,  he  was  prob 
ably  the  only  Democrat  who  could  secure  the  vote  of  Pennsylvania, 
which  was  considered  essential  to  success.  Buchanan,  though  not 
the  choice  of  the  South,  was  not  unacceptable  to  that  section,  for  in 
his  long  congressional  career  he  had  never  given  a  vote  contrary  to 
southern  interests.  He  was  expected,  however,  to  give  an  expression 
on  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise;  and  this  he  did  by  stat 
ing  that  it  met  his  approval.1  For  this  the  northern  Democrats 
forgave  him,  as  well  as  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in  the  Ostend 
Manifesto;  and  the  convention  nominated  him  on  the  seventeenth 
ballot. 

John  C.  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky  was  nominated  for  Vice 
President.  The  platform  adopted  declared  the  satisfaction  of  the 
party  with  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Law,  and  pronounced  against  all 
attempts  to  agitate  the  slavery  question,  "  under  whatever  shape  or 
color  "  the  attempt  should  be  made. 

The  Republican  convention  met  in  Philadelphia  at  the  appointed 
time.  No  party  was  ever  founded  on  purer  motives  than  was  this 
new-born  party.  No  convention  was  ever  composed  of 

more   unselfish,  true-hearted,  patriotic  men   than  was      epu    *Pan 

convention. 

this  convention ;  and  yet,  strange  to  say,  no  great  con 
vention  ever  made  a  greater  blunder  in  the  selection  of  a  candidate 
than  did  this  one.2  The  serious  defect  in  the  party  was  its  want  of 
a  national  leader.  Seward  was  the  leader  of  Republican  thought, 
and  was  the  logical  candidate,  but  he  had  not  identified  himself  with 
the  party  at  its  founding ;  and  although  he  had  now  done  so,  he  re 
fused  to  come  forward,  or  to  have  his  friends  put  him  forward,  as  an 
aspirant  for  the  nomination.  Chase  was  second  in  importance.  He 

1  Buchanan  had  expressed  this  sentiment  in  a  letter  some  months  previously. 
This  letter  was  now  published. 

2  See  Rhodes,  Vol.  II,  p.  182. 


584  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

had  been  elected  governor  of  Ohio  the  preceding  year  by  a  majority 
of  seventy-five  thousand.  But  he  had  long  been  known  as  a  Free- 
soil  Democrat,  and  for  this  and  other  reasons  he  failed  to  secure  a 
large  following.  Lincoln  of  Illinois  had  met  the  arguments  of 
Douglas  the  year  before  with  unanswerable  logic  on  the  great  ques 
tion  before  the  country  j  but  he  was  little  known  out  of  his  own 
state,  and  his  name  was  not  proposed  for  the  first  place  on  the 
ticket.  The  aged  Judge  McLean,  a  man  of  spotless  integrity,  was 
seriously  considered  by  many.  He  had  served  in  the  cabinets  of 
Monroe  and  John  Quincy  Adams,  and  had  been  appointed  to  the 
supreme  bench  by  Jackson.  But  all  this  was  against  him.  The 
party  was  newly  born.  It  was  filled  with  young  blood ;  it  stepped 
forth  in  the  consciousness  of  the  strength  of  youth.  To  bury 
the  past,  to  grapple  with  the  things  of  to-day  and  of  the  future, 
became  its  unwritten  motto.  And  this  feeling  led  to  a  desire 
for  a  candidate  without  a  political  past,  one  who  would  inspire 
the  youth;  and  the  party  found  its  man  in  John  C.  Fremont  of 
California. 

We  have  noticed  on  a  preceding  page  how  Fremont  had  won 
public  attention  by  his  romantic  love  affair  and  marriage  with  Jessie 
Benton,  by  his  daring  explorations  in  the  wild  regions  of  the  Kocky 
Mountains,  and  by  his  driving  the  Mexicans  out  of  California.  These 
things  had  cast  a  glamour  of  romance  about  the  name  of  Fremont  — 
and  that  was  all.  If  he  were  more  than  an  adventurer,  the  world 
had  not  discovered  the  fact.  Of  a  knowledge  of  statesmanship  he 
had  developed  no  symptoms.  If  he  were  a  man  of  character,  and 
were  capable  of  assuming  responsibility,  the  public  had 
no*  ^et  ^OUI1^  ^  out<  And.  Jet  this  great  convention, 
composed  of  wise,  educated,  experienced  men,  at  a  mo 
ment  when  a  great  crisis  in  the  government  was  seen  to  be  approach 
ing,  nominated  Fremont  for  President  on  the  first  ballot  by  an 
almost  unanimous  vote.  Nor  was  he  a  dark  horse ;  his  candidacy 
had  been  deliberately  discussed  for  months.  But  perhaps  this  was 
all  the  work  of  a  Providential  Hand.  Had  Seward,  or  Chase,  or 
McLean  been  nominated,  he  might  have  been  elected,  and  the  Civil 
War  might  have  come  too  soon.  The  new  party  needed  four  years 
more  to  solidify,  and  it  needed  a  mighty  man  at  the  helm,  who  was 
to  develop  within  the  four  years. 

The    convention   chose  William  L.  Dayton  of   New  Jersey  for 
second  place  on  the  ticket.     It  adopted  a  platform  whose  keynote 


ELECTION  OF   BUCHANAN  585 

was  a  demand  that  Congress  prohibit  in  the  territories  those  "  twin 
relics  of  barbarism,  polygamy  and  slavery." 

The  campaign  was  almost  as  remarkable  as  that  of  1840.  There 
was  a  deep  and  irreconcilable  difference  between  the  northern  and  the 
southern  Democrats  concerning  their  different  interpretations  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  Law.  This  it  was  tacitly  decided  to  suppress, 
though  four  years  hence,  when  this  difference  could  be  smothered 
no  longer,  it  tore  the  party  to  pieces. 

The  Democrats  mercilessly  probed  the  character  of  Fremont,  ac 
cusing  him  of  corrupt  dealings  in  California;  nor  were  these  charges 
ever  successfully  answered.  Buchanan,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a 
man  of  unassailable  character,  and  the  conservative  men  of  the  coun 
try  felt  that  the  nation  would  be  safe  in  his  hands.  In  many  of  the 
Republican  meetings  they  shouted  lustily  for  "  free  speech,  free  soil, 
and  Fremont";  but  in  the  main  the  great  issue  of  slavery  was  dis 
cussed,  rather  than  the  candidate.  • 

Before  the  close  of  the  campaign  many  thoughtful  Republicans 
began  to  feel  that  their  convention  had  made  a  mistake.  The  South 
was  free  in  threats  to  secede,  if  Fremont  were  elected.1  These 
threats  the  Republicans  refused  to  take  seriously,  but  the  events  of 
four  years  later  proved  the  depths  of  their  foundation.  But  the 
calamity  was  averted.  Buchanan  was  elected,  and  the  dragon  was 
left  to  slumber  four  years  more. 

Buchanan  secured  the  votes  of  all  the  Southern  states,  save  one, 
of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  California, 
while  Fremont  carried  all  the  rest  of  the  North,  and  Fillmore  the 
solitary  state  of  Maryland.2  The  charge  against  the  Republican 
party,  that  it  was  sectional  and  not  national,  was  shown  by  the  re 
turns  to  be  true.  In  eleven  Southern  states  not  a  vote  was  cast  for 
Fremont,  and  in  none  of  the  remaining  four  did  his  vote  reach  four 
hundred.3  The  subsequent  career  of  Fremont  showed  the  wisdom 
of  the  country  in  not  electing  him  President  in  1856.  All  parties 
now  turned  to  the  President  elect.  Would  he  lean  toward  the  North 
or  the  South  ?  A  neutral  ground  was  hardly  possible.  He  professed 
to  believe,  as  was  shown  by  his  inaugural  address,  that  slavery  agita- 

1  Ex-President  Tyler  wrote  that  "  the  success  of  the  Black  Republicans  would  be 
the  knell  of  the  Union."    Governor  "Wise  of  Virginia  wrote  that  if  Fremont  were 
elected,  the  Union  could  not  last  a  year. 

2  The  electoral  vote  was  Buchanan,  17-4;  Fremont,  114;  and  Fillmore,  8. 
8  See  Stanwood,  p.  210. 


586  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

tion  was  approaching  its  end,  whereas  it  was  only  approaching  its 
worst  stage.  Four  of  the  new  Cabinet  were  from  the  slave  states, 
the  ablest  of  whom  was  Howell  Cobb  of  Georgia,  secretary  of  the 
treasury ;  and  three,  with  Cass  as  secretary  of  state,  were  from  the 
free  states.  There  was  one  subject,  which  we  must  now  consider, 
the  most  exciting  question  of  the  times,  to  which  the  new  adminis 
tration  must  give  immediate  attention. 

THE   STRUGGLE   FOR   KANSAS 

We  must  now  go  back  a  few  years  and  take  up  the  tragic  story 
of  Kansas.  No  other  state  in  the  Union,  not  even  those  bathed  in 
the  blood  of  the  Indian  wars  of  colonial  days,  can  surpass  this  state 
in  the  fierce  contests  of  its  early  years.  While  this  book  makes  no 
pretense  of  giving  state  history,  the  early  history  of  Kansas  must  be 
narrated,  as  the  subject  belongs  to  national  history.  The  territory  of 
Kansas  comprised  the  vast  undulating  prairie,  covered  with  Indian 
reservations,  extending  westward  from  Missouri  to  the  base  of  the 
Eocky  Mountains.1  Scarcely  had  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  become 
a  law,  in  1854,  when  the  people  of  western  Missouri  began  pouring 
into  the  territory  and  taking  up  claims  with  the  avowed  purpose  of 
making  it  a  slave  state.  Kansas  was  a  prize  of  unmeasured  value 
to  the  South.  The  balance  in  the  Senate  had  been  broken  by  the 
admission  of  California.  If  now  the  slave  power  could  regain  its 
equal  representation  by  making  Kansas  a  slave  state,  if  the  bal 
ance  could  be  thus  restored,  never  again  would  a  free  state  be  suf 
fered  to  enter  the  Union  without  its  being  offset  by  the  admission 

of  a  slave  state.  So  reasoned  the  slaveholders.  They 
0?jr°r  ance  believed  further  that  Kansas  was  the  key  to  the  whole 

Southwest.  "  If  Kansas  is  abolitionized,"  wrote  Senator 
Atchison,  "  Missouri  ceases  to  be  a  slave  state,  New  Mexico  becomes 
a  free  state,  California  remains  a  free  state ;  but  if  we  secure  Kan 
sas  as  a  slave  state,  Missouri  is  secure ;  New  Mexico  and  southern 
California,  if  not  all  of  it,  becomes  a  slave  state ;  in  a  word,  the  pros 
perity  or  ruin  of  the  whole  South  depends  on  the  Kansas  struggle."2 
Hence  we  see  the  vital  importance  to  the  South  of  securing  Kansas 
to  slavery,  whatever  the  cost.  This  explains  the  early  rush  of  the 
Missourians  into  the  territory. 

1  Since  cut  down  to  81,700  square  miles.    It  then  comprised  126,000. 

2  New  York  Tribune,  November  7, 1855. 


VIOLENCE   IN   KANSAS  587 

Meantime  the  people  of  New  England,  hearing  of  this  action  of 
the  Missouri  people,  determined  to  make  a  bold,  extensive  movement 
toward  claiming  Kansas  for  freedom.  Eli  Thayer  of  Massachusetts, 
a  shrewd,  practical  Yankee,  had  in  the  early  spring  organized  the 
Emigrant  Aid  Company  for  the  purpose  of  planting  free  labor  in 
Kansas.  He  soon  enlisted  the  interest  and  aid  of  such  public- 
spirited  men  as  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Amos  A.  Lawrence, 
Edward  Everett  Hale,  and  Horace  Greeley,  raised  a  large  sum 
of  money,  and  by  July  he  had  a  company  of  emigrants  moving 
toward  Kansas.  This  company,  led  by  Charles  Robinson,  who  had 
become  inured  to  frontier  life  in  California,  was  augmented  along 
the  way,  and  by  December,  1854,  several  thousand  settlers  from  the 
free  states  had  pitched  their  tents  on  the  rich  bottom  lands  of  the 
Kansas  Eiver.  They  founded  Lawrence,  Topeka,  and  other  towns, 
and  gave  every  indication  that  they  had  come  to  stay.  The  Mis- 
sourians,  who  had  founded  Atchison,  Lecompton,  and  Leavenworth 
along  the  Missouri,  determined  to  drive  the  free-soilers  from  the 
territory. 

President  Pierce  had  appointed  Andrew  H.  Keeder  of  Pennsyl 
vania  governor  of  Kansas.  Reeder  was  a  positive  Democrat,  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Law,  and  a  strong  friend  of  the 
South.  The  interests  of  slavery  were  thought  to  be  safe  in  his  hands. 
But  Reeder  was  honest,  and  when  he  reached  Kansas  and  witnessed 
the  violence  of  the  Missouri  people  and  their  determination  to  make 
Kansas  a  slave  state  by  fair  means  or  foul,  his  soul  revolted  against 
such  proceedings,  and  he  resolved  to  see  fair  play.  The  election  of 
a  territorial  legislature  brought  matters  to  a  crisis.  On  election  day 
five  thousand  Missourians,  led  by  United  States  Senator  Atchison, 
came  across  the  border  armed  with  muskets,  pistols,  and  bowie- 
knives.1  This  invading  force  drove  out  or  intimidated  the  election 
judges  who  were  not  favorable  to  them,  and  carried  the  election  in 
the  most  high-handed  manner.  A  recent  census  had  shown  that 
there  were  but  2905  voters  in  the  territory,  but  over  six  thousand 
votes  were  cast. 

When  this  legislature  met  it  proceeded  to  enact  a  code  of  laws 
that  may  be  classed  among  the  curiosities  of  modern  literature.  A 
few  specimens  are  as  follows :  "  Any  person  .  .  .  convicted  of  rais- 

1  Atchison  had  be*en  chosen  president  of  the  Senate  on  the  death  of  Vice  President 
Kin  <j,  and  for  several  years  there  was  but  one  life  between  him  and  the  presidency 
of  the  United  States. 


588  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

ing  a  rebellion  ...  of  slaves,  free  negroes,  or  mulattoes  in  this 
territory  shall  suffer  death."  "  If  any  free  person  shall^  by  speaking, 
writing,  or  printing,  advise,  persuade,  or  induce,  any  slaves  to  rebel, 
etc.,  .  .  .  such  person  shall  suffer  death."  It  also  pro 
vided  the  death  penalty,  or  ten  years'  imprisonment,  for 
any  one  who  should  aid  in  the  escape  of  a  slave,  and  that  no  person 
opposed  to  slavery  should  sit  on  a  jury  in  the  prosecution  for  the  viola 
tions  of  the  above-mentioned  laws.  An  imprisonment  of  two  years 
was  imposed  for  any  one  who  denied  the  legal  existence  of  slavery 
in  the  territory  !  All  these  acts  were  vetoed  by  Governor  Reeder  and 
passed  over  his  veto.  The  laws,  it  will  be  noticed,  took  no  account  of 
the  popular  sovereignty,  advocated  by  Douglas,  but  assumed  that 
slavery  already  existed  in  the  territory ; 1  and  this  without  putting 
the  subject  to  a  vote  of  the  people.  At  this  moment  there  were  less 
than  fifty  actual  settlers  in  the  territory  who  owned  slaves ;  more 
than  nine  tenths  of  the  people  were  devoted  to  freedom.  The  bias 
of  Governor  Reeder  was  wholly  with  the  proslavery  party  when  he 
went  to  Kansas ;  but  he  had  an  honest  desire  to  be  fair  to  the  other 
side.  This  was  wholly  displeasing  to  the  proslavery  party,  and  they 
besought  the  President  to  recall  him.  Mr.  Pierce,  who  was  now 
notoriously  subservient  to  the  slave  power,  heeded  their  wishes,  dis 
missed  Reeder  and  appointed  Wilson  Shannon,  a  former  member  of 
Congress  from  Ohio,  to  till  the  place.  But  Reeder  did  not  return  to 
the  East;  he  became  a  resident  of  Kansas  and  joined  the  free-state 
party.  His  instincts  of  a  lifetime  on  the  slave  question  had  been 
revolutionized  by  a  few  months  among  the  border  ruffians  in  Kansas. 
The  ostensible  reason  for  dismissing  Reeder  was  for  speculating 
in  land ;  the  real  reason  was  that  he  did  not  please  the  proslavery 
party. 

The  free-state  settlers  were  not  disposed  to  sit  idle  in  the  face  of 
the  usurpation  of  the  Missourians.  Led  by  Robinson,  they  called  a 
convention  to  meet  at  Big  Springs ;  they  repudiated  the  spurious 
legislature  and  its  infamous  laws,  nominated  Reeder  for  Congress, 
and  fixed  October  9,  1855,  as  election  day.  The  proslavery  party 
set  October  1,  as  election  day,  and  nominated  Whit- 

field>  one  of   their  number>   for  Congress.      Thus   the 
two  parties  voted  on  different  days ;    each  elected  its 
man,  to  be  sure ;  both  men  went  to  Washington,  and   both  were 
refused  admission  to  the  House.     But  the  free-state  settlers  did  not 
i  Von  Hoist,  Vol.  V,  p.  159. 


SENATOR   SUMNER   ASSAULTED  589 

stop  at  this.  At  the  election  of  October  9  they  chose  delegates  to  a 
constitutional  convention.  This  convention  met  at  Topeka  the  same 
month,  framed  a  constitution  making  Kansas  a  free  state,  and,  after 
its  ratification  by  the  people  at  an  election  in  December,  at  which 
the  proslavery  party  refused  to  vote,  applied  for  admission  into 
the  Union.1  Under  this  constitution  Robinson  was  chosen  gov 
ernor.  But  in  January  President  Pierce,  in  a  special  message, 
denounced  the  whole  Topeka  movement  as  rebellion, 
and  declared  his  intention  to  put  down  all  such  pro- 
ceedings  with  national  troops.  The  Topeka  legislature 
again  met,  and  was  dispersed  by  United  States  troops,  and  Eobinson, 
Keeder,  and  others  were  indicted  for  high  treason. 

Such  was  the  condition  in  Kansas  at  the  opening  of  the  presi 
dential  year  of  1856,  and  it  became  one  of  the  leading  issues  of  the 
campaign.  The  whole  country  was  aroused  over  reports  from  Kan 
sas,  and  it  was  impossible  that  such  a  question  remain  long  out  of 
the  halls  of  Congress,  notwithstanding  the  claim  of  Douglas  that  his 
famous  bill  would  remove  the  slavery  question  from  national  politics. 
In  May,  1856,  Senator  Sumner  made  a  powerful  speech  on  "The  Crime 
against  Kansas."  The  speech  was  a  fearful  arraignment 
of  the  slave  power.  But  the  speaker  went  out  of  his 
way  to  abuse  certain  senators  whom  he  did  not  like, 
especially  Senator  Butler  of  South  Carolina,  who  was  then  absent 
from  the  city,  and  who  had  made  no  special  personal  attack  on 
Sumner. 

Charles  Sumner,  with  all  his  learning,  was  a  narrow-minded  man. 
He  was  opinionated,  egotistical,  and  incapable  of  giving  credit  to 
another  for  an  honest  difference  of  opinion.  But  he  was  sincerely 
honest  and  courageous.2  His  espousal  of  the  cause  of  the  slave  when 
that  cause  was  very  unpopular  rose  from  the  innermost  depths  of  his 
soul.  His  furious  attack  on  Butler  was  occasioned  by  the  indignation 
expressed  by  the  latter  at  the  audacity  of  the  Topeka  convention  in 
applying  for  statehood.  But  Sumner  suffered  severely  for  his  extrava 
gance.  Two  days  after  making  this  speech,  as  he  sat  at  his  desk 

1  The  impression  that  the  free-state   people  were  abolitionists  was  erroneous. 
This  free-state  constitution  forbade  free  negroes,  as  well  as  slaves,  from  entering  the 
state.    The  Abolitionists  of  the  Garrison  type  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
Kansas  movement  from  the  beginning. 

2  While  he  was  uttering  this  speech,  in  which  he  attacked  Senator  Douglas  also 
without  mercy,  the  latter  said  to  a  friend :  "  Do  you  hear  that  man  ?    He  may  be  a 
fool,  but  I  tell  you  that  he  has  pluck."    Poore's  "  Reminiscences, "  Vol.  I,  p.  461. 


590  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

writing,  after  the  Senate  had  adjourned,  he  was  assaulted  with  a 

cane  by  Preston  Brooks,  a  member  of  the  House  and  a  relative  of 

Senator  Butler.     Brooks  rained  blows  on  Simmer's  head 

Assau   ed   y    w^]1  grea^  ferocity.     Sumner  sat  so  near  his  desk  that 

he  had  no  chance  to  defend  himself;  but  at  length  he 

rose,  wrenching  the  desk  from  its  fastenings.     Brooks  then  grappled 

with  him  and  continued  his  blows  until  Sumner  fell  bleeding  and 

unconscious  to  the  floor. 

So  great  were  the  injuries  of  the  Massachusetts  senator  that  he  did 
not  fully  recover  for  four  years ;  and  indeed,  never  after  this  assault 
was  he  the  powerful,  robust  athlete  that  he  had  been  before.  No 
incident  in  many  years  revealed  more  vividly  the  vast  gulf  between 
the  North  and  the  South  than  did  the  different  manner  of  their  receiv 
ing  the  news  of  this  assault  on  Sumner.1  Throughout  the  North  the 
deed  was  denounced  as  a  cowardly  outrage,  unworthy  of  any  but 
a  bully  and  a  thug.  At  the  South,  where  Sumner  was  hated  above 
all  men,  the  verdict  was  that  he  received  only  the  punishment  he 
deserved.  Brooks  was  hailed  as  a  champion  and  a  hero,  and  was  pre 
sented  with  many  canes.  He  resigned  his  seat  in  the  House  because 
of  a  majority  vote  —  not  the  necessary  two  thirds — for  his  expulsion ; 
but  he  was  immediately  reflected  by  his  district.2 

Meantime  matters  were  growing  worse  on  the  plains  of  Kansas. 
On  the  day  that  intervened  between  the  closing  of  Sumner's  speech 
and  the  assault  by  Brooks  the  town  of  Lawrence  was  sacked  by  a 
mob.  The  House  of  Representatives  sent  a  committee  of  three  to 
Kansas  to  investigate  matters  and  report.  This  committee,  com 
posed  of  William  A.  Howard  of  Michigan,  John  Sherman  of  Ohio, 
and  Mordecai  Oliver  of  Missouri,  after  examining  several  hundred 
witnesses,  reported  in  July.  Howard  and  Sherman  reported  favor 
ably  to  the  free-state  party,  but  agreed  that  the  election  of  Reeder 
to  Congress,  as  that  of  Whitfield,  was  illegal.  Oliver  made  a 
minority  report  favoring  the  southern  view. 

With  the  attack  on  Lawrence  the  Civil  War  in  Kansas  may  be 
said  to  have  begun.  Soon  after  this  occurred  the  massacre  of  Potta- 
watomie,  the  leader  of  which  was  John  Brown.  Brown  had  come 
from  the  East  to  join  his  sons,  who  had  been  among  the  early  settlers 
of  Kansas.  He  was  an  ascetic  and  a  fanatic.  He  had  come  to 
Kansas  to  make  it  a  free  state  at  any  hazard.  He  regarded  slavery 

1  Rhodes,  Vol.  II,  p.  143. 

2  Brooks  died  the  following  January,  and  Butler  in  May  of  the  same  year. 


JOHN   BROWN   IN   KANSAS  591 

with  a  mortal  hatred,  and  while  his  courage  was  unlimited  and  his 
intentions  upright,  his  soul  was  too  utterly  narrow  to  see  a  thing  in 
its  true  light.  He  believed  that  the  only  way  to  free  the  slaves  was 
to  kill  the  slaveholders.  "  Without  the  shedding  of  blood,  there  is 
no  remission  of  sins,"  said  John  Brown. 

A  few  free-state  men,  one  of  whom  was  a  neighbor  of  Brown,  had 
been  killed  by  the  opposite  party,  and  Brown  determined  that  an 
equal  number  of  them  should  suffer  death  to  expiate  the 
crime.  He  organized  a  night  raid  —  his  sons  and  a 
few  others  —  and  started  on  his  bloody  errand.  They 
called  at  one  farmhouse  after  another  and  slew  the  men  in  cold 
blood.  He  did  not  inquire  if  they  were  guilty  or  not  guilty; 
enough  if  they  belonged  to  the  opposite  party.  One  man  was 
dragged  from  the  presence  of  a  sick  wife.  Her  pleadings  that  he 
be  spared  were  not  heeded.  He  was  murdered  in  cold  blood  in  the 
road  before  his  house.  Before  the  end  of  that  bloody  night  raid 
Brown's  party  had  put  six  or  seven  men  to  death — for  no  crime 
except  that  they  belonged  to  the  opposite  party  and  had  made 
threats  —  an  offense  of  which  Brown's  party  were  equally  guilty. 
When  the  news  of  this  ghastly  work  was  flashed  over  the  coun 
try,  the  people  in  general  refused  to  believe  it ;  and  to  the  credit 
of  the  free-state  people  in  Kansas,  they  repudiated  it  as  wholly 
unwarranted. 

The  war  went  oh  in  Kansas.  Armed  guerrilla  bands  traversed 
the  country,  and  fought  when  they  met  opponents.  About  two 
hundred  people  were  killed  in  one  year.  But  it  is  need 
less  to  give  further  details.  Governor  Shannon,  on 
coming  to  Kansas,  was  even  more  favorable  to  the  South 
than  Reeder  had  been ;  but  even  he  grew  weary  of  the  demands  and 
the  methods  of  the  slavery  party,  and  resigned  the  office.  John  W. 
Geary  of  Pennsylvania  was  appointed  the  next  governor.  Geary 
had  been  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  was  the  first  commander  of  the 
City  of  Mexico  after  its  surrender.  He  was  afterward  the  first 
mayor  of  San  Francisco,  but  had  returned  to  the  East.  He  accepted 
the  governorship  of  Kansas,  arrived  in  the  territory  in  September, 
and  soon  had  a  semblance  of  order  among  the  people.  Geary  was 
a  strong  executive,  and,  like  Reeder,  he  honestly  desired  to  do  justice 
to  both  sides.  The  emigration  from  the  North  and  the  South  still 
continued;  but  the  North  had  a  great  advantage  over  the  South.  In 
the  North  there  was  a  large  floating  population  who  found  it  easy  to 


692  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

pack  their  goods  and  go  to  the  West  ;  but  the  slaveholder  was  also 
a  land  owner.  He  found  it  unprofitable,  almost  impossible,  to 
migrate  to  the  new  territory  ;  and  if  he  induced  the  poor  whites  of  his 
section  to  go,  they  were  apt  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  free-soilers. 
It  was  now  believed  throughout  the  country  that  Kansas  would 
become  a  free  state.  But  the  Missourians  had  not  given  up. 
They  soon  came  to  dislike  Governor  Geary.  They  threatened 
to  assassinate  him,  and  they  made  his  duties  so  uncomfortable  that 
he  resigned  the  position  on  the  4th  of  March,  the  day  on  which 
James  Buchanan  became  President  of  the  United  States.  Behold, 
the  third  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  Democrats  who  had  gone 
west  to  put  that  popular-sovereignty  law  into  operation  —  and  all 
had  turned  free  state  or  had  resigned  because  they  could  not  endure 
the  methods  of  the  slavery  party. 

James  Buchanan,  during  the  campaign  of  the  preceding  summer, 

had  promised  that  Kansas  should  have  justice  if  he  were  elected. 

Many  supported  him  on  this  promise.      We  shall  see  if 

^e  ^ePt  ^s  word.     He  chose  for  governor  Robert  J. 


governor 

Walker  of  Mississippi,  his  life-long  friend,  his  fellow- 

member  of  the  Polk  Cabinet,  and  the  author  of  the  Walker  Tariff. 
Walker  accepted  with  much  reluctance,  only  after  the  President  had 
promised  to  sustain  him  in  dealing  justice  to  both  sides.  Arriving 
in  Kansas  late  in  May,  1857,  he  pronounced  his  inaugural,  a  docu 
ment  that  the  President  and  .  Douglas  had  read  and  approved. 
Walker  was  a  slaveholder  and  a  Democrat  of  the  old  school  ;  and  he 
had  hoped  to  see  Kansas  a  slave  state.  But  he  was  honest  to  the 
core  ;  and  when  he  looked  over  the  field  and  saw  that  three  fourths  of 
the  people  were  of  the  free-state  party,  and  that  Kansas  could  not  be 
made  a  slave  state  by  fair  means,  he  determined  not  to  undertake  the 
task.  Furthermore,  he  determined  to  resist  the  Missourians  if  they 
attempted  to  use  fraud.  An  election  was  called  for  June  15,  to  choose 
delegates  to  a  constitutional  convention.  The  free-state  people  were 
suspicious,  and  they  refused  to  vote  ;  the  other  side  elected  the  dele 
gates.  The  governor  had  promised  that  any  constitution  framed 
should  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people.  The  convention  met 
at  Lecompton  in  September,  and  it  soon  brought  forth  the  notorious 
Lecompton  constitution. 

When  it  became  known  to  the  southern  leaders  at  Washington 
that  this  Lecompton  convention  was  composed  of  proslavery  men. 
a  movement  was  set  on  foot  to  have  the  territory  apply  for  immediate 


THE   LECOMPTON   CONSTITUTION 


statehood  under  this  proslavery  constitution  which  they  produced. 
But  the  people  of  Kansas  were  clamorous  in  demanding  a  vote  on 
their  constitution.  Governor  Walker  had  promised 
them  this  right.  James  Buchanan  had  written  him,  as 
late  as  August  12,  that  he  would  sustain  him.  "  I  am 
willing  to  stand  or  fall,  on  this  question  of  submitting  the  constitu 
tion  to  the  bona  fide  settlers  of  the  territory,"  wrote  the  President. 
This  promise  was  doubtless  honestly  given;  but  in  the  following 
months  the  President  experienced  a  change  of  heart.  He  fell  under 
the  spell  of  the  southern  leaders  as  completely  as  Pierce  had  done, 
and  he  determined  to  force  the  admission  of  Kansas  under  the  slavery 
constitution  framed  at  Lecompton. 

Meantime  the  proslavery  leaders  in  Kansas,  to  make  a  show  of 
fairness,  decided  to  submit  their  constitution  in  part  to  a  vote  of 
the  people,  and  by  an  ingenious  method  they  would  Buchanan 
save  the  constitution.  The  vote  was  to  be  for  the  and  the 
Lecompton  constitution  with  slavery,  or  for  the  const!-  Lecompton 
tution  without  slavery.  No  opportunity  was  given  to  constltutlon- 
vote  against  the  constitution.  But  the  whole  arrangement  was  a 
farce  and  a  snare ;  for  if  the  constitution  without  slavery  was 
adopted,  it  still  contained  the  clause,  "  the  right  of  property  in 
slaves  now  in  the  territory  shall  in  no  measure  be  interfered  with," 
and  Kansas  would  practically  become  a  slave  state.  The  free-state 
settlers  therefore  refused  to  vote  at  all.  This  scheme  did  not  origi 
nate  in  Kansas ;  it  was  hatched  in  Washington,  in  the  brain  of  the 
southern  politicians.  But  this  fact  is  less  strange  than  the  fact  that 
this  President  from  Pennsylvania  espoused  the  cause  and  sacrificed 
himself  and  his  party  in  attempting  to  carry  it  out.  Governor 
Walker  stood  aghast  at  these  proceedings,  which  he  could  not  pre 
vent.  A  minion  of  the  slave  power  approached  him  and  declared 
that  if  he  would  espouse  the  cause  of  the  Lecompton  constitution, 
the  presidency  of  the  United  States  lay  open  to  him.1  But  Walker 
spurned  the  offer,  pronounced  the  scheme  a  "  vile  fraud,  a  base  coun 
terfeit,"  and  declared  that  he  would  break  with  the  administration 
rather  than  take  a  hand  in  the  dastardly  business.  So  much  for 
Robert  J.  Walker  ;  but  James  Buchanan  — 

On  the  2d  of  February,  1858,  President  Buchanan  did  the  chief 
historic  act  of  his  long,  public  life.  Fillmore  had  signed  the  Fugi 
tive  Slave  Law  because  he  could  scarcely  help  doing  so  —  the  coun- 

l  Rhodes,  Vol.  II,  p.  279. 
2Q 


594  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

try  was  in  danger.  Pierce  had  agreed  to  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill 
because  he  hoped  thereby  to  make  his  reelection  sure.  Both  are  mi- 
forgiven  by  the  American  people.  But  Buchanan  did  worse  than 
either.  There  was  no  danger  of  secession  at  this  moment.  Buchanan 
had  declared  that  he  would  not  be  a  candidate  for  reelection.  He 
had  nothing  to  lose.  Now  was  his  opportunity  to  make  a  stand  for 
the  right,  to  cover  his  name  with  honor  and  to  make  himself  a  hero 
in  the  eyes  of  future  America.  But  he  lacked  the  requisite  back 
bone  ;  his  subserviency  to  the  hypnotic  influence  of  the  slave  power 
was  complete,  he  threw  away  the  opportunity  of  a  lifetime. 

On  the  2d  of  February  he  sent  to  Congress  a  copy  of  the 
Lecompton  constitution,  which  he  knew  to  have  been  conceived  in 
iniquity  and  born  in  sin,  and  urged  that  Kansas  be  admitted  under 
it,  declaring  that  Kansas  is  "  at  this  moment  as  much  a  slave  state 
as  Georgia  or  South  Carolina."  The  most  astonishing  thing  about 
this  was  the  striking  example  it  gave  of  the  power  of  the  South  over 
its  devotees  from  the  North.  Buchanan  was  not  at  heart  an  unjust 
man,  and  yet  no  living  man  to-day  can  believe  that  in  this  case  he 
acted  on  principle.  He  was  the  victim  of  hypnotism. 

Now  for  a  second  time  another  great  figure  takes  the  center  of  the 
stage  —  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  Four  years  ago  Douglas,  standing  in 
the  same  place,  had  pleaded  for  a  bad  cause  —  the  repeal  of  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise.  Now  he  stands  for  a  principle,  for  justice ;  and 
the  millions  that  execrated  him  then  now  admire  and  applaud  him  to 
the  echo.  He  had  shown  himself  a  giant  then ;  now  he  becomes  a 
hero.  There  is  no  love  stronger  than  the  love  for  an  old  enemy  who 
has  become  a  friend.  What  were  the  feelings  of  Douglas  when  he 
saw  the  miserable  failure  of  his  boasted  popular  sovereignty,  we 
know  not.  He  owed  the  country  much  for  his,  possibly  unintentional, 
deception  ;  and  he  partially  paid  the  debt.  Buchanan  might  truckle 
to  the  slave  power  without  a  visible  reason.  Not  so  with  Douglas. 
Buchanan  was  a  follower ;  Douglas  was  a  leader.  He  had  sacrificed 
much  to  win  the  South  in  the  hope  of  gaining  the  presidency.  That 
hope  gone,  he  was  ready  to  be  himself,  to  break  with  the  South  for 
the  sake  of  justice. 

Douglas  saw  that  the  Lecompton  constitution  was  the  product 
of  fraud,  and  determined  to  oppose  it.  Calling  on  the  President 
some  time  before  the  sending  of  the  message  of  February  2,  he 
declared  his  intention  to  oppose  the  Lecompton  constitution  in  the 
Senate,  unless  it  were  honestly  submitted  to  the  voters  of  Kansas. 


STEPHEN  A.   DOUGLAS  595 

The  President  became  enraged ;  he  warned  Douglas  that  no  leading 
Democrat  ever  broke  with  the  administration  without  being  crushed. 
Douglas  answered  defiantly  and  went  his  way.  Soon  after  this  the 
subject  came  before  the  Senate,  and  Douglas  took  the  floor  against 
the  Lecompton  constitution.  His  speech  was  great.  Never  before 
had  he  displayed  his  powers  to  greater  advantage.  "  The  adminis 
tration  and  the  slave  power  are  broken,"  wrote  Seward  to  his  wife, 
'*  the  triumph  of  freedom  is  not  only  assured,  but  near."  Douglas 
won,  and  the  Lecompton  constitution  was  defeated,  not  in  the  Senate, 
but  in  the  House.  And  Douglas  won  more;  he  re-won  the  laurels  he 
had  lost  in  the  North,  and  became  again  the  Democratic  idol  in  that 
section,  so  to  remain  to  the  last  moment  of  his  life.  But  Douglas 
had  not  espoused  the  cause  of  the  slave,  nor  even  that  of  free  Kansas. 
He  had  no  apparent  convictions  on  slavery,  and  professed  not  to  care 
if  it  was  "voted  down  or  voted  up."  He  simply  stood  for  justice  in 
Kansas,  and  it  was  only  justice  that  the  North  was  now  demanding. 
Our  story  of  "  Bleeding  Kansas  "  is  near  its  end.  The  people  of 
the  territory  eventually  did  vote  on  the  Lecompton  constitution  and 
defeated  it  by  more  than  ten  thousand  majority.  Congress  had 
meantime  passed  the  "  English  bill,"  introduced  by  W.  H.  English, 
a  member  of  the  House  from  Indiana,  by  which  Kansas  was  offered 
a  large  grant  of  public  land,  if  the  people  would  adopt  the  Lecomp 
ton  constitution.  But  this  bribe  was  rejected  also;  and  the  South  now 
abandoned  all  hope  of  making  Kansas  a  slave  state.  At  length 
Kansas  entered  the  Union  on  the  eve  of  the  Great  Rebellion  as  a  free 
state.  Buchanan's  policy  cost  his  party  dear.  It  swept  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  and  even  Pennsylvania  into  the  Republican  column.1 
And  it  cost  him  dear.  This  act  concerning  Kansas  did  more  than 
all  else  to  place  the  name  of  Buchanan  among  the  least  honored 
names  of  American  Presidents. 


DRED  SCOTT  DECISION 

Two  days  after  Mr.  Buchanan  became  President  the  most  famous 
Supreme  Court  decision  in  the  annals  of  the  United  States  was 
announced  to  the  country. 

Dred  Scott  was  a  negro  slave  owned  by  Dr.  Emerson,  an  army 
surgeon  in  the  employ  of  the  government.  For  some  years  the 
doctor  was  stationed  in  Illinois,  ^hen  at  Fort  Snelling  in  the 

i  Forney's  "  Anecdotes  of  Public  Men,"  Vol.  I,  p.  120. 


596  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

territory  that  afterward  became  Minnesota.  Here  he  held  his 
slave  -for  two  years,  when  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Missouri. 
Meantime  Dred  Scott  had  married  a  woman  of  his  own  race,  owned 
by  the  same  master,  and  they  had  two  children.  After  their  return 
to  Missouri,  and  after  they  had  been  sold  to  another  master,  Dred 
Scott  brought  suit  for  his  freedom  and  that  of  his  family,  on  the 
ground  that  they  had  been  illegally  held  in  bondage  in  a  territory 
dedicated  to  freedom  by  the  Missouri  Compromise.  He  won  in  a 
St.  Louis  court,  but  the  decision  was  reversed  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Missouri,  after  which  the  case  was  carried  to  the  United  States 
Circuit  Court,  and  then  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
The  case  in  itself  was  of  little  importance,  but  for  the  deep  con 
stitutional  questions  it  involved.  At  first  the  Supreme  Court 
intended  to  confine  itself  to  the  simple  case  in  hand;  but  here 
was  an  opportunity  to  make  a  decision  on  the  constitutionality  of 
the  Missouri  restriction  of  1820,  and  the  opportunity  was  not  thrown 
away.  As  five  of  the  nine  justices  were  from  slave  states,  it  was 
believed  that  the  court  would  pronounce  in  favor  of  the  doctrine 
of  Calhoun,  which  had  taken  a  powerful  hold  on  the  southern 
heart;  namely,  that  Congress  has  no  power  to  prohibit  slavery 
in  any  United  States  territory. 

The  opinion  rendered  by  Chief  Justice  Taney  was  the  one  that 
attracted  general  attention,  though  six  of  his  fellow-justices  pro 
nounced  similar  decisions,  while  two,  Justices  Curtis  and  McLean, 
dissented.  In  this  decision  the  chief  justice  not  only  remanded 
Dred  Scott  to  slavery;1  he  went  out  of  his  way  to  solemnly  pro 
nounce  the  Missouri  Compromise  line  null  and  void  (though  this 
point  had  not  been  considered  by  the  lower  courts),  and  he  denied 
the  right  of  Congress  or  of  a  territorial  legislature  to  make  any  restric 
tions  concerning  slavery  in  any  territory.  He  also  affirmed  that 
no  slave  or  descendant  of  slaves  had  the  right  to  sue  in  the  courts. 
He  declared  that  no  negroes  born  of  slave  parents  were  citizens  of 
the  United  States  at  the  time  of  forming  the  Constitution,  nor  had 
Congress  or  any  state  the  right  to  make  them  or  their  descendants 
citizens.  He  quoted  with  apparent  approval  the  prevalent  feeling, 
as  he  claimed,  of  earlier  times,  that  the  negro  had  no  rights  that  a 
white  man  was  bound  to  respect,  and  asserted  further  that  at  the 
time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  "the  unhappy  black  race 
was  never  thought  of  or  spoken  of  except  as  property." 

1  Dred  Scott  and  his  family  were  afterward  set  free  by  their  owner. 


DRED   SCOTT   DECISION  597 

In  this  last  statement  the  chief  justice  was  woefully  in  error. 
Even  before  the  Revolution  Lord  Mansfield  had  rendered  his  famous 
decision  which  forbade  slavery  on  English  soil  and  lifted  the  black 
man  to  the  level  of  other  men  before  the  law ;  in  our  own  country 
most  of  the  leading  men  of  the  early  period  —  Washington,  Jeffer 
son,  Franklin,  and  others  —  strongly  favored  the  ultimate  emancipa 
tion  of  all  slaves.  Jefferson,  when  President,  demanded  the  return 
of  the  three  black  men  who  had  been  seized  on  the  deck  of  the 
Chesapeake  ;  and  even  the  Constitution  itself  speaks  of  persons  bound 
to  service,  referring  to  the  negroes,  and  provides  that  three  fifths 
of  them  be  counted  in  making  up  the  census.1  How  can  Taney's 
statement  that  the  black  man  was  considered  only  as  property  stand 
before  such  facts  as  these  ?  The  assertion  that  a  slave  or  a  descend 
ant  of  slaves  had  no  standing  before  the  law  must  fall  before  the 
patent  facts  of  history,  for,  as  Justice  Curtis  pointed  out,  in  five  of 
the  thirteen  states  at  the  formation  of  the  Union  colored  men  had 
the  right  to  vote.  The  decision  that  the  Missouri  restriction  was 
invalid  rendered  the  repeal  of  that  measure  in  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
Law  superfluous,  and  annihilated  Douglas's  theory  of  popular  sover 
eignty.  The  Republican  party,  which  had  carried  eleven  states  in 
the  recent  election,  had  been  founded  on  the  principle  of  congres 
sional  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the  territories,  which  the  court  now 
pronounced  forever  beyond  the  power  of  Congress. 

This  extraordinary  decision  pleased  the  ultra-slaveholders  of  the 
South,  and  it  stunned  the  North.  But  it  had  defenders  at  the  North, 
led  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  who  took  much  pride  in  the  fact  that 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  which  his  bill  had  repealed,  had  now 
been  pronounced  null  and  void  by  the  highest  tribunal  of  the  land ; 
but  he  failed  to  comprehend  that  this  same  decision  had  rendered 
his  boasted  popular  sovereignty  a  dead  letter.  The  great  body  of 
the  people  of  the  North,  however,  condemned  this  unjust  decision  of 
the  court. 

Roger  B.  Taney  had  succeeded  the  great  jurist,  John  Marshall,  hav 
ing  been  appointed  by  President  Jackson  as  a  reward  for  faithfulness 
in  removing  the  deposits  from  the  United  States  Bank.  Taney  was 
a  man  of  singularly  pure  and  upright  life ;  he  was  also  a  great  law 
yer  and  jurist ;  he  served  his  country  long  and  faithfully ;  but  the 
great  public  of  to-day  remembers  him  only  for  the  odious  Dred  Scott 
decision,  and  with  this  his  name  is  and  must  ever  be  inseparably  linked. 
1  See  the  opinion  rendered  by  Justice  Curtis- 


598  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Yet  he  probably  did  what  he  believed  to  be  right ;  he  simply  voiced 
the  sentiment  of  the  slaveholding  interests  to  which  he  belonged. 

Could  the  people  continue  to  revere  that  august  tribunal  which 
had  never  before  ceased  to  command  their  profound  respect  ?  Must 
they  accept  this  decision  as  the  final  word  on  this  great  question  on 
which  the  country  was  divided  ?  If  so,  the  Republican  party  must 
disband  or  at  least  abandon  the  fundamental  principle  on  which  it 
was  founded,  and  millions  of  men  and  women  must  give  up  their 
political  conscience  of  a  lifetime.  But  no  such  result  followed.  The 
fact  is  that  Taney  had  descended  from  giving  a  judicial  decision  to  a 
discussion  of  a  political  question  from  a  partisan  standpoint.  He 
had  grappled,  for  partisan  reasons,  with  constitutional  questions  on 
which  he  had  not  been  called  to  make  a  decision.  If,  then,  the 
esteem  in  which  the  court  had  hitherto  been  held  was  -  lessened  by 
this  decision,  the  fault  lay  wholly  with  the  court.  It  must  not  be 
forgotten  that,  though  the  Supreme  Court  passes  judgment  on  mat 
ters  of  the  people,  the  people  as  a  whole  sit  in  judgment  on  the  court, 
and  the  latter  exists  for  their  good  and  is  their  servant. 

The  Dred  Scott  decision  brought  forth  severe  criticisms  from  the 
North.  Many  were  fierce  with  anger.  The  slave  power  was  aggres 
sive  as  never  before.  It  had  full  control  of  the  government.  Would 
it  become  national  and  overspread  the  whole  land  ?  The  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Law  was  audacious ;  it  threw  the  country  into  a  state  of 
exceeding  disquiet.  Now  came  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  this 
was  followed  by  the  attempt  of  the  administration  to  force  the 
Lecompton  constitution  on  Kansas.  These  powerful  blows  were 
dealt,  not  by  the  people,  but  by  the  politicians.  The  great  public 
writhed  like  a  wounded  giant,  conscious  of  superior  strength,  but 
undecided  what  to  do.  But  every  blow  dealt  by  the  slave  power 
contributed  to  its  downfall  in  the  end,  —  merely  awakened  the  greater 
fury  and  hastened  the  final  appeal  to  the  sword. 

THE  LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  DEBATES 

The  second  senatorial  term  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  drawing 
to  a  close.  The  legislature  to  be  chosen  in  Illinois  in  1858  must 
name  his  successor.  He  was  again  popular  throughout  the  North. 
When  it  was  seen  that  his  popular  sovereignty  would  make  Kansas, 
and  of  course  all  territories  north  of  it,  free  states ; 1  when  it  was 
seen  that  Douglas,  by  his  admirable  courage  in  the  face  of  an  angry 
1  This  was  before  the  Dred  Scott  decision  was  rendered. 


DOUGLAS  599 


administration,  had  saved  Kansas  from  the  Lecompton  abomination, 
his  star  again  rose  to  the  zenith.  Many  Republicans  now  joined  in 
applauding  him,  and  the  leading  eastern  members  of  that  party 
favored  his  return  to  the  Senate,  in  the  hope  that  his  fight  with  the 
administration  would  redound  to  Republican  advantage. 

Douglas  was  one  of  the  most  striking  figures  of  his  generation. 
Born  among  the  New  England  hills  two  months  before  the  death  of 
his  father,  he  migrated  to  the  prairied  West  in  early 
manhood.  Settling  in  Illinois  without  money  and  with- 
out  friends,  he  taught  school  and  read  law.  He  soon 
found  the  field  for  which  above  all  else  he  was  fitted  —  the  field  of 
politics.  After  serving  in  various  official  stations  in  his  adopted 
state,  he  entered  the  lower  House  of  Congress  in  1843.  At  first  he 
was  uncouth  in  manners,  but  he  quickly  adapted  himself  to  the  ways 
of  polite  society  and  soon  became  a  central  figure  in  the  highest 
social  circles.  "  To  see  him  threading  the  glittering  crowd  with  a 
pleasant  smile  or  a  kind  word  for  everybody,  one  would  take  him  for 
a  trained  courtier."  1  But  he  was  in  his  real  element  among  men.  He 
would  stand  in  the  midst  of  an  adoring  throng  and  entertain  them 
with  a  western  story  or  with  his  flashing  wit,  or  he  would  stand  on  the 
rostrum  in  the  presence  of  thousands  and  hold  their  unbroken  atten 
tion  for  hours  with  his  melodious  eloquence.  He  was  hale  and  win 
ning,  cordial  and  full  of  good  cheer.  Forgiving  and  generous,  he 
never  sought  revenge  on  an  enemy.  In  1847  Douglas  was  promoted 
to  the  Senate,  and  in  a  few  years  he  was  an  acknowledged  leader  and 
the  readiest  debater  on  its  floor.  His  wonderful  power  over  men 
was  shown  by  his  putting  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  through  Congress 
in  the  face  of  the  mighty  hurricane  of  criticism  that  was  rising 
against  him;  and  he  showed  equal  power  in  regaining  his  lost  laurels 
in  the  North.  His  sway  in  the  West  was  undisputed  until  the  rise 
of  a  rival  who  was  soon  to  outstrip  him. 

The  Republicans  of  Illinois  were  unwilling  to  follow  the  advice 
of  the  eastern  leaders  and  help  reelect  Douglas  to  the  Senate. 
Douglas  had  been  their  political  foe  from  far  back  in  old  Whig 
days,  and  they  could  not  be  persuaded  to  make  him  their  champion. 
They  produced  their  own  candidate  for  the  Senate  in  the  person  of 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

Lincoln  was  a  still  more  striking  figure  than  Douglas.     Born  in 
the  slave  state  of  Kentucky,  among  the  lowliest  of  the  lowly,  his 
1  Forney's  "  Anecdotes,"  Vol.  I,  p.  147. 


600  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

early  life  was  spent  in  poverty  and  want.  His  mother  was  a  woman 
of  excellent  good  sense,  and,  it  is  claimed,  of  strong  intellect.  His 
father,  who  belonged  to  the  class  of  poor  whites,  was  a 
Lincoln fe  °f  carPenter  by  trade,  but  was  usually  out  of  employment. 
He  was  shiftless,  lazy,  and  ignorant,  and  he  scarcely  pro 
vided  his  family  with  the  necessaries  of  life.  All  rules  and  theories  of 
heredity  are  scattered  to  the  winds  in  attempting  to  account  for  the 
genius  of  Lincoln.  While  he  was  yet  a  child  his  mother  died.  The 
father  moved  with  his  family  to  southern  Indiana  and  married  a  widow 
with  several  children,  and  the  double  family  spent  ten  years  in  a 
miserable  hut  in  the  wilderness.  Meantime  Lincoln,  being  intensely 
anxious  to  educate  himself,  though  he  attended  school  only  a  few 
months  during  his  boyhood,  studied  diligently  the  few  books  that 
came  within  his  reach.  He  became  a  deep  student  of  the  Bible  and 
of  Shakespeare,  and  he  mastered  the  books  of  Euclid.  Removing 
to  Illinois  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  became  in  turn  farmer,  rail 
splitter,  storekeeper,  postmaster,  surveyor,  and  river  boatman,  and  he 
served  a  few  months  in  the  Black  Hawk  War  in  1832,  though  he  was 
not  under  fire. 

Lincoln  felt  that  he  was  destined  to  do  something  in  the  great 
world  of  which  he  yet  knew  so  little.  He  was  unsettled  and  discon 
tented  ;  he  flitted  from  one  thing  to  another.  The  years  passed,  and 
at  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  had  not  settled  in  a  permanent  vocation. 
He  loved  to  mingle  with  men ;  he  was  exceedingly  popular  among 
his  fellows,  was  full  of  droll  stories,  loved  the  horse  race  and  the 
cockfight ;  but  withal,  his  face  was  set  with  a  melancholy  that 
nothing  could  remove.  This  may  have  been  caused  in  part  by  his 
long  years  spent  in  physical  toil  in  the  frowning  forest,  while  his 
soul  was  longing  for  light,  for  knowledge,  for  oppor- 
tunity.1  His  marriage  was  an  unhappy  one,  and  the 
want  of  domestic  pleasure  threw  him  the  more  among 
men,  and  fitted  him  the  better  for  his  great  life  work.  He  served  in 
the  Illinois  legislature,  read  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  the 
age  of  twenty-eight.  In  1846  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  and  after 
serving  one  term  in  the  House,  in  which  he  always  cast  his  vote  with 
the  Whigs  or  the  Wilmot  Democrats,  he  returned  to  his  law  prac 
tice  at  Springfield.  He  had  almost  lost  interest  in  politics,  as  he 
said,  until  the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Law.  This  roused 
him  as  nothing  had  done  before,  and  within  a  few  years  he  was  the 
i  See  Burgess's  "  Civil  War  and  the  Constitution,"  Vol.  I,  p.  6. 


LINCOLN   AND   DOUGLAS  601 

acknowledged  leader  of  his  party  in  Illinois.  Few  outside  of  his 
state  knew  of  the  latent  power  of  Lincoln,  but  Douglas  knew  him 
well,  and  when  he  heard  that  Lincoln  was  to  be  his  opponent  in  the 
senatorial  race,  he  said :  "  I  shall  have  my  hands  full.  He  is  the 
strong  man  of  his  party  —  full  of  wit,  facts,  dates,  and  .  .  .  the  best 
stump  speaker  in  the  West ;  he  is  as  honest  as  he  is  shrewd." l 

The  principals  who  were  about  to  engage   in  this  intellectual 
duel  had  much  in  common.     Each  had  been  born   in   poverty  in 
another  state ;  each  had  made  the  broad-prairied  West  his  perma 
nent  home,  and  had  begun  his  career  without  money,  friends,  or 
influence.    They  had  served  together  in  the  Illinois  leg-  i,incoin  ana 
islature,  had  eaten  at  the  same  table,  had  attended  the   Douglas 
same  horse  races,  and  had  loved  the  same  maiden.     For  compared, 
many  years  they  had  been  personal,  but  never  political  friends. 
Both  were  courteous,  honest,  fearless,  jovial,  and  companionable. 
Both  were  sanguine  and  keenly  ambitious  to  rise  in  public  life,  and 
each  had  the  rare  quality  of  winning  a  large  circle  of  followers.    But 
the  contrast  was  still  more  notable. 

Douglas  was  below  the  average  stature  of  men ;  Lincoln  was 
above  it.  Douglas  was  compactly  built,  graceful,  and  polished  in 
manners ;  Lincoln  was  the  opposite  of  all  these.  Douglas  had  a 
deep,  musical  voice,  and  could  hold  an  audience  unwearied  for  hours ; 
but  his  logic  was  faulty,  and  his  conclusions  often  superficial.  Lin 
coln's  voice  was  high-pitched  and  rather  unpleasant,  but  his  form 
of  speech  was  so  terse,  epigrammatic,  and  logical,  that  even  his  great 
opponent,  with  all  his  powers  of  casuistry,  could  not  escape  its  force. 
Douglas  had  reached  the  zenith  of  his  power,  and  for  four  years 
past  had  held  his  lofty  position  amid  adverse  political  winds  only  by 
his  marvelous  courage  and  audacity ;  Lincoln  was  just  emerging  from 
obscurity,  and  was  soon  to  become  the  leading  American  of  his  time. 

These  two  giants  were  to  stand  together  on  the  same  platform  in 
seven  different  Illinois  towns  and  address  the  same  audiences  on  the 
great  questions  of  the  day.  And  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  Lincoln 
then  attracted  national  attention  only  because  of  his  connection  with 
the  world-famous  Douglas,  while  in  our  own  day  Douglas  is  remem 
bered  in  history  more  for  his  connection  with  Lincoln  than  for  any 
other  event  of  his  life. 

The  campaign  opened  in  June,  when  the  Republican  convention 
nominated  Lincoln  at  Springfield.     The  address  to  the  delegates  by 
i  Forney,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  179. 


602  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

their  candidate  was  masterful ;  but  it  was  radical.  In  it  he  used  the 
famous  expression,  "  A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.  I 
believe  this  government  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and 
half  free.  ...  It  will  become  all  one  thing  or  all  the  other."  No 
prominent  Republican  had  advanced  such  radical  doctrine  before. 
Seward's  famous  "  irrepressible  conflict "  was  not  uttered  for  some 
months  after  this.  Lincoln's  friends  urged  that  he  omit  this  part  of 
the  speech,  but  he  declared  that  he  would  rather  be  defeated  with 
that  statement  in  his  speech  than  win  the  election  without  it.  He 
further  stated  in  answer  to  the  eastern  Republicans  who  desired  to 
see  Douglas  returned  to  the  Senate :  "  They  remind  us  that  he  is  a 
great  man  and  that  the  largest  of  us  are  very  small  ones.  Let 
this  be  granted.  .  .  .  How  can  he  oppose  the  advance  of  slavery  ? 
He  does  not  care  anything  about  it.  ...  Our  cause  must  be 
intrusted  to  its  own  undoubted  friends  .  .  .  who  do  care  for  the 
results.  .  .  .  Clearly  he  [Douglas]  is  not  with  us — he  does  not 
pretend  to  be  —  he  does  not  promise  ever  to  be." 

Soon  after  the  campaign  had  opened,  Lincoln,  through  his  man 
agers,  challenged  Douglas  to  a  joint  stumping  tour,  a  series  of  joint 
debates.  It  was  a  daring  thing  to  do.  Douglas  was  reputed  to  be 
the  ablest  orator  in  the  nation.  He  had  no  rival  in  the  United  States 
Senate.  He  had  measured  arms  with  Seward,  Chase,  Corwin, 
and  Sumner,  and  had  surpassed  them  all.  The  eyes  of 
challenge  ^e  country  were  now  turned  toward  the  prairie  state. 
The  two  rivals  met  in  various  towns.1  The  crowds, 
composed  of  both  parties,  were  too  great  for  the  public  halls,  and 
they  met  in  open  groves.  There  was  but  one  great,  vital  subject  to 
be  discussed,  —  slavery  in  the  territories.  The  speakers  were  cour 
teous  to  each  other,  but  merciless  in  their  political  arguments.  Lin 
coln's  disadvantage,  especially  at  first,  was  in  the  opposition  of  the 
leaders  of  his  party ;  but  Douglas's  disadvantage  was  still  greater  in 
the  opposition  of  the  Buchanan  administration,  for  after  the  Lecomp- 
ton  struggle  he  and  the  President  had  never  become  reconciled. 

The  chief  feature  of  this  remarkable  debate  was  the  questions 
publicly  asked  by  each  speaker  of  the  other.  Douglas  began  this, 
and  by  so  doing  he  set  a  trap  for  himself  from  which  it  was  impos 
sible  to  escape.  Lincoln's  fatal  question  was  this:  "Can  the  people 
of  a  United  States  territory,  in  any  lawful  way  .  .  .  exclude  slavery 
from  its  limits,  prior  to  the  formation  o"f  a  state  constitution  ?  \ 
1  These  debates  began  August  24  and  ended  October  15. 


THE   FATAL   QUESTION  603 

The  deep  significance  of  this  question  is  seen  only  by  remembering 
that  it  involved  the  irreconcilable  difference  between  the  Democrats 
of  the  North  and  those  of  the  South  in  their  interpretation  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  Law.  This  question  placed  Douglas  in  the  most 
trying  position  of  his  life.  He  was  an  aspirant  for  the  presidency  ; 
he  knew  that  his  audience  in  these  debates  included  the  whole 
United  States,  and  to  answer  this  question  on  which  his  party  was 
divided  would,  as  he  well  knew,  offend  one  section  or  the  other ;  and 
yet  to  refuse  to  answer  would  be  childish  and  cowardly.  Six  days 
elapsed  between  the  propounding  of  this  question  and  the  next 
meeting,  to  be  held  at  Freeport.  Meantime  Lincoln's  friends  begged 
him  to  withdraw  it,  as  they  claimed  Douglas  was  sure  to  answer  in 
accordance  with  the  feeling  at  the  North,  and,  if  so,  he  would  win 
the  senatorship.  "  I  am  after  larger  game,"  answered  Lincoln ;  "  if 
Douglas  answers  as  you  say  he  will,  he  can  never  be  President,  and 
the  battle  of  1800  is  worth  a  hundred  of  this." l 

Douglas  answered  in  accordance  with  the  northern  view.  This 
opinion  became  known  as  the  "Freeport  doctrine."  It  was  discussed 
by  all  the  leading  newspapers  of  the  United  States.  By  many  the 
author  was  scored  without  mercy,  and  most  of  all  by  Lincoln,  who 
showed,  with  unanswerable  logic  how  inconsistent  with  this  view 
was  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  which  Douglas  professed  to  accept  as 
sound  Democratic  doctrine. 

Douglas  won  the  senatorship,  though  Lincoln  had  a  majority  of 
the  popular  vote.  The  result  was  due  to  the  fact  that  of  the  twelve 
hold-over  senators,  eight  were  Democrats. 

Douglas  was  the  apparent  winner  in  this  great  contest,  though  in 
the  light  of  subsequent  events  the  world  must  render  a  different 
verdict.  This  campaign  proved  a  turning  point  in  the  fortunes  of 
both  contestants,  but,  like  Pharaoh's  chief  butler  and  chief  baker, 
their  fortunes  moved  in  opposite  directions.  Lincoln  soon  became 
the  foremost  man  of  his  age.  Douglas  never  again  stood  on  the 
pinnacle  he  had  occupied  before.  His  Freeport  doctrine  had  mor 
tally  offended  the  South.  His  Lecompton  revolt  was  a  venial  offense 
compared  with  this ; 2  and  two  years  later  the  South  refused  to  accept 
him  as  their  candidate,  the  Democratic  party  was  severed  in  twain, 
and  the  Republicans  carried  the  election. 

1  The  truth  of  this  incident  has  been  questioned  by  some  writers;  but.it  is  given 
by  Hernden,  Lincoln's  law  partner,  and  is  probably  true. 

2  Xicolay  and  Hay,  Vol.  II,  p.  163. 


604  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


JOHN  BROWN   AND    HARPERS   FERRY 

On  the  morning  of  October  17, 1859,  the  country  was  startled  by 
the  news  flashed  over  the  wires  that  the  United  States  arsenal  at 
Harpers  Ferry,  Virginia,  had  been  seized  the  night  before  by  a  band 
of  Abolitionists  and  negroes,  and  that  the  slaves  of  Virginia  were 
rising  against  their  masters.  In  the  North  the  news  created  intense 
excitement ;  in  the  South  it  created  rage  and  terror,  for  in  that  sec 
tion  the  belief  quickly  took  possession  of  the  public  mind  that  a 
great  northern  conspiracy  had  been  set  afoot  with  the  object  of 
exciting  slave  insurrections  throughout  the  South.  There  is  little 
wonder  that  such  a  belief  awakened  intense  feeling  at  the  South, 
for  a  widespread  slave  uprising  would  have  been  a  calamity  of  the 
most  awful  consequences ;  it  would  have  subjected  the  women  and 
children  to  nameless  horrors  and  would  have  destroyed  the  very 
foundations  of  society. 

But  the  report  proved  exaggerated.  The  arsenal  at  Harpers 
Ferry,  an  insignificant  village  at  the  point  where  the  Potomac  and 
Shenandoah  rivers  join  their  waters  and  break  through  their  moun 
tain  barriers,  had  been  seized.  But  there  was  no  uprising  of  slaves, 
nor  was  the  number  of  men  engaged  in  the  insurrection  by  any 
means  so  great  as  was  at  first  reported.  In  fact,  there  were  but  nine 
teen,  and  these,  led  by  an  elderly  man  with  a  long  flowing  white 
beard  and  with  a  strange,  unfathomable  eye,  had  stealthily  entered 
the  town  by  night,  extinguished  the  lights,  cut  the  telegraph  wires, 
made  prisoners  of  the  guards,  and  taken  possession  of  the  armory. 
Soon  after  daybreak  the  people  of  the  neighborhood  began  to  rise 
against  the  invaders,  and  a  desultory  fire  was  kept  up  during  the 
forenoon,  a  few  being  killed  on  either  side.  Soon  after  noon  a  hun 
dred  militia  arrived  from  Charlestown,  and  others  poured  in  rapidly. 
Thousands  of  shots  were  exchanged  during  the  day.  In  the  evening 
Colonel  Robert  E.  Lee  arrived  with  a  body  of  marines,  but  he  made  no 
attack  until  the  following  morning.  He  then  sent  his  aid,  J.  E.  B. 
Stuart,  who  had  been  in  Kansas,  and  who  was  to  become  the  famous 
Confederate  cavalry  leader,  to  demand  a  surrender.  Stuart,  on  see 
ing  the  aged  leader,  exclaimed,  "  Why,  aren't  you  old  Pottawatomie 
Brown  of  Kansas  ?  "  *  And  thus  it  first  became  known  to  the  public 
that  the  leader  of  this  extraordinary  movement  was  John  Brown. 

John -Brown  was  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  Pilgrims  who  had 
1  See  Century  Magazine,  June,  1885. 


JOHN   BROWN  605 


come  in  the  Mayflower  in  1620.  During  the  War  of  1812  his  father 
had  been  engaged  in  furnishing  cattle  for  the  American  armies. 
John  usually  accompanied  him  as  a  cattle  driver,  and 
in  this  capacity  he  witnessed  the  surrender  of  Hull  at 
Detroit.  It  was  about  this  time  that  he  became  a  rabid 
abolitionist.  He  was  staying,  for  a  time,  with  a  slaveholder  who 
owned  a  negro  boy  about  Brown's  own  age  and  apparently  his  equal 
in  every  way,  and  while  he,  Brown,  was  treated  with  the  utmost 
kindness,  the  black  boy  was  beaten  and  maltreated  for  little  or  no 
cause.  This  incident  fixed  in  the  youthful  soul  of  John  Brown  a 
hatred  of  slavery  that  increased  in  intensity  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
Many  years  later,  when  the  father  of  a  growing  family,  he,  in  imita 
tion  of  the  ancient  Carthaginian  commander,  had  his  sons  take  a 
solemn  oath  that  they  would  join  with  him  in  devoting  their  lives  to 
making  relentless  war  on  slavery. 

The  stormy  career  of  John  Brown  in  Kansas  we  have  noticed. 
This  he  closed  by  making  a  wild  raid,  with  a  few  followers,  into  Mis 
souri,  and  capturing  a  dozen  slaves,  whom  he  escorted  to  Canada.  In 
the  spring  of  1859  we  find  him  again  in  New  England  plotting  his 
last  and  most  famous  exploit.  His  intention  was  to  lead  a  band  of 
men  into  the  Virginia  mountains,  to  call  upon  the  slaves  to  flock  to 
his  retreat,  to  arm  them  against  recapture,  and  to  extend  his  opera 
tions  over  the  entire  South.  In  short,  his  plan  was  to  lead  the 
slaves  to  freedom  through  a  general,  violent  uprising. 

Late  in  the  summer  of  1859  Brown  rented  a  house  a  few  miles 
from  Harpers  Ferry,  where,  under  the  name  of  I.  Smith  and  Sons, 
he  received  boxes  of  arms  and  ammunition.  Everything  was  done 
with  great  secrecy.  No  one  suspected  that  this  gray-haired  stranger 
and  his  numerous  sons  had  other  designs  than  to  purchase  a  farm, 
as  they  pretended,  and  to  become  stock  raisers.  After  some  weeks  of 
preparation  they  threw  the  whole  country  into  a  state  of  consterna 
tion,  as  we  have  seen,  by  their  night  attack  on  Harpers  Ferry.  Of 
Brown's  followers,  three  were  his  own  sons  and  five  were  colored 
men.  Most  of  them  did  not  know  of  his  intention  to  seize  the 
arsenal  till  near  the  time  of  making  the  raid.  They  then  attempted 
to  dissuade  him,  urging  that  the  undertaking  would  be  most  danger 
ous.  But  his  iron  will  was  unmoved;  he  quietly  answered,  "If  we 
lose  our  lives,  it  will  perhaps  do  more  for  the  cause  than  our  lives 
could  be  worth  in  any  other  way." l  He  ordered  his  men  not  to  take 
1  Sanboru's  "  Life  and  Letters  of  Jolm  Brown,"  p.  542. 


606  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

Me,  if  they  could  possibly  avoid  it,  and  not  a  shot  was  fired  until 
they  had  been  in  possession  of  the  arsenal  for  three  hours. 

At  any  time  during  the  forenoon  of  the  17th  Brown  might  have 
escaped  to  the  mountains,  as  he  had  intended  to  do  after  supplying 
his  party  at  the  arsenal  with  a  stock  of  arms  for  his  expected 
recruits ;  but  this  he  failed  to  do  until  it  was  too  late.  Six  of  his 
men,  including  one  of  his  sons,  were  out  scouring  the  country  for 
slaves,  and  these  for  the  time  escaped.1  His  other  two  sons  were 
killed.  But  few  of  the  little  band  remained  alive  when  at  length 
the  besiegers  broke  into  the  engine-house  and  took  them  captive. 
Brown  himself  was  severely  wounded  by  a  bayonet  thrust. 

Brown's  composure  throughout  the  siege  was  a  matter  of  as 
tonishment  to  those  who  witnessed  it.  With  one  son  dead  at  his 
side  and  another  mortally  wounded,  he  felt  the  pulse  of  his  dying 
son  with  one  hand  and  held  his  rifle  in  the  other 
while  he  commanded  his  men  with  the  utmost  com 
posure.2  Brown  was  duly  arraigned  for  treason  and 
murder,  was  given  a  fair  trial  in  the  Virginia  court  at  Charlestown, 
and  was  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  He  spent  the  period  between  the 
time  of  receiving  his  sentence  and  the  execution  in  the  utmost 
serenity  of  mind,  never  exhibiting  the  slightest  fear  or  regret  except 
for  the  loss  of  life  that  he  had  occasioned.  To  a  friend  he  wrote, 
"  It  is  a  great  comfort  to  feel  assured  that  I  am  permitted  to  die 
for  a  cause  " ;  to  his  wife,  "  My  mind  is  very  tranquil,  I  may  say 
joyous'7;  to  his  children, " I  feel  just  as  content  to  die  for  God's 
eternal  truth  on  the  scaffold  as  any  other  way."  On  the  day  of 
execution  he  walked  out  of  the  jail  "with  a  radiant  countenance  and 
the  step  of  a  conqueror,"  said  an  eyewitness.  He  mounted  a  wagon 
and  sat  upon  his  coffin  to  the  place  of  execution,  and  without  a 
tremor  or  a  sign  of  fear  he  stepped  upon  the  gallows  and  was  swung 
into  eternity.  Governor  Wise,  fearing  an  attempt  to  rescue  Brown, 
had  called  out  several  thousand  troops  and  had  planted  cannon 
around  the  place  of  execution ;  but  no  such  attempt  was  made,  and 
Virginia,  which  had  been  wrought  into  a  high  state  of  excitement, 
breathed  freer  when  old  John  Brown  was  dead. 

It  is  even  at  this  day  too  early  to  make  a  final  historic  estimate 
of  John  Brown.  Throughout  the  South  he  was  denounced  as  the 

1  Most  of  these  were  captured  and  put  to  death;  but  Owen  Brown,  son  of  the 
leader,  was  never  taken,  and  he  lived  for  many  years  afterward  in  New  York. 

2  Sanborn,  p.  572. 


ESTIMATE   OF  JOHN    BROWN  607 

blackest  of  villains,  while  many  at  the  North  pronounced  him 
a  saint  and  a  martyr.  Emerson  was  led  to  say  that  Brown's  death 
made  the  gallows  glorious  like  the  cross.  Victor  Hugo 
pronounced  Brown  an  apostle  and  a  hero.  The  gen-  ^Q^ter  °f 
eral  sentiment  at  the  North,  however,  condemned  the 
deed  of  Brown,  while  the  greatest  sympathy  with  the  doer  was  ex 
pressed  on  every  side.  Brown  was  a  man  of  intense  religious  con 
victions  ;  but  he  drew  his  inspiration  from  the  Old  Testament  rather 
than  from  the  New ;  his  models  were  Joshua,  Gideon,  and  Jephthah.1 
He  brooded  over  the  condition  of  the  black  man  until  his  judgment 
became  warped  and  distorted.  He  was  utterly  impractical.  No 
man  with  robust  common  sense,  with  well-balanced  mental  powers, 
would  have  regarded  his  attack  on  the  United  States  arsenal  as  other 
than  suicidal  folly.  And  yet  we  must  pity  rather  than  blame  John 
Brown.  By  the  technical  letter  of  the  law  he  was  a  criminal ;  by 
the  motives  and  intents  of  his  heart  he  was  not.  His  supreme  self- 
command,  his  heroic  courage,  his  readiness  to  sacrifice  his  home, 
his  family,  his  life,  for  a  cause,  must  elicit  our  admiration.  But  we 
cannot  place  him  among  the  saints,  or  the  great  heroes  of  history ; 
he  was  an  honest,  but  sadly  misguided  fanatic  ;  on  this  one  subject 
he  was  probably  insane. 

No  great  political  effect  of  Brown's  raid  was  felt.  Congress  met 
soon  after  the  execution,  and  great  efforts  were  made  to  saddle  the 
whole  affair  on  the  Eepublican  party.  It  was  found  that  Brown  had 
been  furnished  with  money  by  a  few  northern  friends  headed  by 
Gerrit  Smith,  the  wealthy  New  York  philanthropist ;  but  the  most 
searching  inquiry  by  a  Senate  committee  failed  to  prove  that  the  great 
Republican  leaders,  Seward,  Greeley,  Lincoln,  and  Chase,  had  any 
thing  whatever  to  do  with  Brown's  movements,  or  any  knowledge 
of  the  raid  till  after  it  had  been  made.  Brown's  raid,  however,  had 
some  effect  in  consolidating  the  South  against  the  North.2  A  son  of 
Governor  Wise  has  recently  written  that  the  attitude  of  the  North 
surprised  the  South  and  did  more  to  open  its  eyes  to  the  gulf  between 
the  sections  than  anything  else.  The  great  majority  of  southern 
voters  were  non-slaveholding  poor  whites.  Vast  numbers  of  these 
would  probably  have  cast  their  lot  for  the  Union  in  1861,  but  for 
their  fear  of  a  slave  insurrection.  The  southern  leaders  rung  many 
changes  on  the  Brown  raid  to  show  that  such  an  insurrection  was 

1  Rhodes,  Vol.  II,  p.  161. 

2  See  Burgess's  "  Civil  War  and  the  Constitution,"  Vol.  I,  p.  43. 


608  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES 

possible  and  that  the  North  was  capable  of  encouraging  it.  This 
doubtless  had  much  to  do  with  unifying  the  South  under  the  banner 
of  the  slaveholders  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 


THE   PRESIDENTIAL   ELECTION   OF   1860 

Scarcely  had  the  country  recovered  from  the  excitement  of  John 
Brown's  raid,  when  it  was  called  to  face  another  presidential  election 
—  the  most  momentous  of  all  since  the  overthrow  of  the  Federalists 
in  1800.  Great  changes  in  the  political  world  had  been  going  On 
for  several  years.  The  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  the  Dred  Scott  de 
cision,  and  the  troubles  in  Kansas  had  shaken  Democratic  power  to 
its  foundations.  The  Republican  party  was  irresistibly  fastening  its 
hold  upon  the  North.  Thousands  of  Democrats  who  had  adhered 
to  the  party  of  their  fathers  with  all  its  faults  could  now  endure  it 
no  longer,  after  the  ignoble  attempt  of  their  President  to  force  the 
Lecompton  fraud  upon  Kansas;  and  they  were  warmly  welcomed 
into  the  Republican  fold.  Nevertheless,  the  Democrats  would 
doubtless  have  again  elected  their  President  but  for  the  fatal  split 
within  their  own  ranks.  Early  in  February,  Jefferson  Davis  of 
Mississippi  introduced  in  the  Senate  a  series  of  resolutions  which 
were  intended  to  set  forth  the  Democratic  doctrine  of  the  South,  and 
which  were  meant  as  an  ultimatum  to  the  northern  wing  of  the 
party.  In  these  he  set  forth  the  extreme  doctrine  of  Calhoun  that 
the  states  were  sovereign,  that  the  general  government  was  subor 
dinate,  and  that  neither  Congress  nor  the  territorial  leg- 
lutions  r<  islatures  had  the  power  to  prohibit,  but  the  government 
must  protect,  slavery  in  the  territories.  These  resolu 
tions  were  debated  for  many  weeks,  but  ere  they  came  to  a  vote 
the  Democratic  party  had  met  in  national  convention  at  Charleston, 
South  Carolina. 

The  Charleston  convention  was  inharmonious.  The  spirit  of 
discord  that  had  so  long  distracted  the  country  now  threatened  the 
one  last  great  bond  between  the  North  and  the  South  —  the  Demo 
cratic  party.  Many  looked  with  awe  upon  the  gathering  storm, 
when  they  realized  what  its  meaning  might  be  to  the  Federal  Union. 
For  long  years  the  North  and  the  South  had  been  growing  farther 
and  farther  apart.  The  Whig  party  had  destroyed  itself  in  attempt 
ing  to  cater  to  both  sections ;  the  religious  bonds,  the  industrial  and 
social  bonds  between  them  had  for  the  most  part  been  severed. 


DEMOCRATIC   SPLIT  AT   CHARLESTON  609 

Nothing  was  left  to  hold  the  North  and  the  South  together  peacefully 
except  this  great  political  party  whose  representatives  were  now 
gathering  at  Charleston ;  and  this  bond  was  about  to  be  broken. 

Douglas  was  again  the  Democratic  idol  of  the  North.  But  he  had 
re-won  his  northern  laurels  only  by  sacrificing  his  popularity  in  the 
South ;  and  while  he  was  now  the  first  and  only  choice  of  the  north 
ern  wing  of  the  party,  the  South  refused  to  accept  him.  But  it  was 
the  platform,  and  not  the  candidate,  on  which  the  convention  divided. 
The  committee  that  framed  the  platform  was  composed  of  one  dele 
gate  from  each  state.  There  were  eighteen  free  states  and  fifteen 
slave  states ;  but  as  the  delegates  of  two  free  states,  California  and 
Oregon,  voted  steadily  with  the  South,  that  section  had  a  majority 
in  the  committee.  The  committee,  therefore,  adopted  a  platform, 
based  on  the  Davis  resolutions  in  the  Senate,  embody-  j^e 
ing  the  extreme  southern  doctrine  on  the  subject  of  Charleston 
slavery  in  the  territories ;  namely,  that  no  power  could  convention, 
exclude  it,  that  Congress  must  protect  it.  The  northern  delegates 
could  not  accept  this  doctrine  without  sacrificing  the  vote  of  every 
northern  state  in  the  election.  In  vain  they  pleaded  with  their 
southern  brethren  to  yield  and  save  the  party  from  disruption ;  the 
southern  delegates  were  inflexible.  Douglas  meantime  declared  that 
he  would  refuse  to  be  a  candidate  on  such  a  platform.  But  the  con 
vention  was  not  obliged  to  accept  this  platform  dictated  by  the  com 
mittee.  The  South  had  a  majority  in  the  committee,  but  not  in  the 
convention;  and  now,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Democratic 
national  conventions,  the  northern  delegates  made  a  determined 
stand,  refused  the  dictation  of  the  South,  cast  aside  its  proffered 
platform,  and  adopted  another,  brought  in  by  a  minority  of  the  com 
mittee.  By  this  platform  as  adopted  the  status  of  slavery  in  the 
territories  was  to  be  determined  by  the  courts. 

The  next  act  in  the  great  drama  immediately  followed.     The  Ala 
bama  delegates  rose  and  seceded  from  the  convention,  and  they  were 
followed  by  those  from  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  South  split  in 
Carolina,  Florida,  and  Arkansas.     The  remainder  of  the  Democratic 
convention  then  began  balloting  for  a  candidate,  and   convention, 
after  fifty-seven  fruitless  ballots  the  convention  adjourned  to  meet 
on  June  18  at  Baltimore,  while  the  seceding  faction  decided  to  meet 
at  Richmond,  Virginia. 

The  adjourned  convention  met  at  the  appointed  time  and  place. 
Every  reason  now  existed  for  a  reunion  of  the  factions.     The  Eepub- 
2  R 


610  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

licans  had  met  in  the  meantime,  and  had  placed  their  candidates  in 
the  field ;  and  every  index  pointed  to  a  Republican  victory  unless  the 
Democrats  would  unite.  But  this  was  impossible.  The  North  could 
not,  and  the  South  would  not,  yield.  Had  the  North  yielded  the 
point  at  issue,  the  Democratic  party  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line  would  have  been  destroyed.  The  northern  delegates  held  their 
ground,  and  in  consequence  most  of  the  delegates  from  the  South 
who  had  not  withdrawn  at  Charleston  now  did  so,  and  they  met  in  an 
other  hall.  The  convention  then  nominated  Douglas  for  President 
and  Herschel  V.  Johnson  of  Georgia  for  Vice  President.  The  seced 
ing  faction,  joined  by  their  brethren  from  Richmond,  nominated 
John  C.  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky  for  President  and  Joseph  Lane 
of  Oregon  for  Vice  President,  and  the  severance  of  the  Democratic 
party  was  complete.  Thus  the  great  political  party  that  had  been 
founded  by  Jefferson,  that  had  governed  the  country  for  half  a 
century,  had  successfully  carried  on  two  foreign  wars,  and  had 
acquired  Florida  and  every  foot  of  our  public  domain  beyond  the 
Mississippi,  —  this  great  party  had  at  last  quarreled  with  itself  and 
invited  its  own  destruction. 

The  Republican  convention  met  in  the  fast  growing  city  of 
Chicago  on  the  16th  of  May.  The  convention  was  rendered  an  ob 
ject  of  intense  interest  by  the  fatal  disagreement  at  Charleston ;  for 
the  belief  was  widespread  that  here  would  be  named  the  next  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.  A  great  "  wigwam,"  seating  twelve 
thousand  people,  was  built  for  the  purpose,  but  this  could  accommo 
date  only  a  fraction  of  the  gathering  clans  that  poured  into  the  city 
from  all  points  of  the  compass.  The  convention  gave  little  evidence 
of  being  the  exponent  of  a  new-born  party  founded  on  a  great  moral 
principle ;  it  was  less  orderly  and  seemed  much  less  serious  than 
the  one  that  had  met  at  Charleston.  The  streets  of  the  city  were 
filled  with  noisy  multitudes  shouting  for  this  or  that  candidate.  No 
longer  did  the  leaders  of  the  party  hold  aloof,  as  four  years  before 
at  Philadelphia,  when  they  willingly  let  the  prize  go  to  a  romantic 
adventurer  of  the  West.  Now  the  best  men  of  the  party  stood  ready 
and  eager  to  receive  the  honors  of  the  convention. 

The  acknowledged  leader  of  the  party  was  William  H.  Seward 
of  New  York.  His  claims  were  strong.  He  was  the  chief  originator 
of  Republican  doctrine,  and  for  years  before  the  party  was  born  he 
had  stood  in  the  forefront  in  battling  against  the  encroachments  of 
the  slave  power.  But  he  had  weak  points.  He  was  thought  to 


NOMINATION   OF   LINCOLN  611 

be  too  radical  by  many  ;  he  was  the  author  of  the  "  higher  law  "  doc 
trine,  and  this,  with  his  "irrepressible  conflict,"  was  not  popular  in 
the   great  conservative  states  that  bordered  on   slave 
land.     Another  element  of  weakness  in  Seward  was  the      epu    *Pan 

COHVCHulOH. 

fact  that  when  governor  of  New  York  he  had  offended 
the  Know-nothings  on  the  school  question.     These  had  now  for  the 
most  part  become  Republicans  and  were  willing  to  accept  any  candi 
date  except  Seward. 

Next  to  Seward  in  the  great  contest  stood  Abraham  Lincoln  of 
Illinois.  Lincoln  was  past  fifty  years  of  age,  but,  until  his  famous 
debate  with  Douglas  two  years  before,  he  was  scarcely  (jooper  union 
known  to  the  great  public.  The  prominence  of  Douglas  speech.  Feb- 
had  led  the  people  to  look  upon  his  daring  antagonist,  ruary,  I860, 
and  the  vital  question  at  issue  had  led  them  to  read  his  speeches. 
These  were  found  to  equal  the  proudest  efforts  of  Sumner,  of  Chase, 
or  of  Seward.  Again,  Lincoln  had  recalled  public  attention  to  him 
self  by  a  powerful  speech  at  Cooper  Union  in  New  York  City,  by 
which  he  displayed  anew  his  masterly  grasp  of  the  great  questions 
of  the  day.  None  could  now  deny  that  in  the  political  sky  he  was  a 
star  of  the  first  magnitude. 

Below  these  two  leaders  stood  Edward  Bates  of  Missouri,  whose 
chief  claim  lay  in  the  fact  that  he  was  from  a  slave  state  and  that 
his  nomination  would  in  part  answer  the  charge  that  the  party  was 
a  sectional  one ;  Salmon  P.  Chase  of  Ohio ;  and  Simon  Cameron  of 
Pennsylvania.  But  none  of  these  had  any  chance  of  receiving  the 
nomination  unless  the  convention  failed  to  choose  between  the  two 
leading  candidates,  Seward  and  Lincoln.  The  Seward  men  felt  con 
fident  ;  but  the  Lincoln  shouters  made  the  greater  noise.  It  was 
said  that  two  men,  whose  voices  could  be  heard  above  the  most  vio 
lent  storm  (and  one  of  them  was  a  Democrat),  were  hired  to  lead  in 
the  shouting  for  the  Illinois  candidate. 

On  the  first  ballot  Seward  led,  with  Lincoln  second.  On  the 
third  Lincoln  was  nominated.  The  cheers  for  the  "  rail  splitter " 
were  tremendous.  So  great  was  the  uproar  of  the  con 
vention  that  the  boom  of  cannon  on  the  top  of  the 
wigwam  could  scarcely  be  heard  within  it.  Chicago 
was  delirious  with  delight ;  but  the  Seward  men  were  deeply  de 
jected,  and  their  leader,  Thurlow  Weed,  burst  into  tears.  Hannibal 
Hamlin  of  Maine  was  nominated  for  Vice  President,  and  the  work 
of  the  convention  was  over. 


612  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

Outside  of  Illinois  and  a  few  adjacent  states  the  name  of  Lincoln 
created  little  enthusiasm.  Why  set  aside  the  great  New  York 
statesman  for  this  untried  newcomer  in  public  life  ?  At  first  a  feel 
ing  of  depression  swept  over  the  party.  It  was  feared  that  the 
convention  had  made  a  mistake,  as  its  predecessor  had  done  at  Phila 
delphia  in  1856.  But  the  convention  had  builded  wiser  than  it  knew. 

The  platform  adopted  by  the  convention  pronounced  for  a  protec 
tive  tariff,  condemned  indirectly  the  John  Brown  raid  and  the  Dred 
Scott  decision,  while  it  left  unnoticed  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  But  it  was 
very  decided  on  the  greatest  question  of  the  times  —  slavery  in  the 
territories.  It  pronounced  slavery  an  evil,  and  while  denying  any 
intention  of  the  party  to  interfere  with  it  in  the  states  where  it  ex 
isted,  it  denied  the  authority  of  Congress,  of  a  territorial  legislature, 
or  of  any  individual  to  give  legal  existence  to  slavery  in  any  territory 
of  the  United  States,  and  demanded  that  Congress  prohibit  the 
institution  in  the  territories. 

Still  another  party  entered  the  field  in  this  great  contest.  It  was 
composed  of  old  line  Whigs  and  others  who  could  find  no  political 
resting  place  with  the  extremes  represented  by  Lincoln  and  Brecken- 
ridge,  nor  on  the  middle  ground  occupied  by  Douglas.  It  called 
itself  the  Constitutional  Union  party,  adopted  the  terse  platform 
"  The  Constitution,  the  Union,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws," 
which,  in  the  apt  words  of  Horace  Greeley,  meant  anything  in  gen 
eral  and  nothing  in  particular,  and  nominated  John  Bell  of  Tennes 
see  for  President  and  Edward  Everett  of  Massachusetts  for  Vice 
President.  Thousands  of  citizens  voted  with  this  party  simply 
because  they  could  not  decide  which  side  they  were  on. 

The  campaign  was  less  boisterous  than  many  of  its  predecessors. 
Issues  rather  than  men  were  discussed  —  or  rather,  one  issue,  the 
The  three  same  that  had  been  before  the  country  for  several  years 
platforms  —  slavery  in  the  territories.  Outside  of  Pennsylvania, 
compared.  where  the  tariff  received  a  large  share  of  attention,  this 
great  subject  absorbed  the  public  mind.  The  issue  was  squarely 
drawn  between  the  Lincoln  and  Breckenridge  extremes.  The  Re 
publicans  took  the  positive  ground  that,  as  slavery  was  a  moral  and 
political  evil,  it  should  be  permitted  to  spread  no  farther,  and  that 
Congress  should  prohibit  it  in  the  territories.  The  Breckenridge 
Democrats  took  the  equally  positive  ground  that,  as  slaves  are  con 
stitutional  property,  their  possession  in  the  territories  must  be 


PRESIDENTIAL   ELECTION   OF   1860  613 

protected  by  Congress.  The  Douglas  Democrats  took  the  middle 
ground  that  Congress  must  keep  its  hands  off,  and  that  the  people 
of  a  territory  must  decide  for  themselves  whether  slavery  should 
exist  among  them.  If  the  Douglas  party  should  win,  the  great  sub 
ject  would  simply  be  left  unsettled ;  if  Lincoln  or  Breckenridge 
should  carry  the  election,  the  issue  would  be  squarely  joined  and 
the  defeated  party  must  yield  to  the  majority,  or  resist  by  violence. 
Threats  of  dissolving  the  Union,  in  case  of  Lincoln's  election,  were 
freely  made  in  the  South ;  but  in  the  North  it  was  not  generally 
believed  that  such  a  step  would  be  taken.  Had  the  North  fully 
realized  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  the  election  of  Lincoln  would 
have  been  doubtful ;  for  the  people,  a  great  many  of  them,  whatever 
their  hatred  of  slavery,  dreaded  still  more  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union  or  civil  war.  Douglas  made  a  noble  fight.  He  spoke  in 
many  states ;  but  with  all  his  tireless  energy  and  eloquence,  the  tide 
against  him  was  too  great  to  be  overcome.  Nor  could  Breckenridge 
hope  to  carry  a  northern  state,  and,  as  all  the  southern  electors  were 
not  enough  to  make  a  choice,  his  election  was  impossible.  Bell 
could  not  dream  of  carrying  more  than  a  few  states.  This  left  Lin 
coln  as  the  only  candidate  whose  election  was  possible,  and  in  case 
of  his  failure  the  election  would  go  to  the  House.  But  the  House 
was  hopelessly  divided,  no  party  controlling  a  majority  of  the  states. 

The  Republicans,  however,  felt  confident.  If  the  Democrats  had 
united  at  any  time  during  the  summer  or  early  autumn,  with  Douglas 
as  their  candidate,  they  might  possibly  have  carried  the  election ; 
but  not  after  the  October  elections  in  a  few  of  the  Northern  states. 
When  Pennsylvania  voted  in  October  and  was  carried  by  the  Lincoln 
party,  electing  Andrew  Curtin  governor  by  thirty-two  thousand  ma 
jority,  the  last  hope  of  successful  opposition  was  crushed.  Nothing 
under  heaven  could  now  prevent  the  election  of  Lincoln.  This  fact 
almost  pleased  the  extreme  South.  The  slaveholders  preferred  the 
election  of  Lincoln  to  that  of  Douglas ;  for  if  Douglas  were  elected, 
the  great  question  would  remain  unsettled  ;  if  Lincoln  were  success 
ful,  the  South  would  become  united  against  the  North  and  would 
have  an  adequate  pretext  for  disunion.1 

The  great  battle  of  the  ballots    was   fought   on   November   6. 

Lincoln  received  the  votes  of  all  the  Northern  states  except  New 

Jersey,  and  in  that  state  he  won  four  of  the  seven  electors,  the 

other  three  going  to  Douglas  through  a  fusion  arrangement.     Lin- 

i  Greeley,  Vol.  I,  p.  329. 


614 


HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


coin's  electoral  vote  reached  180,  while  152  were  sufficient  to  elect. 
Breckenridge  received  seventy-two  electoral  votes,  Bell  captured 
three  slave  states,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  thirty-nine 
electors,  while  Douglas,  whose  popular  vote  was  far  greater  than 
that  of  Breckenridge  or  Bell,  received  but  twelve  electoral  votes  — - 
those  of  Missouri  and  three  from  New  Jersey.  The  secessionists  of 
the  South  were  extremely  chagrined  at  the  fact  that  Bell,  who  stood 
on  a  distinctively  union  platform,  had  polled  over  half  a  million 
votes,  almost  as  many  as  Breckenridge.  This  want  of  southern 


ELECTION  CHART  OF  1860. 

unity  might  have  proved  very  embarrassing  to  the  disunionists  the 
following  year,  but  for  the  fact  that  Bell,  and  most  of  his  followers, 
probably  on  the  issue  of  coercing  a  state,  cast  their  lot  with  them. 

The  meaning  of  the  result  of  this  great  election  was  plain  to  the 
world.  It  meant  that  the  voice  of  the  people  in  all  the  Northern 
states  pronounced  slavery  an  evil  and  forbade  its  further  spread  in 
the  United  States.  For  many  years  a  few  thousand  slaveholders 
had  dominated  the  government,  had  dictated  every  presidential 
policy,  had  laid  down  the  law  for  the  millions.  But  at  last  the 
multitude  had  risen  in  its  might  and  declared  that  this  condition 
should  endure  no  longer. 


NOTES  61£ 


NOTES 

The  Black  Warrior.  — In  the  early  spring  of  1854  an  incident  known  as  the 
Black  Warrior  affair  threatened  the  peaceful  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Spain.  The  Black  Warrior  was  a  merchant  steamer  plying  between 
New  York  and  Mobile,  usually  stopping  at  Havana.  On  February  28  this 
vessel  was  seized  and  declared  confiscated  with  its  cargo  by  the  Spanish  authori 
ties  at  Havana,  on  the  pretense  that  she  had  violated  the  trade  regulations  of 
the  port.  Her  captain  abandoned  the  vessel  and  appealed  to  the  United  States 
government  for  protection.  President  Pierce  and  his  Cabinet  made  a  demand 
that  Spain  make  proper  reparation,  and  communicated  with  Soule",  our  minister 
at  Madrid,  to  that  effect.  But  Soule"  exceeded  his  instructions,  offended  the 
Spanish  government,  and  received  a  haughty  reply.  Soule"  and  the  slaveholders 
now  hoped  for  a  war  with  Spain,  that  the  United  States  might  acquire  Cuba, 
but  northern  sentiment  refused  to  support  this  project.  The  Black  Warrior 
was  at  length  released,  and  the  war  spirit  subsided.  This  affair  had  something 
to  do  with  bringing  out  the  Ostend  Manifesto  a  few  months  later.  See  p.  572. 

The  Nicaragua  Filibusters.  —  In  1854  William  Walker  of  California  pro 
ceeded  with  a  band  of  reckless  men  to  Nicaragua,  and  allied  himself  with  one 
of  the  warring  factions  of  that  country.  In  a  short  time  he  had  possession  of 
the  city  of  Granada  and  proclaimed  himself  President  of  Nicaragua.  Soon 
after  he  had  succeeded  in  usurping  the  power,  he  issued  a  decree  reestablishing 
slavery  in  the  country,  where  it  had  not  existed  for  many  years.  This  revealed 
the  true  object  of  his  expedition  —  to  secure  Central  America  for  slavery,  and 
eventually  to  add  those  states  to  our  Union  in  the  interests  of  the  slaveholders. 
After  he  had  held  the  country  for  two  years,  a  coalition  against  him  drove  him 
out.  Twice  afterward  he  made  attempts  to  regain  his  hold  on  Nicaragua ;  but 
on  the  last  of  these  trips  he  was  overpowered,  captured,  tried  by  court  martial, 
condemned,  and  shot  to  death. 


CHAPTER   XXV 

AN   ANTE-BELLUM   VIEW 

A  HURRIED  view  of  the  great  people  that  were  now  about  to 
engage  in  the  bloodiest  of  all  civil  wars  in  the  annals  of  history 
will  here  be  appropriate.  Soon  after  the  second  war  with  England 
the  people  of  the  United  States  began  to  feel  a  consciousness  of 
national  greatness  and  power  as  never  before,  and  the  marvelous 
development  of  the  country  in  the  half  century  that  followed  gave 
evidence  that  this  national  pride  rested  on  a  sound  basis.  Within 
that  period  the  population  was  greatly  increased ;  the  nation  took 
its  place  among  the  greatest  of  manufacturing  and  commercial 
peoples ;  in  literature,  education,  and  invention  it  more  than  kept 
pace  with  the  world's  advancing  civilization.  A  few  of  these  devel 
opments  may  be  described  under  separate  heads,  beginning  with 

INVENTIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES 

No  other  country  ever  gave  to  the  world  in  the  same  length  of 
time  such  a  series  of  useful  inventions  as  did  the  United  States 
in  the  thirty  years  ending  with  1860.  First  among  them  in  impor 
tance  is  perhaps  the  electric  telegraph,  the  patent  for  which  was 
granted  to  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  in  1837,  though  twenty  years  passed 
before  it  came  into  very  general  use.  In  1858  the  first  Atlantic 

cable  was  laid  through  the  efforts  of  Cyrus  W.  Field, 
telegraph  ^  reacne(i  from  Newfoundland  to  Ireland,  a  distance  of 

seventeen  hundred  miles  ;  but  after  it  had  been  in  opera 
tion  for  three  weeks,  several  hundred  messages  having  been  exchanged, 
the  cable  parted,  and  eight  years  passed  before  another  was  successfully 
laid.  To  show  how  this  wonderful  invention  has  made  the  world  akin, 
a  comparative  illustration  is  useful :  I  have  before  me  a  New  York 
newspaper  dated  August  4,  1815.  Its  chief  foreign  news  item  is  an 
account  of  the  great  battle  between  the  French  and  the  allied  powers 
at  Waterloo  in  which  Napoleon  was  overthrown.  This  was  the  first 

616 


GREAT   INVENTIONS  617 


news  to  reach  America  of  that  famous  battle,  which  had  been  fought 
on  the  eighteenth  of  June,  nearly  seven  weeks  before,  and  several 
weeks  were  yet  to  pass  before  it  could  reach  the  interior  of  the  coun 
try.  How  great  the  contrast  with  the  following:  The  Coronation 
of  King  Edward  VII  of  England  took  place  on  August  9,  1902,  at 
noon,  and  some  hours  before  noon  of  the  same  day  the  account  of 
the  event  was  read  on  the  streets  of  the  American  cities.  Hand 
in  hand  with  the  telegraph  came  the  cylinder  press,  first 
operated  in  1847,  by  which,  with  all  its  improvements 
to  this  day,  the  news  received  from  the  wires  and  put 
in  type,  is  printed  and  folded  in  newspaper  form  at  the  rate  of  forty- 
eight  thousand  an  hour. 

Among  labor-saving  machines  the  mower  and  reaper,  patented 
by  Cyrus  McCormick  in  1831,  and  the  sewing  machine,  invented  by 
Elias  Howe  in  1846,  must  be  placed  in  the  first  rank. 
The  reaper  wrhich  enabled  one  man  to  do  the  work  of  re°WgJ  an 
many,  made  possible  the  great  wheat  farms  of  the  West 
and  cheapened  breadstuffs  throughout  the  world.     Before  the  inven 
tion  of  the  sewing  machine  woman  was  a  slave  to  the  needle;  but 
with  the  coming  of  that  exceedingly  useful  machine 
woman  was  set  free  in  a  great  measure  and  enabled  to 
read,  travel,  and  become  interested  in  public  questions.1 
This  invention  also  reduced  the  price  of  clothing  and  shoes  for  all 
classes. 

Among  the  other  discoveries  and  inventions  of  this  period  was 
the  discovery  of  ether,  or  rather  of  its  application  as  an  anaesthetic,2 
which  has  proved  one  of  the  greatest  boons  to  suffering  humanity. 
By  its  use  the  patient  sleeps  like  a  child  while  under 
going  a  surgical  operation.      Another  discovery  of  a 
very  different  nature  was  made  in  western  Pennsylvania  in  1859. 
A  company  of  men,  boring  into  the  earth  some  seventy  feet,  "  struck 
oil,"  which  flowed  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand  barrels  a  day.     The 
news  awakened  the  greatest  enthusiasm,  and  through 
this  and  similar  discoveries  in  other  parts  of  the  coun 
try  and  in  Canada  the  petroleum  business  has  become  one  of  the 
greatest  industries  of  the  world.      Another  remarkable  discovery 
dates  from  this  same  year,  1859.     Some  miners  were  digging  along 
the  eastern  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  in  what  is  now 

1  See  Thorpe's  "  History  of  the  American  People,"  p.  429. 
"•  By  D.  W.  T.  G.  Morton  of  Boston. 


618  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  state  of  Nevada,  when  they  discovered  a  silver  mine.     It  was 

soon  found  that  not  only  that  region,  but  also  various 

other  parts  of  Colorado,  Utah,  and  Arizona  were  rich  in 

silver  ore,  and  the  mining  of  silver  soon  became  one  of  the  great 

industries  of  the  West. 

The  inventions  resulting  in  the  steam  railway  belong  to  an  earlier 
period;  but  the  development  of  the  railway  belongs  chiefly  to  the 
period  we  are  treating.     Not  until  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  did  the  extension  of  railroads  really 
have  a  beginning  in  the  United  States.     In  1850  one  could  travel  by 
rail  between  the  chief  cities  of  the  East,  but  the  rising  West  as  yet 
had  few  railroad  advantages.     Before  1860,  however,  several  great 
trunk  lines  extended  from  the  eastern  seaboard  to  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  increase  in  mileage  within  the  ten  years  being  five 
fold —  from  six  thousand  to  thirty  thousand  miles.     But  railways 
had  reached  no  such  degree  of  perfection  as  in  our  own  day,  and  acci 
dents  with  fatal  results  were  very  common.     The  same  was  true  in 
a  still  greater  degree  of  steamboats.     The  loss  of  life  from  these  two 
sources  was  so  great  as  to  raise  a  loud  protest  from  the 
Lts>      people  and  the  press.     Congress  passed  a  law  in  1852 
(still  on  our  statute  books)  to  regulate  steamboat  travel.    It  provided 
for  the  careful  inspection  of  steamers,  for  small  boats  and  life-pre 
servers  to  be  carried  on  each,  and  made  the  owners  responsible  for 
accidents  arising  from  a  neglect  of  the  provisions  of  this  law. 

In  the  cities  great  changes  had  taken  place  since  the  first  quarter 
of  the  century  had  closed.  The  principal  streets  were  now  paved 
with  stone  and  lighted  with  gas.  Fire  engines  took  the  place  of  the 
old  hand  bucket  about  the  middle  of  the  century.  Omnibuses  and 
horse-car  lines  were  introduced  back  in  the  thirties  ;  and  waterworks, 
one  of  the  greatest  of  city  improvements,  came  into  general  use  at 
about  the  same  time.  The  attractions  of  city  life  had  its  effect  on 
the  population;  the  percentage  of  the  people  who  lived  in  the  cities 
was  now  far  greater  than  it  had  been  in  earlier  times. 

The  material  prosperity  of  the  country  during  the  decade  ending 
with  the  panic  of  1857  was  amazing.  Manufactories  were  multiplied 
on  every  hand,  and  our  commerce  whitened  every  sea.  Webster 
wrote  in  1850  that  "  our  foreign  commerce  was  hardly  exceeded  by 
the  oldest  and  most  commercial  nations."  The  New  York  Herald 
stated  in  1853  that  in  "  both  sailing  and  steam  vessels  we  have  sur 
passed  the  whole  world."  James  Buchanan  declared  in  1854  that 


AMERICAN   AUTHORS  619 

"our  mercantile  marine  is  the  largest  in  the  world."1  It  is  greatly 
to  be  regretted  that  all  this  was  changed  by  the  shock  of  civil  war, 
and  that,  owing  to  our  narrow  navigation  laws,  we  have  never  re 
gained  our  prestige  on  the  sea. 

EDUCATION   AND   LITERATURE 

All  the  states  had  established  free-school  systems  by  1860.     In 
the  Western  states  a  certain  portion  of  the  public  lands  was  set  apart 
for  school  purposes,  and  as  this  grew  in  value  the  edu 
cational  fund  was  greatly  swelled.     The  rural  schools     c  °°  s' 
were  usually  ungraded,  as  many  of  them  are  to  this  day,  but  the 
rudiments  of  an  education  were  within  reach  of  all  classes.     It  has 
been  noted  by  foreigners  that  110  armies  ever  before  went  forth  to 
battle  composed  of  men  so  universally  intelligent  as  those  of  the 
Civil  War.2     The  colleges  were  also  growing  and  multiplying,  but 
their  efficiency  by  no  means  approached  that  of  the  present  day. 

In  literature  America  was  coming  to  the  front  with  rapid  strides. 
The  historians  took  the  lead.    Before  1860  George  Bancroft  had  done 
most  of  his  great  work  on  Colonial  and  Revolutionary 
history;  Prescott  had  written   his  charming  histories, 
"  The  Conquest  of  Mexico,"  "  The  Conquest  of  Peru,"  "  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,"  and  "  The  Reign  of  Philip  II";  while  Parkman  had 
produced  most  of  his  no  less  charming  works.     Richard  Hildreth 
completed  his  history  in  six  volumes  in  1852,  and  Motley  his  "  Rise 
of  the  Dutch  Republic  "  four  years  later.     Nearly  all  these  historical 
works  will  live  in  our  literature. 

In  the  field  of   poetry,   Longfellow,  Whittier,    Bryant,  Lowell, 
Poe,  and  Holmes,  had  reached  the  zenith  of  their  powers  before 
the   Civil  War.     In   fiction    this    period    furnishes    us 
with  but  one  great  name,  that  of  Nathaniel  Hawthorne, 
who  as  a  writer  of   romance  stands   alone  in   American   literature 
and  has  no  superior  in  any  age  or  language.     The  novels  of  James 
Fenimore  Cooper  and  of  William  Gilmore  Simms  were 
very  popular  in  their  day  and  are  still  read  by  many, 
and  the  same  is  true  of  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  whose  greatest  work 
has    been    mentioned.      As    miscellaneous    writers    Ralph   Waldo 
Emerson   and   Washington    Irving    stand    above   all   others,   with 
Thoreau  closely  following. 

1  See  Rhodes,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  8.  2  See  Goldwin  Smith's  "  United  States." 


620  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

There  were  many  other  writers  of  those  days  who  attracted 
wide  attention,  but  they  served  their  day  and  generation  only,  and 
most  of  them  are  now  forgotten.  Were  we  called  on  to  name  the 
American  authors  of  this  period  whose  works,  in  our  opinion,  have  a 
permanent  place  in  the  world's  literature,  we  would  name  (not  con 
sidering  the  historians)  but  two  —  Emerson  and  Hawthorne.  Next 
to  their  writings  we  might,  name  the  works  of  Irving,  the  poetry  of 
Poe,  and  the  single  poem  of  Bryant,  "  Thanatopsis."  Aside  from  these 
are  separate  works  which  will  probably  survive,  not  for  their  literary 
value,  but  owing  to  their  historic  interest  —  such  as  "  Evangeline," 
"  The  Biglow  Papers,'7  some  of  Whittier's  poems,  and  "  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin." 

The  religious  growth  of  the  country  had  been  quite  equal  to  its 
material  growth.  Before  1860  the  leading  Protestant  bodies  — 
Baptists,  Congregationalists,  Episcopalians,  Lutherans, 
Methodists,  and  Presbyterians  —  had  become  powerful 
organizations ;  each  was  vigorously  engaged  planting  missions  and 
building  churches  in  the  new  settlements,  in  founding  schools  and 
colleges  in  the  older  states  ;  and  each  had  begun  to  send  missionaries 
into  foreign  fields.  The  Roman  Catholics  had  also  made  commend 
able  progress.  Many  of  the  foreign  immigrants  were  of  this  faith, 
and  the  Church  put  forth  great  efforts  to  supply  for  them  schools  and 
churches  in  the  various  parts  of  the  country  where  they  settled. 

One  of  the  strangest  of  American  religious  phenomena  is  the  rise 
of  the  Mormons.  As  early  as  1820  Joseph  Smith  of  New  York,  a 
native  of  Vermont,  began  to  have  visions  and  to  dream 
ns'  dreams.  In  1827  he  claimed  to  have  found  some 
golden  tablets,  revealed  to  him  by  an  angel,  the  inscriptions  of  which 
he  published  in  1830  as  a  new  revelation  from  heaven.  He  called  it 
"  The  Book  of  Mormon,"  or  «  The  Golden  Bible."  This  book  had  been 
copied,  as  the  weight  of  evidence  clearly  indicates,  from  a  manu 
script  in  a  Pittsburg  printing  office  by  an  employee  of  the  office 
named  Rigdon,  who  was  now  in  league  with  Smith.  It  had  been 
written  by  Solomon  Spaulding  of  Conneaut,  Ohio,  and  was  a  fanciful 
history  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  America,  who  were  claimed  to 
be  descendants  of  the  ten  lost' tribes  of  Israel.1  On  the  publication 
of  "  The  Book  of  Mormon,"  Smith  had  his  "  Three  Witnesses,"  who 
solemnly  declared  that  an  angel  had  revealed  to  them  also  that  the 
new  religion  now  preached  by  Smith  was  the  true  and  only  religion ; 
i  See  Linn's  "  Story  of  the  Mormons,"  Chap.  VII. 


WESTWARD   MOVEMENT   OF   THE   MORMONS  621 

but  these  men  afterward  quarreled  with  Smith  and  declared  that 
their  testimony  was  false  and  the  whole  scheme  a  fraud.  But  Smith 
continued  to  preach  his  new  religion,  and  soon  had  a  few  converts. 
He  claimed  to  receive  new  revelations  from  time  to  time.  In  one 
of  these  he  was  directed  to  move  with  his  followers  to  Kirtland, 
Ohio,  which  he  did.  Here  they  remained  for  some  years,  when  they 
removed  to  Independence,  Missouri ;  but  so  undesirable  were  they 
that  the  other  residents  drove  them  from  the  state,  and  they  settled 
in  Illinois  and  built  the  city  of  Nauvoo.  The  converts  now  num 
bered  several  thousand,  and  Smith  was  autocrat.  In  1843  Smith 
claimed  that  he  had  received  a  new  revelation  making  it  lawful  for  a 
man  to  have  more  than  one  wife.  This  was  the  origin  of  polygamy 
among  the  Mormons,  or  "Latter-day  Saints." 

The  people  of  Illinois  soon  grew  tired  of  the  Mormons.  Smith 
came  into  conflict  with  the  authorities  and  was  lodged  in  jail,  where, 
in  1844,  he  was  set  upon  by  a  mob  and  shot  to  death.  Brigham 
Young,  one  of  the  "  twelve  apostles,"  now  became  the  leader,  and  in 
1847  the  whole  body  of  Mormons  moved  across  the  western  plains  to 
Great  Salt  Lake  and  built  Salt  Lake  City.  They  called  the  place 
Deseret,  but  the  United  States  government  organized  it  into  a  ter 
ritory  under  the  name  of  Utah.  In  1857  the  Mormons  rebelled 
against  the  United  States  authority.  Troops  were  sent  to  Utah,  and 
they  soon  put  down  all  opposition,  after  which  a  "  Gentile "  gov 
ernor  was  appointed  to  succeed  Brigham  Young,  who  had  been  gov 
ernor.  The  Mormons  have  made  many  converts  among  certain 
classes,  and  their  Church  has  shown  an  unexpected  growth  in  the 
Rocky  Mountain  region.  The  whole  number  of  Mormons  in  the 
world  at  this  time  is  estimated  at  about  three  hundred  thousand, 
probably  ninety-five  per  cent  of  whom  are  in  the  United  States. 

POPULATION  AND  IMMIGRATION 

In  1860  there  were  thirty-three  states  in  the  Union,  and  the  pop 
ulation  was  31,443,321,  an  increase  during  the  preceding  ten  years 
of  nearly  nine  millions.  Eighteen  were  free  and  fifteen  were  slave 
states.  The  population  of  the  free  states  was  a  little  over  nineteen 
millions  and  of  the  slave  states  above  twelve  millions.  About  one 
fourth  of  the  southern  population  (3,954,000)  was  African  slaves; 
and  this  left  the  white  population  of  the  South  at  something  over 
eight  millions  —  less  than  one  half  that  of  the  North. 


622  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

During  the  decade  a  steady  stream  of  emigrants  from  the  eastern 
states  had  poured  into  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  gain  in  the 
state  of  Illinois  alone  reached  almost  nine  hundred 
thousand  in  the  ten  years.  In  all  the  states  along  the 
upper  course  of  the  great  river  there  was  a  rapid  in 
crease  of  population ;  the  prairies  were  cut  up  into  farms,  and  the 
forests  were  hewn  down  to  make  way  for  civilization.  The  Pacific 
Coast  was  filling  rapidly,  more  than  three  hundred  thousand  people 
having  settled  in  California  within  the  ten  years  between  1850  and 
I860,  while  some  fifty  thousand  found  a  home  in  Oregon  and  Wash 
ington.  Between  the  Pacific  Coast  and  the  Mississippi  Valley  lay  a 
vast  mountain  region  nearly  a  thousand  miles  wide  and  extending 
from  the  sunny  lands  of  Mexico  to  the  snows  of  British  Columbia. 
This  region  was  unpeopled  except  by  Indian  tribes,  the  Mormons  of 
Utah,  and  here  and  there  a  mining  camp  or  a  trading  post,  and  it; 
was  generally  believed  to  be  uninhabitable  by  civilized  man.  But 
in  the  years  following  the  war  the  population  began  to  press  up  the 
mountains  from  either  side,  and  it  has  been  discovered  that  this  great 
mountain  region  is  not  only  exceedingly  rich  in  precious  metals,  but 
that  it  has  also,  through  irrigation,  great  agricultural  resources. 

In  the  East  the  changes  were  less  marked.  In  some  of  the  great 
states  of  the  East,  such  as  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  the  multi 
plying  industries,  notably  mining  and  manufacturing, 
anc^  *ke  growing  cities,  held  the  population  and  at 
tracted  many  foreign  immigrants ;  but  in  most  of  the 
older  states  the  increase  was  slow,  owing  chiefly  to  the  movement  of 
the  people  westward.  In  the  Southern  states  the  growth  of  popula 
tion  was  far  less  marked  than  in  the  North  and  West.  In  no  slave 
state,  except  Missouri  and  Texas,  was  the  increase  much  over  one 
fourth  as  great  as  that  of  New  York,  or  one  third  that  of  Pennsyl 
vania.  This  wide  difference  was  due  wholly  to  the  institution  of 
slavery,  which  repelled  the  free  home  seeker  who  must  earn  his  liv 
ing  by  his  own  toil. 

Foreign  immigration  continued  in  an  ever  increasing  stream, 
which  was  still  more  increased  by  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Califor 
nia  and  by  the  revolutionary  movements  in  Europe  during  and  after 
the  year  1848.  The  immigrants,  in  the  order  of  numbers,  were  Irish, 
Germans,  English,  French,  and  Canadians.  The  Irish  settled  mostly 
in  the  eastern  cities  and  became  a  strong  factor  in  the  industrial 
life  of  these  centers.  The  Germans  and  English  became  for  the 


IMMIGRATION  62?, 


most  part  farmers  in  northern  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
states  lying  farther  west,  and  their  descendants  still  constitute  one 
of  the  stanchest  elements  of  our  agricultural  strength.  Many  of  the 
Canadians  also  became  farmers,  but  a  larger  number  were  engaged 
in  the  great  northern  pine  forests  as  lumbermen.1 

It  is  notable  that  the  foreign  immigrants  settled  in  the  North 
and  West,  and  almost  none  of  them  went  to  the  South.  The  natural 
advantages  of  the  South  are  quite  equal  to  those  of  the  North,  but 
home  seekers  found  little  to  attract  them  where  slave  labor  was 
supreme  and  where  their  social  standing  would  not  be  above  that  of 
the  poor  whites.  And  further,  the  slaveholders  did  not  encourage 
free  men  to  settle  among  them,  for  they  well  knew  that  every  incre 
ment  to  the  free  labor  in  their  section  would  tend  to  weaken  the 
institution  of  slavery. 

1  See  Thorpe's  "  History  of  the  American  people,"  p.  426. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

DRIFTING  TOWARD   HOSTILITIES 

CAUSES   AND   PRELIMINARIES 

MANY  causes  have  been  given  by  various  writers  as  bringing 
about  the  Civil  War;  but  after  all  there  was  only  one  cause  — 
slavery.  Let  us  go  back  for  a  hurried  glance  at  the  great  events 
of  forty  years  that  pointed  toward  war.  It  is  true  that  there  were 
muttered  rumblings,  arising  from  the  slave  question,  since  the  found 
ing  of  the  government,  but  there  was  no  general  aligning  of  the 
North  and  the  South  on  opposite  sides  until  the  great  agitation  of 
1820  that  resulted  in  the  Missouri  Compromise.  This  compromise, 
though  it  doubtless  aided  in  keeping  slavery  out  of  the  Northwest, 
was  an  immediate  victory  for  the  South. 

Then  came  the  Texas  question.  The  South  longed  for  Texas. 
The  North  objected,  but  only  feebly,  and  Texas  came  in  as  a  slave 
state.  Hard  on  this  came  the  Mexican  War.  Its 
object  we  have  noticed  in  a  former  chapter  —  more 
slave  territory.  Another  victory  for  the  slaveholder? 
Not  exactly;  for  it  happened  that  the  people  and  not  the  politicians 
had  it  to  decide  whether  California  should  be  a  slave  or  a  free  state, 
and  they  decided  for  freedom.  Next  followed  the  Compromise  of 
1850,  and  this  was  a  victory  for  the  South ;  for  the  one  feature 
objectionable  to  the  slaveholder  —  the  admission  of  free  California — 
had  already  been  decided  by  the  people  and  was  therefore  not  a  part 
of  the  compromise,  and  the  other  feature  to  attract  the  chief  attention 
—  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  —  was  forced  by  the  slaveholder  upon  the 
North. 

Four  years  then  passed,  when  the  slaveholder  scored  his  greatest 
victory  thus  far  in  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  repealing  the  Missouri 
Compromise.  By  this  he  received  back  what  he  had  paid  for  Mis 
souri.  This  might  have  troubled  his  conscience  a  little  —  for  he  still 
kept  Missouri  —  until  the  highest  tribunal  in  the  land  decided,  through 

624 


CAUSE   OF   THE   WAR  625 

the  Dred  Scott  case,  that  the  slaveholder  had  been  too  good  to  his 
opponents  in  granting  the  Missouri  Compromise  line,  that  he  had 
exceeded  his  powers,  like  a  son  bartering  away  an  entailed  estate, 
which  he  had  no  power  to  sell  —  in  other  words,  that  the  bargain 
had  been  null  and  void  all  along.  This  was  hardly  fair  to  the 
North,  for  the  slaveholder  had  eaten  his  cake,  —  he  had  settled 
Missouri  with  slaves,  —  and  yet  he  took  back  the  price  he  had  paid 
for  the  privilege. 

This  ended  the  victories  of  the  slaveholder.  He  made  one  more 
terrific  struggle — for  Kansas  —  but  he  lost.  Why?  Because,  as 
in  California,  the  people  had  the  matter  to  settle.  It  is  a  very  nota 
ble  fact  that  in  all  these  minor  struggles  antedating  the  war  the 
South  won  in  each  case,  except  in  those  of  California  and  Kansas ; 
and  in  these  two  only  had  the  people  an  opportunity  to  decide.  All 
the  others  were  decided  by  the  ruling  class,  so-called. 

From  these  facts  we  reach  the  twofold  conclusion :  first,  that  the 
slaveholder  dominated  the  government  for  many  years  before  the 
war  -  second,  that  the  people  in  general  were  not  in  sympathy  with 
him.  If  then  the  people,  the  source  of  all  power,  did  not  approve  the 
slaveholder's  rule,  why  did  they  not  take  matters  into  their  own  hands, 
as  they  had  the  right  and  the  power  to  do?1  It  may  be  answered 
that  they  did  this  eventually.  First  they  defeated  the  Democratic 
party  for  waging  the  Mexican  War ;  then  they  slew  the  Whig  party 
for  the  compromise  measures.  But  such  mild  treatment  was 
ineffective  in  dealing  with  such  a  powerful,  audacious,  determined 
oligarchy  as  the  slave  power  of  the  South.  Seeing  that  heroic  meas 
ures  were  necessary,  the  people  therefore  founded  a  new  political 
party,  based  it  on  the  non-extension  of  slavery,  and  elected  their 
President.2  This  was  a  notice  that  the  extension  of  slavery  must 
cease ;  and  this  the  slaveholder  could  not  endure  —  hence  came  the 
war. 

The  cause  of  the  war  was  slavery,  and  slavery  alone.  Some  say 
that  the  war  arose  from  the  different  interpretations  of  the  Consti 
tution  on  the  question  of  state  sovereignty,  miscalled  state  rights. 
But  what  caused  this  difference  of  interpretation  ?  Slavery.  State 

1  One  cause  of  the  people's  tardiness  was  their  indifference.     It  required  many 
years  for  the  North  to  learn  that  the  Union  could  not  continue  half  slave  and  half  free. 

2  It  is  true  that  fewer  than  half  the  people  voted  for  Lincoln  ;  many  were  too  timid 
to  vote  their  convictions,  others  could  not  break  away  from  the  historic  party  of 
their  fathers;  hut  it  is  certain  that  by  1860  a  large  majority  of  the  people  of  the 
country  opposed  the  further  extension  of  slavery. 

2s 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 


sovereignty  was  but  a  weapon,  the  most  convenient  and  effective, 
with  which  the  slaveholder  battled  for  his  favorite  institution.  Why 
should  he  wish  to  destroy  the  Union  which  his  fathers  had  helped 
to  form?  Why  should  he  be  less  loyal  than  the  New  England 
manufacturer,  the  Pennsylvania  miner,  or  the  Ohio  farmer  ?  It  was 
not  so  at  the  beginning  of  the  century ;  it  is  not  so  to-day,  since  the 
apple  of  discord  has  been  removed.  For  sixty  years  no  state  or 
statesman  had  threatened  the  Union  through  state  rights  per  se.  In 
every  case,  when  so  used,  it  was  some  grievance  that  led  to  the  use 
of  state  rights  as  the  handiest  effective  weapon.1  When  Jefferson 
abandoned  his  extreme  state  rights  views  for  a  stronger  union,  the 
status  of  that  doctrine  would  have  been  settled  except  on  account  of 
other  grievances  for  which  it  was  made  a  mask.  But  for  slavery 
state  rights  would  have  adjusted  itself ;  and  this  it  was  doing,  for  it 
was  less  prominent  in  1840  than  at  the  beginning  of  the  century. 
State  rights  in  the  abstract  had  nothing  to  do  with  bringing  on  the 
war. 

Others  say  that  secession  caused  the  war.  Very  true ;  but  what 
caused  secession  ?  Slavery.  Still  others  will  say  that  the  election 
of  Lincoln  brought  about  secession  and  war.  But  why  was  Lincoln 
objectionable  to  the  South,  except  on  account  of  his  views  and  the 
attitude  of  his  party  on  slavery  ?  The  Kansas-Nebraska  Law,  the 
Dred  Scott  decision,  the  border  strife  in  Kansas,  —  each  played  its 
part  in  hastening  the  war,  but  they  were  all  slavery  questions.  In 
short,  all  the  various  causes  that  converged  to  bring  about  the  dread 
ful  conflict  may  be  summed  up  into  one  sweeping  cause  of  causes  — 
slavery. 

In  a  remoter  sense,  however,  climatic  and  economic  conditions, 
which  rendered  slave  labor  remunerative  at  the  South  and  not  at  the 
North,  may  be  said  to  have  caused  the  war ;  but  these  conditions 
would  have  brought  no  war  without  slavery.  The  Northern  states 
emancipated  soon  after  the  Revolution,  not  that  the  people  were 
more  righteous  than  those  of  the  South,  for  they  were  not,  but 

1  New  England  had  a  quarrel  with  the  government  during  the  "War  of  1812,  and 
appealed  to  state  sovereignty ;  Pennsylvania  had  a  similar  experience  in  1808,  Ohio 
in  1820,  South  Carolina  in  1832.  As  Alexander  Johnson  truly  says:  "Almost  every 
state  in  the  Union  in  turn  declared  its  own  sovereignty,  and  denounced  as  almost 
treasonable,  similar  declarations  in  other  cases  by  other  states."  But  the  doctrine  was 
given  up  in  other  sections  while  it  was  retained  in  the  South  because  of  the  peculiar 
institution.  Thus  at  the  South  the  generation  preceding  the  war  was  thoroughly 
indoctrinated  with  state  rights,  and  it  was  this  that  led  such  men  as  Robert  E.  Lee  to 
side  with  the  South.  But  this  condition  was  brought  about  wholly  by  slavery. 


THE   SLAVEHOLDER  627 


because  slavery  had  not  taken  such  a  hold  on  the  North.  Slavery 
in  the  one  section  and  not  in  the  other  brought  about  a  growing  dii> 
ference  in  social,  economic,  and  political  conditions,  and  the  two  sec 
tions  drifted  apart  for  many  years.  The  statement  that  the  causes 
of  the  war  were  "  numerous  and  varied " J  is  misleading  if  unex 
plained,  for  every  cause  had  its  root  in  slavery.  It  is  morally  cer 
tain  that  there  would  have  been  no  war  but  for  slavery  —  unless  it 
must  be  admitted  that  no  people  are  capable  of  adjusting  in  right 
proportion  the  relations  of  the  great  opposing  tendencies,  Nationality 
and  Democracy,  without  bloodshed. 

The  slaveholder  was  remarkably  shrewd,  but  he  made  blunders. 
One  was  his  forcing  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  upon  the  northern  con 
science.  This  led  the  northerner  to  see  slavery  in  its  ugliest  form. 
The  pleasant  relations  between  the  master  and  slave  he  did  not  see ; 
he  saw  only  the  fleeing  black  man  and  heard  his  tale  of  woe ;  again, 
he  saw  the  fugitive  seized  and  dragged  back  to  the  land  of  bondage. 
Such  scenes  awakened  in  the  people  of  the  North  a  moral  resent 
ment  against  slavery  as  nothing  else  could  have  done. 

The  most  serious  blunder  of  the  slaveholder  was  his  forcing  the 
war  by  an  attempt  to  break  up  the  Union.  This  was  a  daring  leap, 
and  it  proved  to  be  a  fatal  blunder.  He  had  been  pro-  The  siave- 
tected  by  the  Constitution  and  by  his  influence  over  the  holder's 
northern  politicians  ;  now  he  shattered  the  Constitution  blunder, 
and  alienated  his. northern  friends;  he  appealed  his  case  from  the 
lower  court,  the  Constitution  and  the  government,  to  the  higher 
tribunal,  the  people.  Had  he  not  learned  by  the  fate  of  California 
and  Kansas,  by  the  rough  handling  of  the  Whig  party  and  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  Democrats,  that  the  people  were  not  with  him  ? 
The  slaveholder  knew  that  the  North  was  immeasurably  stronger 
than  the  South ;  he  certainly  knew  that  in  an  exhausting  war,  a 
fight  to  the  finish,  between  the  Union  and  the  slave  power,  both 
could  not  survive.  Did  he  underestimate  the  Union  sentiment,  the 
love  for  the  old  flag  at  the  North  ?  Did  he  expect  to  be  permitted 
to  depart  in  peace  ?  Or  did  he  rely  on  foreign  recognition  and  aid  ? 
The  slaveholder  was  admirably  brave  and  daring,  but  in  some  ways 
he  miscalculated,  and  he  made  a  fatal  blunder  in  permitting  his 
cause  to  be  appealed  to  the  sword.2 

1  Macy's  "  Political  Parties,"  p.  117. 

2  The  line  of  discussion  in  this  section  is  similar  to  that  of  Chapter  IV  of  my 
"  Side  Lights,"  Series  II. 


628  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


SECESSION 

The  news  that  Abraham  Lincoln  had  been  elected  to  the  presi 
dency,  though  not  unexpected,  fell  like  a  pall  upon  many  parts  of 
the  South.  Many  of  the  radicals,  it  is  true,  professed  to  rejoice  at 
the  result ;  for  now,  they  claimed,  they  had  sufficient  cause  for  seces 
sion  ;  but  with  the  great  majority  the  feeling  was  one  of  awe  and  of 
evil  forebodings.  The  threat  to  secede  from  the  Union  was  as  old  as 
the  century ;  it  had  been  indulged  in  by  many  states  North  and 
South,  and  it  usually  awakened  little  fear.  But  in  this  case  the 
South  was  in  deep,  deadly  earnest.  The  ground  on  which  the  South 
based  its  right  to  secede  was  that  the  Union  was  a  confederation  of 
sovereign  states,  each  of  which  had  the  legal  power  to  withdraw  from 
the  compact  at  pleasure.  The  pretext  for  secession  at 
secession  *^at  time  was,  as  shown  by  the  "  declaration  of  causes  " 
issued  by  South  Carolina,  that  thirteen  of  the  Northern 
states  had  passed  "  personal-liberty  laws  "  in  violation  of  the  Consti 
tution,  that  the  antislavery  agitation  of  the  North  had  rendered 
property  in  slaves  insecure,  and  that  a  man  whose  "  opinions  and 
purposes  were  "hostile  to  slavery  "  had  been  elected  President  of  the 
United  States.  It  was  also  claimed  that  the  South  had  been  taxed 
by  high  tariff  duties  for  the  benefit  of  northern  interests. 

South  Carolina  took  the  first  step  toward  dismembering  the  Union. 
Even  before  the  election  Governor  Gist  of  that  state  sent  a  circular 
letter  to  the  governors  of  the  other  cotton  states  inquiring  if  they  were 
ready  to  take  the  decisive  step  in  case  of  Lincoln's  success.  From 
most  of  them  the  answer  was  rather  discouraging.  North  Carolina 
and  Louisiana  were  unwilling;  Alabama  and  Georgia  hesitated; 
Florida  alone  gave  a  hearty  affirmative  response.  But  the  impetuous 
South  Carolina  would  wait  for  none  of  them.  Her  legislature  met 
on  November  5  to  choose  presidential  electors,  for  in  this  state  alone 
the  electors  were  still  chosen  by  the  legislature,  and  not  by  the  peo 
ple.  This  was  the  opportunity.  The  legislature  remained  in  ses 
sion  till  the  news  of  Lincoln's  election  had  caused  a  whirlwind  of 
disunion  enthusiasm  to  sweep  over  the  state.  Now  was  the  time  to 
strike,  for  a  few  weeks  of  reflection  might  cool  the  ardor  of  the 
people.  The  legislature  lost  no  time  in  calling  for  the  election  of 
a  secession  convention.  This  election  was  held  on  December  6,  and 
the  convention  met  on  the  17th. 

The   short   campaign  was  marked   by  the   wildest   enthusiasm. 


OTHER   STATES  JOIN   SOUTH   CAROLINA  629 

Without  party  division  the  best  men  of  the  state  were  chosen ;  five 
had  been  governors  of  the  state,  and  many  had  served  in  Congress. 
By  the  time  this  convention  met  the  people  had  been  wrought  up  to 
fever  heat.  "  The  excitement  of  the  people  is  great  under  the  sense 
of  deep  wrongs,"  wrote  the  newly  elected  governor.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  of  their  sincerity.  They  honestly  believed  that  the  con 
tinued  agitation  of  the  North  against  slavery  threatened  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  their  homes,  and  would,  if  continued,  render  life 
unendurable  at  the  South.  For  many  years  they  had  been  taught  to 
love  their  state  above  the  Union,  and  now  it  was  easy  for  them 
to  decide  on  the  one  remedy  for  their  wrongs,  as  they  believed, — 
secession. 

The  demeanor  of  the  delegates  was  grave.  They  seemed  to  feel 
a  deep  sense  of  their  responsibility.  Their  ""  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence  "  was  solemnly  read  to  the  assembly.  The  ordinance  of  secession 
repealed  the  act  of  1788,  by  which  the  state  had  adopted  the  Consti 
tution,  and  pronounced  the  union  between  South  Carolina  and  the 
United  States  of  America  dissolved.  The  vote  was  unani-  secessjon  Of 
mous,  and  the  state  thus  "  resumed  her  sovereign  powers."  south  Caro- 
Excited  throngs  had  gathered  outside  the  convention  lina.  Decem- 
hall;  the  streets  of  Charleston  were  filled  with  an  ex-  ^er  20, 1860. 
pectant  multitude.  When  the  word  was  passed  to  the  waiting 
crowds  that  the  ordinance  of  secession  had  been  passed,  they  broke 
forth  into  uncontrollable  cheers,  the  cannon  boomed,  the  bells  rang, 
and  palmetto  flags  were  waved  in  exultant  joy  throughout  the  city. 
The  South  Carolinians  compared  themselves  with  the  heroes  of 
1776 ;  they  seemed  never  to  doubt  that  a  new  nation  was  then  and 
there  born,  and  they  rejoiced  at  being  witnesses  of  the  mighty  event. 
The  state  then  issued  an  address  to  the  other  slave  states  urging 
them  to  leave  the  Union,  and  to  join  with  her  in  forming  a  southern 
confederacy. 

Within  one  month  after  the  secession  of  South  Carolina  four  other 
states  had  followed  her  example,  —  Mississippi  on  January  9,  Florida 
on  the  10th,  Alabama  on  the  llth,  and  Georgia  on  the 
19th.     In  each   of   these   secession  was   accomplished  secg^es  a 
through  a  convention  elected  for  the  purpose,  but  in 
none  was  the  seceding  ordinance  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people. 
Had  this  been  done,  the  ordinance  would  doubtless  have  passed  in 
each  state,  but  in  each,  except  perhaps  Mississippi  and  Florida,  a 
strong  minority  vote  would  have  been  recorded  against  disunion, 


630  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

and  this  would  have  disclosed  a  weakness  of  the  movement  which 
the  leaders  were  unwilling  to  reveal.1  In  Georgia,  the  Empire  State 
of  the  South,  the  feeling  against  secession  was  strong.  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  who  led  the  faction  opposed  to  disunion,  declared 
that  the  state  would  have  refused  to  take  the  step  but  for  the  cry, 
"  We  can  make  better  terms  out  of  the  Union  than  in  it."  This 
was  doubtless  true,  and  it  proves  that  Georgia  meant  to  leave  the 
Union  only  temporarily  for  the  purpose  of  making  terms  with  the 
North.  Even  then  the  convention  recorded  89  votes  against 
the  ordinance  in  a  vote  of  297.  Louisiana  was  the  next  to  follow, 
on  January  26,  and  Texas  seceded  on  the  1st  of  February.  The 
faithful  old  governor  of  Texas,  Sam  Houston,  did  all  in  his  power  to 
prevent  secession,  but  the  legislature  usurped  the  power  and  called  a 
convention.  This  state  was  the  first  of  the  seceding  states  to  sub 
mit  the  ordinance  of  secession  to  a  vote  of  the  people.  It  was  carried 
at  a  popular  election,  but  there  was  a  considerable  vote  recorded 
against  it. 

These  seven  seceding  states  comprised  the  great  cotton  belt 
of  the  South.  On  February  4  they  joined  their  fortunes  and  formed 
the  Southern  Confederacy.2  A  joint  convention  met  for  this  pur 
pose  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  adopted  a  temporary  constitution,  and 
chose  a  provisional  President  and  Vice  President. 

This  provisional  Constitution  was  supplanted  by  a  permanent 
one,  adopted  by  Congress  on  March  11,  1861.  Having  been  ratified 
by  the  states  it  went  into  effect  in  February,  1862.  A  brief  com- 
The  Confed-  parison  between  this  and  the  Federal  Constitution  is 
erate  Con-  interesting.  The  Confederate  Constitution  was  modeled 
stitution.  closely  after  that  of  the  United  States,  the  term  «  Con 
federate  States"  being  used  instead  of  United  States,  and  "  Con 
federacy  "  for  Union.  In  the  preamble  we  find,  "  We,  the  people  of 
the  sovereign  states,"  instead  of  "  We  the  people  of  the  United 
States."  In  some  points  in  which  this  Constitution  differs  from 
our  own,  the  changes  may  be  pronounced  improvements,  such  as : 
The  President  was  to  be  elected  for  six  years  and  was  not  to  be 
eligible  for  reelection ;  he  was  empowered  to  veto  items  in  an  appro 
priation  bill  while  approving  the  remainder  of  the  bill;  members  of  the 

1  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Federal  Constitution  had  been  adopted  by  the 
various  states  through  conventions,  and  not  by  direct  vote  of  the  people.    The  South, 
therefore,  is  not  open  to  criticism  for  following  the  precedent. 

2  The  Texas  delegates  had  not  yet  arrived.    They  came  soon  afterward. 


THE    CONFEDERATE    CONSTITUTION  631 

Cabinet  were  to  be  entitled  to  a  seat  in  either  house  of  Congress  for 
the  discussion  of  matters  pertaining  to  their  respective  departments. 
Other  changes  were :  A  protective  tariff  was  made  illegal ;  internal 
improvements  were  confined  to  aids  to  navigation,  which  were  to  be 
repaid  by  duties  on  the  navigation  so  aided;  the  postal  system  was 
to  be  self-sustaining  after  March  1,  1863.  True  to  the  theory  of 
state  sovereignty,  a  state  legislature  by  a  two-thirds  vote  could 
impeach  a  national  official  acting  within  the  state.  A  slaveholder 
was  permitted  to  travel  in  any  state  with  his  slaves. 

Provision  was  made  for  the  admission  of  new  states  ;  but  it  is 
notable  that  no  provision  was  made  for  secession  from  the  Confed 
eracy.  The  most  striking  feature  of  this  Constitution  was  that  it 
forbade  the  reopening  of  the  foreign  slave  trade.  The  meaning  of 
this  clause  has  been  construed  in  two  ways :  as  a  respectful  recog 
nition  of  the  enlightened  public  opinion  of  the  world,  or  as  a  bid 
for  the  border  slave  states  to  join  the  Confederacy ;  for  if  the  foreign 
trade  were  not  reopened,  the  border  states  might  retain  the  market 
for  their  slaves,  by  joining  the  Confederacy. 

For  chief  magistrate  the  whole  South  turned  to  Jefferson  Davis 
of  Mississippi.  We  have  met  Mr.  Davis  in  the  Mexican  War,  in 
the  United  States  Senate,  and  in  the  Cabinet  of  Pierce.  He  was  a 
native  of  Kentucky,  had  migrated  to  Mississippi,  had  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  slaveholder,  and  had  risen  in  public  and  private  life  until 
he  was  the  recognized  leader  of  the  far-famed  aristocracy  of  the  South. 
He  was  a  graduate  of  West  Point  and  was  thoroughly  trained  in 
military,  as  well  as  in  political,  life.  A  nominal  Democrat,  he  was 
in  reality  just  the  opposite ;  he  was  an  aristocrat  of  the  old  school, 
typically  represented  in  the  preceding  generation  by  John  Ean- 
dolph.  Davis  was  a  sincere,  honest  man,  dignified,  conservative, 
and  intensely  devoted  to  duty  as  he  saw  it.1  He  was  the  chief, 
though  not  the  most  radical,  representative  of  the  ultra-slaveholders, 
and,  after  the  death  of  Calhoun,  the  ablest  leader  in  the  South. 

For  Vice  President,  Alexander  H.  Stephens  of  Georgia  was 
chosen.  Though  he  was  a  man  of  strong  intellect,  the  choice  fell 
upon  him  rather  because  of  the  elements  he  represented.  He  had 
been  a  Whig,  and  had  joined  the  disunionists  only  out  of  loyalty 
to  his  state.  It  was  believed  that  his  selection  for  the  second 
office  would  attach  to  the  southern  cause  the  former  Whigs  and 
those  who  had  reluctantly  joined  in  the  disunion  movement.  Mr. 

1  Burgess,  Vol.  I,  p.  17. 


632  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

Davis  chose  a  Cabinet  of  six  members,  one  from  each  of  the  seceding 
states  except  his  own.1  There  were  but  two  really  strong  men  in 
this  Cabinet,  —  Eobert  Toombs  of  Georgia,  secretary  of  state,  arid 
Judah  P.  Benjamin  of  Louisiana,  attorney-general. 

Thus  within  three  months  after  the  election  of  Lincoln,  and  one 
month  before  his  inauguration,  seven  of  the  Southern  states  had 
withdrawn  from  the  Union,  and  had  set  up  a  government 
°^  their  ownj  —  on  account  of  anticipated  evils,  —  and 
this  in  the  face  of  the  repeated  statements  of  the 
Republicans  that  they  had  no  intention  of  interfering  with  slavery 
where  it  already  existed,  and  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  they  could 
not  do  so  if  they  would,  because  both  houses  of  Congress  were  still 
Democratic.  As  to  the  constitutional  right  to  secede,  the  question 
is  theoretical,  .and  no  amount  of  discussion  would  settle  it  in  the 
minds  of  all.  One  point,  however,  may  be  mentioned.  It  is  certain 
that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  never  meant  that  violent  secession 
from  the  Union  they  formed  should  be  possible.  The  Articles  of  Con 
federation  provided  that  the  Union  formed  by  them  should  be  "per 
petual  "  ;  and  while  the  Constitution,  which  supplanted  them,  does  not 
mention  this,  it  does  provide  for  "  a  more  perfect  union  "  than  the  one 
that  it  replaced.  How  could  a  "more  perfect  union"  be  less  en 
during  than  the  "perpetual"  Union  it  was  intended  to  supplant? 
And  besides,  as  President  Lincoln  argued,  it  is  beyond  the  bounds 
of  reason  that  any  government  would  provide  for  its  own  destruction. 
But  there  is  another  light  in  which  the  unbiased  historian  must 
view  this  matter.  Assuming  that  slavery  is  right,  that  the  North 
was  wrong  in  condemning  it,  the  South  was  right  in  its  desire  to 
separate  from  the  Union.  A  separation  by  violence,  as  Mr.  Lincoln 
said,  would  have  been  an  irreparable  blow  to  popular  government, 
but  a  peaceful  separation  by  mutual  agreement,  had  such  a  thing 
been  possible,  would  have  been  immeasurably  better  than  for  the 
two  sections  to  remain  together  and  keep  up  forever  the  distressing 
quarrel  that  had  distracted  the  country  for  so  many  years.  With 
all  our  intense  pride  of  nationality,  it  is  a  mistake  to  believe 
that  the  inclusion  of  the  vast  domain  of  the  United  States  under 
one  government  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  advance  of  modern 
civilization.  It  were  better  far  that  the  country  be  divided  into 
two  friendly  rival  powers  than  that  it  remain  under  one  government  in 

1  More  accurately,  President  Davis  did  not  name  the  Cabinet,  but  left  the  selection 
from  each  state  to  the  delegates  in  the  convention  from  that  state. 


BUCHANAN  AND   SECESSION  633 

perpetual  warfare  with  itself.  But,  as  is  now  acknowledged  by  all, 
slavery  was  a  blighting  evil  to  the  country,  a  blot  on  the  civilization 
of  the  nineteenth  century ;  and,  viewed  in  this  light,  the  secession 
of  the  South  may  be  considered  a  blessing,  for  it  brought  about  the 
ultimate  destruction  of  slavery. 

THE   WINTER   IN   WASHINGTON 

President  Buchanan  was  greatly  perplexed  at  the  rash  and  pre 
cipitate  action  of  the  cotton  states.  A  true  unionist  and  an  honest 
man  at  heart,  his  sympathies  were  nevertheless  at  first  with  the 
South.  He  firmly  believed  that  the  South  had  reason  to  be  exasper 
ated  at  the  continued  antislavery  agitation  at  the  North.  In  his 
annual  December  message  to  Congress  he  openly  expressed  this 
sentiment,  but  advised  against  disunion,  as  the  election  of  an  anti- 
slavery  President  did  not  afford  just  cause  for  dissolving  the  Union, 
especially  as  it  was  the  result  of  "  transient  and  temporary  causes, 
which  may  probably  never  again  occur."  He  also  reminded  the 
South  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  now 
repealed,  Congress  had  never  enacted  a  law  that  was  unfavorable  to 
the  interests  of  slavery.  What  an  admission  from  such 
a  source !  The  message  also  denied  the  power  of  the 
President,  or  even  of  Congress,  to  prevent  secession. 
Mr.  Buchanan  intended,  no  doubt,  to  conciliate  the  South  by  the 
tone  of  his  message,  but  this  he  failed  to  do.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  slaveholders  were  greatly  encouraged  in  their  work  of  destroy 
ing  the  Union,  for  now  they  were  assured  that  there  would  be  no 
forcible  opposition  to  their  course  during  the  remainder  of  Buchan 
an's  term.  But  Buchanan  was  not  alone  responsible  for  this  mes 
sage.  Aside  from  the  powerful  influence  of  the  southern  members 
of  his  Cabinet  over  the  mind  of  the  President,  he  had  received  from 
his  attorney-general.  Jeremiah  S.  Black  of  Pennsylvania,  an  official 
opinion  on  the  subject  of  secession,  and  on  this  opinion  his  message 
was  largely  based. 

The  North  received  the  message  of  the  President  with  astonish 
ment.  The  press  was  severe  in  its  criticisms,  and  the  effect  was 
soon  felt  in  the  Cabinet.  General  Cass  resigned  his  position  as 
secretary  of  state  because  he  could  not  agree  with  the  President  on 
the  subject  of  secession,1  and  Mr.  Black  became  his  successor.  A 

1  Notably  on  reenforcing  the  forts  in  Charleston  harbor. 


634  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

few  days  later  South  Carolina  passed  its  ordinance  of  secession,  and 
this,  with  the  rising  sentiment  at  the  North,  wrought  a  sudden 
change  in  the  attitude  of  Black.  He  now  took  a  determined  stand 
for  the  Union,  and  it  was  he  that  influenced  the  President  not  to 
recognize  the  South  Carolina  commissioners  who  came,  a  short  time 
afterward,  to  treat  with  the  government.  But  Black  was  not  alone. 

Ed  win  M.  Stanton,  who  became  attorney-general,  and 
New  Cabinet.  T  ,  TT  ,,  , ,  r  ,  -,  «  n 

Joseph  Holt,  the  secretary  01  war,  were  stanch  aetend- 

ers  of  the  Union  cause,  and  these  three  soon  gained  the  ascendency 
over  the  vacillating  President.  In  January  General  John  A.  Dix 
of  New  York  was  called  to  the  treasury  department,  and  his  ringing 
dispatch  to  the  treasury  agent  at  New  Orleans,  "  If  any  man  attempts 
to  haul  down  the  American  flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot/7  had  a  magic 
effect  in  stimulating  the  North.  Buchanan  from  this  time  forth  was 
in  full  agreement  with  his  reorganized  Cabinet,  though  he  still  claimed 
that  the  executive  had  no  power  to  coerce  a  seceding  state.  In  a 
special  message  on  January  8  he  declared  it  the  duty  of  the  Presi 
dent  to  collect  the  public  revenues  and  to  protect  the  public  property 
in  all  the  states,  and  to  use  force  in  so  doing  if  necessary.  So  differ 
ent  was  the  tone  of  this  message  from  that  of  December  that  it  was 
difficult  to  realize  that  they  had  emanated  from  the  same  pen. 

No  President  had  ever  been  placed  in  a  more  trying  situation 
than  was  James  Buchanan.  He  has  been  severely  censured  for  his 
southern  sympathy  in  the  autumn  of  18GO.  But  it  must  be  remem 
bered  that  his  most  intimate  lifelong  associates  were  southern  states 
men,  that  he  was  deeply  grieved  at  the  recent  defeat  of  his  party, 
and  that  the  revolt  in  the  South  was  a  revolt  against  the  success  of 
his  political  enemies.  Could  he  now  suddenly  break  the  instincts 
of  a  lifetime,  come  out  openly  against  his  old  friends,  and  espouse 
the  cause  of  Republicanism  ?  And  further,  it  is  almost  certain  that 
he  believed  at  first  that  secession  would  be  a  temporary  thing,  that 
the  Southern  states  would  soon  become  quiescent,  and  that  the  fright 

given  to  the  people  of  the  North  by  the  southern  out- 
Buxihanan  break  would  be  a  good  lesson  for  them.  Again,  it  must 

be  remembered  that  Buchanan  was  not  a  leader  of  men ; 
he  had  little  executive  ability ;  he  was  cautious  almost  to  timidity ; 
he  was  not  an  originator  of  great  movements,  nor  capable  of  stand 
ing  out  for  a  principle.  For  his  attempt  to  force  the  Lecompton  con 
stitution  on  Kansas  a  few  years  before,  Buchanan  stands  unforgiven 
at  the  bar  of  history ;  but  for  his  action  in  this  great  crisis  near  the 


REACTION   IN   THE   NORTH  635 

close  of  his  public  life,  the  unprejudiced  American  must  deal  gently 
with  his  memory. 

The  agitation  in  the  North  during  this  fateful  winter  was 
almost  equal  to  that  of  the  South.  But  there  was  little  spirit  of 
defiance  ;  it  was  rather  one  of  conciliation.  Meetings  were  held  in 
New  York,  Boston,  and  Philadelphia,  which  expressed  sentiments 
of  conciliation  for  southern  ears.  At  Philadelphia  George  William 
Curtis,  who  had  been  a  strong  antislavery  advocate,  was  forced  to 
cancel  a  lecture  engagement  for  fear  of  a  riot,  and  the  Republican 
mayor  of  that  city  declared  in  a  public  speech  that  the  criticisms  of 
slavery  from,  the  pulpit,  the  lecture  room,  and  the  press  should  cease 
and  must  be  "  frowned  down  by  a  just  and  law-abiding 
people."  A  reaction  against  Republicanism  was  visible  faction 
on  all  sides,  and  thousands  regretted  having  voted  for 
Lincoln,1  not  that  their  sentiments  on  slavery  had  changed,  but 
because  they  preferred  the  old  regime  to  war  or  disunion.  This 
feeling  of  the  people  was  reflected  in  Washington,  and  the  whole 
winter  was  spent  by  Congress  in  considering  how  the  southern 
discontents  might  be  conciliated. 

A  so-called  Peace  Congress  met   in  Washington  on  the  day  of 
the  meeting  of  the  Confederate  Congress  at  Montgomery.     It  was 
called  by  Virginia,  and  all  the  Southern  states  that  had 
not  seceded,  and  most  of  the  Northern  states,  responded,   congress 
Among  the   delegates   to  the  Peace  Congress  we  find 
some  of  the  leading  men  of  the  country  —  William  P.  Fessenden  of 
Maine,  George  S.  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  Wilmot  of  Pennsylvania, 
Chase  of  Ohio,  Reverdy  Johnson  of  Maryland,  and  the  venerable  ex- 
President  Tyler  of  Virginia,  who  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  Con 
gress.     After   three   weeks'    deliberation  this  "Congress"  sent   its 
recommendations  to  Congress ;  but  they  came  to  nothing,  and  it  is 
needless  to  discuss  them. 

The  Senate  had  been  deeply  engaged  in  the  discussion  of  the 
"  Crittenden  Compromise,"  so  called  from  its  author,  John  J.  Crit- 
tenden  of  Kentucky.  This  aged  senator,  who  had  devoted  a  long  and 
useful  life  to  the  service  of  his  country,  was  perhaps  better  fitted 
than  any  other  to  adjust  the  relations  between  the  two  sections,  had 
such  a  thing  been  possible.  He  not  only  represented  a  border  state 
that  hung  in  the  balance ;  he  was  also  himself  a  political  neutral. 
Formerly  a  Whig,  he  did  not,  at  the  fall  of  his  own  party,  join  the 
1  Elaine,  Vol.  I,  p.  273. 


636  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Republicans  or  the  Democrats,  but  occupied  a  middle  ground ;  and  he 
was  now  fitted  above  all  men  to  view  both  sides  with  the  unpreju 
diced  eye  of  a  jurist.  Crittenden  introduced  his  plan  of  compromise 
to  the  Senate  on  December  18,  and  two  days  later  a  committee  of 
thirteen  was  appointed  to  consider  the  grave  questions  it  involved.1 
This  committee  was  composed  of  the  best  talent  in  the  Senate,  and 
represented  all  parties.  With  the  venerable  Crittenden  at  its  head, 
with  Seward,  Wade,  and  others  representing  the  Republicans,  Jeffer 
son  Davis  and  Robert  Toombs  the  extreme  South,  and  Douglas  the 
Democratic  medium,  the  committee  began  its  work  in  earnest.  The 
great  subject  was  slavery  in  the  territories  and  Crit- 
Comp^mise  tenden  proposed  that  the  line  of  36°  30'  be  re 
stored  and  extended  to  the  Pacific  Ocean;  that  Congress 
have  no  power  to  interfere  with  slavery  in  any  state  or  territory 
south  of  that  line ;  and  that  these  provisions  be  added  to  the  Consti 
tution  in  an  amendment  which  no  future  amendment  could  have 
power  to  affect.  They  were  supported  by  the  Democrats,  but  the 
Republicans  and  the  extreme  southern  men  voted  in  the  negative  and 
defeated  the  amendment.  It  afterward  became  known  that  the 
southern  members  would  have  voted  for  them,  but  for  the  stand 
made  by  the  Republicans,  and  the  latter  have  been  censured  for  not 
having  prevented  the  Civil  War  by  making  this  concession.  But 
their  party  had  been  founded,  and  their  victory  at  the  polls  had  been 
won,  on  the  principle  of  non-extension  of  slavery  in  any  territory. 
How  could  they  make  a  concession  that  would  destroy  the  foundation 
on  which  their  party  was  built  ?  On  the  last  day  of  December  the 
committee  reported  its  inability  to  agree. 

The  House  meantime  was  laboring  to  the  same  end  through  a 
committee  of  thirty-three.  This  committee  formulated  a  series  of 
resolutions,  embodying  in  substance  the  Crittenden  Compromise  ;  but 
they  failed  of  passage.  The  House,  however,  adopted  one  resolution 
forbidding  Congress  or  the  people  for  all  future  time  to  molest 
slavery  in  any  state  where  it  existed,  without  the  consent  of  the  state. 
In  other  words,  it  made  slavery  perpetual  in  the  United  States.  This 
moral,  social,  and  political  evil  of  the  land,  this  darkest  blot  on 
American  civilization,  was  to  be  intrenched  forever  in  the  organic 
law  of  the  country.  Such  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  would 
have  struck  a  blow  at  modern  progress  from  which  the  country 

1More  than  two  hundred  proposals  of  amendment  were  offered  at  this  session, 
but  this  one  received  the  chief  attention.  See  Ames's  "  Proposed  Amendments,  "p.  194. 


A  PERIOD   OF   SUSPENSE  637 

could  not  have  recovered  in  a  hundred  years.  And  yet  it  was  sup 
ported  by  many  leading  Republicans,  and  it  passed  the  Senate,  as 
well  as  the  House,  by  the  necessary  two-thirds  vote,  and  was  sent  to 
the  states  for  ratification.  But  even  such  humiliation  on  the  part  of 
the  North  could  not  arrest  the  coming  conflict ;  and  the  amendment, 
though  later  ratified  by  three  states,  Ohio,  Maryland,  and  Illinois, 
fell  to  the  ground,  the  whole  question  having  been  transferred 
meantime  to  the  battle  field. 

But  Republican  humiliation  went  still  farther.  Congress  organ 
ized  the  three  territories  of  Colorado,  Nevada,  and  Dakota  without  a 
word  concerning  the  prohibition  of  slavery  within  them. 

No  one  of  course  believed  that  these  territories  would  J*ePu|>licaii 

liuiniliation . 
become  slave  states,  but   in   admitting   them  without 

mention  of  slavery  the  sole  object  was  to  avoid  irritating  the  South. 
In  this  act  the  Republican  party  took  the  very  same  ground  that 
Webster  had  taken  in  his  Seventh  of  March  Speech  in  1850,  and  for 
the  very  same  reason.  These  acts  were  passed,  as  well  as  the  pro 
posed  amendment,  after  both  houses  had  become  Republican  by  the 
withdrawal  of  the  representatives  of  the  seceding  states. 

From  the  House  of  Representatives  these  members  withdrew 
gradually  as  their  respective  states  seceded,  most  of  them  quietly  and 
without  a  word  of  bravado  or  defiance.  The  senators  -withdrawals 
were  less  reticent.  Most  of  them  made  parting  speeches,  from 
the  general  tenor  of  which  was  a  censuring  of  the  North  Congress, 
for  its  antislavery  agitation  and  its  electing  of  a  Republican  Presi 
dent,  a  warning  to  the  North  that  any  attempt  at  coercion  would  be 
met  by  force  of  arms,  and  an  expression  of  general  satisfaction  in 
their  hope  of  peaceful  and  pleasant  relations  between  the  two  na 
tions.  If  one  of  them  had  a  doubt  that  the  South  would  be  able 
to  maintain  its  independence,  such  doubt  found  no  place  in  his 
speech.  Nothing  seemed  more  grotesque  than  the  effort  of  the  sena 
tors  from  Florida  and  Louisiana,  which  had  been  purchased  by  the 
United  States  government,  to  explain  that  their  respective  states  had 
now  "  resumed "  their  sovereign  capacity.  The  most  serious  of 
these  valedictories  was  that  of  Jefferson  Davis.  Assuming  a  plain 
tive  and  pathetic  strain,  he  begged  to  be  forgiven  if  he  had  pained 
any  one  in  the  heat  of  discussion ;  he  expressed  his  sincere  belief  in 
the  right  of  secession,  and  his  regret  that  his  state  could  no  longer 
enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  Union.  So  touching  and  mournful  was 
this  address  of  Davis  that  his  audience  was  moved  to  tears.  That 


638  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 


night  the  great  southern  leader  is  said  to  have  wrestled  with  God  in 
prayer  for  peace.  He  was  one  of  the  few  southern  leaders  who  did 
not  believe  that  the  North  would  stand  by  and  see  the  Union  dis 
membered  without  war. 

As  the  people  of  the  North  saw  with  chagrin  that  all  their  over 
tures  for  reconciliation  during  this  fateful  winter  were  ignored  by 
the  South,  as  they  beheld  the  property  of  the  United  States  —  forts, 
arsenals,  and  munitions  of  war  —  taken  possession  of  by  the  seceding 
states,  their  feeling  of  conciliation  began  to  change  to  one  of  resent 
ment.  Many  at  first  believed  the  secession  movement  to  be  the 
usual  wolf  cry  to  frighten  the  North.  As  the  affair  grew  more 
serious,  public  opinion  was  divided ;  some  were  for  coercion,  others 
claimed  that  disunion  was  preferable  to  war.  Among  these  latter 
was  Horace  Greeley,  who  advised  that  the  southern  sisters  be  per 
mitted  to  depart  in  peace.1  This  attitude  was  taken  by  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  and  by  many  other  men  of  influence.  Then  came  the  period 
of  conciliation ;  but  as  this  failed,  the  inclination  to  preserve  the 
Union  by  force  gained  ground  rapidly.  Greeley  and  Beecher  were 
won  to  this  view,  and  even  President  Buchanan  was  not  averse  to  it, 
but  he  professed  to  want  the  authority.  It  is  possible  that  Buchanan 
might  have  nipped  secession  in  the  bud  by  reenforcing  Charleston 
harbor,  but  he  declined  to  do  this  lest  he  should  irritate  the  South  to 
further  violence, 

Charleston  harbor  was  the  center  of  public  interest  during  the 
winter.  Fort  Moultrie  was  occupied  by  Major  Robert  Anderson  with 
Kemoval  to  a  handful  of  men ;  but,  deeming  it  unsafe,  he  dismounted 
Fort  Sumter,  his  guns,  burned  the  carriages,  and  quietly  moved  to 
December  26.  ^he  stronger  fort,  Sumter,  near  by  in  the  harbor.  This 
act  was  irritating  to  South  Carolina,  as  it  indicated  that  the  forts, 
which  the  "  sovereign "  state  claimed  as  its  own,  were  not  to  be 
given  up  without  a  struggle.  Still  greater  was  the  irritation  when 
President  Buchanan  sent  the  Star  of  the  West  to  relieve  the  fort  with 
supplies.  As  the  little  vessel  steamed  into  the  harbor  (January  9), 
it  was  fired  on  from  shore  batteries  and  driven  from  the  harbor  with 
out  having  accomplished  its  mission.  These  were  the  first  shots  of 
the  Civil  War. 

Before  the  close  of  Buchanan's  presidency  the  Confederate  gov 
ernment  had  seized  every  fort,  navy  yard,  mint,  post  office,  and 
customhouse  within  the  bounds  of  the  seven  states  —  except  Fort 
i  New  York  Tribune,  November  9,  1860. 


THE   NEW   PRESIDENT  639 

Sumter,  Fort  Pickens,  Key  West,  and  the  Dry  Tortugas.  General 
Twiggs  had  also  surrendered  to  Texas  a  large  portion  of  the  regular 
army  which  was  then  in  that  state.1  This  seizure  of  public  prop 
erty  was  looked  upon  by  the  North  as  robbery,  while  at  the  South  it 
was  considered  but  a  fair  division. 

The  slave  power  seemed  bent  on  its  own  destruction.  It  ignored 
every  effort  of  the  North  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation.  Every 
index  seemed  to  point  unerringly  to  war  —  a  weak  and  vacillating 
President,  the  blind  precipitancy  of  the  South,  the  seizure  of  the 
forts,  the  firing  on  the  Star  of  the  West,  the  refusal  of  the  South  to 
listen  to  the  friendly  call  for  her  to  return.  The  lovers  of  peace 
looked  with  dismay  on  the  rushing  torrent  of  events,  all  pointing  to 
dreadful,  internecine  war.  The  religious  world  cried  unto  the  heavens 
in  a  wailing,  piteous  prayer  for  peace ;  but  its  prayer  seemed  unheard. 

We  now  understand  it  all.  Slavery  was  the  blight  on  American 
civilization.  The  spirit  of  modern  progress  demanded  its  removal. 
In  the  course  of  human  events  nothing  could  do  this  but  war.  The 
nation  must  rise  in  its  might  and  strike  down  this  ungodly  foe  to  its 
progress  and  development,  and  that  meant  war. 

THE  NEW  ADMINISTRATION 

The  time  was  now  at  hand  for  the  installation  of  the  new  Presi 
dent.  The  moment  was  an  ominous  and  fearful  moment.  Deplora 
ble  was  the  condition  of  the  country.  Seven  states  had  left  the 
Union  and  had  organized  a  government  of  their  own.  They  had 
seized  United  States  property  worth  $30,000,000.  Other  states 
were  on  the  verge  of  secession.  The  glorious  Union  for  which 
Washington  had  fought,  which  Jackson  had  preserved,  which  mil 
lions  of  Americans  loved  better  than  life,  seemed  on  the  verge  of 
falling  into  fragments.  Society  was  broken  to  pieces;  men  were 
hurrying  to  and  fro  with  hot  faces,  not  knowing  what  to  do.  Would 
the  South  yet  return  to  its  allegiance  ?  It  had  answered,  No.  Would 
the  Union  be  dismembered,  or  would  there  be  war  ? 

The  answer  was  still  locked  in  the  bosom  of  one  man,  one  of 
whom  the  world  as  yet  knew  but  little.  He  had  entered  the  capital 
by  night  and  by  stealth,  for  fear  of  the  assassin's  bullet.  He  stood 
now  before  the  multitude  and  outlined  the  policy  of  the  nation  on 

1  The  arms  and  equipment  were  seized,  but  the  soldiers  were  permitted  to  return 
to  the  North. 


640  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

the  most  momentous  question  that  a  great  and  free  people  were  ever 
called  on  to  decide.  Never  before  and  never  since  has  a  word  fallen 
from  a  President's  lips  so  eagerly  awaited  by  the  millions  as  was 
this  inaugural  address  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

The  inaugural  was  exceedingly  moderate  in  tone.  In  spite  of 
the  failure  of  Congress  in  its  conciliatory  measures,  he  again  held 
out  the  olive  branch.  He  declared  that  he  had  no  purpose,  directly 
or  indirectly,  of  interfering  with  slavery  where  it  existed,  and  affirmed 
his  belief  that  he  had  no  lawful  right  to  do  so ;  he  expressed  his 
willingness  to  abide  by  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  he  went  so  far 
as  to  give  his  approval  to  the  unchangeable  amendment  to  the  Con 
stitution,  making  slavery  perpetual  in  the  United  States.  Could  the 
spirit  of  compromise  go  farther  than  this  ?  Lincoln  had  been  elected 
on  a  platform  based  on  the  non-extension  of  slavery,  but  not  a  word 
of  this  do  we  find  in  the  address.  He  dealt  only  with  the  larger  sub 
ject  of  preserving  the  Union. 

But  the  iron  hand  was  incased  in  the  velvet  glove.  The  speaker 
went  on  to  declare  that  the  Union  was  older  than  the  Constitution, 
that  the  Constitution  was  adopted  "to  form  a  more 
inaugural  perfect  Union,"  that  "no  state  upon  its  own  mere 
motion,  can  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union,"  and  that  all 
ordinances  to  that  effect  were  legally  void.  He  declared  the  Union 
still  intact  and  indissoluble  ;  he  declared  his  purpose  of  executing  the 
laws  in  all  the  states,  and  that  the  Union  would  defend  and  main 
tain  itself.  The  meaning  of  this  was  as  clear  as  daylight.  If  the 
seceding  states  would  not  retrace  their  false  step,  there  would  be 
war.  "The  ills  you  fly  from,"  said  the  speaker,  "have  no  real 
existence.  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and 
not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  .  .  .  You  can 
have  no  oath  registered  in  heaven  to  destroy  the  government;  while 
I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  it." 

This  remarkable  address  was  weak  at  one  point,  to  say  nothing 
of  its  approval  of  that  inflexible  amendment  to  the  Constitution. 
The  speaker  promised  that  there  should  be  no  "  invasion  "  of  any 
state,  as  if  it  were  an  "invasion"  for  the  United  States  to  send 
troops  to  any  part  of  its  own  soil.  He  also  asserted  that  it  were 
better  to  leave  the  Federal  offices  unfilled  for  a  time  than  to  force 
"  obnoxious  strangers  "  upon  a  people  who  were  hostile  to  the  gov 
ernment.  This  was  a  plain  avowal  by  Lincoln  that  he  would  follow 
Buchanan's  policy  for  the  time  in  his  attitude  toward  secession. 


THE   NEW   ADMINISTRATION  641 

The  Cabinet  chosen  by  the  new  President  was,  William  H. 
Seward,  secretary  of  state  ;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  secretary  of  the  treas 
ury;  Simon  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  secretary  of 
war ;  Gideon  Welles  of  Connecticut,  secretary  of  the  e 
navy ;  Caleb  B.  Smith  of  Indiana,  secretary  of  the  interior  ;  Edward 
Bates  of  Missouri,  attorney-general,  and  Montgomery  Blair  of  Mary 
land,  postmaster-general.  Two  of  the  Cabinet,  it  will  be  noted,  were 
from  slave  states,  but  none  of  them  held  slaves.  The  Cabinet  was 
not  harmonious  on  the  great  question  before  the  country,  nor  had 
its  members  yet  learned  that,  in  addition  to  their  ordinary  depart 
ment  duties,  they  were  only  an  advisory  body,  that  the  new  Presi 
dent  was  their  master,  and  that  his  judgment  and  not  theirs  would 
shape  the  policy  of  the  nation.  The  general  belief  was  that  Seward 
would  be  the  power  behind  the  throne,  that  this  unsophisticated 
President  from  the  western  prairies  was  fortunate  in  having  such  a 
genius  to  shape  his  policy  and  to  guide  his  administration  —  and  none 
believed  this  more  firmly  than  Seward.  A  month  had  not  passed 
when  Seward  offered  to  the  President  a  memorandum,1  outlining  a 
policy  for  the  government  and  at  the  same  time  offering  himself  as 
the  agent  to  carry  it  out.  Mr.  Lincoln  dismissed  the  subject  with 
the  quiet  remark,  "If  this  must  be  done,  I  must  do  it." 

A  week  after  the  inauguration  two  commissioners  from  the 
South,  John  Forsyth  and  Martin  J.  Crawford,  sent  by  President 
Davis,  submitted  to  Secretary  Seward  a  paper  requesting  an  inter 
view  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  the  questions  growing  out  of  the 
political  separation  of  the  two  governments,  and  expressing  their 
desire  that  a  peaceful  settlement  would  be  reached.  To  these  Mr. 
Seward,  without  ascertaining  the  views  of  the  President,  is  said  to 
have  given  some  encouragement,  leading  them  to  believe  that  Fort 
Sumter  would  not  be  reinforced;  but  Lincoln  decided  otherwise, 
and  his  decision  was  final. 

FORT  SUMTER 

The  immediate  attention  of  the  country  was  attracted  to  the 
Charleston  harbor.  The  defenses  of  the  harbor  had  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  South  Carolina,  except  Fort  Sumter,  still  held  by  Major 
Anderson.  This  little  morsel  became  the  first  object  of  contention, 
the  means  of  precipitating  the  conflict  of  the  giants.  Fort  Sumter 

1  Xicolay  and  Hay,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  445. 
2T 


642  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 


was  necessary  to  the  Confederacy ;  it  was  the  key  to  the  harbor  of 
the  chief  seaport  of  the  South,  save  New  Orleans.  And  yet  the 
North  could  not  yield  up  the  fort  without  acknowledging  the  inde 
pendence  of  the  Confederacy.  The  provisions  in  the  fort  were  run 
ning  low,  and  if  not  relieved,  Anderson  must  abandon  it.  The 
South  intimated  that  an  attempt  to  supply  the  fort  would  be  con 
sidered  an  act  of  war.  The  matter  was  the  subject  of  much  negotia 
tion  at  Washington.  Five  of  the  seven  members  of  the  Cabinet 
opposed  an  attempt  to  relieve  the  fort,  and  at  length  Lincoln  prom 
ised  not  to  do  so  without  first  notifying  the  governor  of  South  Caro 
lina.  On  the  8th  of  April  this  promised  notice  was  given,  and 
vessels  were  laden  with  provisions  for  Fort  Sumter.  General  P.  G. 
T.  Beauregard,  who  had  resigned  from  the  United  States  Army  to 
join  the  Confederate  service,  had  command  of  the  forces  about 
Charleston.  He  telegraphed  to  Montgomery  the  news  of  Lincoln's 
intention. 

President  Davis  called  a  Cabinet  meeting  to  decide  the  great 
question.  He  and  Lincoln  both  well  knew  that  war  was  now  inevi 
table,  but  each  was  loth  to  strike  the  first  blow.  Davis's  secretary 
of  state,  Toombs,  declared  that  it  would  be  fatal  to  fire  on  Fort 
Sumter.  "  At  this  time  it  is  suicide,"  said  he,  "  murder,  and  will 
lose  us  every  friend  at  the  North.  You  will  wantonly  strike  a 
hornet's  nest  which  extends  from  mountain  to  ocean,  and  legions 
now  quiet  will  swarm  out  and  sting  us  to  death." l  But  other  coun 
sels  prevailed,  and  the  order  was  wired  to  Beauregard  to  demand  the 
surrender  of  the  fort,  and,  in  case  of  refusal,  to  reduce  it.  Beaure 
gard  made  the  demand,  and  it  was  refused.  On  the  morning  of 
April  12,  some  hours  before  daylight,  the  Confederate  general  sent 
word  to  Major  Anderson  that  fire  would  be  opened  on  the  fort  in  an 
hour ;  and  at  the  appointed  moment  a  shrieking  shell  from  Sullivan's 
Island  announced  to  the  world  that  the  day  of  compromise  was  past, 
and  that  the  most  stupendous  tragedy  in  modern  history  was  begun.2 

Fifty  cannon  were  soon  pouring  their  deadly  missiles  into  the  walls 
of  the  doomed  fort.  As  the  morning  arose  the  people  of  Charleston 
gathered  along  the  wharf  in  thousands  to  witness  the  spectacle. 
Anderson  and  his  little  band  returned  the  fire  with  vigor.  The 

1  Stovall's  "  Life  of  Toombs,"  quoted  by  Rhodes,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  347. 

2  Anderson  had  said  that  he  must  abandon  the  fort  by  noon  of  the  15th,  if  no 
supplies  reached  him.    The  decision  to  fire  was  made  by  Beauregard's  four  aides,  who 
had  discretionary  power.    Had  Davis  or  Beauregard  known  the  exact  intention  of 
Anderson,  it  is  possible  that  the  fort  would  not  have  been  fired  on. 


SURRENDER   OF   FORT   SUMTER  643 

walls  of  the  fort  were  soon  shattered  and  crumbling ;  the  barracks 
and  woodwork  were  set  on  fire,  and  only  by  the  greatest  effort 
did  the  men  save  all  from  being  consumed.  They 
rolled  nearly  a  hundred  barrels  of  powder  into  the  sea 
to  prevent  explosions.  So  stifling  was  the  air  with 
smoke,  dust,  and  cinders,  that  the  men  lay  upon  their  faces  and 
breathed  through  wet  cloths.  After  the  bombardment  had  continued 
for  thirty-four  hours  the  little  band  l  surrendered  and  marched  out 
with  the  honors  of  war,  and  Fort  Sumter  passed  into  the  hands  of 
the  Confederacy.  This  was  considered  the  first  blow  of  the  Civil 
War,  for  the  little  matter  of  the  Star  of  the  West  had  been  forgotten. 
At  the  fall  of  Sumter  Charleston  gave  itself  up  to  the  same  unre 
strained,  delirious  joy  that  had  marked  the  passing  of  the  secession 
ordinance  four  months  before. 

The  effect  of  the  attack  on  the  fort  was  magical  throughout  the 
North.  If  the  shot  was  not  "  heard  round  the  world,"  it  certainly 
echoed  from  every  hill  and  reverberated  in  every  valley  from  the 
New  England  coast  to  the  shores  of  Oregon.  "  Fort  Sumter  crys 
tallized  the  North  into  a  unit,  and  the  hope  of  mankind  was  saved," 
said  Emerson.  The  North  had  hesitated  all  through  the  winter. 
Millions  were  undecided  what  to  do;  but  now  this  attack  on  a 
United  States  fort  awakened  their  resentment  with  a  unanimity 
that  was  surprising.  Two  days  after  the  fall  of  Sumter  President 
Lincoln  issued  a  call  for  seventy -five  thousand  militia,  and  the  response 
from  every  section  of  the  North  was  most  gratifying. 
Not  only  the  adherents  of  his  own  party,  but  all  classes 
of  citizens  forgot  their  party  differences  and  rushed  to  the  defense 
of  the  country.  Mr.  Buchanan  came  out  strongly  for  the  Union. 
"The  North  will  sustain  the  administration  almost  to  a  man,  and  it 
ought  to  be  sustained  at  all  hazards,"  wrote  the  ex-President  to  a 
former  member  of  his  Cabinet. 

But  most  notable  of  all  was  the  action  of  Douglas,  to  whom 
a  parting  word  is  now  due.  If  there  was  a  man  in  the  North,  aside 
from  the  President,  in  whose  hands  the  fate  of  the  Union 
rested,  it  was  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  The  Republican 
party  could  not  have  won  in  the  gigantic  struggle  but 
for  the  aid  of  the  northern  Democrats.  More  than  a  million  men  at 
the  North  looked  to  Douglas  as  their  political  leader,  and  his  influence 

1  Anderson  had  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  men,  including  non-combatants. 
It  is  a  strange  fact  that  not  a  life  was  lost  on  either  side  in  this  bombardment. 


644  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

was  at  least  coordinate  with  that  of  the  memory  of  Jackson.  What 
a  power  for  good  or  for  evil  rested  with  this  man !  and  the  use  he 
made  of  this  power  must  lead  posterity  to  condone  every  error  of  his 
earlier  life.  Not  only  did  Douglas  powerfully  defend  the  President's 
inaugural  in  the  extra  session  of  the  Senate,  but  on  the  day  that 
intervened  between  the  fall  of  the  famous  fort  in  the  Charleston 
harbor  and  the  call  to  arms,  Douglas  called  on  the  President,  and  in 
a  long,  confidential  interview  pledged  his  support  and  offered  his 
services  in  the  cause  of  the  Union.  Next  morning  the  press  of  the 
North  published  the  President's  call  for  troops,  and  in  the  same 
edition  an  account  of  this  interview  with  Douglas.  The  effect 
on  the  followers  of  Douglas  may  be  imagined.  Southern  hopes 
of  a  divided  North  vanished  like  a  mist.  Lincoln  was  greatly 
pleased  with  this  attitude  of  his  former  rival,  and,  it  is  believed, 
would  have  offered  him  some  high  position  of  honor,  had  his  life 
been  spared.  But  Douglas  was  soon  called  to  pay  the  debt  of 
Nature ;  in  June  of  this  same  year  he  was  gathered  unto  his 
fathers. 

The  fall  of  Fort  Sumter  had  an  effect  on  the  South  quite  equal 
to  that  on  the  North.     This  first  blow  struck  by  the  South  had  the 

effect,  as  we  have  seen,  of  crystallizing  the  North  against 
S  uth  °n  disunion,  and  it  unified  a  large  portion  of  the  South  on 

the  opposite  side.  Four  slave  states  that  had  hesitated 
for  months  now  proceeded  to  pass  ordinances  of  secession,  and  thou 
sands  who  had  favored  preserving  the  Union  till  that  moment  readily 
joined  the  forces  of  secession.  This  is  explained,  not  only  by  the 
fact  that  the  firing  on  the  fort  was  a  notice  that  the  day  of  negotia 
tion  was  past,  but  by  the  further  fact  that  President  Lincoln's  call  to 
arms  that  soon  followed  indicated  his  policy  of  coercion  —  a  thing 
most  distasteful  to  the  South. 

If  there  was  one  man  in  the  South  who  could  have  prevented  the 
secession  of  these  four  states  it  was  John  Bell  of  Tennessee.     For 

many  years  he  had  stood  high  in  the  councils  of  his 

state  and  of  the  nation.  He  and  Douglas  had  received 
a  combined  vote  in  the  South  a  hundred  thousand  greater  than  the 
vote  of  Breckenridge.  He  could  have  held  for  the  Union  not  only 
many  of  the  old  Whigs  who  had  voted  for  him,  but  also  the  Douglas 
Democrats  —  probably  half  a  million  men;  he  might  have  been  able 
to  prevent  secession  in  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina ;  and  Virginia 
never  would  have  seceded  if  cut  off  from  the  cotton  states  by  these 


OTHER   STATES   SECEDE  645 

two.1  But  this  man,  who  had  stood  on  a  "  Constitution  "  and  "  Union  " 
platform,  now,  probably  because  of  his  dislike  of  coercion,  trampled 
the  Constitution  in  the  dust  and  gave  his  voice  for  disunion. 

Virginia  was  the  first  to  join  the  procession.  Her  convention 
had  been  sitting  for  weeks,  and  as  late  as  April  4  had  voted  by 
two  to  one  against  secession.  But  Richmond  was  full 
of  conspirators  who  labored  night  and  day  to  get  the 
Old  Dominion  into  the  Confederacy.  Now  the  hour 
had  come ;  the  state  could  swing  in  the  balance  no  longer ;  and  she 
cast  her  lot  with  her  slaveholding  sisters.  But  two  days  after 
Lincoln's  call  to  arms  the  Virginia  convention  passed  a  secession 
ordinance.  It  then  provided  for  submitting  the  ordinance  to  a 
popular  vote ;  but  this  election  would  be  dignified  by  calling  it  a 
farce.  The  convention  proceeded  to  put  the  Virginia  troops  into 
the  hands  of  Jefferson  Davis,  to  send  delegates  to  the  Confederate 
Congress,  to  invite  the  Confederate  government  to  make  Richmond 
its  capital,  and  to  officially  proclaim  the  commonwealth  a  member  of 
the  Confederacy,  —  all  before  the  people  had  voted  on  the  ordi 
nance.  Then  they  voted,  and  ratified  it  by  a  substantial  majority. 
There  was  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  "  get  out  of  the  state,"  as  Senator 
Mason  put  it.  Before  the  secession  of  Virginia  was  proclaimed,  move 
ments  were  set  on  foot  to  seize  the  United  States  arsenal  at  Harpers 
Ferry  and  the  government  Navy  Yard  near  Norfolk  with  its  im 
mense  military  stores,  including  two  thousand  cannon.  Both  were 
in  the  hands  of  the  state  authorities  before  the  end  of  April.  These 
were  worth  $10,000,000;  all  the  seizures  by  the  South  put  together 
reached  the  grand  total  of  $40,000,000. 

North  Carolina  and  Arkansas  seceded  in  May,  and  Tennessee  in 
June.     This  made  eleven,  and  here  the  process  of  secession  stopped. 
Every  effort  was  made  by  the  Confederacy  to  win   the  Nortn  caro_ 
four    remaining   slave    states,  —  Delaware,   Maryland,   ima.  Arkan- 
Kentucky,   and    Missouri ;    but  though  the   governors   sas» and  Ten' 
of   Missouri   and   Kentucky  did    everything    in    their  nesseesec 
power  to  lead  their  respective  states  to  secede,  their  efforts  were 
fruitless.     Even  in  the  seceded  states  the  disunion  sentiment  was 
not  unanimous.     In  eastern  Tennessee  thousands  of  the  mountain 
eers  opposed  secession  and  remained  true  to  the  Union  during  the 

1  Virginia  preceded  these  in  seceding,  but  Virginia  \vas  morally  sure  that  North 
Carolina  and  Tennessee  would  follow  her.  See  Elaine's  "  Twenty  Years  of  Congress," 
Vol.  I,  p.  311. 


646  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

war.  The  same  was  true  in  western  Virginia,  where  the  people,  re 
pudiating  the  action  of  the  state,  broke  away  from  it  and  formed  the 
state  of  West  Virginia.  For  thirty  years  the  South  had  been  united 
on  the  great  questions  growing  out  of  slavery,  while  the  North  was 
always  divided;  now  this  condition  was  reversed  —  the  North  (save 
an  isolated  individual  here  and  there)  was  united,  not  on  the  slavery 
question,  but  on  the  issue  of  preserving  the  Union,  while  the  South 
was  hopelessly  divided. 

NOTES 

Lincoln's  Journey  to  Washington.  —  Lincoln's  journey  to  the  capital  was 
roundabout.  He  passed  through  most  of  the  large  northern  cities,  and  in  his 
brief  addresses  he  seemed  to  treat  the  grave  state  of  the  country  too  lightly, 
declaring  that  there  was  no  need  of  fear  that  there  would  be  any  bloodshed. 
When  in  Philadelphia  on  February  22,  he  received  letters  from  Seward  and 
General  Scott  advising  that  his  published  programme  be  changed,  as  there  were 
serious  threats  of  assassinating  him  when  he  passed  through  Baltimore.  To 
this  he  refused  to  agree.  "  I  cannot  consent  to  it,"  said  he.  "  What  would  the 
nation  think  of  its  President  stealing  into  the  capital  like  a  thief  in  the  night." 
He  went  to  Harrisburg  that  morning,  and  there  it  was  determined  by  his  friends 
that  it  was  needless  to  endanger  his  life,  and  that  he  should  go  to  Washington 
incognito  during  the  coming  night.  Lincoln  yielded ;  but  he  ever  afterward 
regretted  having  done  so.  Colonel  Scott,  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  Rail 
road,  took  entire  charge  of  the  project.  He  cut  all  the  telegraph  wires  leading 
out  of  Harrisburg,  and  sent  Lincoln  with  a  single  companion,  Colonel  Larnon, 
to  Philadelphia  to  catch  the  night  train  to  Washington.  Everything  went 
smoothly,  and  after  the  friends  of  Lincoln  had  spent  a  sleepless  night  at  Harris 
burg,  the  wires  being  repaired  about  daybreak,  they  received  the  cipher  tele 
gram  previously  agreed  on,  "  Plums  delivered  nuts  safely,"  and  Colonel  Scott 
threw  his  hat  into  the  air  and  shouted,  "Lincoln  is  in  Washington."  See 
McClure's  "Lincoln  and  Men  of  War  Times,"  p.  45 sq. 

Douglas  at  Columbus.  —  A  few  days  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  in  journeying  eastward  to  Washington,  stopped  to  spend  a  night  at 
Columbus,  Ohio.  The  people  of  the  city  soon  learned  of  his  presence,  and  a 
large  crowd  gathered  in  the  dim-lighted  street  about  his  hotel  and  called  for  an 
expression  from  him  on  the  great  question  before  the  country.  The  crowd, 
composed  of  all  parties,  was  not  noisy ;  it  was  earnest,  serious,  and  thoughtful. 
Douglas  had  not  thought  of  making  a  speech,  but  he  went  half  dressed  to  the 
unlighted  window,  his  form  appearing  in  dim  outline  to  the  waiting  crowd. 
Then  he  spoke  solemnly  in  slow,  measured  sentences,  his  deep,  musical,  sono 
rous  tones  rolling  over  the  crowd  — a  veritable  voice  in  the  night.  Here  the 
great  Democratic  leader  declared  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  at  all  hazards, 
for  the  crushing  of  insurrection,  and  pledged  himself  to  the  support  of  the  Lin 
coln  administration  in  the  great  crisis.  "  The  people  scarcely  cheered,"  says  an 
eyewitness,  "  and  the  silence  seemed  as  a  deep  religious  Amen  from  the  multi 
tude."  See  Coxe's  "  Reminiscences  of  the  Civil  War,"  pp.  5-6. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  GREAT  WAR 
A  VIEW  OF  THE  BELLIGERENTS 

THE  United  States  was  now  divided  into  two  hostile  sections 
ready  to  spring  at  each  other  in  deadly  combat.  The  North,  includ 
ing  the  border  states  and  the  newly  admitted  Kansas,  was  corn- 
posed  of  twenty-three  states,  the  South  of  eleven ;  the  population  of 
the  North  exceeded  twenty-two  millions,  while  the  population  of 
the  seceding  states  was  about  nine  millions.  According  to  these 
figures  it  would  seem  that  the  North  must  win  in  the  great  contest 
that  was  before  them.  But  in  some  respects  the  South  had  the  ad 
vantage  of  the  North.  One  of  these  was  its  unanimity.  We  have 
noticed  that  the  slave  states  were  geographically  divided,  that  four 
of  them  refused  to  secede,  and  that  two,  Virginia  and  Tennessee,  ex 
perienced  a  revolt  against  secession;  but  aside  from  these  exceptions, 
the  oneness  of  spirit  in  the  slave  states  was  remarkable.  This  seeins 
the  more  surprising  when  one  considers  that  in  the  entire  Confed 
eracy  there  were  only  about  eight  thousand  large  slaveholders,  and 
that  not  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  held  slaves  at  all. 
These  represented  a  population  of  less  than  two  millions.  More 
than  five  millions  of  the  southern  whites  therefore  were  absolutely 
without  interest  in  slave  property ;  and  yet  these  were  as  faithful  as 
their  slaveholding  neighbors  to  the  southern  cause. 

The  North,  on  the  other  hand,  was  less  unanimous  after  the  first 
year  of  the  war,  when  it  became  an  abolition  war,  as  well  as  a  war 
against  disunion.  The  firing  on  Fort  Sumter,  as  aforesaid,  swept 
the  free  states  with  one  grand,  patriotic  impulse ;  but  before  the 
close  of  the  great  contest  partisanship  rose  again  to  the  surface,  and 
the  administration  was  often  handicapped  by  a  want  of  hearty  sup 
port.  This  was  shown  by  the  draft  riots  in  New  York,  by  the 
adverse  result  of  the  elections  in  many  states,  and  by  the  severe  criti 
cisms  of  the  methods  of  conducting  the  war,  from  within  as  well  as 
from  without  the  dominant  party. 

647 


648  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED    STATES 

Another  advantage  of  the  South  was  found  in  its  better  trained 
men.  The  slaveholders  were  men  well  trained  in  the  use  of  fire 
arms  and  in  horsemanship,  while  no  such  a  class  could 
be  found  at  the  North  outside  the  regular  army.  The 
southern  armies  therefore  were  more  efficient  at  first 
than  their  opponents  from  the  North. 

A  third  advantage  of  the  Southerners  was  found  in  the  fact  that 
they  fought  on  their  own  soil,  arid  had  the  sympathy  and  support  of 
the  people.  After  secession  had  been  accomplished  they  felt  that 
the  United  States  was  a  foreign  nation,  that  its  armies  were  invad 
ing  their  soil  and  destroying  their  homes  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
conquest  and  subjugation.  Such  a  belief  infuses  into  men  a  desper 
ate  valor  that  nothing  else  can  produce. 

The  advantages  of  the  North,  however,  were  greater  than  those  of 
the  South.  First,  it  had  more  men  and  more  money.  The  proportion 
of  men  was  about  as  five  to  two,  and  this  difference  became  very 
marked  in  the  latter  part  of  the  struggle.  In  wealth  the  North  far 
surpassed  the  South.  At  first  the  credit  of  the  United  States  was  low, 
but  soon  after  the  Midas  touch  of  Secretary  Chase  began  to  be  felt, 
our  bonds  found  a  ready  sale.  A  brilliant  stroke  was  the  establishing 
of  the  national  banks  in  1863,  by  which  the  government  became  re 
sponsible  for  the  issue  of  local  banks,  and  by  thus  laying  its  hand  on 
the  people's  money,  it  restored  confidence  on  all  sides.  The  credit  of 
the  nation  was  far  better  at  the  close  of  the  war  than  at  its  beginning. 

The  Confederacy  had  little  specie,  and  it  issued  large  quantities 
of  paper  money ;  but  as  the  years  passed  and  its  cause  seemed  hope 
less,  its  bills  fell  steadily  in  value  until  they  became  worthless. 

Another  advantage  of  the  North  lay  in  its  foreign  relations. 
Nothing  is  more  essential  to  our  modern  civilization  than  foreign 
relations  and  foreign  commerce.  It  was  important  to  the  United 
States  to  maintain  its  cordial  relations  with  other  powers,  and  it 
was  absolutely  essential  to  prevent  the  recognition  by  foreign 
countries  of  the  independence  of  the  Confederacy.  Had  any  of  the 
great  European  powers  recognized  the  South,  the  blockade  of  the 
southern  ports  could  have  been  broken  in  an  hour,  and  the  South  could 
have  sold  its  cotton,  while  food,  clothing,  and  munitions  of  war 
would  have  poured  into  its  ports  in  endless  quantities.  But  the 
Confederacy  fought  the  war  through  under  the  incalculable  disad 
vantage  of  being  without  foreign  relations,  and  the  fact  is  due  chiefly 
to  the  diplomatic  skill  of  Lincoln's  administration. 


NORTH    AND    SOUTH   COMPARED  649 

The  North,  however,  might  have  won  in  the  great  struggle 
though  its  foreign  relations  had  been  suspended,  as  it  had  unbounded 
resources  and  the  ability  to  use  them.  This  brings  us  to  the  chief 
advantage  of  the  North  over  the  South  —  its  ability  to  manufacture 
its  own  materials.  Every  soldier  in  the  northern  armies  could  have 
been  fed  from  the  northern  farms,  clothed  from  the  northern  mills, 
and  fully  equipped  from  the  northern  foundries.  But  the  South 
was  purely  an  agricultural  region.  Slave  labor  was  incapable  of 
manufacturing ;  it  could  only  delve  the  soil ;  nor  could  the  skilled 
workman  be  induced  to  go  to  the  South  and  work  among  slaves. 
Hence  its  rich  minerals,  its  vast  and  inexhaustible  resources,  were 
left  in  the  earth.  It  raised  cotton,  rice,  tobacco,  and  cereals,  sold 
them  abroad,  and  purchased  almost  every  manufactured  article  from 
the  North  or  from  Europe.  When  the  war  came,  this  trade  was  all 
shut  off,  and  it  was  then  too  late  to  build  factories  ;  the  men  of  brains 
were  in  the  armies.  This  want  of  ability  to  manufacture,  occasioned 
by  slavery,  was  a  source  of  fatal  weakness  to  the  South,  and  insured 
its  ultimate  defeat.  Thus  slavery  not  only  brought  about  secession 
and  the  war,  but,  the  war  once  begun,  it  brought  about  the  defeat  of 
the  South. 

EVENTS   OF   APRIL 

The  month  of  April,  1861,  was  exceedingly  eventful  in  American 
history.  We  have  noticed  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  the  secession  of 
Virginia,  the  seizure  of  Harpers  Ferry  and  of  the  great  Navy  Yard 
at  Gosport  near  Norfolk,  and  have  referred  to  the  President's  call  to 
arms.  Then  came  the  great  uprising  of  the  North,  the  attack  on 
the  troops  in  Baltimore,  the  marshaling  of  southern  armies,  the 
proclamation  of  the  blockade  by  President  Lincoln  —  all  within  one 
week  after  the  attack  on  Sumter.  The  President's  call  for  troops 
was  met  throughout  the  North  with  a  ready  response.  The  farmer 
left  his  plow  and  the  artisan  his  workshop,  the  merchant  abandoned 
his  store,  and  the  banker  his  countingroom  to  answer  the  call  to 
save  the  Union.  Congress,  it  is  true,  has  sole  power  to  create  armies 
and  navies,  but  this  call  for  militia  was  based  on  a  statute  of  sixty- 
five  years'  standing,  by  which  the  President  was  enabled  to  call  the 
militia  in  any  numbers  into  the  service  of  the  Union  when  necessary 
for  the  public  safety.  The  object,  as  stated  in  the  proclamation,  was 
to  put  down  insurrections  in  certain  states,  which  were  mentioned  by 
name,  and  to  repossess  the  forts  and  other  places  that  had  been  seized. 


650  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

All  mention  of  the  Confederacy,  and  even  of  the  states  as  units  of 
insurrection,  was  avoided.  Secession  was  not  therefore  recognized 
as  the  action  of  a  state,  but  as  the  unlawful  proceeding  of  certain 
disaffected  classes  within  it. 

The  President's  call  was  addressed  to  the  governors  of  all  the 
states  North  and  South,  except  those  in  which  rebellion  existed. 
The  response  from  the  North  was  hearty  and  unanimous, 
The  solitaiT  Democratic  governor  in  the  North  (in  Rhode 
Island)  marched  at  the  head  of  his  militia  to  the  battle 
field.  From  the  lower  South  favorable  answers  were  neither  expected 
nor  received.  The  answers  showed  a  spirit  of  defiance  and  a  decisive 
refusal  to  send  troops  for  the  "  wicked  purpose  of  subjugating  the 
Southern  states."  From  the  four  border  states  that  did  not  secede 
the  answers  were  far  from  satisfactory.  The  governors  of  Kentucky 
and  Missouri  flatly  refused,  while  those  of  Maryland  and  Delaware 
delayed  and  did  nothing.1 

As  the  Massachusetts  troops  were  passing  through  Baltimore  on 
the  19th  of  April,  they  were  attacked  by  a  mob  of  southern  sympa 
thizers.  The  mayor  did  all  .in  his  power  to  preserve  order,  but  the 
mob  could  not  be  restrained  ;  it  attacked  the  troops  with  pistols  and 
missiles,  and  they  were  obliged  to  open  fire  in  self-defense.  Four  of 
the  soldiers  and  probably  a  dozen  of  their  assailants  were  killed. 
This  was  the  first  bloodshed  of  the  Civil  War. 

If  anything  more  was  needed  to  fire  the  northern  heart  after  the 
attack  on  Sumter,  the  work  of  the  mob  in  Baltimore  supplied  the 
deficiency.  President  Lincoln  dealt  with  the  matter  in  great  modera 
tion.  He  did  not  lose  his  temper ;  he  quietly  decided  to  avoid  fur 
ther  trouble  by  bringing  his  troops  to  the  capital  by  way  of  Annapolis. 
Baltimore  remained  in  a  state  of  great  commotion  for  three  weeks, 
when  General  B.  F.  Butler  of  Massachusetts  took  military  possession 
of  the  city. 

Thre  19th  of  April  was  to  receive  still  another  mark  as  a  historic 
date.  It  was  on  this  same  day  that  witnessed  the  first  bloodshed  of 
the  Civil  War,  the  anniversary  of  the  first  bloodshed  of  the  Revolution, 
that  the  American  President  issued  a  proclamation  of  unmeasured 
importance.  He  proclaimed  a  blockade  of  the  ports  of  the  seceded 
states.2  This  seemed  an  audacious  utterance  indeed.  The  United 

1  Governor  Hicks  of  Maryland  raised  some  troops  after  long  delay. 

2  The  ports  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  were  not  inclnded  in  this  proclama 
tion,  but  these  were  inclnded  in  an  additional  one  issued  on  the  27th. 


THE   BLOCKADE  651 


States  Navy  was  composed  of  but  forty-two  wooden  vessels,  and 
more  than  half  of  these  were  in  foreign  waters,  while  the  blockade 
covered  three  thousand  miles  of  seacoast.  Was  the  new 
President  a  dreamer  or  a  genius  ?  The  world  had  not 
yet  taken  his  measure,  and  knew  not  how  to  classify  him.  At  first 
the  blockade  amounted  to  little ;  but  erelong  the  vessels  began  to 
arrive  from  afar,  merchant  vessels  were  turned  into  ships  of  war, 
the  northern  shipyards  were  kept  busy  day  and  night,  one  southern 
port  after  another  was  shut  in  by  a  cordon  of  war  vessels,  and  long 
before  the  close  of  the  war  the  South  was  hemmed  in  and  isolated 
from  the  rest  of  the  world.  Great  stacks  of  cotton  piled  along  the 
seaboard  could  be  bought  for  four  cents  a  pound,  while  it  was  worth 
$2.50  at  Liverpool.  A  ton  of  salt  worth  $7  or  $8  at  Nassau,  was 
worth  $1700  in  gold  at  Richmond  before  the  close  of  the  war  —  all 
because  of  the  blockade.  The  South  was  in  the  direst  need  of  arms 
and  clothing,  but  it  could  purchase  nothing  from  abroad,  owing  to 
the  blockade.  Had  the  southern  markets  been  open  to  the  world,  the 
conquest  of  the  Confederacy  would  have  been  almost  impossible. 
Scarcely  more  did  the  northern  armies  toward  compassing  the  collapse 
of  the  rebellion  than  did  the  blockade. 

The  spirit  of  secession  in  Maryland  was  not  confined  to  the  city 
of  Baltimore ;  it  swept  in  a  sudden  wild,  enthusiastic  wave  over  the 
state.  But  it  was  short-lived ;  it  was  the  cry  of  a  vigorous  minority. 
Before  the  close  of  April  the  sober  second  thought  began  to  assert 
itself ;  two  thirds  of  the  people  were  found  to  be  for  the  Union,  and 
the  legislature  decided  by  a  large  majority  to  cling  to  the  old  flag. 
And  yet  Maryland  did  not  rush  to  the  defense  of  the 
Union.  As  the  state  lay  between  the  two  great  sections, 
the  people  halted  between  two  opinions.  The  legislature  voted  to 
take  a  neutral  ground  as  to  actual  hostilities,  and  sent  an  embassy  to 
Montgomery,  and  another  to  Washington,  to  implore  the  respective 
Presidents  to  cease  the  unholy  war.  In  the  course  of  the  war,  how 
ever,  many  Marylanders  fought  in  the  Union  armies,  while  others 
took  the  side  of  the  South. 

In  the  other  two  great  border  states,  Kentucky  and  Missouri, 
there  were  similar  struggles,  with  the  same  result  as  in  Maryland. 
It  happened  that  in  Missouri  both  the  governor,  Jackson,  and  the 
legislature  were  favorable  to  secession.  In  January  a  call  was  made 
for  the  election  of  a  convention  to  decide  the  great  question,  and  to 
the  chagrin  and  surprise  of  the  authorities  a  large  majority  of  the 


652  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

delegates  so  elected  were  Unionists.  Governor  Jackson,  however, 
did  everything  in  his  power  to  lead  the  state  into  secession  and  to 
seize  the  United  States  arsenal  at  St.  Louis.  But  St.  Louis  at  this 
moment  contained  a  stanch  defender  of  the  Union  in  the  person  of 
Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  a  brother  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  postmaster-general. 
The  governor  found  his  plans  foiled  at  every  point  by  the  ever 
watchful  Blair.  Captain  Nathaniel  Lyon,  who  had  com 
mand  of  the  arsenal,  worked  hand  in  hand  with  Blair 
to  save  the  state  and  the  arsenal.  Governor  Jackson  was  busy 
organizing  the  forces  of  secession  :  he  established  "  Camp  Jackson" 
in  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  and  sent  to  President  Davis  for  arms  and 
ammunition.  These  arrived  on  May  8,  and  two  days  later  Lyon 
marched  out  with  six  thousand  men,  surrounded  the  camp,  and  forced 
its  surrender  without  bloodshed. 

This  was  a  great  blow  to  the  secession  cause  in  Missouri,  but  the 
trouble  did  not  end  here.  The  whole  state  was  in  turmoil,  and  the 
scenes  of  a  few  years  before  in  Kansas  were  repeated.  Governor 
Jackson  and  Sterling  Price,  his  chief  lieutenant,  demanded  as  a  con 
dition  of  peace  that  Federal  troops  should  not  be  stationed  within  the 
state,  nor  be  permitted  to  pass  through  it.  Blair  and  Lyon  refused  to 
agree  to  this,  and  their  decision  was  construed  by  Jackson  and  Price 
as  a  declaration  of  war  upon  the  state.  Jackson  issued  a  call  for  fifty 
thousand  volunteers  to  defend  the  state.  This  was  a  challenge,  and 
Lyon,  so  accepting  it,  sailed  up  the  Missouri  in  June  and  took  posses 
sion  of  the  capital.  Thus  Missouri  became  one  of  the  first  battle 
fields  of  the  war,  as  we  shall  notice  on  a  later  page ;  but  at  this  point 
we  turn  to  take  a  view  of  her  sister  south  of  the  Ohio. 

President  Lincoln  was  extremely  anxious  to  save  Kentucky  for 
the  Union,  not  simply  because  of  its  strategic  importance,  which 
was  great,  but  also  because  it  was  his  native  state  and  he  regarded  it 
with  peculiar  affection.  Governor  Beriah  Magoffin  was  a  decided 
secessionist,  as  was  also  the  foremost  man  in  the  state,  John  C. 
Breckenridge ;  but  their  combined  influence  was  not  great  enough  to 
control  the  people  of  the  state,  or  even  the  Democratic  legislature. 
Governor  Magoffin  used  every  effort  in  his  power  to  lead  the  legis 
lature  to  call  a  secession  convention  and  to  arm  the  state  under 
Simon  B.  Buckner,  a  known  secessionist ;  but  that  body 
answered  him  by  passing  a  law  requiring  an  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  Union.  However,  Kentucky,  like  Maryland, 
failed  to  hasten  to  the  aid  of  the  Union  at  the  President's  call; 


THE   BORDER   STATES  653 

it  decided  on  a  neutral  ground  towards  the  war.1  President  Lin 
coln  tacitly  consented  to  the  neutral  position  of  Kentucky,  on  the 
supposition  that  the  soil  of  the  state  would  soon  be  invaded  by 
Confederate  armies,  when  the  people  would  gladly  welcome  Federal 
troops  to  expel  them ;  and  this  is  exactly  what  came  to  pass.  On 
the  20th  of  June  the  state  voted  for  members  of  Congress,  and  to 
the  lasting  joy  of  the  administration  the  Union  party  polled  nearly 
three  votes  to  one  for  the  secessionists,  electing  nine  out  of  ten  mem 
bers  by  a  combined  majority  of  55,000.  Thus  ended  the  hopes  of 
the  disunionists  for  Kentucky,  though  the  state,  like  Maryland  and 
Missouri,  furnished  many  soldiers  for  each  side  in  the  war. 

OPENING   OF   HOSTILITIES  IN  VIRGINIA  AND   MISSOURI 

President  Lincoln's  call  for  75,000  men  and  for  an  extra  session 
of  Congress  was  answered  by  President  Davis  by  a  call  for  100,000 2 
men  and  for  an  extra  session  of  the  southern  Congress.  The  Con 
federate  Congress  met  on  the  29th  of  April,  authorized  the  raising  of 
$50,000,000,  forbade  the  payment  of  all  debts  due  from  the  southern 
people  to  individuals  or  corporations  in  the  free  states,  admitted 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Arkansas  to  the  Confeder 
acy,  and  moved  the  capital  to  Richmond. 

Lincoln,  on  May  3,  called  for  42,000  more  volunteers  for  three 
years  unless  sooner  discharged,  for  an  increase  of  the  regular  army 
by  22,714  men,  and  for  the  enlistment  of  18,000  seamen  for  the 
navy.  It  was  now  plain  that  both  sides  were  preparing  for  war 
in  earnest.  The  great  immediate  concern  of  the  Lincoln  administra 
tion  was  to  make  safe  the  city  of  Washington.  Soon  after  the  fall 
of  Sumter  a  member  of  Davis's  Cabinet  had  boasted  that  by  the 
first  of  May  the  Confederate  flag  would  float  over  the  capital  at 
Washington.  This  threat  was  published  throughout  the  North,  and 
it  caused  much  fright  among  the  people.  The  fear  was  greatly 
increased  by  the  knowledge  of  the  gathering  of  the  Confederate 
armies  in  northern  Virginia  and  the  inability  of  the 
northern  troops  to  pass  through  Baltimore  on  their  way 
to  the  defense  of  the  capital.  No  attempt  to  take  the 
city  was  made  by  the  Confederates,  but  had  such  an  attempt  been 

1  Nevertheless  the  Confederate  Congress  went  through  the  farce  in  December, 
1861,  of  admitting  Kentucky  into  the  Confederacy. 

2  Or  rather,  he  stated  in  his  message  that  such  an  army  was  being  raised  under 
authority  of  a  preceding  act  of  Congress. 


654  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

made  before  the  25th  of  April,  it  might  have  succeeded.  But  all 
fears  were  scattered  on  that  day  by  the  arrival  of  two  New  York 
and  Massachusetts  regiments.  And  others  were  coming.  Before 
the  end  of  May  50,000  troops  had  gathered  in  the  city,  and  they 
crossed  the  Potomac  and  took  possession  of  Alexandria  and  of  the 
famous  heights  of  Arlington.1  Here  they  paused;  and  the  Con 
federate  army,  scattered  from  Harpers  Ferry  to  Norfolk,  also 
remained  inactive. 

Meantime  the  war  had  actually  begun  in  another  quarter.  Early 
in  May  Governor  Letcher  of  Virginia  called  for  the  militia  of  that 
state  to  assemble  under  arms  for  the  purpose  of  repelling  an  appre 
hended  invasion  from  the  u  government  at  Washington."  This 
meant  nothing  less  than  an  enlistment  in  the  Confederate  service. 
But  the  people  living  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  throughout  that  sec 
tion  of  Virginia  bordering  on  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  were  not  in 
sympathy  with  the  rebellion.  They  had  few  slaves,  and  their 
interests  lay  with  the  North.  Why  should  they  take  up  arms 
against  the  Union  and  the  flag  which  they  loved  ?  They  refused  to 
do  so ;  they  held  mass  meetings  in  Wheeling  and  other  cities,  and 
declared  their  adherence  to  the  Union.  Some  forty  counties,  includ 
ing  a  few  east  of  the  mountains,  held  a  convention  in  June,  and  the 
delegates  were  almost  unanimous  in  their  desire  to  have  the  western 
counties  break  away  from  the  old  state  and  form  a  new  one.  One  of 
the  chief  objects  of  the  convention  was  to  bring  about  a  division  of 
the  state.  The  convention  chose  Francis  H.  Pierpont  governor,  not 
of  the  proposed  new  state,  but  of  Virginia,  taking  the  ground  that 
the  loyal  citizens  of  the  state  truly  represented  it,  and  that  the 
disunion  government  at  Richmond  was  illegal.  It  was  this  govern 
ment  that  applied  to  Washington  for  a  division  of  the  state.  Some 
time  later  senators  and  representatives  were  sent  to  the  Congress  — 
not  at  Richmond,  but  at  Washington.  A  constitution  was  framed 
for  the  new  state,  and  was  ratified  by  the  people  in  May,  1862. 

The  following  year  West  Virginia  became  a  state  in  the 
Virginia  Union,  Congress  agreeing  with  the  loyal  citizens  that 

they  legally  represented  Virginia.     The  clause  in  the 
Federal  Constitution  forbidding  the  division  of  any  state  without 

1  As  Colonel  Ellsworth,  the  commander  of  the  New  York  Fire  Zouaves,  entered 
Alexandria  he  saw  a  Confederate  flag  flying  over  a  hotel,  and,  mounting  the  stair  on 
the  inside,  he  hauled  it  down.  As  he  came  down  the  stairway  he  was  met  by  the 
hotel  keeper,  who  shot  Ellsworth  dead  on  sight.  The  next  instant  the  hotel  keeper 
was  shot  by  one  of  Ellsworth's  men.  See  Greeley,  Vol.  I,  p.  533. 


PREPARING   FOR   BATTLE  655 

its  consent  was  overcome  on  the  ground  that,  as  secession  was 
illegal  and  void,  the  West  Virginians  represented  Virginia,  and  their 
consent  to  the  division  was  deemed  sufficient. 

Governor  Pierpont  had  applied  to  President  Lincoln  for  assist 
ance  in  driving  out  the  secessionists.     The  request  was  granted,  and 
western  Virginia  became  the  first  battle  ground  of  the  Civil  War ; 
and  the  first  hero  of   the  war,  aside  from   Major  Anderson,   was 
George  B.  McClellan,  a  young  army  officer  who  had  McClellan  in 
resigned  his  commission  and  was  now  president  of  a  West 
railroad  company  and  residing  in  Cincinnati.     His  first   Virginia, 
serious  work  was  to  clear  western  Virginia  of  Confederates,  and  he 
addressed  himself  to  the  task  with  great  vigor. 

In  a  series  of  skirmishes,  covering  but  a  few  weeks,  he  drove  the 
enemy  entirely  out  of  that  part  of  Virginia.  The  Union  loss,  accord 
ing  to  McClellan's  report,  was  twenty  killed  and  sixty  wounded, 
while  the  loss  of  the  enemy  was  about  twenty  times  as  great,  with 
a  thousand  taken  prisoners.  This  preliminary  work  was  very  im 
portant  in  its  results.  It  saved  that  entire  section  for  the  Union, 
reestablished  the  broken  railroad  lines  westward  from  Washington, 
and  pointed  toward  McClellan  as  the  coming  man  in  the  great  war 
that  was  to  follow. 

While  these  things  were  going  on,  conditions  were  maturing  in 
eastern  Virginia  for  the  first  great  battle  of  the  war.  Public  opinion 
at  the  North  was  impatient  at  the  inaction  of  the  army  along  the 
Potomac.  Why  not  strike  a  blow  for  the  Union  ?  This  was  the  cry 
all  over  the  North,  and  though  General  Winfield  Scott,  the  com 
mander  in  chief,  did  not  favor  giving  battle  at  that  moment,  the 
pressure  was  too  great  to  be  resisted.  General  Irvin  McDowell 
held  45,000  men  on  the  Potomac  opposite  Washington ;  General 
Butler,  who  had  been  transferred  from  Baltimore,  occupied  Fortress 
Monroe  with  10,000,  while  General  Patterson  marched  from  Penn 
sylvania  into  Virginia  with  20,000  men.  Opposed  to  these  were 
General  J.  B.  Magruder,  facing  Butler  with  about  the  same  force ; 
General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  with  some  12,000  men,  who  had  retreated 
from  Harpers  Ferry  to  Winchester  at  the  approach  of  Patterson  ; 
while  opposite  McDowell,  with  his  base  at  Manassas,  Beauregard,1 
who  in  former  years  had  been  a  classmate  of  McDowell  at  WTest 
Point,  held  the  main  Confederate  army  of  about  20,000  men.  Such 

1  Beauregard  had  resigned  from  the  United  States  army,  as  had  also  many  of  the 
Confederate  officers,  some  two  hundred  in  all. 


656  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

was  the  military  situation  in  eastern  Virginia  when  the  administra 
tion  decided  on  a  general  advance  for  the  purpose  of  offering  battle. 
On  the  16th  of  July  McDowell  moved  forward  with  30,000  men, 
to  attack  Beauregard  at  Manassas.     Every  indication  pointed  to  a 

northern  victory.      McDowell  was   a   good   strategist. 

^e  P*an  °^  ^ie  cominS  battle  was  his  own,  though  the 

general  movements  were  directed  from  Washington  by 
General  Scott.  The  North  was  in  high  spirits  in  anticipation  of  the 
battle.  Many  members  of  Congress  drove  out  from  Washington 
to  receive  the  earliest  word  of  the  expected  victory  of  the  "  Grand 
Army."  And  it  would  have  been  realized  but  for  the  unaccount 
able  action  of  General  Patterson,  who  failed  to  detain  Johnston  at 
Winchester  as  he  was  ordered  to  do.  Instead  of  doing  this  he  with 
drew  to  Charleston,  twenty-two  miles  away,  and  Johnston  hastened 
to  join  Beauregard  with  the  major  part  of  his  army.  Patterson  was 
a  veteran  of  the  War  of  1812  and  of  the  Mexican  War,  and  though 
he  was  a  Breckenridge  Democrat  in  the  campaign  of  1860,  there 
is  little  ground  to  question  his  loyalty  to  the  Union.  His  costly 
blunder  was  the  result  of  incapacity.  He  was  speedily  relieved  of 
his  command,  and  Nathaniel  P.  Banks  was  appointed  in  his  stead. 

McDowell  had  planned  the  battle  with  reference  to  Beauregard's 
army  alone,  and  did  not  know  of  the  arrival  of  Johnston  till  after 

the  battle.  Pie  decided  to  make  the  attack  on  Sunday, 
Bull  Kun  Juty  21,  and  before  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  his 

army  moved  from  Centre ville  in  three  columns  under 
Generals  Tyler,  Hunter,  and  Heintzelman.1  Tyler  was  to  make  a 
feint  on  Beauregard's  left ;  the  other  two  were  to  make  a  long  detour 
and  cross  Bull  Run  at  Sudley  Ford  and  make  the  real  attack. 
Hunter's  division  met  the  enemy  at  ten  o'clock  and  opened  fire.  In 
a  short  time  the  Confederates  were  driven  back  a  mile  and  a  half  to 
a  plateau  where  General  Thomas  J.  Jackson  stood  with  a  brigade 
awaiting  the  Union  forces.  At  this  point  the  Confederate  General 
Bee,  who  was  mortally  wounded  later  in  the  day,  is  said  to  have 
exclaimed  to  his  men,  "Look  at  Jackson,  there  he  stands  like  a 
stonewall ! " — and  from  that  time  this  remarkable  commander,  whose 
powers  .were  yet  to  be  revealed,  was  known  as  "  Stonewall "  Jackson. 
The  firing  was  heard  by  Beauregard  and  Johnston,  then  four 
miles  away,  and  they  galloped  to  the  scene  of  the  conflict.  Johnston 

1  Two  other  divisions,  under  Miles  and  Runyon,  were  left  to  guard  the  base  at 
Centreville  and  the  communications  with  Washington. 


BATTLE   OF   BULL   RUN  657 

was  the  ranking  officer,  but  he  approved  most  of  the  plans  of  Beau- 
regard,  and  the  two  worked  in  harmony  during  the  day.  They 
arrived  on  the  field  at  noon  and  ordered  an  immediate  renewal 
of  the  fight.  The  battle  raged  for  three  hours  longer.  The  divi 
sions  of  Tyler  and  Heinzelmau  having  joined  that  of  Hunter,  the 
Union  forces  surged  up  the  slope  and  gained  possession  of  the  hill. 
They  were  driven  back  by  Jackson  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet ;  but 
they  rallied  and  regained  their  ground,  sweeping  the  Confederates 
from  the  field.  Such  was  the  condition  at  three  o'clock.  The  Union 
troops  began  to  rejoice  in  their  victory. 

But  at  this  moment  the  Confederates  began  to  cheer  and  to  move 
forward  with  great  confidence.  Why  the  sudden  change  ?  General 
Kirby  Smith  had  just  arrived  with  the  remnant  of  Johnston's 
army,  over  twenty-five  hundred  men.  These  fresh  troops  were  joined 
to  the  army  of  Beauregard  and  the  whole  force  moved  impetuously 
against  McDowell.  The  word  now  flew  through  the  Union  ranks 
that  Johnston's  army  had  arrived,  and  the  untrained 
militia  were  seized  with  a  sudden  fear.1  They  began  to  m 
waver,  to  retreat  down  the  slope;  and  in  a  little  time  they  were  a 
panic-stricken,  disorganized  mass,  fleeing  for  their  lives  across  the 
Virginia  plains.  In  vain  did  McDowell  and  his  officers  attempt  to 
rally  the  frightened  men.  They  believed  the  Confederates  were 
pursuing  them  (which  was  not  true),  and  they  fled  on  and  on  till  late 
in  the  night,  many  of  them  never  stopping  till  they  reached  the 
heights  of  Arlington  or  Washington,  thirty  miles  from  the  scene  of 
the  conflict.  Thus  ended  the  famous,  disastrous  battle  of  Bull  Run. 

The  news  of  the  defeat  at  Bull  Run  caused  deep  depression  and 
indignation  at  the  Xorth.  McDowell  was  severely  censured,  but  he 
had  done  nobly,  and  deserved  no  blame.  The  army  was  denounced 
as  a  band  of  cowards,  but  unfairly  and  unjustly.  Most  of  them 
were  untrained  in  military  affairs;  they  had  enlisted  in  the  war 
through  a  patriotic  impulse,  with  little  knowledge  of  the  real  charac 
ter  of  war.  They  had  been  thrown  into  a  panic,  had  lost  their  heads 
and  become  uncontrollable  through  a  sudden  fright.  Such  an  expe 
rience  might  come  to  any  body  of  raw  militia,  but  it  would  hardly  be 
possible  with  regulars. 

1  They  had  not  yet  learned  that  Johnston  with  most  of  his  army  had  arrived  on 
Saturday.  The  Union  loss  in  this  battle  was  481  killed.  1011  wounded,  and  about  1300 
prisoners,  many  of  whom  were  wounded.  The  Confederate  loss  was  387  killed,  1582 
wounded,  and  a  few  prisoners.  The  Union  army  also  lost  28  cannon,  5000  muskets,  and 
half  a  million  cartridges. 
2u 


658  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

The  battle  of  Bull  Kim  was  in  the  end  a  great  lesson  for  the 
North.  It  misled  the  South  by  giving  the  people  a  false  sense  of 
security,  a  belief  that  ultimate  success  was  certain.  The  North,  on 
the  other  hand,  after  a  few  days  of  depression  and  discouragement, 
arose  to  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  People  realized  for  the  first 
time  that  a  long  and  bloody  war  was  necessary  to  save  the  Union ; 
and  the  slight  wound  received  at  Bull  Run  awakened  the  mighty 
energy  that  was  essential  to  success. 

Next  to  Virginia,  Missouri  became  the  earliest  battle  ground  of 
the  war.  As  we  have  noticed,  Governor  Jackson  and  the  legislature 
made  the  most  desperate  efforts  to  lead  Missouri  into  secession,  but 
the  people  thought  otherwise.  They  elected  a  Union  convention 
which  declared  the  office  of  governor  and  other  offices  vacant,  and 
appointed  Union  men  to  fill  them.  These  appoint 
ments  were  ratified  by  the  people.  But  the  discredited 
governor  and  a  fragment  of  his  discredited  legislature  met  in 
November,  and  boldly  set  forth  a  declaration  of  independence  and 
pronounced  the  state  out  of  the  Union.  This  movement  proved  a 
fiasco;  it  had  no  influence  with  the  people. 

We  left  General  Lyon  at  Jefferson  City,  whence  he  removed  to 
Springfield  to  join  his  forces  with  fifteen  hundred  men  under  Colonel 
Franz  Sigel.  The  Missourians  under  Sterling  Price  had  meantime 
been  joined  by  General  Ben  McCulloch  with  a  force  from  Texas 
and  Arkansas,  raising  the  entire  army  to  nearly  twelve  thousand, 
while  that  of  Lyon  was  not  over  six  thousand.  On  the  9th  of  August 
Lyon  advanced  from  Springfield  to  the  banks  of  Wilson's  Creek,  ten 
miles  from  the  town,  where  Price  and  McCulloch  were  encamped. 
Sending  Sigel  with  twelve  hundred  men  around  the  enemy's  right 
Battle  of  ^0  strike  from  the  rear,  Lyon  commanded  the  main  army 

Wilson's  and  advanced  to  attack  in  front.  The  two  attacks  were 

Creek.  made,  -front  and  rear,  at  almost  the  same  moment,  about 

five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Sigel  made  a  desperate  charge  but 
was  driven  back  with  a  loss  of  two  thirds  of  his  men.  In  front  the 
battle  continued  for  some  hours,  Lyon  leading  his  men  with  great 
gallantry.  Twice  he  was  wounded,  and  his  horse  was  shot  under 
him ;  but  while  the  blood  was  streaming  from  a  wound 
Lygn  °  in  the  head,  he  mounted  a  second  horse  and  shouted  to 

his  men  to  follow  him  in  a  final  attack ;  but  at  that  mo 
ment  he  received  a  fatal  shot  in  the  breast.  The  death  of  Lyon, 
one  of  the  bravest  and  most  skillful  officers  in  the  service  of  the 


LINCOLN'S    MKSSAGE  659 


government,  was  a  national  disaster.  After  his  death  the  little  army, 
under  Major  Sturgis,  fought  on  valiantly  for  an  hour  longer,  when 
it  retreated  in  good  order  to  Springfield  and  thence  to  Rolla.  The 
total  Union  loss  in  the  battle  of  Wilson's  Creek  slightly  exceeded 
twelve  hundred,  while  the  Confederates  sustained  a  loss  of  about 
eleven  hundred  and  fifty. 


THE    EXTRA   SESSION   OF  CONGRESS 

Before  the  battles  of  Wilson's  Creek  and  Bull  Kim  the  Thirty- 
Seventh  Congress  had  met  in  special  session  at  the  call  of  the  Presi 
dent.  Two  notable  leaders  of  the  Senate,  Seward  and  Chase,  were 
now  in  the  Cabinet,  and  the  seat  of  the  latter  was  filled  by  John 
Sherman,  whose  six  years'  service  in  the  House  had  prepared  him 
for  a  long  and  useful  career.  Of  the  twenty-two  senators  represent 
ing  the  eleven  seceded  states,  all  had  left  that  body  save  Andrew 
Johnson  of  Tennessee,  who  alone  remained  true  to  the  Union.  But 
many  able  leaders  yet  remained.  Xew  England  was  represented  by 
Sumner  and  Henry  Wilson  of  Massachusetts,  Jacob  Collamer  of 
Vermont,  Fessenden  of  Maine,  and  John  P.  Hale  of  Xew  Hamp 
shire.  From  Pennsylvania  came  David  Wilmot;  from  Ohio,  Ben 
jamin  Wade;  from  Illinois.  Lyman  Trumbull:  from  Kentucky, 
John  C.  Breckenridge,  and  from  far-away  Oregon,  the  popular  Eng 
lish-born  soldier-statesman.  Edward  D.  Baker. 

The  leader  of  the  House  was  Thaddeus  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania, 
who  held  the  leadership  throughout  the  war,  and  whose  sympathy 
with  the  slave  almost  led  him  to  dislike  his  own  race.  Among  the 
ablest  men  in  the  House  were  George  H.  Pendleton  of  Ohio,  Elihu 
B.  Washburn  of  Illinois,  and  George  S.  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts. 
Galusha  A.  Grow  of  Pennsylvania  was  elected  Speaker. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  message  was  a  remarkably  clear  statement  of  the 
condition  of  the  country,  the  purpose  of  the  government,  and  the 
importance  to  the  world  of  saving  the  Union.  "This  issue,"  he 
stated,  "embraces  more  than  the  fate  of  the  United  States.  It 
presents  to  the  whole  family  of  man  the  question  whether  a  consti 
tutional  republic  or  democracy  —  a  government  of  the 
people  by  the  same  people  —  can  or  cannot  maintain  its 
territorial  integrity  against  its  own  domestic  foes.  .  .  . 
Must  a  government  be  too  strong  for  the  liberties  of  its  own  people, 
or  too  weak  to  maintain  its  own  existence  ?  v  That  the  President 


660  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

no  longer  thought  of  compromise  is  clear  from  his  statement  that 
"  no  popular  government  can  long  survive  a  marked  precedent,  that 
those  who  carry  an  election  can  only  save  the  government  from 
immediate  destruction  by  giving  up  the  main  point  upon  which  the 
people  gave  the  election."  As  to  the  criticisms  of  the  President 
for  having  in  April  suspended  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,1  he  shows 
how  this  apparent  violation  of  one  law  was  to  enforce  all  the  others 
that  had  been  violated  at  the  South,  and  disposes  of  the  matter  in  a 
stroke  by  saying,  "  Are  all  the  laws  but  one  to  go  unexecuted,  and 
the  government  itself  go  to  pieces  lest  that  one  be  violated?"  He 
confessed  in  this  message  that  he  had  surpassed  his  constitutional 
powers  in  his  call  of  May  4  for  an  increase  in  the  regular  army  and 
of  the  navy;  but  he  showed  the  public  necessity  for  these  acts  and 
asked  Congress  to  ratify  them.  He  also  called  for  four  hundred  thou 
sand  men  and  $400,000,000  to  prosecute  the  war. 

The  session  was  in  full  swing  when  the  news  of  the  Bull  Run 
defeat  reached  the  members  ;  but  this  only  stimulated  them,  as  it 
did  the  entire  North,  to  the  greater  determination  to  put  down  the 
rebellion  at  all  hazards.  One  of  the  first  important  acts  was  to 
authorize  the  President  (July  25)  to  call  out  five  hundred  thousand 
volunteers  for  three  years,  or  for  the  period  of  the  war;  and  a  few 
days  later  another  act  was  passed  largely  increasing  the  regular  army 
and  the  navy.  The  finances  were  also  well  taken  care  of.  The 
secretary  of  the  treasury  was  authorized  to  borrow  $250,000,000  by 
issuing  bonds  and  treasury  notes;  duties  on  certain  imports  were 
greatly  increased ;  an  annual  income  tax  of  three  per  cent  was  laid 
on  all  incomes  exceeding  $800.  Finally,  on  August  6,  the  last  day 
of  the  session,  the  earlier  acts  of  the  President  in  augmenting  the 
navy  and  army  were  ratified,  and  he  was  authorized  to  seize  and 
confiscate  any  property  used  or  intended  to  be  used  against  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States.  After  having  thus  put  the  country 
on  a  war  footing,  Congress  adjourned,  leaving  the  President  practi 
cally  military  dictator. 

The  session  was  remarkable  for  its  rapid  dispatch  of  business 
and  for  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution,  offered  by  the  ven 
erable  Mr.  Crittenden  of  Kentucky  :  "  That  .  .  .  Congress,  banish 
ing  all  feeling  of  mere  passion  or  resentment,  will  recollect  only  its 
duty  to  the  whole  country  ;  this  war  is  not  waged  ...  in  any  spirit 
of  oppression,  nor  for  any  purpose  of  conquest  .  .  .  but  to  preserve 
1  For  the  suspending  of  Habeas  Corpus,  see  note  at  end  of  chapter. 


RELATIONS   WITH   ENGLAND  661 

the  Union  with  all  the  dignity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  several 
states  unimpaired;  and  as  soon  as  these  objects  are  accomplished, 
the  war  ought  to  cease."  By  this  resolution  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
war  was  not  a  war  against  slavery  at  this  time ;  but  nothing  could 
long  keep  the  slavery  question  out  of  Congress ;  this  was  shown  in 
December  of  the  same  year,  when  Congress,  called  upon  to  vote  on  a 
resolution  similar  to  the  above,  defeated  it  by  a  large  majority. 
Even  in  this  extra  session  an  act,  known  as  the  Confiscation  Act,  was 
passed,  by  which  freedom  was  given  to  any  slave  who  should  be  em 
ployed  in  any  way  against  the  government  of  the  United  States. 

THE   TRENT  AFFAIR 

The  "  Trent  Affair  "  played  an  important  part  in  our  foreign  re 
lations  during  the  early  portion  of  the  war  period ;  but  the  account 
of  it  must  be  preceded  by  a  hurried  glance  at  the  relations  that  led 
up  to  it. 

It  was  impossible  that  a  prolonged  civil  war  should  be  carried  on 
in  America  without  profoundly  affecting  the  civilized  world ;  and 
the  attitude  of  Europe,  especially  of  England,  was  a  matter  of  deep 
concern  to  the  American  people  at  the  beginning  of  the  great  strug 
gle.  Never  before  had  a  more  friendly  spirit  existed  between  Eng 
land  and  the  United  States  than  in  the  autumn  of  1860.  Seldom 
had  a  year  passed  from  the  founding  of  the  United  States  govern 
ment  seventy  years  before,  without  a  dispute  of  some  kind  with  the 
mother  country ;  but  in  December,  1860,  President  Buchanan  could 
truthfully  say  in  his  message  to  Congress  that  as  "two  dangerous 
questions  arising  from  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  and  from  the  right 
of  search  "  (which  had  come  up  for  the  last  time  in  1858)  had  been 
amicably  settled,  our  relations  with  Great  Britain  were  of  the  most 
friendly  character.  Lord  Lyons,  the  British  minister  at  Washing 
ton,  pronounced  this  message  the  most  cordial  that  had  ever  ap 
peared  in  such  a  communication.  Moreover,  the  young  Prince  of 
Wales  had  just  visited  our  shores,  bearing  the  good  will  of  his  royal 
mother  to  our  government  and  people,  and  receiving  from  them  the 
most  unfeigned  expressions  of  the  nation's  friendship.  The  London 
Times,  commenting  on  the  planting  of  a  tree  at  the  tomb  of  Wash 
ington  by  the  prince,  said :  "  It  seemed,  when  the  royal  youth 
closed  the  earth  around  the  little  germ,  that  he  was  burying  the  last 
faint  trace  of  discord  between  us  and  our  great  brethren  in  the 


662  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

West."     But  all  this  was  soon  changed  by  the  rising  war  cloud  in 
America. 

The  nation  looked  to  England  for  sympathy-  in  its  struggle  for 
life;  the  southern  Confederacy  appealed  to  England's  commercial 
North  and  interests,  for  it  was  the  South  that  supplied  the  mate- 
South  appeal  rial  that  moved  the  machinery  of  the  great  cotton  mills 
to  England.  of  Liverpool,  of  Manchester,  and  of  Leeds.  How  would 
England  decide  between  the  two  sections  ?  On  the  one  hand  were 
the  friendly  relations  with  the  United  States ;  on  the  other,  the  want 
of  cotton,  which  could  be  had  only  by  breaking  the  blockade  and 
thus  making  war  with  the  United  States.  An  independent  South 
meant  free  trade  with  the  cotton  states  in  future,  and  the  bait  was 
an  alluring  one  to  the  English.  But  another  consideration  it  was 
that  probably  prevented  an  early  recognition  of  the  Confederacy  by 
Great  Britain.  Slavery  was  the  acknowledged  corner  stone  of  the  Con 
federacy,  and  the  English  disliked  slavery.  From  the  time  of  Lord 
Mansfield's  famous  decision  in  1772  slavery  had  not  been  permitted 
on  the  home  soil,  nor  in  the  English  colonies  after  1833.  How 
could  the  English  aid  in  establishing  a  nation  founded  on  slavery  ? 
But  commercial  interests  are  powerful,  and  the  sympathies  of 
the  higher  classes  in  England  were  at  first  almost  wholly  with  the 
South  ? l  The  press  and  the  great  quarterlies  of  England  favored 
the  South.  "We  believe  the  conquest  of  the  South  to  be  a  hope 
less  dream,"  said  the  Quarterly  Review.  "  The  Federal 
government  can  never  succeed  in  putting  down  the  re 
bellion,"  said  Mr.  Gladstone.2  Early  in  March  a  mo 
tion  was  introduced  into  the  House  of  Commons  for  the  recognition 
of  the  independence  of  the  South.  Commercial  interest,  however, 
was  not  perhaps  the  solitary  cause  of  this  feeling.  There  was  a 
general  fear  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  that  the  American 
republic  was  growing  too  great.  This  was  voiced  by  Sir  Edward 
Bulwer  Lytton,  who  said  in  an  address,3  "  I  believe  that  such  separa 
tion  will  be  attended  with  happy  results  to  the  safety  of  Europe  and 
the  development  of  American  civilization.  .  .  .  America  would  have 
hung  over  Europe  (but  for  its  being  divided  by  the  Civil  War,  which 

1  See  Justin  McCarthy's  "  History  of  Our  Own  Times,"  Vol.  II,  p.  224. 

2  In  1896  Mr.  Gladstone,  in  his  old  age,  wrote  in  his  diary  that  his  offense  was 
grossly  improper  in  giving  this  opinion  in  1862.     See  Morley's  "  Life  of  Gladstone," 
Vol.  II,  p.  81. 

3  Before  the  agricultural  society  of  Hertford  County,  September  25, 1861.     Quoted 
by  Harris,  "The  Trent  Affair,"  p.  27. 


THE   QUEEN'S   PROCLAMATION  663 

the  speaker  assumed  to  be  already  accomplished)  like  a  gathering 
and  destructive  thunder  cloud."  This  feeling  was  natural  in  Europe, 
nor  is  it  a  just  ground  for  present-day  resentment  in  America. 
Europe  foresaw  that  the  United  States,  if  they  remained  together, 
would  grow  into  a  vast  power  of  unmeasured  strength,  but  did  not 
foresee  that  we  would  be  a  conservative  people  who  love  peace  far 
better  than  war.  To  become  a  military  bully  because  of  conscious 
power  is  utterly  foreign  to  the  American  spirit,  nor  can  such  a  con 
dition  ever  be  possible  without  a  complete  revolution  in  public  opin 
ion,  of  which  there  is  yet  no  tendency. 

Before  the  close  of  Buchanan's  administration  Secretary  Black  had 
written  an  order  to  our  foreign  ministers  that  they  use  every  effort 
with  the  respective  countries  to  which  they  were  assigned   Tlie  queen<s 
to   prevent    a  recognition  of  the  Confederacy.      This  proclama- 
was  repeated  in  a   more  emphatic  way  by   Secretary  tion.May!4, 
Seward  soon  after  the  inauguration  of  Lincoln.      Most   1861t 
countries  made  favorable  answers;  but  England,  through  her  foreign 
minister,  refused  to  commit  herself  one  way  or  the  other.     Early  in 
May,  Charles  Francis  Adams,  son  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  embarked 
for  England  as  minister  to  that  country  from  the  United  States.    On 
the  day  of  his  landing  and  before  he  had  met  the  British  officials,  the 
queen's  proclamation  of  neutrality  was  made  public.     This  accorded 
to  the  South  the  same  belligerent  rights,  the  same  war  privileges, 
that  international  law  accords  to  a  sovereign   power.     This  hasty 
action  of  Great  Britain,  which  was  soon  followed  by  France  and  most 
of  the  other  European  governments,  was  looked  upon  by  the  American 
people  as  showing  an  unfriendly  spirit.     It  is  true  that  the  United 
States  was  forced  a  few  months  later  to  do  this  very  thing  —  to 
acknowledge  the  belligerent  rights  of  the  South,  not  openly,  but  by 
its  treatment  of  Confederate  soldiers  according  to  the  rules  of  war  — 
but  why  should  a  foreign  power  do  this  first,  before  a  state  of  war  actu 
ally  existed,  and  in  the  face  of  our  protest  ?     As  John  Bright  said 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  "  It  was  done  with  unfriendly  haste."  * 

1  Speech  of  March  13, 1865.  British  writers  have  justified  the  action  of  the  queen 
by  taking  the  ground  that  President  Lincoln  had  in  substance  acknowledged  the 
belligerency  of  the  South  by  his  blockade  proclamation  of  April  19,  and  that  a  foreign 
power  could  not  respect  the  blockade  without  recognizing  the  state  of  war.  But 
there  is  no  international  rule  of  this  sort.  For  example.  Russia  blockaded  her  own 
ports  on  the  Black  Sea  for  five  years  succeeding  1831,  as  they  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
Circassian  rebels.  England  recognized  this  blockade  without  acknowledging  the 
belligerent  rights  of  the  rebels.  See  Harris,  p.  51. 


664  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

In  a  few  months,  however,  when  it  was  seen  that  the  British 
government  was  not  inclined  at  that  time  to  acknowledge  the  inde 
pendence  of  the  Confederacy,1  the  feeling  of  bitterness  awakened  by 
the  proclamation  was  greatly  softened.  There  was  also  a  reaction 
in  England.  Public  opinion  veered  around  and  in  some  degree  came 
to  favor  the  North.  This  change  was  partially  due  to  a  series  of 
articles  describing  slavery  in  the  South,  published  in  the  London 
Times  from  its  special  correspondent  who  was  traveling  in  the 
Southern  states. 

Meantime  the  Confederate  government  was  industriously  seeking 
recognition  from  foreign  powers,  especially  from  England.  The 
southern  leaders  believed  that  cotton  would  eventually  unlock  the 
doors  that  were  at  first  closed  against  them.  "  We  do  not  like 
slavery,"  said  Lord  Palmerston,  the  British  Premier,  to  an  American 
in  London,  "  but  we  want  cotton,  and  we  dislike  very  much  your 
Morrill  tariff."2  While  refraining  from  recognizing  the  South 
as  a  nation,  the  British  government  seemed  to  be  preparing  for  some 
unusual  movement.  Twenty-five  thousand  fresh  British  troops  were 
stationed  along  the  Canadian  border,  in  the  fear  that  the  Americans 
"might  do  something,"  as  the  English  foreign  minister  said  to  Mr. 
Adams.  Accordingly  Secretary  Seward  addressed  a  circular  letter 
to  the  governors  of  all  the  states  along  the  northern  border  and  the 
New  England  coast,  suggesting  that  they,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Federal  government,  put  the  ports  and  harbors  in  the  best  state  of 
defense.  This  circular  caused  much  unfavorable  comment  in  Canada 
and  England. 

Scarcely  had  this  circular  reached  the  respective  governors  when 
occurred  the  episode  known  as  the  Trent  Affair,  which  strained  the 
peaceful  relations  between  the  United  States  and  the  British  Empire 
almost  to  the  breaking  point.  President  Davis  had  determined  to 
send  two  men  of  established  reputation  to  represent  his  government 
at  London  and  Paris.  James  M.  Mason  of  Virginia  and  John  Slidell 
of  Louisiana  were  chosen.  Mr.  Mason  belonged  to  one 
Slidell  an  °^  ^ne  mos^  prominent  families  of  Virginia;  he  had 
served  for  many  years  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
and  was  the  writer  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  of  1850.  Slidell  had 
also  served  in  the  Senate.  Both  were  secessionists  of  the  ultra  type. 

1  The  motion  to  recognize  the  independence  of  the  South  introduced  in  the 
Commons  in  March,  was  withdrawn  in  June. 

2  See  Rhodes,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  431,  433. 


CAPTURE    OF    MASON   AND    SLIDELL  665 

At  midnight  of  October  12,  1861,  Mason  and  Slidell  escaped 
from  Charleston  Harbor  in  an  armed  blockade  runner  and  reached 
Havana  in  safety.  On  November  7  they  embarked  from  that  port 
for  Southampton,  England,  on  the  British  mail  steamer  Trent.  At 
about  noon  of  the  next  day,  as  the  Trent  was  steaming  through  the 
Bahama  Channel,  she  was  hailed  by  an  American  sloop  and  ordered, 
by  a  solid  shot  across  her  bows,  to  heave  to.  Disregarding  this,  the 
Trent  was  brought  to  a  stop  by  a  shell  that  exploded  in  front  of  her. 
The  American  vessel  proved  to  be  the  San  Jacinto,  a  screw  sloop  of 
fifteen  guns.  Captain  Charles  Wilkes  was  her  commander.  Wilkes 
was  known  as  a  skillful  naval  officer,  but  he  was  better  known  as  a 
scientist  and  an  explorer.  He  had  made  a  famous  voyage  to  the 
Antarctic  seas,  where  he  discovered  and  gave  his  name  to  that  dreary, 
unpeopled  land  which  is  marked  in  our  geographies  as  "  Wilkes 
Land."  Hearing  that  the  two  southern  envoys  had  em-  ^g  seizure 
barked  on  the  Trent,  Wilkes  determined  to  make  them  October  13, 
his  prisoners.  The  English  captain  was  highly  indig-  1861. 
nant  at  the  demand,  but  he  had  no  power  to  resist,  and  after  Mason 
and  Slidell  and  their  two  secretaries  had  been  transferred  to  the  San 
Jacinto  the  Trent  was  permitted  to  proceed  on  her  way.  The  two 
men  were  carried  to  Boston  Harbor  and  confined  as  prisoners  of 
war  in  Fort  Warren. 

The  news  of  Wilkes's  capture  produced  the  first  hearty  rejoicing 
of  the  war  throughout  the  Xorth.  The  press  and  the  people  raised 
a  shout  of  joy  over  the  clever  capture.  Captain  Wilkes  was  given 
an  ovation  in  Boston,  another  in  New  York,  and  he  became  a  popular 
hero  of  the  day.  Congress  tendered  him  a  vote  of  thanks,  and  the 
Cabinet,  except  one  member,  joined  in  the  general  chorus  of  rejoic 
ing.  Biit  there  was  one  man,  the  wisest  and  farthest-sighted  of 
them  all,  who  did  not  join  in  the  general  joy.  This  was  President 
Lincoln.  On  the  evening  of  the  day  that  brought  the  news  of  the 
capture,  he  said  that  he  feared  the  captives  would  prove  white 
elephants,  and  declared  that  "  we  fought  Great  Britain  for  insisting 
by  theory  and  practice  on  the  right  to  do  precisely  what  Captain 
Wilkes  has  done."  He  foresaw  that  the  attitude  of  England  in 
the  matter  must  be  reckoned  with,  and  Postmaster-General  Blair 
shared  his  views. 

When  the  news  of  the  capture  reached  England,  a  universal 
outburst  of  anger  overspread  the  kingdom.  As  the  American 
public  had  rejoiced  without  considering  the  gravity  of  the  situation, 


666  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

so  the  English  people  were  equally  thoughtless  in  flying  into  a 
passion.  They  ignored  all  precedents  arising  from  their  own  claim 
of  the  right  of  search,  and  saw  in  the  act  of  Wilkes 
only  the  violation  of  the  British  flag.  The  law  officers 
of  the  Crown  decided  that  the  act  of  Captain  Wilkes 
was  illegal  because  he  did  not  take  the  Trent  into  port  and  subject 
his  capture  to  the  decision  of  a  prize  court.  The  war  spirit  rose 
to  fever  heat,  and  the  government  began  making  immediate  prepara 
tions  for  war.  Great  quantities  of  cannon,  muskets,  and  ammuni 
tion  were  loaded  on  shipboard  for  Canada.  Thirty  thousand  men 
were  sent  to  Halifax,  in  the  belief,  however,  that  they  were  going 
straight  to  Charleston  to  join  the  Confederate  armies. 

With  great  promptness  the  British  ministry  framed  a  formal 
demand  on  America  for  reparation.  This  was  sent  to  the  queen 
for  her  approval,  and  Prince  Albert  wrestled  with  it  a  whole  night, 
greatly  modifying  the  harshness  of  its  tone.  This  was  the  last 
official  writing  of  the  Prince  Consort ;  his  health  was  rapidly  failing, 
and  within  a  few  weeks  he  was  dead.  But  seven  days  were  allowed 
in  which  to  return  an  answer  to  the  British  demand.  When  this 
became  known  to  the  American  people,  there  was  a  cry  of  rage 
against  England.  It  was  believed  on  all  sides  that  England  would 
have  made  no  such  demand  had  we  not  been  embarrassed  at  home 
by  a  great  civil  war  —  that  she  would  have  been  willing  to  discuss 
the  merits  of  the  question,  to  cite  precedents,  and  to  leave  the 
matter  to  arbitration.  All  this  was  refused  in  the  peremptory 
demand.  Public  opinion  was  divided,  but  not  equally.  The 
great  majority  wanted  war  at  any  cost.  Seward  believed  —  and 
he  had  many  followers  —  that  we  could  defeat  England  and  put 
down  the  rebellion  at  the  same  time.  Others  drew  a  darker  picture 
—  the  destruction  of  our  seaboard  cities,  the  annihilation  of  our 
navy,  and  the  breaking  of  the  blockade;  the  loss  of  trade,  the  vast 
expense  in  money  and  human  life,  and  the  coalition  of  England 
with  the  South !  And  yet  many  who  saw  this  awful  picture  still 
raised  their  voice  for  war  rather  than  submission.  Others  said, 
"  Let  us  yield  now  from  necessity  and  be  revenged  hereafter."  John 
W.  Forney,  one  of  the  leading  newspaper  men  in  the  country,  said  in 
the  Philadelphia  Press :  "  Let  us  swear,  not  only  to  ourselves,  but  to  our 
children  that  come  after  us,  to  repay  this  greedy  and  insolent  power 
with  the  retribution  of  a  just  and'  fearful  vengeance."  But  most  of 
the  people  refrained  from  the  use  of  such  extravagant  language. 


THE   TREXT   AFFAIR  667 

Meantime  the  momentous  question  had  to  be  decided.  The  seven 
days  had  almost  expired.  Every  eye  was  turned  toward  Washington, 
and  at  length  the  answer  came.  The  government  as 
tonished  the  public  and  the  world,  disappointed  the 
South,  and  averted  a  great  war  by  quietly  yielding  the 
point  —  releasing  the  prisoners  and  disavowing  the  act  of  Wilkes.1 
Why  this  submission  of  a  proud  and  mighty  people,  who  believed 
themselves  in  the  right  ?  The  answer  is  simple  :  We  could  not  then 
afford  another  great  wrar.  The  decision  probably  saved  the  life  of 
the  nation,  and  the  nineteenth  century  can  furnish  few  greater 
strokes  of  statesmanship.  It  was  chiefly  the  work  of  one  great  soul, 
the  greatest  genius  of  his  generation  —  Abraham  Lincoln. 

The  consensus  of  European  opinion  on  the  Trent  Affair  was 
favorable  to  the  British  view;  and  this  was  practically  the  view 
taken  by  Mr.  Seward  in  his  elaborate  answer  to  Lord  Lyons. 
Seward  acknowledged  that  Wilkes  had  committed  an  error,  but 
declared  that  he  had  acted  with  the  single  idea  of  serving  his  country, 
and  without  the  slightest  intention  of  offending  the  British  flag. 
Great  Britain  was  wholly  in  the  wrong  in  working  herself  into  a  war 
fever  without  waiting  for  a  word  of  explanation  or  asking  if  we  meant 
to  offend  her,  in  sending  an  ultimatum,  a  demand  for  immediate 
redress,  while  mobilizing  armies,  and  in  refusing  to  discuss  the 
merits  of  the  subject  at  all. 

NOTES 

The  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus.  —  In  May,  1861,  a  serious  dispute  arose  between 
the  President  and  Chief  Justice  Taney  concerning  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of 
Habeas  Corpus.  The  Constitution  provides  that  the  writ  may  be  suspended 
only  in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  but  by  whom  is  not  stated.  President 
Lincoln  took  the  responsibility  of  suspending  the  writ,  and  caused  the  arrest  of  one 
John  Merriman,  for  recruiting  a  Confederate  force  in  Maryland,  and  imprisoned 
him  at  Fort  McIIenry.  Merriman  applied  to  the  chief  justice  for  a  writ  of 
Habeas  Corpus  and  Mr.  Taney  issued  it,  on  the  ground  that  Congress  only  had 
the  right  to  suspend  the  writ.  But  President  Lincoln  refused  to  be  bound  by 
the  decision  of  the  chief  justice,  and  applied  for  the  opinion  of  his  attorney- 
general,  Mr.  Bates,  who  sustained  the  President.  The  Constitution,  interpreted 
by  the  correct  principles  of  political  science,  could  not  deny  to  the  President  the 
power  of  suspension  of  this  writ,  as  Congress  might  not  be  in  session  at  a  time 

1  Mason  and  Slidell  proceeded  to  Europe,  but  they  accomplished  nothing.  They 
received  no  public  welcome  in  London.  The  London  Times  said,  "  We  should  have 
done  just  as  much  to  rescue  two  of  their  own  negroes." 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


of  sudden  invasion,  and  on  the  President  would  devolve  the  responsibility  of 
maintaining  public  order. 

Belligerent  Rights. — This  matter  was  settled  by  the  battle  of  Bull  Run. 
President  Lincoln  had  stated  in  his  blockade  proclamation  that  Confederate 
privateers  when  captured  would  be  treated  as  pirates.  Early  in  June  the  pri 
vateer  Savannah  was  captured  by  the  United  States  war  vessel  Perry,  and.  the 
crew  were  taken  to  New  York  City  and  lodged  in  jail  for  trial.  But  soon  after 
Bull  Run,  President  Davis  put  some  of  the  prisoners  taken  in  that  battle  in 
chains,  and  sent  word  to  the  authorities  at  Washington  that  he  would  deal  with 
them  in  the  same  manner  as  the  United  States  government  should  deal  with  the 
crew  of  the  Savannah.  This  led  Mr.  Lincoln  to  recede  from  his  position,  and 
the  crew  were  exchanged  as  prisoners  of  war.  From  this  time  the  United  States, 
in  practice,  though  not  in  theory,  accorded  belligerent  rights  to  the  South. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

THE   CIVIL   WAR  — THE   FIRST   YEAR'S    CONFLICT 

THE  Federal  disaster  at  Bull  Run  was  better  than  a  victory  for 
the  North,  for  it  roused  the  whole  people  to  a  sense  of  the  magnitude 
of  the  task  before  them.  It  led  hundreds  of  thousands  of  determined 
men  to  leave  their  homes  and  take  up  arms  in  defense  of  the 
Union;  while  the  South  was  led  by  its  victory  to  a  false  sense  of 
security,  to  a  belief  that  secession  had  succeeded,  and  that  the  war 
was  practically  over.  The  uprising  of  the  North  was  on  a  grand 
scale.  Every  city,  village,  and  hamlet  was  astir  with  martial  activ 
ity,  and  within  a  few  months  after  Bull  Run  more  than  half  a  million 
men  had  joined  the  northern  armies.1  These  were  stationed  at  various 
points  along  the  border  line,  from  the  coast  of  Virginia  to  the  plains 
of  Kansas.  The  largest  army  was  that  before  Washington,  and  the 
young  leader  who  had  won  the  admiration  of  the  country  in  the 
mountains  of  western  Virginia  was  called  to  its  command.  McClellan 
took  control  the  last  week  in  July,  leaving  General  W.  S.  Rosecrans 
at  the  head  of  the  forces  in  West  Virginia.  General  John  C.  Fremont 
was  appointed  to  the  military  district  of  the  West,  and  he  reached 
his  headquarters  at  St.  Louis  near  the  close  of  July.  General  Robert 
Anderson  of  Fort  Sumter  fame  was  placed  in  command  at  Louisville, 
and  General  Benjamin  M.  Prentiss  at  Cairo.  These  commands  were 
all  changed  within  a  year  or  two,  as  we  shall  notice  in  the  course  of 
the  narrative. 

The  preparations  for  war  were  less  vigorous  at  this  time  in  the 
South  than  in  the  North.  The  Confederate  president,  who  did  not 
share  the  belief  of  his  countrymen  that  Bull  Run  had  ended  the 
war,  employed  all  his  personal  and  official  influence  to  awaken 
the  people  to  the  belief  that  a  long  and  bloody  war  was  before  them. 
At  the  beginning  of  July  the  South  had  about  112,000  men  in  the 

1  The  December  reports  of  the  secretaries  of  war  and  the  navy  show  that  there 
were  at  that  time  in  the  service  of  the  government  640,637  volunteers,  20,334  regulars, 
aud  22,000  marines. 

669 


670  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

field,  stationed  chiefly  in  Virginia,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  and  south 
ern  Missouri.  On  the  8th  of  August  the  Confederate  Congress,  led 
by  Mr.  Davis,  authorized  the  enlistment  of  400,000  men  for  three 
years,  and  the  work  of  raising  and  organizing  this  force  continued 
through  the  autumn  and  winter ;  but  there  was  no  such  universal, 
spontaneous  movement  as  characterized  the  North,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  year  1861  scarcely  one  fourth  of  this  number  had  been  raised. 

In  the  matter  of  army  equipment  the  South  was  at  first  fairly 
well  supplied,  owing  partly  to  the  thoughtful  foresight  of  Mr.  Floyd, 
Mr.  Buchanan's  secretary  of  war,  who,  in  apparent  anticipation  of 
war  between  the  sections,  had  removed  great  numbers  of  muskets 
from  northern  to  southern  arsenals.  The  seizure  of  Harpers  Ferry 
and  Norfolk  and  the  muskets  captured  at  Bull  Run  were  of 
great  service  to  the  southern  armies.  The  North,  though  badly 
armed  at  first,  began  at  once  the  manufacture  of  arms  and  other 
'munitions  of  war  on  a  large  scale,  and  after  the  first  year  of  the  war 
there  was.  an  adequate  supply  for  all  demands.  The.  Confederates 
also  set  about  manufacturing  powder  and  arms,  but  the  supply  was 
never  adequate,  and  the  southern  cause  suffered  constantly  from  this 
defect.  For  some  months  after  Bull  Run  and  Wilson's  Creek  there 
was  no  battle  or  military  movement  of  importance;  we  turn  therefore 
to  a  notice  of 

THE   FIRST   NAVAL   EXPEDITIONS 

At  a  notable  gathering  of  the  European  powers  at  Paris  in  the 
spring  of  1856  it  was  decided,  among  other  things,  that  privateering 
be  abolished.  The  United  States  was  requested  to  join  in  this 
agreement,  but  it  refused.  A  few  months  later,  however,  the  United 
States  government  offered  to  accept  the  Paris  agreement,  if  the 
powers  would  add  another  article  exempting  all  private  property 
from  capture  by  an  enemy  at  sea.  But  to  this  they  refused  to  agree. 
Had  the  United  States  foreseen  the  fearful  retribution  that  would 
be  visited  upon  it  within  the  coming  decade  on  account  of  the  first 
refusal,  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  original  agreement  would  have 
been  accepted. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Confederate  president  was  to  authorize 
privateering  —  the  preying  of  Confederate  cruisers  on  the  merchant 
marine  of  the  United  States.  This  was  a  vital  spot  at  which  the 
South  could  strike  without  fear  of  retaliation,  for  the  wealth  of  the 
South  in  shipping  could  be  rated  at  zero.  Confederate  privateering 


COAST   EXPEDITIONS  G71 

was  begun  early  in  the  struggle,  and  it  was  partly  to  intercept  the 
blockade  runners  that  the  first  Federal  naval  expeditions  along  the 
Atlantic  coast  were  undertaken. 

On  the  26th  of  August,  1861,  General  B.  F.  Butler  embarked 
in  a  small  improvised  fleet  from  Fortress  Monroe  for  Hatteras 
Inlet,  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina.  Two  days  later 
the  fleet  was  throwing  shells  into  the  newly  built  forts, 
Clark  and  Hatteras,  at  an  opening  of  Pamlico  Sound, 
and  in  twenty-four  hours  both  forts  had  surrendered,  with  nearly 
seven  hundred  men,  a  thousand  stand  of  arms,  and  thirty-five  cannon. 

A  more  pretentious  expedition  was  that  of  General  Ambrose  E. 
Burnside,  who  sailed  from  Fortress  Monroe  in  January,  1862.1  His 
fleet  numbered  eighty  vessels,  large  and  small,  mounting  ninety-four 
guns,  and  bearing  an  army  of  twelve  thousand  men ;  the  naval  com 
mander  was  Commodore  L.  M.  Goldsborough.  The  destination  was 
the  eastern  coast  of  North  Carolina,  where  at  Hatteras  Inlet  the 
small  force  left  by  Butler  some  months  before  still  held  its 
ground.  The  object  of  the  expedition  was  to  blockade  and  to  gain 
possession  of  Pamlico  Sound  and  the  adjoining  coast. 
The  fleet  arrived,  crossed  the  bar  into  Pamlico  Sound,  expedition 
and  proceeded  northward  to  Roanoke  Island,  which  lies 
between  Albemarle  and  Pamlico  sounds.  The  Confederate  forces 
on  this  island,  about  three  thousand  strong,  were  in  command  of 
Henry  A.  Wise,  whom  we  have  met  as  governor  of  Virginia,  at  the 
time  of  the  execution  of  John  Brown.  The  Union  fleet  landed  seventy- 
five  hundred  troops  on  the  island  on  the  evening  of  February  6.  Next 
morning  they  floundered  through  marsh  and  bog  till  they  reached 
the  enemy's  breastworks,  which,  after  firing  several  volleys,  they 
scaled  in  one  impetuous  rush,  making  prisoners  of  the  whole  force 
of  the  enemy.  This  was  a  victory  of  much  importance,  as  Roanoke 
Island  stood  at  the  gateway  of  both  great  sounds  east  of  the  main 
coast  of  North  Carolina. 

Burnside  gave  his  army  a  few  days'  rest ;  and  then,  leaving  an 
adequate  force  to  hold  the  island,  he  set  out  for  new  victories.  He 
determined  on  the  capture  of  New  Berne,  a  little  city  on  the  Neuse 
River  which  flows  into  Pamlico  Sound,  and  next  to  Wilmington  the 
most  important  seaport  on  the  North  Carolina  coast.  The  capture 
was  effected  after  a  dreary  march  through  the  mud,  and  a  sharp, 
decisive  battle. 

1  See  Burnside's  account  in  "  Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  I,  p.  000  sq. 


672  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

Still  another  important  victory  was  to  be  scored  by  this  army. 
Soon  after  the  capture  of  New  Berne,  Burnside  sent  General  Parke 
against  Fort  Macon,  forty  miles  to  the  southeast  on  the  coast.  Fort 
Macon  was  an  old  and  strong  stone  fort,  and  had  been  the  property 
of  the  Union.  Parke  demanded  a  surrender,  and  when  this  was 
refused,  he  trained  his  guns  upon  the  works  and  bombarded  them 
for  one  day,  when  the  fort,  with  its  contents,  including  its  five 
hundred  brave  defenders,  was  delivered  into  his  hands.  The  Burn- 
side  expedition  was  a  very  successful  one,  and  the  coast  of  North 
Carolina  was  held  to  the  end  of  the  war  by  the  Union  armies. 
Burnside,  however,  was  ordered  northward  in  midsummer,  1862,  to 
join  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  under  McClellan. 

One  more  successful  naval  expedition  belonged  to  this  early 
period  of  the  war.  Some  time  before  the  expedition  of  Burnside  a 
fleet  of  fifty  ships  left  Hampton  Roads  under  Admiral 
expe^tion  S'  F'  ^upont.1  General  Thomas  W.  Sherman  had  com 
mand  of  the  land  force,  some  twelve  thousand  men. 
The  commanders  of  the  vessels  were  ignorant  of  their  destination ; 
but  each  had  sealed  orders  to  be  opened  at  sea  in  case  the  fleet  be 
came  scattered.  When  they  were  off  Cape  Hatteras  a  tempest  swept 
the  sea,  and  the  fleet  was  soon  scattered  far  and  wide.  The  sealed 
orders  were  then  opened  and  each  commander  discovered  that  he 
was  going  to  Port  Royal,  on  the  coast  of  South  Carolina  between 
Charleston  and  Savannah.  Several  of  the  vessels  were  lost  or  dis 
abled.  The  rest  met  at  the  designated  place  early  in  November. 
The  sound  on  which  Port  Royal  is  situated  is  almost  shut  off  from 
the  open  sea  by  Hilton  Head  Island  and  Phillips  Island,  separated 
by  a  narrow  channel.  Two  forts,  Walker  and  Beauregard,  stood  guard 
on  either  side  of  the  channel.  The  Confederate  commander  was 
General  T.  F.  Drayton,  whose  brother,  Captain  Percival  Drayton, 
commanded  a  vessel  in  Dupont's  approaching  fleet.2  A  small  fleet 
within  the  sound  was  commanded  by  Commodore  Tatnall,  a  veteran 
of  the  War  of  1812  and  of  the  Mexican  War,  and  late  of  the  United 
States  Navy. 

The  cannonading,  which  began  on  November  7,  was  very  heavy, 
and  the  roar  was  distinctly  heard  at  Fernandina,  seventy  miles 

1  At  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War  the  highest  rank  in  the  navy  was  captain.     In 
July,  1862,  Congress  created  several  rear  admirals,  of  whom  Dupont  was  one. 

2  There  were  various  other  instances  where  brother  fought  against  brother  in  the 
Civil  War. 


MONITOR  AND   MEBBIMAC  673 

away.  Within  six  hours  both  forts  were  silenced,  the  Confederates 
fled,  and  the  stars  and  stripes  were  hoisted  over  the  ruined  walls. 
Tatnall  set  fire  to  his  fleet  and  escaped,  leaving  the  harbor  of  Port 
Royal  in  the  possession  of  Dupont  and  Sherman.  Thus  another 
important  harbor  came  under  the  control  of  the  government.  This 
victory,  with  those  of  Butler  and  Burnside  above  mentioned,  was  of 
great  value  to  the  Union  cause.  They  greatly  revived  the  spirit  of 
the  northern  people  after  the  disasters  of  Bull  Run  and  Wilson's 
Creek ;  they  had  a  salutary  moral  effect  on  Europe ;  they  rendered 
the  blockade  effective  almost  throughout  the  entire  coast  from  Vir 
ginia  to  Florida,  and  they  furnished  admirable  bases  for  future 
operations  during  the  war.1 

THE   DUEL  OF  THE   IRONCLADS 

The  most  famous  of  all  naval  duels,  and  one  of  the  most  impor 
tant  in  the  world's  history,  was  that  between  the  Monitor  and  the 
Mem-mac  at  Hampton  Roads  on  Sunday,  March  9,  1862.  But  four 
years  before  this  time  France  had  built  the  first  ironclad ;  England 
soon  followed  her  lead  and  built  two,  and  these  three  alone  existed  at 
the  opening  of  the  Civil  War.  But  none  of  these  had  come  into  action, 
and  it  was  left  for  the  United  States,  in  its  unnatural  contest  with 
itself,  to  furnish  the  world  with  the  first  battle  between  ironclads. 

On  abandoning  the  navy  yard  near  Norfolk  in  April,  1861,  the 
Union  forces  burned  what  was  combustible,  including  the  steam 
frigate  Merrimac.  The  vessel  when  partially  consumed 

sank  beneath  the  waves.     A  few  months  later  the  Con-    ,,e  . 

Merrimac. 
federates   raised  it  and  converted  it  into  an  ironclad. 

The  work  progressed  for  many  months,  until  March  8, 1862,  when  this 
new  ironbound  monster,  now  called  the  Virginia,  steamed  down  the 
Elizabeth  River  toward  Hampton  Roads,  where  lay  at  anchor  several 
of  the  finest  United  States  warships. 

Meanwhile  the  Lincoln  administration,  knowing  of  the  building 
of  the  Merrimac,  was  preparing  to  meet  her  with  a  vessel  of  her  own 
class.  A  contract  for  an  ironclad  was  made  with  John  Ericsson, 
the  Swedish  inventor.  Ericsson  ignored  the  French  and  English 
models  and  built  a  vessel  on  a  plan  of  his  own  invention.  Day  and 
night  the  work  was  pushed  at  the  Brooklyn  shipyard,  and  the  new 
ironclad,  named  the  Monitor,  was  finished  almost  at  the  same  hour 
i  "  Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  I,  p.  682. 


674  HISTORY   OF    THE   UNITED   STATES 

as  was  the  Merrimac.  But  she  had  much  further  to  go,  and  the 
Merrimac,  under  Captain  Buchanan,  reached  the  scene  of  action 
some  hours  in  advance  of  the  Monitor;  and  memorable  hours  they 
were  in  American  naval  history. 

The  Merrimac  steamed  slowly  up  the  harbor  toward  Newport 
News  on  that  calm  afternoon  of  March  8,  on  her  mission  of  destruc- 
Destructionof  tion.  When  she  came  within  three  quarters  of  a  mile 
the  Cumber-  the  Congress,  a  fine  frigate  of  fifty  guns,  opened  fire  on 
frmdandthe  her,  as  did  also  the  Cumberland,  a  sloop  of  thirty  guns; 
but  the  strange-looking  monster  held  her  peace.  At 
length,  when  she  came  within  easy  range,  she  fired  into  the  Camber- 
land  with  fearful  effect,  then  she  raked  the  Congress  with  a  broadside. 
After  this,  steering  direct  for  the  Cumberland,  she  rammed  that 
vessel,  and  the  impact  stove  in  her  side,  making  a  hole  "  wide 
enough  to  drive  in  a  horse  and  cart."  The  Cumberland  filled  rapidly 
with  water,  but  the  gallant  crew  kept  working  their  guns  to  the  last. 
The  vessel  sank  with  a  final  roar,  and  the  mast,  still  protruding 
above  the  water,  marked  with  its  fluttering  pennant  the  burial  place 
of  a  crew  as  brave  as  any  that  ever  died  in  their  country's  cause. 
For  an  hour  longer  the  Congress  continued  the  struggle,  when  she 
surrendered ;  and  the  Confederates  burned  her  in  the  evening.  During 
this  contest  the  shore  batteries  at  Newport  News  poured  volley  after 
volley  into  the  Merrimac,  but  neither  their  shots  nor  those  from  the 
vessels  seemed  to  affect  the  iron  pachyderm.  The  Minnesota,  seeing  the 
distress  of  her  unfortunate  sisters,  had  steamed  down  the  channel  to 
take  part  in  the  battle,  but  she  ran  aground  and  stuck  fast.  Here 
she  lay  helpless  in  the  middle  of  the  channel  and  might  have  become 
an  easy  prey  to  the  Merrimac.  But  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and 
the  captain  of  the  Merrimac  decided  to  wait  till  the  following  morn 
ing  to  complete  his  destructive  work.  The  delay  was  fatal. 

The  news  of  this  fearful  day's  work  was  flashed  northward,  and 
it  created  consternation.  Mr.  Lincoln  held  a  Cabinet  meeting  to 
discuss  the  new  terror. 

"  The  Merrimac,"  said  Secretary  Stanton,  "  will  change  the  whole 
character  of  the  war ;  she  will  destroy,  seriatim,  every  naval  vessel ; 
she  will  lay  all  the  cities  on  the  sea  coast  under  contribution."  The 
greatest  anxiety  prevailed  in  government  circles ;  but  the  next  day 
brought  different  news. 

On  that  night  the  Monitor  arrived  from  New  York,  commanded 
by  Lieutenant  John  L.  Worden.  Steaming  up  the  mouth  of  the 


DUEL   OF   THE   IRONCLADS  675 

James  by  the  light  of  the  burning  Congress,  she  hove  to  near  the 
grounded  Minnesota  and  waited  for  the  morning.  Early  in  the 
morning  the  Merrimac  stood  for  the  Minnesota  and 
opened  fire  —  but  here  was  the  new  enemy  to  deal  with.  e  "  ° 
The  Monitor  instantly  threw  herself  before  the  Minnesota  and 
engaged  the  Merrimac.  The  two  vessels  were  alike  only  in  being 
ironclads.  The  Merrimac  was  a  clumsy,  unwieldy  vessel  of  thirty- 
five  hundred  tons,  and  carried  eight  heavy  guns  and  seven  small  ones. 
She  was  aptly  described  as  "  a  huge,  half-submerged  crocodile."  The 
Monitor  was  a  small  vessel  of  but  nine  hundred  tons  and  carried  two 
eleven-inch  Dahlgren  guns  in  a  revolving  turret,  twenty  feet  in 
diameter,  and  gave  the  appearance  of  "  a  cheese  box  on  a  raft."  It 
seemed  like  the  fight  of  a  pygmy  and  a  giant. 

For  several  hours  these  two  vessels  fought  like  demons,  some 
times  but  a  few  yards  apart.  The  Merrimac  attempted  to  ram  her 
antagonist,  but  the  Monitor  skillfully  avoided  the  blow  The  f^t 
and  escaped  injury.  One  double  shot  from  the  Monitor  March  9, ' 
forced  in  the  sides  of  the  Merrimac  several  inches,  1862. 
knocking  the  crew  off  their  feet  with  the  concussion  and  causing 
every  one  to  bleed  from  the  nose  or  the  ears.1  At  length,  when  the 
ships  were  but  ten  yards  apart,  a  shell  from  the  Merrimac  struck  the 
pilot  house  of  the  Monitor,  and  exploded  directly  over  the  sight-hole. 
Commander  Worden,  who  was  standing  just  back  of  this  spot,  was 
stunned  and  his  eyes  were  utterly  blinded  with  burning  powder.  He 
then  ordered  his  vessel  to  retire  that  the  extent  of  the  injury  to  the 
pilot  house  might  be  ascertained.  The  Merrimac  then  steamed  back 
to  Norfolk,  and  the  battle  was  ended.  The  fight  was  terrific  and 
grandly  picturesque,  but  there  was  no  loss  of  life,  and  only  a  few  were 
wounded  on  the  Merrimac,  and  but  one,  Lieutenant  Worden,  on  the 
Monitor.  The  battle  was  a  draw ;  but  in  its  effects  it  must  be  re 
garded  a  victory  for  the  Monitor,  for  the  Minnesota  and  the  other 
Union  vessels  were  saved,  the  power  of  the  Merrimac  was  destroyed, 
and  two  months  later,  when  the  Confederates  abandoned  Norfolk, 
she  was  burned.2 

This  first  fight  of  ironclads  had  the   effect  of   revolutionizing 
naval  warfare  throughout  the  world.     All  the  navies  of  the  world 

1  "  Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  I,  p.  702. 

2  The  Monitor  was  wrecked  the  following  December  off  Cape  Hatteras,  and  sank 
with  nine  of  her  crew.    Lieutenant  Worden  was  carried  to  Washington  for  treatment. 
He  recovered  his  eyesight  and  was  soon  back  in  the  navy ;  he  was  afterward  made  a 
rear  admiral. 


676  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

were  composed  of  wooden  vessels,  and  here  in  Virginia  waters  it  was 
demonstrated  that  no  wooden  ship  could  stand  before  an  ironclad. 
The  day  of  the  "  ship  of  the  line  "  of  the  "  oak  leviathan  "  was  over 
from  this  hour.  "  Whereas/7  said  the  London  Times,  "  we  had  one 
hundred  and  forty-nine  first-class  warships,  we  have  now  two.  .  .  . 
There  is  not  now  a  ship  in  the  English  navy  apart  from  these  two 
that  it  would  not  be  madness  to  trust  to  an  engagement  with  that 
little  Monitor.7'  Every  maritime  power  in  the  world  began  from  this 
date  to  reconstruct  its  navy  on  the  basis  of  the  ironclad. 

OPERATIONS  IN  THE   MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY 

The  North  had  expected  to  hear  ere  this  of  some  notable  achieve 
ment  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac ;  but  McClellan  was  still  unready, 
and  while  he  continued  his  preparations  various  movements  took 
place  in  the  great  central  valley  of  the  continent.  The  people  of 
the  upper  Mississippi  Valley  had  a  twofold  reason  for  rising  against 
the  rebellion  of  the  South.  First,  they  would  save  the  Union,  and 
second,  they  would  save  the  river.  Their  second  reason  was  partly 
commercial  and  partly  sentimental.  They  could  not  endure  the 
thought  of  this  great  artery  of  trade,  this  opening  to  the  world's 
markets  for  all  their  products,  this  their  own  majestic,  beloved  river 
—  they  could  not  endure  its  flowing  for  a  thousand  miles  through 
a  foreign  land.  To  prevent  such  a  condition  the  men  of  the  West 
rose  in  arms  to  save  the  Union. 

The  comprehensive,  twofold  object  of  the  Union  armies  in  1862 
was  to  take  the  Confederate  capital  and  to  open  the  Mississippi 
Kiver.  To  accomplish  these  ends  it  was  important  that  the  forces 
east  and  west  work  in  harmony,  and  to  do  this  they  must  be  directed 
by  one  brain,  by  a  commander  in  chief.  But  here  the  government 
was  at  a  loss.  General  Scott  had  long  passed  the  prime  of  manhood, 
and  was  in  no  way  fitted  for  the  great  task.  For  a  short  time 
McClellan  was  made  commander  in  chief,  and  then  W.  H.  Halleck  ; l 
but  both  proved  unsatisfactory,  and,  until  the  last  year  of  the  war, 
the  armies  east  and  west  of  the  mountains  acted,  in  a  great  measure, 
separately,  without  any  effective  common  commanding  authority, 
save  that  of  the  President,  who  laid  no  claim  to  military  knowledge. 

So  numerous  were  the  battles  and  skirmishes  in  the  West,  as 
well  as  in  the  East,  that  we  must  leave  many  of  the  minor  ones 

1  Halleck  was  nominal  commander  in  chief  from  July,  1862,  till  March,  1864. 


REMOVAL   OF   FREMONT  077 

unnoticed,  and  give  our  attention  to  the  larger  movements  which  con 
tributed  most  to  the  final  outcome  of  the  war.  We  left  two  small 
opposing  armies  in  southern  Missouri  after  the  Battle 
of  Wilson's  Creek  in  August,  1861.  For  many  months 
thereafter  no  important  movement  occurred  in  that 
section.  John  C.  Fremont  had  been  put  in  command  of  the  depart 
ment  that  included  Missouri,  and  his  headquarters  were  at  St.  Louis. 
But  ere  long  he  was  charged  with  incompetency  and  flagrant  misuse  of 
his  authority  —  with  corruption  in  giving  out  contracts,  with  bearing 
himself  like  an  Oriental  nabob,  with  keeping  men  waiting  for  days 
to  see  him  on  pressing  business  of  the  department,  with  throwing 
men  into  prison  without  a  cause,  and  with  general  incompetence. 
These  charges  were  brought  before  the  President,  who,  investigating 
them  with  the  utmost  care,  found  them  to  be  true,  and  Fremont  was 
removed.  What  a  comment  on  the  narrow  escape  of  the  country  in 
electing  James  Buchanan  President  instead  of  Fremont  in  1856 ! 

Before  Fremont's  removal  he  had  issued  a  proclamation,  for  the 
purpose,  as  some  thought,  of  calling  public  attention  from  the 
charges  against  him,  confiscating  the  property  and  setting  free 
the  slaves  of  all  persons  in  Missouri  who  had  taken  up  arms 
against  the  government,  or  who  should  do  so  in  the  future.  This 
was  by  far  the  most  radical  move  that  had  yet  been  made  against 
the  slaveholder.  When  Mr.  Lincoln  heard  of  it  he  saw  at  a  glance 
that  the  order,  if  sustained  by  him,  would  seriously  impair  the  Union 
cause  in  Kentucky.  He  accordingly  ordered  Fremont  to  modify  his 
proclamation  so  as  to  conform  to  the  recent  Confiscation  act  of 
Congress. 

This  incident  is  memorable  from  the  fact  that  it  caused  the  first 
serious  disaffection  in  the  ^Republican  party.  A  great  many  of  the 
radical  antislavery  members  of  the  party,  including  such  leaders  as 
Charles  Sumner,  openly  favored  Fremont.  In  the  Middle  West, 
especially  in  Ohio,  Lincoln  was  denounced  most  vigorously,  and  was 
accused  of  trying  to  suppress  Fremont  because  he  feared  him  as  a 
rival  for  the  presidency.  WThen  a  little  later  Lincoln  removed  Fre 
mont  from  his  command,  the  radicals,  not  knowing  the  true  cause, 
were  furious.  But  the  President  preserved  his  usual  calm,  and 
time  has  fully  vindicated  his  course. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1862  the  Confederates  held  the 
southern  part  of  Kentucky,  the  line  between  the  opposing  forces 
passing  through  Mill  Springs,  Bowling  Green,  Fort  Henry  on  the 


678 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 


Tennessee,  and  Columbus  on  the  Mississippi.  To  break  this  line 
and  push  it  farther  south,  and  if  possible  to  rescue  the  Unionists  of 
Battle  of  Mill  eastern  Tennessee,  was  the  first  object  of  the  Federal 
Springs,  Janu-  armies.  Accordingly  General  W.  H.  Halleck,  who  now 
ary  19,  commanded  in  the  West,  sent  General  George  H.  Thomas l 

with  some  ten  thousand  men  to  open  a  way.  Thomas 
met  a  force  of  five  or  six  thousand  men  under  General  George  B. 
Crittenden,  a  brother  of  the  Union  general,  Thomas  S.  Crittenden,2 
at  Mill  Springs,  Kentucky,  and  a  desperate  battle  ensued.  The  Con- 


•:"'.'.  v*iyV^w^l:""f".-  •:---;-s-.-o'-:-^>Rx';:'^rirminirton       S 
% 


federates  fought  bravely  during  the  day,  but  they  were  completely 
routed,  and  at  nightfall  they  fled  toward  Nashville.  Meantime 
Colonel  James  A.  Garfield  had  driven  General  Marshall  from  the 
mountainous  region  along  the  Virginia  border.  The  way  was  now 
open  to  eastern  Tennessee ;  but  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  provisions 
and  the  badness  of  the  roads,  the  project  was  given  up,  and  Thomas 
rejoined  Buell. 

Kentucky  was  now  occupied  by  three  armies,  with  another  at 

1  It  was  Buell  who  sent  Thomas,  but  Buell  was  at  this  time  subject  to  the  orders 
of  Halleck. 

2  These  two  brothers,  who  took  opposite  sides  in  the  war,  were  sons  of  the  famous 
Kentucky  senator,  J.  J.  Crittenden. 


OPERATIONS   ALONG  THE   MISSISSIPPI  679 

Cairo,  Illinois,  hovering  on  its  border  and  about  to  enter  the  state. 
General  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  then  reputed  the  ablest  commander 
of  the  South,  held  an  army  at  Bowling  Green,  and  General  Leonidas 
Polk,  the  Episcopal  bishop  of  Louisiana,  who  was  also  a  soldier  and  a 
graduate  of  West  Point,  commanded  a  force  at  Columbus.  Opposed 
to  these  were  a  Union  army  at  Louisville  under  General  Don  Carlos 
Buell l  and  the  army  at  Cairo  under  General  U.  S.  Grant. 

General  Grant  had  seized  Paducah  in  Kentucky,  and  had  made 
in  the  preceding  autumn  an   expedition   down   the  Mississippi  to 
Belmont,  Missouri,  where  he  had  a   sharp  fight  with   Belmont 
General  Pillow.     Grant  bore  down  on  the  Confederate   November  7, 
position,  captured  the  camp,  and  drove  the  enemy  to   1861- 
the  bank  of  the  river.    But  General  Polk,  who  held  Columbus,  across 
the  river  from  Belmont,  sent  an  additional  force,  and  also  threw 
shells  from  the  heights  of  Columbus  to  Belmont.     The  result  was 
that  Grant  and  his  forces  fled  precipitately  to  their  transports  and 
returned  to  Cairo. 

Western  Kentucky  is  traversed  by  two  parallel  rivers  that  empty 
into  the  Ohio  near  together.  The  larger  of  these,  the  Tennessee, 
takes  its  rise  in  the  foothills  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  in  south 
western  Virginia,  makes  a  grand  detour  southward  into  northern 
Alabama,  crosses  the  state  of  Tennessee  twice,  and  flows  into  the 
Ohio  near  its  confluence  with  the  Mississippi.  The  Cumberland, 
much  smaller  than  the  Tennessee,  rises  in  eastern  Kentucky,  sweeps 
in  a  great  curve  through  northern  Tennessee,  and  flows  northward 
into  the  Ohio  within  a  few  miles  of  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee. 
These  two  rivers,  which  were  navigable  for  hundreds  of  miles,  fur 
nished  the  southern  armies  with  invaluable  means  of  transportation, 
and  the  Union  commanders  conceived  the  idea  that  the  evacuation 
of  Kentucky  could  best  be  forced  by  operating  up  these  two  rivers. 

General  A.  S.  Johnston  was  now  the  commander  of  all  the  Confed 
erate  armies  west  of  the  mountains,  except  in  the  extreme  South.  He 
saw  too  late  that  while  the  Mississippi  had  been  strongly  guarded 
by  heavy  batteries  —  at  Columbus,  Island  No.  10,  Memphis,  and 

1  General  Anderson,  who  was  first  in  command  at  Louisville,  was  relieved,  owing 
to  failing  health,  by  General  William  Tecnmseh  Sherman.  Sherman  stated  to  some 
Cabinet  officers  that  it  would  require  two  hundred  thousand  men  to  clear  Kentucky 
of  the  enemy.  So  extravagant  seemed  this  statement  that  Sherman  was  considered 
insane,  and  was  so  characterized  in  the  newspapers  throughout  the  country.  He  was 
relieved  by  Buell  in  November,  1861.  His  statement  evinced  his  foresight  and  judg 
ment,  as  events  proved.  See  McClure's  "  Lincoln  and  Men  of  War  Times." 


680  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Vicksburg  —  the  two  inland  rivers  had  been  neglected.  Two  small 
forts,  Henry  and  Hieman,  on  the  Tennessee,  were  now  quickly 
strengthened,  and  also  a  far  more  formidable  one  on  the  Cumber 
land —  Fort  Donelson.  In  order  to  protect  Nashville,  Johnston, 
at  the  beginning  of  February,  made  the  fatal  blunder  of  dividing 
his  force  of  thirty  thousand  men,  placing  fourteen  thousand  in 
Kentucky  to  watch  Buell  and  sending  sixteen  thousand  to  Fort 
Donelson.  Early  in  February  General  Grant  captured  Forts  Henry 
and  Hieman,  most  of  their  garrisons  having  fled  to  Fort  Donelson. 

Fort  Donelson  at  this  time  was  the  scene  of  great  excitement. 
The  garrison  knew  that  the  Union  army  had  invested  Fort  Henry, 
twelve  miles  across  the  country  on  the  Tennessee.  They  knew 
also  that  it  was  only  a  matter  of  a  few  days  till  their  own  fort 
would  be  surrounded  by  gleaming  bayonets  and  frowning  cannon. 
Fort  Donelson  was  admirably  situated  on  a  plateau  a  hundred  feet 
above  the  river,  and  covered  about  a  hundred  acres.  It  had  sev 
eral  heavy  guns,  and  was  held  by  eighteen  thousand  men  under 
command  of  General  John  B.  Floyd,  late  secretary  of  war  in  the 
Cabinet  of  Buchanan.  Beneath  the  bluff  on  the  river  bank  were  two 
powerful  batteries  commanding  the  approach  of  the  river. 

While  Flag  Officer  Foote  with  his  seven  gunboats  steamed  up  the 
Cumberland,  Grant  was  busy  moving  his  army  from  Fort  Henry  to 
Fort  Donelson.  His  army,  in  two  divisions,  under  com- 
maild  of  General  John  A-  McClernand,  the  Illinois  con 
gressman,  a  lawyer  and  not  a  soldier  by  profession,  and 
General  Charles  F.  Smith  of  the  regular  army,  began  closing  in  around 
the  doomed  fort.  But  before  the  battle  began  General  Lew  Wallace, 
the  future  author  of  "  Ben  Hur,"  arrived  from  Fort  Henry  with  a  third 
division.  Pickets  were  thrown  forward,  and  the  sharpshooters  hunted 
their  holes  among  the  rocks  and  trees.1  The  chief  action  of  the  day, 
aside  from  the  continuous  firing  of  artillery,  was  an  assault  on  some 
rifle  pits  on  a  hillside,  ordered  by  McClernand.  Colonel  Morrison, 
with  an  Illinois  brigade,  led  the  charge,  and  a  braver 'one  never  was 
made  during  the  war.  The  men  surged  up  the  hill  amid  a  tempest 
of  bullets  and  were  driven  back,  leaving  many  strewed  along  the 
hillside.  Again,  and  still  again,  they  dashed  toward  the  rifle  pits, 
picking  their  way  among  dead  and  dying  comrades,  until  at  last, 
the  leaves  on  the  hillside  being  set  on  fire,  they  sullenly  retreated, 
and  "  their  souls  were  riven  with  the  shrieks  of  their  wounded  com- 
1  See  "  Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  I,  p.  407. 


FORT   DONELSON  681 


rades,  whom  the  flames  crept  down  upon  and  smothered  and  charred 
where  they  lay."1 

Thus  ended  the  13th  of  February.  There  had  been  no  general 
engagement.  Foote  arrived  that  night  with  his  seven  gunboats,  four 
of  them  ironclads.  Next  day  his  guns  were  trained  on  the  batteries 
on  the  river  bank.  The  Confederate  reply  was  terrific.  Foote  was 
severely  wounded ;  two  of  his  boats  were  disabled,  one  being  struck 
fifty -nine  times,  and  drifted  helpless  down  the  stream,  and  the  others 
followed  until  they  were  beyond  the  range  of  the  enemy's  guns. 
That  night  the  two  armies  lay  crouching  so  near  together  that 
neither  dared  light  fires.  The  Confederates  were  cheered  at  the 
defeat  of  the  gunboats  and  at  their  success  of  the  day  before ;  but 
the  next  day  would  tell  the  story. 

Grant's  army,  including  those  on  guard,  was  about  twenty-seven 
thousand  strong,  exceeding  that  of  the  enemy  by  at  least  six  thou 
sand.2  Floyd  knew  this,  and  in  consultation  with  his  two  chief 
lieutenants,  Pillow  and  Buckner,  he  decided  to  attack  the  Union  right 
at  dawn  and  hurl  it  upon  the  center,  and  thus  to  open  a  way  out  to 
the  road  that  leads  to  Nashville.  The  night  was  spent  in  preparing 
for  this,  and  in  the  early  morning  Pillow  with  ten  thousand  men  fell 
upon  McClernand,  and  Buckner  soon  joined  him  with  an  additional 
force.  For  some  hours  the  roar  of  the  battle  was  tremendous. 
Toward  noon  many  of  McClernand's  men  ran  short  of  powder  and  he 
was  forced  to  recede  from  his  position.  Pillow  seems  then  to  have 
lost  his  head.  He  felt  that  the  whole  Union  army  was  defeated, 
and  though  the  road  to  Nashville  was  open,  the  Confederates  made 
no  attempt  to  escape.  Just  then  General  Grant  rode  upon  the  scene. 
He  had  been  absent  all  the  morning  down  the  river  consulting  with 
Foote,  not  knowing  that  the  enemy  had  planned  an  escape.  This 
moment,  says  Lew  Wallace,3  was  the  crisis  in  the  life  of  Grant. 
Had  he  decided  other  than  he  did,  the  history  of  his  life  would  have 
closed  at  Donelson.  Hearing  the  disastrous  news,  his  face  flushed 
for  a  moment;  he  crushed  some  papers  in  his  hand.  Next  instant 
he  was  calm,  and  said  in  his  ordinary  quiet  tone,  to  McClernand  and 
Wallace,  "  Gentlemen,  the  position  on  the  right  must  be  retaken." 
Then  he  galloped  away  to  General  Smith.  In  a  short  time  the 
Union  lines  were  in  motion.  General  Smith  made  a  grand  assault 

1  Lew  Wallace  in  "  Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  I,  p.  412. 

2  Livermore's  "  Numbers  and  Losses  of  the  Civil  War,"  p.  78. 
8  "  Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  I,  p.  416. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 


on  the  enemy's  outworks  and  rifle  pits.  When  his  lines  hesitated, 
Smith  waved  his  cap  on  the  point  of  his  sword  and  rode  in  front, 
up  the  hill,  in  the  hottest  fire  of  the  enemy,  toward  the  rifle  pits  — 
and  they  were  carried.  At  the  same  moment  Lew  Wallace  was 
leading  his  division  up  another  slope  with  equal  gallantry.  Here 
again  the  Confederates  fled  within  the  fort,  and  the  road  to 
Nashville  was  open  to  them  no  longer.  Furthermore,  Smith  held 
a  position  from  which  he  could  shell  the  fort  on  the  inside,  and 
nothing  was  left  to  the  enemy  but  surrender  or  slaughter  on  the 
morrow. 

A  council  was  held  by  Floyd,  Pillow,  and  Buckner.  Buckner,  who 
was  the  ablest  soldier  of  the  three,  declared  that  he  could  not  hold  his 
position  for  half  an  hour  in  the  morning.  The  situation  was  hopeless. 
Floyd  was  under  indictment  at  Washington  for  maladministration 
in  the  Buchanan  Cabinet.  He  declared  that  he  must  not  be  taken, 
and  that  he  would  escape  on  two  little  boats  that  were  to  arrive 
from  Nashville  in  the  morning.  He  passed  the  command  to  Pillow, 
and  Pillow,  declaring  that  he  too  would  escape,  passed  it  on  to  Buck 
ner.  Floyd  and  Pillow  with  fifteen  hundred  men  made  good  their 
escape;  so  did  Colonel  Forrest,  the  cavalry  leader.  He  led  his 
cavalry,  some  eight  hundred  strong,  along  the  river  bank  and 
reported  some  days  later  at  Nashville. 

In  the  early  morning  Buckner  sent  a  note  to  Grant  offering  to 
capitulate.  The  answer  is  well  known.  Grant  demanded  "  Uncon 
ditional  surrender,"  and  added,  "  I  propose  to  move  immediately  on 
your  works."  Buckner  was  too  good  a  soldier  to  sacrifice  his  men 
Surrender  of  to  needless  slaughter.  He  accepted  the  "ungenerous 
FortDonel-  and  unchivalrous  terms,"  as  he  pronounced  them,  and 
son,  February  surrendered  Fort  Donelson  and  the  army,  consisting 
16, 1862.  Qf  aj.  least  fourteen  thousand  men,  with  all  its  stores  and 
ammunition.  The  Union  loss  was  over  twenty-eight  hundred  men. 

The  loss  of  Donelson  and  this  gallant  army  was  an  irreparable 
blow  to  the  South.  The  way  was  now  open  for  the  Federal  armies 
to  penetrate  the  heart  of  the  western  South.  The  reproach  of  the 
disaster  fell  on  the  shoulders  of  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  who  had 
unwisely  divided  his  army.  This  was  the  first  great  victory  for 
either  side  in  the  war.  The  North  was  electrified  by  its  grandeur 
and  magnitude,  and  the  eyes  of  the  country  were  turned  for  the 
first  time  upon  General  Grant.  His  laconic  "  Unconditional  Sur 
render"  caught  the  public  fancy.  He  was  a  graduate  of  West 


PREPARING   FOR    A   GREAT   BATTLE  683 

Point,  and  had  served  through  the  Mexican  War.  After  that  he 
was  stationed  at  Detroit,  at  Sacketts  Harbor,  and  finally  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  leaving  his  family  in  the  East.  In  1854  he  resigned  from  the 
army  and  settled  on  a  little  farm  owned  by  his  wife 
near  St.  Louis.  Here  he  hoed  potatoes  and  hauled  cord  '  '  ran  ' 
wood,  but  failed  to  earn  a  living.  He  tried  the  real  estate  business, 
and  again  failed.  At  length,  deeply  in  debt,  he  applied  for  assist 
ance  to  his  aged  father,  who  owned  a  leather  store  at  Galena, 
Illinois.  His  life  seemed  hopelessly  wrecked.  He  accepted  a  posi 
tion  in  his  father's  store  at  a  small  salary,  and  here  we  find  him  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  war.  The  governor  of  Illinois  placed  Grant  at 
the  head  of  the  Illinois  volunteers.  Next  we  hear  of  him  at  Cairo, 
at  Belmont,  at  Donelson.  Up  to  February  16,  1862,  the  name  of 
Ulysses  S.  Grant  was  utterly  unknown  to  the  great  world.  Now  he 
became  famous  ;  and  his  rise  in  the  next  six  years  is  the  most 
extraordinary  in  the  history  of  America. 

On  the  minor  movements  of  the  armies  and  the  petty  disputes 
among  the  generals  that  followed  Donelson  we  have  no  time  to  dwell. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  Polk  abandoned  Columbus,  Kentucky,  and  A.  S. 
Johnston  left  Bowling  Green  with  the  few  thousand  troops  that  he 
had  retained.  Buell  advanced  from  Louisville  and  occupied  Nash 
ville,  after  its  vast  Confederate  stores  had  been  destroyed,  while 
Grant's  army  was  moved  piecemeal  farther  south  on  the  Tennessee. 
By  the  first  of  April  Grant  had  an  army  of  forty  thousand  at  Pitts- 
burg  Landing.  This  was  an  obscure  stopping  place  for  boats  in 
southern  Tennessee,  not  far  from  the  northern  boundary  of  Missis 
sippi  ;  but  the  name  means  more  now  than  a  mere  landing  for  river 
craft.  The  army  was  divided  into  six  divisions,  under 
the  command,  respectively,  of  McClernand,  B.  M.  Pren- 
tiss,  W.  T.  Sherman,  Stephen  A.  Hurlburt,  C.  F.  Smith, 
and  Lew  Wallace;  but  Smith  being  ill  at  Savannah,  eight  miles 
down  the  river,  his  command  devolved  on  W.  H.  L.  Wallace.  The 
President  had  in  March  limited  the  authority  of  McClellan  to  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  Halleck  was  placed  in  superior  command 
in  the  West,  including  the  division  of  Buell,  whom  he  now  ordered 
to  join  Grant  at  Pittsburg  Landing.1 

The  Confederate  clans  were  gathering  in  great  numbers  at  Corinth, 
Mississippi,  some  twenty  miles  southwest  from  Pittsburg  Landing. 

i  The  mountain  department,  from  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  to  the  boundary  of 
McClellau's  authority,  was  assigned  to  Fremont. 


684  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Here  had  come  Polk  from  Columbus,  General  Braxton  Bragg 
from  the  far  South,  Beauregard  from  the  East,  and  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston,  commander  over  all,  from  Bowling  Green.  Johnston's 
army  was  about  equal  to  that  of  Grant,  some  forty  thousand  strong ; 
and  nothing  was  more  certain  than  that  the  two  would  soon  come 
together  in  a  terrific  contest  for  the  possession  of  the  region  of  the 
upper  Tennessee.  Through  this  region  ran  the  Memphis  and 
Charleston  Railroad,  from  Memphis  by  way  of  Corinth  to  Chatta 
nooga,  where  it  connected  with  the  lines  to  the  seaboard.  This 
railroad  was  of  immense  importance  to  the  South,  and  to  save  it 
from  falling  into  Union  hands  a  great  battle  must  be  fought  and 
won  by  the  Confederates.  Grant  fully  believed  that  the  enemy 
would  await  an  attack  in  his  intrenchments  at  Corinth,  and  in  this 
belief  he  left  his  army  entirely  exposed.  Not  an  earthwork  was 
thrown  up,  and  the  blunder,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  no  doubt  cost 
a  thousand  human  lives.  Johnston  had  determined  to  move  his 
army  stealthily  from  Corinth  and  to  fall  upon  his  enemy  in  a  sudden, 
impetuous  dash  at  Pittsburg  Landing. 

It  was  Saturday  night,  and  the  Union  army  lay  shivering  on  the 
damp  ground.  Only  the  dull  tread  of  the  sentinel  could  be  heard, 
and  the  plashing  waters  of  the  streams  overflowing  with  recent  rain. 
Only  a  mile  away  lay  the  army  of  Johnston,  waiting  to  spring  on  the 
foe  in  the  morning.  At  break  of  day  magnificent  battle  lines 
emerged  from  the  woods  in  front  of  the  Union  camps,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  the  roar  of  artillery  announced  the  opening  of  the  greatest 
battle  ever  before- fought  on  the  western  continent.  Halleck,  Grant, 
and  the  division  commanders  stoutly  insist  that  they  were  not  sur 
prised.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  fact  remains  that  no  intrench 
ments  had  been  made,  and  that  Grant,  without  the  slightest 
anticipation  of  an  engagement,  had  spent  the  night  at  Savannah,  and 
learned  of  the  opening  of  the  battle  only  by  hearing  the  sound  of 
the  heavy  guns.  Buell  had  not  yet  arrived  from  Nashville,  and 
Lew  Wallace  and  his  division  were  at  Crump's  Landing,  five  or  six 
miles  from  the  scene  of  the  battle. 

Grant  hastened  up  the  river,  and  when  he  arrived  on  the  field  he 
Battle  of  found  a  tremendous  battle  raging  all  along  the  Union 

Shiloh,  first  front.  He  spent  the  day  riding  from  one  division  corn- 
day,  April  6.  mander  to  another,  directing  them  and  urging  them 
to  their  utmost  efforts.  The  heaviest  attack  of  the  morning  fell 
upon  the  Union  right  under  Sherman,  and  on  the  division  of 


ALBERT  SIDNEY  JOHNSTON  685 

McClernand  which  was  next  to  that  of  Sherman.  These  divisions 
were  composed  for  the  most  part  of  raw  troops,  but  the  superb 
bearing  of  the  commanders  inspired  the  men  with  confidence,  and 
they  fought  like  veterans.  At  various  times  during  the  day  the 
whole  Union  front  was  pressed  back,  and  in  one  of  these  movements 
Prentiss  did  not  fall  back  with  the  rest,  and  he,  with  twenty-two 
hundred  of  his  men,  was  captured  by  the  enemy.  On  one  occasion 
Hurlburt  took  a  strong  position  and  held  it  for  five  hours  against  the 
most  terrific  onslaughts  of  the  enemy.  The  fighting  raged  part  of 
the  time  around  a  little  log  church  called  Shiloh,  which  has  given 
its  name  to  the  battle.  Southern  hopes  were  high  that  day.  The 
fearful  Confederate  charge  of  the  morning  was  sustained  almost 
without  cessation,  and  the  battle  raged  till  darkness  overspread  the 
valleys  and  the  hills. 

Whatever  of  victory  there  was  at  the  close  of  this  first  day's 
fight  at  Shiloh  belonged  to  the  southern  army.  The  Union  army 
had  been  pressed  back  little  by  little  for  more  than  a  mile,  and  now 
occupied  a  few  hundred  acres  around  the  landing,  while  the  ground 
and  the  tents  which  it  had  occupied  the  night  before  were  in  posses 
sion  of  the  enemy ;  but  the  end  had  not  yet  come,  and  the  weary 
legions  of  both  sides  sank  down  for  a  few  hours'  rest,  knowing  that 
the  final  struggle  would  come  on  the  morrow. 

The  Union  army  had  been  stunned  and  wounded,  but  not  disabled. 
The  losses  on  both  sides  had  been  exceedingly  heavy,  especially  on 
the  southern  side,  for  it  had  lost  its  noble  commander,  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston.  About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  while  riding  amid 
the  tempest  of  bullets  cheering  his  men,  he  was  struck  by  a  Minie 
ball,  and  an  artery  of  his  thigh  was  severed.  The  wound  was  not  a 
fatal  one,  and  his  life  might  have  been  saved ;  but  the  hero  thought 
only  of  victory.  He  continued  in  the  saddle,  cheering  his  men  above 
the  din  of  battle,  until  his  voice  grew  faint  and  his  face  grew 
deadly  pale.  Then  he  was  lifted  from  his  horse,  but  it  was  too  late  ; 
in  a  few  minutes  he  was  dead.1  The  command  of  the  Confederate 
army  then  passed  to  Beauregard. 

i  The  Federal  general  W.  H.  L.  Wallace  was  also  killed  in  this  battle,  and  Gen 
eral  Smith  died  a  short  time  afterward  at  Savannah.  The  death  of  Johnston,  it  is 
believed  by  some,  prevented  the  utter  rout  or  capture  of  Grant's  army  on  the  night 
of  the  6th.  "  Johnston's  death  was  a  tremendous  catastrophe,"  wrote  General  Gibson, 
one  of  his  subordinates.  "...  Sometimes  the  hopes  of  millions  of  people  depend 
upon  one  head  and  one  arm.  The  West  perished  with  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  and 
the  southern  country  followed."  "  Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  I,  p.  568. 


686  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

Had  neither  side  been  reenf  orced,  the  South  would  probably  have 
won  a  signal  victory  on  Monday.  But  early  on  Sunday  night  the 
thrilling  news  ran  along  the  Union  lines  that  Buell  had  arrived  from 
Nashville.  Lew  Wallace  was  now  also  on  the  ground  and  ready 
for  the  next  day's  conflict.  Wallace's  forces  and  those  of  Buell, 
twenty-five  thousand  fresh  troops,  were  to  be  hurled  against  the 
weary  army  of  Beauregard  in  the  morning.  Beauregard  looked 
longingly  toward  the  West,  hoping  for  the  coming  of  General  Van 
Dorn,  who  had  an  army  in  Arkansas  and  was  marching  with  all 
speed  to  join  him ;  but  Van  Dorn  was  still  far  away,  and  a  week 
must  elapse  before  the  two  armies  could  be  united. 

Before  the  rising  of  the  sun  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  the 
two  armies  were  again  engaged  in  battle,  but  the  contest  was  now  an 
unequal  one.  Buell  and  Lew  Wallace  had  come,  but 

Van  Dorn  had  not     Yet  the  Confederates  fought  with 

great  valor,  yielding  their  ground  slowly,  till  an  hour 
after  noon,  when  Beauregard  ordered  a  general  retreat,  and  this  was 
accomplished  in  good  order.  The  army  retired,  battered  and  bleed 
ing,  to  Corinth.1  The  result  of  the  battle  was  a  Federal  victory, 
but  not  a  decisive  one.  The  people  of  the  North  did  not  rejoice 
greatly  over  it,  and  General  Grant,  who  had  loomed  into  public 
favor  so  suddenly  at  Donelson,  was  now  severely  criticised  for  hav 
ing  left  the  army  unprotected  and  for  spending  the  night  of  the 
5th  away  from  the  field.  One  result  of  the  battle  was  the  develop 
ment  of  W.  T.  Sherman.  Nothing  was  plainer  than  that  he  was  the 
strongest  of  the  division  commanders.  Several  horses  were  shot 
under  him,  twice  he  was  wounded,  buThis  demeanor  was  so  cool,  so 
reassuring,  and  so  inspiring  that  his  men  were  spurred  to  their 
utmost  effort.  Born  in  Ohio  in  1820,  Sherman  graduated  from 

West  Point,  and  served  in  the  war  against  the  Indians 
Sherman  °^  ^e  South,  but  resigned  from  the  army  arid  became  a 

broker  in  California.  Next  we  find  him  in  Kansas  as  a 
practicing  lawyer,  and  later  he  was  superintendent  of  a  military 
academy  in  Louisiana.  He  resigned  the  position  on  the  secession  of 
that  state,  reentered  the  United  States  army  and  commanded  a  bri 
gade  at  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.  After  Shiloh,  his  star  rose  steadily 
to  the  end  of  the  war,  when  it  outshone  all  others  at  the  North,  save 

i  The  losses  as  given  in  "Battles  and  Leaders"  are:  Union,  1754  killed,  8408 
wounded,  and  2885  captured  or  missing;  Confederate,  1728  killed, 8012  wounded,  and 
959  missing. 


TWO   UNION   VICTORIES  687 

that  of  Grant  ;  and  many  believe  that  as  a  military  genius  he  was 
superior  to  Grant. 

The  Federal  victory  at  Pittsburg  Landing  was  supported  by 
another,  a  far  more  decisive  one,  in  the  capture  of  Island  No.  10, 
some  forty  miles  below  Columbus,  in  a  great  bend  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  Confederates  had  fortified  the  island,  and  it  was  held  by  General 
McCall  with  seven  thousand  men  and  large  army  stores.  Early  in 
March,  General  John  Pope  was  sent  with  a  large  army 


from  Cairo  against  the  Island.     Flag-officer  Foote  was       ™       ° 


10 
in  command   of  the  river  squadron.     After  capturing 

New  Madrid,  Missouri,  on  the  opposite  shore,  a  terrible  bombard 
ment  was  opened  in  which  they  "  threw  three  thousand  shells  and 
burned  fifty  tons  of  powder"  with  little  effect.  Next  they  cut  a 
canal  twelve  miles  long  across  the  peninsula  made  by  the  bend  of 
the  river,  so  as  to  get  the  transports  below  the  enemy's  work,  and 
forced  the  surrender  of  the  island  on  the  Tth  of  April,  with  its  whole 
force  and  military  stores.  This  loosened  the  grasp  of  the  Con 
federacy  on  the  Mississippi  from  Cairo  to  Memphis. 

Some  weeks  before  this  great  double  victory  at  Shiloh  and  Island 
No.  10,  another  desperate  battle  had  been  fought  which  resulted  also 
in  a  Union  victory.  This  occurred  among  the  hills  Battle  of  Pea 
of  Arkansas,  and  is  known  as  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge.  Bidge, 
After  the  battle  of  Wilson's  Creek  the  preceding  March  7. 
August,  the  operations  in  southern  Missouri  were  disturbed  on  the 
one  side  by  the  removal  of  Fremont,  and  on  the  other  by  a  dispute 
between  the  Confederate  commanders,  Price  and  McCulloch.  At 
length  General  Samuel  R.  Curtis  was  put  in  command  of  the  Union 
forces  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  General  Earl  Van  Dorn  of  the 
Confederate  forces.  The  two  armies  met  in  northern  Arkansas.  The 
Confederate  forces,  though  outnumbering  the  enemy,  became  divided 
during  the  battle,  and  this  fact,  together  with  the  death  of  General 
McCulloch,  gave  the  victory  to  the  army  of  Curtis,  whose  ablest 
subordinate  was  General  Sigel.  Van  Dorn  then  led  his  forces  east 
ward  to  join  the  main  Confederate  army  at  Corinth,  but  did  not 
reach  that  point  till  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  The  status  of 
Missouri  on  the  subject  of  secession  was  settled  at  Pea  Ridge.  No 
longer  was  there  any  fear  that  the  state  would  join  the  Confederacy. 
The  battle  of  Pea  Ridge  was  conspicuous  in  one  respect  —  it  was  the 
only  important  battle  of  the  war  in  which  Indians  played  a  part. 
In  this  battle  some  thirty  -five  hundred  Indians  under  General 


688  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

Albert  Pike  fought  on  the  Confederate  side ;  but  their  methods  of 
warfare  differed  so  greatly  from  those  of  the  white  men  that  their 
aid  was  little  felt.1 


FARRAGUT  AND   NEW  ORLEANS 

To  these  four  Union  victories  in  the  West  within  a  few  months 
(Donelson,  Pea  Ridge,  Shiloh,  and  Island  No.  10,  —  five,  if  we 

include  that  of  Thomas  at  Mill  Springs)  another  must 
David  G.  ke  a^ed,  the  most  important  of  them  all,  the  opening 

of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  capture  of  the 
greatest  seaport  of  the  South.  For  the  accomplishment  of  this  great 
work,  the  country  was  indebted  to  David  Glasgow  Farragut,  the 
ablest  naval  commander  in  the  Civil  War.  Farragut  had  been  in 
the  naval  service  from  childhood.  As  a  boy  of  twelve  years  he  had 
witnessed  the  terrible  sea  fight  between  the  Essex  and  the  two 
British  vessels  at  Valparaiso,  South  America.  He  had  been  sent  by 
Andrew  Jackson  to  enforce  the  national  laws  at  Charleston  at  the 
time  of  South  Carolina's  Nullification.  He  was  a  native  of  Tennes 
see,  and  every  effort  was  made  by  his  fellow  southrons  to  induce 
him  to  join  the  secession  forces  ;  but  he  refused,  with  the  well-known 
answer,  "  Mind  what  I  tell  you ;  you  fellows  will  catch  the  devil 
before  you  get  through  with  this  business,"  arid  they  never  caught 
what  he  said  more  decisively  than  at  New  Orleans  and  Mobile. 
Farragut  was  now  intrusted  with  the  most  important  naval  expedi 
tion  of  the  war. 

From  the  spring  of  1861  there  had  been  a  few  Federal  vessels 
along  the  gulf  coast  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  blockade ;  now 

an  attempt  was  to  be  made  to  get  control  of  the  lower 
°   Mississippi,  but  no  serious  attempt  to  open  the  great 

mid-continent  waterway  was  made  till  the  spring  of 
1862.  The  object  was  to  sever  the  Confederacy  in  twain,  to  cut  off 
the  supplies  to  the  Confederate  armies  from  Texas,  Arkansas,  and 
Louisiana,  and  to  get  possession  of  the  cannon  foundries  of  New 
Orleans.  General  B.  F.  Butler  was  put  in  command  of  the  land 
force,  thirteen  thousand  strong,  and  the  fleet  of  bomb  vessels  and 

1  The  strength  and  losses  in  this  battle,  as  given  in  "  Battles  and  Leaders  "  were  : 
Union  strength,  10,500;  losses  at  Pea  Ridge,  1384  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  Con 
federate  strength,  16,200  (exclusive  of  Indians) ;  losses  about  1300  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing. 


FARRAGUT   AT  NEW   ORLEANS 


689 


frigates  accompanying  Farragut's  squadron  were  commanded  by 
Captain  Porter.  On  the  16th  of  April,  1862,  the  fleet,  com 
posed  of  forty-seven  armed  vessels,  eight  of  which  were  powerful 
sloops  of  war,  had  crossed  the  bar  with  the  utmost  difficulty  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  was  ready  to  begin  operations. 

The  Confederates  had  heard  of  the  coming  fleet,  and  had  not 
been   idle.      Two   powerful    forts,  Jackson   and    St.   Philips,  each 
garrisoned  by  about  seven  hundred  men,  guarded  the  Forts  Jackson 
river,  one   on  either   side,  some   seventy  miles   below   and  St. 
New   Orleans.     These  had  been  greatly  strengthened,   Philips, 
and   they   now   mounted   126   heavy   guns,   and   were   commanded 
by    General    Johnson    K.    Duncan.      The    Confederates    had   also 


built  ironclad  gunboats,  rams,  and  various  river  craft  with  which 
to  defend  their  beloved  city.  The  naval  forces  were  under  the 
control  of  Commander  John  K.  Mitchell.  The  bombardment  of 
the  two  forts  was  begun  on  the  morning  of  the  18th,  and  they 
answered  with  great  fury.  For  five  days  and  nights  the  earth 
shook  with  the  artillery  duel ;  the  Union  fleet  in  that  period  threw 
16,800  shells.  On  the  morning  of  the  24th,  some  hours  before  dawn, 
Farragut's  memorable  passage  of  the  forts  was  accomplished.1  The 
scene  of  this  passage  of  the  forts  has  been  pronounced  one  of  inde 
scribable  grandeur  by  those  who  saw  it.  The  burning  of  fire 
rafts,  sent  among  the  vessels,  lit  the  heavens  with  a  lurid  glare, 

1  A  great  chain  that  had  been  stretched  across  the  river  to  prevent  the  passage 
had  been  broken  on  the  20th. 

2T 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


while  the  shells  from  the  fleet,  the  forts,  and  the  shore  batteries, 
bursting  in  mid-air  as  they  crossed  each  other's  path,  gave  the  ap 
pearance  of  a  battle  in  the  sky.1  A  fire  ship  with  a  streaming  blaze 
a  hundred  feet  in  the  air  floated  against  the  flagship  Hartford  and 
set  her  on  fire.  Farragut,  standing  on  the  deck,  remained  unper 
turbed.  He  called  on  his  men  to  do  their  duty,  and  while  some  put 
out  the  fire  and  saved  the  ship,  others  kept  working  the  guns  as  if 
nothing  had  happened.  Before  the  coming  of  day,  the  fleet  had 
passed  the  forts ;  then  came  the  encounter  with  the  enemy's  ves 
sels  above  them.  These  were  dispatched,  one  by  one  —  destroyed, 
disabled,  or  driven  away;  and  the  proudest  city  of  the  South  lay 
at  the  mercy  of  the  Federal  fleet.  A  few  days  later  Fort  Jackson 
surrendered  to  Commander  Porter,  and  Fort  St.  Philips  to  General 
Butler. 

New  Orleans  was  under  martial   law,  with  General   Mansfield 

Lovell  in  command.     For  weeks  before  the  passing  of  the  forts  the 

city  was  gay,  except  that  a  minor  strain  ran  through 

Surrender  of  everv  SOnff  after  the  news  came  from  Shiloh.  But  the 
JNew  ur leans.  **  _  ..  .  . 

city  was  defiant.     One  newspaper  expressed   the  tear 

that  the  Yankee  invaders  would  not  come  for  the  warm  reception 
prepared  for  them.  But  here  they  were  at  last;  here  were  the 
frowning  cannon  at  the  very  gates,  and  here  was  the  inflexible 
Farragut.  Now  all  was  changed ;  the  city  was  seized  with  a  panic 
of  fear ;  ten  thousand  children  ran  screaming  through  the  streets ; 
the  women  sobbed  and  wailed  and  wrung  their  hands.  Wild  disorder 
and  panic  reigned  everywhere.  The  thousands  of  cotton  bales  along 
the  wharf  were  set  on  fire,  and  so  were  the  boats,  lest  they  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy ;  and  the  miles  of  flame  set  men  and  women 
weeping  thirty  miles  away.2  Lovell  fled  with  his  army,  leaving  the 
city  to  its  fate ;  $4,000,000  in  specie  were  carried  away.  The 
crowds  that  remained  howled  and  yelled  with  rage  and  despair, 
as  they  saw  the  last  hope  of  defending  the  city  disappear.  Such 
was  the  condition  of  New  Orleans,  when,  on  the  first  day  of  May, 
Butler  with  his  army  arrived  up  the  river,  took  possession,  and 
waved  the  flag  of  the  Union  over  the  historic  city  of  the  Creoles. 

1  See  Admiral  Porter's  account  in  "  Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  II,  p.  47. 

2  See  description  by  George  W.  Cable  in  "Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  II,  p.  14  sq. 


THE    GREAT   MASTER  691 


THE   PENINSULAR   CAMPAIGN 

What  we  call  the  Public,  or  Public  Opinion,  is  a  gigantic  person 
ality  with  his  likes  and  dislikes,  his  passions,  his  virtues,  and  his 
foibles.  In  our  great  Republic  he  is  the  universal  master ;  he  elects 
our  presidents  and  congresses,  and  shapes  our  legislation.  This  vast 
personage  is  long-suffering,  but  he  may  become  angry  or  excited ; 
then  he  is  dangerous.  At  heart  he  is  honest  and  his  motives 
are  sincere;  he  is  usually  wise,  but  now  and  then  his  judgment  is 
sadly  at  fault  —  and  yet  he  is  absolute  master,  and  none  can  dispute 
his  sway.  He  may  be  trained,  educated,  persuaded,  but  never  co 
erced.  The  strongest  man  cannot  withstand  or  defy  him,  and  no 
sane  man  would  attempt  it.  It  was  this  mighty  giant,  usually 
designated  Public  Opinion,  that  forced  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.  He 
grew  impatient  and  demanded  that  a  battle  be  fought,  against  the 
judgment  of  the  military  leaders.  The  result  was  disastrous,  as 
we  have  seen,  and  the  Giant,  half  ashamed  of  what  he  had  done, 
remained  quiet  for  some  months.  Meantime  he  fondled  his  newly- 
found  hero  —  for  at  times  he  is  like  a  half-grown  child ;  he  must 
have  his  toys,  his  heroes,  and  his  villains,  whom  he  changes  at  will. 

George  Brinton  McClellan  was  then  the  popular  hero.  General 
Scott  had  long  passed  the  meridian  of  his  powers,  and  he  failed  to 
grasp  the  magnitude  of  the  situation.  McClellan  was 
young,  handsome,  valiant.  He  was  thoroughly  trained ; 
he  had  been  graduated  at  West  Point  and  had  served 
in  Mexico ;  he  had  studied  war  in  the  Crimea  but  a  few  years  before, 
and  above  all  he  had  just  completed  a  bold,  successful  campaign  in 
western  Virginia.  The  public  was  thoroughly  pleased  when,  just 
after  Bull  Run,  Mr.  Lincoln  called  McClellan  to  take  command  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  McClellan  had  his  shortcomings,  as 
events  proved ;  but  in  one  respect  he  was  very  strong.  He  lacked 
the  bulldog  tenacity  of  Grant,  the  strategy  of  Sherman,  the  im 
petuous  dash  of  Stonewall  Jackson ;  but  as  a  military 
organizer  he  was  superior  to  them  all.  When  he  took 
control  of  the  army  it  was  a  great  disorganized  mass,  un 
trained,  discouraged,  but  possessing  the  one  supreme  virtue  —  patri 
otism.  In  four  months  McClellan  had  made  of  this  crude  mass  a 
trained,  disciplined,  and  organized  army  equal  to  any  that  ever  trod 
American  soil.  No  such  work  had  been  done  on  this  side  of  the  At 
lantic  since  the  days  of  Steuben  at  Valley  Forge.  "  Had  there  been 


692  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

no  McClellan,"  said  General  Meade  in  after  years,  "  there  could  have 
been  no  Grant ;  the  army  made  no  essential  improvement  under  any 
of  his  successors." 

The  summer  of  1861  passed,  and  the  autumn.  The  star  of  Mc 
Clellan  was  still  rising ;  on  the  1st  of  November  the  aged  Scott 
was  retired  on  full  pay,  and  McClellan  was  made  commander  in  chief 
of  all  the  armies  of  the  United  States.  This  again  pleased  the 
public ;  but  it  wrought  some  change  in  the  plans  of  operation,  and 
caused  further  delay,  and  at  length  McClellan  decided  that  it  would 
be  unwise  to  undertake  a  winter  campaign  in  the  Virginia  mud. 
Meantime  a  new  disaster,  known  as  the  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff,  played 
on  the  feelings  of  the  public. 

This  affair  took  place  on  October  21,  exactly  three  months  after 
Bull  Run.  A  small  Confederate  force  under  Colonel  Evans  was 
posted  at  Leesburg,  near  the  Potomac  above  Washing- 
Bluff>  ton,  and  McClellan  directed  General  Charles  P.  Stone 
to  keep  a  lookout  on  Leesburg.  Stone  sent  Colonel  Devens  with 
eight  hundred  men  to  destroy  a  camp  near  Leesburg.  Devens  was 
unexpectedly  attacked  near  the  rocky  heights  called  Ball's  Bluff. 
Colonel  E.  D.  Baker,  United  States  senator  from  Oregon,  was  sent 
across  the  Potomac  to  his  assistance  with  a  thousand  men.  The 
fight  was  sharp  and  murderous.  The  Unionists  were  beaten  and  driven 
down  the  bluff,  where  many  were  shot  by  the  pursuing  enemy,  made 
prisoners,  or  drowned  in  attempting  to  cross  the  river.  At  least  a  thou 
sand  brave  men  were  lost.  Colonel  Baker,  who  had  ranked  Devens, 
had  charge  of  the  battle ;  his  decision  to  fight  then  and  there  was  very 
nnmilitary,  and  he  paid  the  penalty  with  his  life.  The  public  was 
shocked  at  this  disaster.  Who  caused  it  ?  The  blame  must  be  fixed 
on  some  one,  for  the  Giant  demanded  a  victim  to  appease  his  wrath. 
Colonel  Baker  was  the  chief  blunderer ;  but  he  was  lying  dead  with 
a  bullet  in  his  brain.  McClellan  and  Stone  may  have  been  some 
what  careless ;  but  McClellan  was  still  the  popular  idol,  too  sacred 
to  be  assailed,  and  the  popular  wrath  fell  on  Stone.  The  adminis 
tration  could  not  ignore  the  clamor  for  a  victim,  and  Stone  was  sacri 
ficed.  He  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  for  six  months,  and  then 
released  without  a  vindication  or  a  trial ;  but  history  has  pronounced 
him  blameless.  So  much  for  the  tyranny  of  Public  Opinion.  This 
great  Master  is  sometimes  a  tyrant,  and  he  makes  blunders ;  but  we 
must  overlook  all  that,  for  he  always  means  well,  and  in  this  great 
government  it  would  be  utterly  impossible  to  get  along  without  him. 


McCLELLAN'S    DELAY 


General  McClellan  was  doubtless  right  in  deciding  not  to  under 
take  a  midwinter  campaign,  but  he  erred  in  other  respects.  He 
constantly  magnified  the  power  of  the  enemy  and 
underestimated  his  own.  He  believed  that  Johnston 
had  150,000  men  at  Manassas,  when  in  fact  he  had  but 
little  over  one  third  of  that  number.  At  length  the  public  became 
impatient  with  the  long  inaction;  so  with  the  administration. 
President  Lincoln  ordered  a  general  advance  for  the  22d  of  Feb 
ruary  ;  but  the  army  was  not  ready  and  did  not  move.  Then 
McClellan  disclosed  his  latest  plan,  viz. :  to  transfer  his  army  to  the 
mouth  of  the  James  and  move  upon  Richmond  from  the  peninsula 
formed  by  the  James  and  York  rivers.  The  President  did  not 
approve  of  this ;  but  at  a  council  of  generals  he  was  overruled,  and 
he  yielded  the  point.  Now  came  word  that  Johnston  had  retired 
from  Manassas  to  the  banks  of  the  Rappahannock,  then  to  the 
Rapidan,  and  this  caused  a  further  change  of  plans  and  more  delay. 
At  about  the  same  time  McClellan  was  relieved  of  the  duties  of 
commander  in  chief,  and  his  authority  was  confined  again  to  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  Now  he  will  certainly  move,  thought  every 
one ;  but  he  continued  to  organize  and  drill.  Perhaps  he  was  doing 
the  very  best  thing,  but  he  was  at  fault  in  presuming  too  much  on 
the  public  patience.  The  people  could  not  understand  why  the  army 
must  be  held  so  long  in  idleness,  and  the  general  should  not  have  lost 
sight  of  the  fact  that  he  was  responsible  to  them.  He  might  have 
done  something  to  quiet  public  feeling,  but  he  ignored  it,  and  suffered 
the  penalty  —  his  popularity  waned  during  the  winter. 

But  McClellan  was  not  alone  to  blame.  President  Lincoln  was  at 
fault  in  not  giving  McClellan  a  free  hand.  When  he  approved  the 
general's  plan  of  operating  from  the  peninsula,  he  waited  nearly  a 
month  before  giving  the  order  to  furnish  transportation  for  the  army. 
Mr.  Lincoln's  interference  arose  partly,  as  he  acknowledged,  from 
"pressure,"  that  is,  pressure  from  the  politicians  who  knew  nothing 
of  military  affairs.  He  should  have  given  his  general  full  control  of 
the  army  or  asked  his  resignation. 

The  reader  should  remember  that  the  change  in  the  plan  of 
operation  was  an  important  one.  Manassas  was  but  thirty  miles 
across  the  country  from  Washington,  while  the  "peninsula"  was 
two  hundred  miles  away.  Fortress  Monroe,  near  which  the  famous 
duel  between  the  Monitor  and  the  Merrimac  had  taken  place  a  few 
weeks  before,  was  at  the  apex,  and  was  to  be  the  base  of  the  opera- 


694  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES 

tions.  At  length,  on  the  17th  of  March,  the  great  movement  was 
begun.  Four  hundred  vessels  of  all  sizes  were  employed,  and  in  some 
thing  over  three  weeks  the  army  of  121,000  men,  15,000 
thepeninsula  norses  an(^  mules,  with  wagons  and  other  munitions  in 
like  proportion,  was  safely  landed  at  Fortress  Monroe. 
For  economy  and  celerity  of  movement  the  expedition  was  said  to  be 
"without  a  parallel  on  record."  At  last  McClellan  was  ready  to 
begin  operations.  The  objective  point  was  Richmond,  seventy-five 
miles  up  the  James.  The  army  began  its  march  up  the  peninsula ; 
but  a  Confederate  army  of  11,000  men  under  General  Magruder  lay 
intrenched  across  the  peninsula  from  Yorktown,  the  town  that  had 
witnessed  the  closing  scenes  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  The 
Union  general  was  about  to  make  an  attack  when  he  received  an 
order  from  the  President  detaching  McDowell's  corps,  some  25,000 
men,  to  join  the  defenses  of  Washington.1  This  embarrassed 
McClellan,  and  had  Mr.  Lincoln  had  a  military  training  he  would 
doubtless  have  seen  that  nothing  would  draw  the  Con 
federates  away  from  Washington  so  effectually  as  an 
advance  with  a  large  army  upon  their  own  capital.  But  McClellan 
still  had  a  large  army,  and  might  easily  have  broken  through  Mag- 
ruder's  thin  lines,  had  he  chosen ;  but  he  settled  down  to  a  siege  of 
Yorktown,  spent  a  month  erecting  batteries  and  digging  trenches, 
and  when  at  last  he  was  ready  to  open  his  guns,  he  found  that  the 
enemy  had  retreated  toward  Richmond. 

A  vigorous  pursuit  was  ordered,  and  the  Confederates  were  over 
taken  near  Williamsburg,  twelve  miles  up  the  peninsula  from  York- 
town.  Before  the  town  stood  Fort  Magruder,  which  became  the 
Confederate  base,  and  here  on  May  5  occurred  the  first  battle  between 
Battle  of  the  enemj  an(i  the  army  while  under  McClellan,  though 
Williams-  he  had  been  commander  since  the  preceding  July.2  The 
burg.  battle  continued  throughout  the  day,  and  when  night 

closed  the  conflict  the  Confederates  took  advantage  of  the  darkness 
to  continue  their  retreat  toward  Richmond.     This  battle  took  place 

1  This  corps,  with  the  other  forces  left  to  guard  the  capital,  under  Generals  Banks 
and  Wadsworth,  aggregated  at  least  sixty  thousand  men.     McClellan's  army  was 
divided  into  four  corps,  commanded  respectively  hy  Generals  McDowell,  Sumner, 
Heintzelman,  and  Keyes.    These  had  not  been  selected  by  McClellan  ;  they  had  been 
appointed  by  the  President.   But  McDowell,  as  we  have  seen,  was  retained  at  Manassas. 

2  A  portion  of  the  army  under  Banks,  however,  had  had  several  skirmishes  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  with  a  detachment  of  Johnston's  army  under  Stonewall  Jackson. 
In  one  of  these,  on  March  23,  General  James  Shields,  whom  Banks  left  in  charge, 
defeated  Jackson  in  a  sharp  battle  at  Kernstown,  near  Winchester. 


McCLELLAN   ON   THE   PENINSULA 


695 


within  five  miles  of  the  site  of  historic  Jamestown,  the  first  perma 
nent  white  settlement  on  the  soil  of  the  United  States. 

After  this  battle  McClellan  moved  his  army  up  to  the  head  of 
the  York  Elver  to  White  House,  where  he  established  his  base.  He 
preferred  to  approach  Richmond  up  the  James.  But  President  Lin 
coln  preferred  that  he  hold  the  Grand  Army  between  Richmond  and 
Washington ,  and  promised  to  send  him  the  corps  of  McDowell,  which 
had  now  been  swelled  to  forty  thousand  by  a  detachment  from  Banks's 


SCEISTE  OF 


army  on  the  Shenandoah.  McClellan  was  delighted  with  this  pros 
pect  of  reinforcement ;  he  moved  across  the  peninsula  to  the  banks 
of  the  Chickahominy,  where  he  arrived  on  May  21,  having  sent  Stone- 
man's  cavalry  to  clear  the  way  for  the  advance  of  McDowell ;  but 
his  hopes  were  suddenly  dashed  to  the  ground  by  a  sudden  turn  of 
events. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Banks  had  a  small  army  in  the  Shen 
andoah  Valley  and  that  Fremont  had  another  thirty  miles  westward 
across  the  mountains.  President  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Edwin  M.  Stan  ton, 
who  had  in  January  succeeded  Simon  Cameron  as  secretary  of  war,  con- 


696  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

ceived  the  plan  of  having  Banks  and  Fremont  join  to  crush  Jackson. 
But  the  plan  was  entirely  frustrated  by  a  brilliant  piece  of  strategy, 
the  author  of  which  was  Jefferson  Davis.  The  Confederate  Presi 
dent  divined  the  purpose  of  the  Washington  authorities,  and  he 
Jackson  quietly  sent  Jackson  a  detachment  of  Johnston's  army, 

threatens  raising  his  force  to  twenty  thousand  men.  With  this 
Washington,  force  Jackson  prevented  the  union  of  Fremont  and 
Banks,  defeated  the  latter  at  Winchester  on  May  25,  and  swung  so 
near  to  Washington  as  to  create  great  excitement  in  that  city.  This 
action  led  the  President  to  send  McDowell  in  pursuit  of  Jackson; 
but  that  wonderful  strategist  kept  the  three  armies  of  McDowell, 
Banks,  and  Fremont  apart,  and  left  them  groping  among  the  moun 
tains  while  he  returned  to  join  the  main  Confederate  army  near 
Richmond.  The  movement  was  brilliant  in  the  extreme,  and  it  is 
quite  possible  that  it  prevented  the  capture  of  Richmond  in  the 
summer  of  1862. 

Before  the  arrival  of  Jackson  at  Richmond,  however,  the  battle 
of  Fair  Oaks,  or  Seven  Pines,  had  been  fought.  McClellan  was 
deeply  dejected  at  the  turn  affairs  had  taken.  He  would  have 
approached  the  Confederate  capital  by  way  of  the  James,  but  for 
the  arrangement  that  McDowell  should  join  him.  It  was  now  too 
late  to  change  his  plans,  and  he  determined  to  fight  with  the  force 
at  his  command.  He  threw  his  left  wing,  composed  of  the  corps 
of  Heintzelman  and  Keyes,  across  the  Chickahominy  to  a  place  called 
Seven  Pines.  The  keen  eye  of  Johnston  detected  the  weak  position 
of  McClellan's  army,  and  he  determined  to  attack  the  two  corps  that 
had  crossed  the  river.  On  the  morning  of  May  31  Johnston  sent 
D,  H.  Hill  with  a  strong  force  to  make  the  attack.  Longstreet 
supported  Hill,  and  in  a  short  time  the  battle  was  raging  furiously 
between  the  village  of  Seven  Pines  and  the  railroad  station  of  Fair 
Oaks.  The  whole  Union  force  on  that  side  the  river,  some  twenty- 
five  thousand  men,  was  soon  engaged  with  a  much  larger  force,  Johns 
ton  having  joined  in  the  battle  with  two  thirds  of  his  army.  The 
Federals  were  slowly  pressed  back,  and  utter  defeat  seemed  staring 
Battle  of  Fair  tnem  in  the  face,  when  Sumner,  the  most  energetic, 
Oaks,  May  31-  though  the  oldest,  of  the  corps  commanders,  suddenly 
June  1,  1862.  appeared  on  the  scene.  He  had  pushed  across  the 
swollen  river  at  great  peril  on  a  dangerous  bridge  of  his  own  making, 
and  now  he  rushed  to  the  attack,  threw  Johnston's  army  into  con 
fusion,  and  drove  it  back  with  great  slaughter.  Johnston  himself 


ROBERT   E.  LEE 


was  severely  wounded,  and  was  carried  bleeding  from  the  field.  Next 
morning  the  fight  was  renewed,  but  the  Confederates  soon  withdrew 
from  the  field.  The  battle  of  Fair  Oaks,  in  which  the  Union  loss 
was  about  five  thousand  and  the  Confederate  loss  exceeded  six 
thousand,  was  a  fair  victory  for  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  completely  retrieved  the  wounded  honor  of  ten  months  before 
at  Bull  Kim.  The  chief  honor  of  the  victory  belonged  to  Sumner. 
McClellan  has  been  severely  criticised  for  not  following  up  the  victory 
and  capturing  Richmond  at  once.  The  city  was  but  six  miles  away, 
and  its  spires  could  be  seen  from  the  battle  ground.  But  the  great 
swamps  of  the  Chickahominy  Valley  rendered  such  a  sudden  stroke 
at  this  time  impracticable.  McClellan,  however,  was  very  much  at 
fault  for  having  his  army  thus  divided,  and  but  for  the  valiant 
Sumner  the  result  would  have  been  disastrous. 

THE  SEVEN  DAYS'   FIGHT   BEFORE   RICHMOND 

Joseph  E.  Johnston  was  severely  wounded  at  Fair  Oaks.  He 
could  not  again  take  the  field  for  many  months,  and  the  command 
of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  class 
mate  at  West  Point,  his  lifelong  friend,  Robert  E.  Lee.  Of  all  the 
sons  of  the  South  brought  into  prominence  by  the  Civil  War,  Lee 
stands  first.  He  was  a  son  of  "  Light  Horse  Harry  "  of  Revolution 
ary  fame.  He  had  married  a  wealthy  and  accomplished  wife,  the 
daughter  of  the  adopted  son  of  George  Washington,  and  at  the  open 
ing  of  the  war  he  lived  in  unostentatious  affluence  at 
beautiful  Arlington,  the  ancestral  inheritance  of  his  wife, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  River.  He  was  a  man  of  the  highest 
culture,  of  quiet,  sincere  life,  of  noble  impulses,  of  perfect  morals. 
He  loved  the  Union  and  opposed  secession,  but  he  loved  his  state 
still  more.  He  would  have  been  chosen  chief  commander  of  the 
Union  armies,  but  he  could  not  turn  his  sword  upon  the  state  that 
had  given  him  birth ;  and  at  the  secession  of  Virginia  he  resigned 
his  commission  and  retired  into  private  life,  declaring  that  if  the 
Union  were  dissolved  he  would  share  the  miseries  of  his  people, 
and,  save  in  defense,  draw  the  sword  on  none.  Soon,  however,  he 
was  chosen  commander  of  the  Virginia  forces,  and  accepted  the 
position ;  next  he  became  military  adviser  of  President  Davis.  When 
Johnston  was  disabled  at  Fair  Oaks,  Lee  was  made  commander  of 
the  chief  southern  army,  and  so  he  continued  to  the  end  of  the  war. 


698  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

Lee  was  the  ablest  commander  of  the  South,  and  many  believe  that 
he  had  no  equal  on  the  side  of  the  Union. 

McClellan  rested  for  nearly  four  weeks  after  Fair  Oaks,  sending 
to  Washington  almost  daily  dispatches  saying  that  he  would  move 
as  soon  as  the  Chickahominy,  which  was  overflowing  its  banks  from 
recent  rains,  should  subside.  During  this  period  Lee  was  very  active. 
He  drew  reinforcements  from  North  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  from 
the  Shenandoah  Valley,  until  his  effective  army  almost  reached 
ninety  thousand.  To  aid  the  movement  of  Stonewall  Jackson  to 
Richmond,  Lee  sent  the  daring  cavalry  leader,  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  with 
fifteen  hundred  cavalry  to  make  a  complete  circuit  of  the  Union 
army ;  and  to  prevent  McDowell  from  joining  McClellan  he  sent 
General  Whiting  with  a  division  to  threaten  Washington.  The  ruse 
was  successful.  Lincoln  and  Stanton  failed  to  see  that  the  object  of 
these  threats  was  to  prevent  the  reinforcement  of  McClellan. 

McClellan  had  now  to  fight  both  Lee  and  Jackson.  His  army 
numbered  about  a  hundred  thousand,  and  he  addressed  himself  to 
Mechanics-  ^e  grea^  task  before  him  with  skill  and  vigor.  The 
ville,  June  26,  first  of  the  seven  days'  battles  was  at  Mechanicsville  on 
1862.  Beaver  Dam  Creek,  a  small  stream  that  flows  into  the 

Chickahominy.  In  this  battle  Lee  made  the  blunder  of  dividing 
his  army,  and  in  consequence  suffered  a  stinging  defeat,  losing 
about  fifteen  hundred  men,  while  the  Union  loss  was  less  than  four 
hundred. 

The  next  day  witnessed  a  still  greater  battle  near  Gaines  Mills, 
and  not  far  from  the  village  of  Cold  Harbor.1  Here  in  a  grand 
semicircle  General  Porter,  commander  of  the  Union  right 
w^n£>  disposed  his  troops.  Early  in  the  afternoon  he 
was  attacked  by  General  A.  P.  Hill,  but  Hill  was  driven 
back  with  much  loss.  Lee  now  sent  for  Jackson  to  hasten  to  the 
scene,  and  Jackson  arrived  late  in  the  afternoon.  The  Confederates 
then  made  a  grand  assault  with  this  double  force,  aggregating  nearly 
sixty  thousand  men,  while  Porter  had  less  than  forty  thousand.  The 
Union  troops  fought  with  the  utmost  courage,  but  the  odds  against 
them  were  too  great ;  and  but  for  the  coming  of  two  more  brigades 
from  the  main  army  Porter's  corps  might  have  suffered  "a  most 
serious  disaster.  The  Confederates  then  halted,  and  ere  they  could 
attack  again  it  was  night.  The  weary  Union  legions  welcomed  the 

1  It  was  on  this  same  ground,  two  years  later,  that  the  Union  army  suffered  a 
terrible  defeat  in  what  is  known  as  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor. 


SEVEN   DAYS'   FIGHT   BEFORE   RICHMOND  699 

darkness,  and  ere  the  coming  of  the  dawn  of  the  following  day  they 
had  joined  the  main  army  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Chickahominy. 
Neither  side  ever  made  an  official  report  of  the  total  losses  at  Gaines 
Mills ;  but  it  is  believed  that  each  side  lost  about  eight  thousand 
men. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  McClellan  could  now  have  captured 
Eichmond  by  a  bold  dash.  He  held  the  Grand  Army  but  five  or 
six  miles  from  the  city,  which  had  been  left  in  charge  of  Magruder 
with  twenty -five  thousand  men,  while  Lee  and  Jackson  were  more 
than  a  full  day's  march  to  the  northward.  The  people  of  the  city 
were  greatly  alarmed,  and  President  Davis  had  the  public  archives 
packed,  ready  for  instant  removal.  But  there  was  nothing  to  fear. 
McClellan  had  no  thought  of  attacking  the  city.  His  genius  was 
methodical  and  cautious,  and  was  not  equal  to  a  bold,  sudden  move 
ment  of  such  magnitude.  But  in  one  point  McClellan  outwitted 
both  Lee  and  Jackson.  They  believed  that  if  he  were  forced  to  re 
treat  he  would  go  back  by  the  same  route  by  which  he  had  come, 
and  all  their  movements  for  several  days  were  made  on  that  supposi 
tion.  McClellan  quickly  comprehended  their  mistake  and  skillfully 
kept  them  deceived  for  some  days,  meantime  massing  McCienan 
his  army  south  of  the  Chickahominy.  His  object  was  moves  his 
to  form  a  new  and  better  base  of  supplies  on  the  James  tase  to  tte 
Eiver,  and  he  made  the  change  with  great  skill.  But  James- 
little  fighting  was  done  on  June  28  and  29,  and  McClellan  improved 
the  time  in  moving  his  immense  army  train  over  White  Oak  Swamp 
to  his  new  base  on  the  James.  It  was  a  great  task ;  he  had  four 
thousand  wagons,  five  hundred  ambulances,  three  hundred  and  fifty 
cannon,  and  twenty-five  hundred  live  cattle.  Nothing  but  his  clever 
deception  of  Lee  and  Jackson  saved  his  trains  from  capture.  Not 
until  the  morning  of  the  30th  did  the  Confederates  come  up  with 
the  retreating  army,  and  on  that  day  three  heavy  battles  were  fought. 

The  first  of  these  occurred  between  Franklin's  corps  and  the 
army  of  Jackson  at  White  Oak  Swamp.  Jackson,  with  thirty 
thousand  men,  attempting  to  cross  the  swamp,  was  attacked  by 
Franklin  with  scarcely  half  the  number.  Franklin's  attack  was  made 
with  great  courage,  and  it  prevented  Jackson  from  join 
ing  the  main  army.  About  two  miles  from  this  place 
occurred  the  battle  of  Glendale,  or  Frazier's  Farm. 
Here  the  divisions  of  Longstreet  and  A.  P.  Hill,  accompanied  by 
Lee  and  Jefferson  Davis,  attacked  two  Federal  divisions.  The 


700  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

afternoon  was  marked  by  a  succession  of  fierce  charges  by  the  Con 
federates,  and  the  battle  continued  till  late  in  the  night.  A  third 
battle  of  this  eventful  day  occurred  at  the  foot  of  Malvern  Hill, 
and  was  of  much  smaller  dimensions.  General  Wise  made  a  bold 
but  unsuccessful  attack  on  Porter  and  Keyes.1  McClellan  now  had 
his  army  well  in  hand,  and  during  the  night  he  concentrated  his 
entire  force  on  Malvern  Hill  to  await  the  fearful  battle  of  the 
next  day  which  was  to  close  the  campaign.2 

Malvern  Hill  is  a  low  plateau  more  than  a  mile  in  diameter,  near 
a  great  bend  of  the  James  River.  Here  McClellan  placed  his  army 
in  a  position  so  strong  that  twice  the  force  of  Lee  could  not  have 
dislodged  him.  The  army  was  arranged  in  "  a  grand  semicircle, 
with  tier  after  tier  of  batteries  .  .  .  rising  in  the  form  of  an  amphi 
theater."  The  crest  of  the  hill  bristled  with  cannon,  so  placed  that 
their  fire  could  be  concentrated  on  any  point  of  attack.  McClellan 
had  the  further  advantage  of  being  supported  by  his  gunboats  from 
the  river.  General  Lee  would  have  made  no  such  blunder  later  in 
the  war  as  he  now  made  in  attacking  McClellan.  For  the  first 
time  each  commander  had  a  united  army,  and  had  the  advantages 
been  equal,  a  fight  to  the  finish  might  have  taken  place. 

The  morning  was  spent  in  an  artillery  duel.  Lee  had  decided  to 
attempt  to  carry  the  hill  by  a  grand  bayonet  charge  along  his  whole 
Battle  of  ^ne-  -^u^  ^ne  sional  was  n°t  properly  given,  or  it  was 
Malvern  Hill,  misunderstood,  and  the  various  divisions  charged  singly. 
July  1,  1862.  First,  D.  H.  Hill,  then  Magruder,  then  Huger,  made  a 
determined  rush  up  the  slope ;  but  in  each  case  the  steady  hail  of 
musketry  and  the  concentrated  fire  of  the  cannon  from  the  crest  of 
Malvern  drove  them  back,  leaving  thousands  dead  and  wounded  in 
their  trail.  The  battle  raged  till  an  hour  after  dark,  the  lurid  glare 
of  the  powder  flashes  pointing  out  to  each  side  the  location  of  the 
enemy.  At  the  close  of  the  battle  every  Confederate  assault  had  been 
repelled,  every  battery  disabled,  while  not  a  line  or  a  column  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  had  been  broken.  Lee's  loss  exceeded  five 
thousand  men,  McClellan's  loss  was  not  one  third  as  great. 

McClellan  then  settled  down  at  Harrison's  Landing  on  the  bank 
of  the  James,  Lee  withdrew  his  army  to  his  intrenchments  at  Eich- 

1  The  losses  of  this  June  30  are  not  known,  but  Longstreet  and  the  two  Hills 
reported  their  losses  from  the  27th  to  the  30th  as  12,458. 

2  His  supply  train  had  now  reached  Haxall's  Landing  on  the  James,  just  below 
Malvern,  and  was  under  the  protection  of  the  fleet. 


RECALL   OF   McCLELLAN  701 

mond,  and  thus  ended  the  memorable  peninsular  campaign.  The 
losses  of  the  Federal  army  during  the  entire  campaign  were  officially 
given  at  15,249 ;  the  Confederate  losses  were  slightly  above  19,000. 

McClellan  now  determined  on  a  new  campaign  against  Richmond. 
He  had  chosen  an  admirable  position  from  which  to  operate :  his 
base  of  supplies  on  the  James  was  much  nearer  than  his  former  one 
on  the  York,  and  was  protected  by  the  fleet  in  the  river.  His  plan 
was  to  cross  the  river  to  Petersburg  and  to  operate  from  there; 
but  this  was  disapproved  at  Washington,  and  McClellan  yielded  the 
point,  reoccupied  Malvern  Hill,  and  was  ready  to  begin  the  new 
campaign,  when  all  unexpectedly  he  was  ordered  to  abandon  the 
peninsula  and  return  with  his  army  to  the  vicinity  of  Washington. 
This  was  certainly  an  unfortunate  move  for  the  Union  cause,  for 
with  a  reinforcement  of  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  men,  which  had 
been  promised  him,  McClellan  could  surely  have  captured  Richmond 
within  the  next  two  or  three  months.  He  was  not  a  very  great 
commander,  it  is  true,  but  he  was  safe.  He  was  slow  to  strike ;  but 
when  he  struck,  he  struck  with  power.  His  movement  of  his  base 
from  the  York  to  the  James,  deceiving  both  the  great  Confed 
erate  generals,  was  accomplished  with  consummate  ability.  The 
campaign,  it  must  be  confessed,  had  failed  in  its  intended  object  — 
the  capture  of  Kichmond.  But  the  army  had  vast  obstacles  to 
overcome  —  endless  swamps  and  swollen  rivers,  with  a  powerful  and 
ever  vigilant  foe  in  front.  It  suffered  great  losses,  but  it  inflicted 
greater  losses  on  the  enemy.  For  seven  days  it  had  fought  nearly 
every  day  and  had  marched  through  the  swamps  at  night ;  and  yet 
with  all  this  the  army  was  not  in  the  least  demoralized.  Its  organiza 
tion  was  as  perfect  after  the  battle  of  Malvern  Hill  as  it  was  before 
the  battle  of  Williamsburg,  and,  above  all,  it  was  intensely  devoted 
to  its  commander.  In  view  of  these  facts  it  is  difficult  to  see  why 
McClellan  should  have  been  recalled  at  this  moment  and  his  army 
scattered  and  merged  into  another.  The  answer  to  this  question 
remains  among  the  unfathomable  political  mysteries  of  Washington. 

NOTES 

Indians  in  the  Civil  War.  —  At  the  close  of  Buchanan's  administration  nearly 
all  the  United  States  Indian  agents  were  secessionists,  and  they  did  all  in  their 
power  to  lead  the  Indians  to  favor  the  South.  Agents  were  sent  among  the  Indi 
ans  to  organize  them  against  the  Federal  government ;  but  they  were  not  always 
successful.  An  aged  chief  of  the  Creeks  of  the  Indian  Territory,  for  example, 


702  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

took  strong  ground  for  the  Union,  and  he  had  many  followers.  Against  this 
chief,  Colonel  Douglas  Cooper,  a  white  man,  organized  a  force  in  the  autumn 
of  1861,  and  the  Indians,  after  being  defeated  in  two  minor  battles,  fled  in 
midwinter  to  Kansas  for  refuge.  There  were  various  other  small  engagements 
among  the  Indians,  usually  under  white  leaders.  Many  of  the  Indians  preferred 
to  occupy  a  neutral  position,  but  they  found  this  difficult  to  do.  On  the  whole, 
more  of  them  sympathized  with  the  South  than  with  the  North ;  but  only  at 
Pea  Ilidge  were  they  engaged  in  battle  on  a  large  scale.  The  Indians  made 
poor  soldiers  as  compared  with  white  men.  They  clung  to  their  ancient  methods 
of  warfare,  and  failed  wholly  to  grasp  modern  scientific  methods. 

General  Butler  in  New  Orleans.  — The  people  of  New  Orleans  yielded  with 
ill  grace  to  the  occupation  of  the  city  by  the  Union  forces,  and  Butler  in  govern 
ing  the  city  found  his  path  a  thorny  one.  As  he  walked  along  the  streets  his 
ears  were  greeted  by  such  calls  as,  "  There's  the  old  cock-eye,"  "  Beast  Butler," 

"Let  me  see  the  d rascal,"  "  Hurrah  for  Jeff.  Davis,"  and  the  like.  The 

soldiers  were  repeatedly  insulted  in  the  streets  by  the  crowds,  and  especially  by 
women  who  belonged  to  the  higher  social  classes.  One  day  a  woman  passing 
two  soldiers  deliberately  spat  in  their  faces.  Butler  could  bear  this  no  longer, 
and  issued  his  famous  order  declaring  that  if  in  future  "any  female  shall,  by 
word,  gesture,  or  movement,  insult  or  show  contempt  for  any  officer  or  soldier 
of  the  United  States,  she  shall  be  regarded  and  held  liable  to  be  treated  as  a 
woman  of  the  town  plying  her  avocation."  This  order  had  the  desired  effect,  but 
it  brought  fierce  condemnation  on  its  author  throughout  the  South  and  in  parts 
of  the  North,  and  was  even  referred  to  with  "deepest  indignation"  by  Lord 
Palmerston,  the  British  Premier,  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Butler  hanged 
William  B.  Mumford  for  hauling  down  the  American  flag  from  the  roof  of  the 
Mint.  He  took  possession  of  a  large  district  southwest  of  New  Orleans  and 
sequestered  all  the  property  for  the  benefit  of  the  army  and  of  the  destitute 
slaves,  and  made  himself  unpopular  in  many  ways.  In  December  of  the  same 
year  he  was  superseded  by  General  N.  P.  Banks.  Jefferson  Davis  then  issued  a 
proclamation  declaring  Butler  an  outlaw  and  a  felon,  and  directing  any  Confed 
erate  officer  to  kill  him  on  sight.  To  this  a  rich  South  Carolinian  added  an 
offer  of  a  reward  of  $10,000  for  the  capture  of  Butler  dead  or  alive.  See 
Greeley's  "American  Conflict,"  Vol.  II,  p.  96  sq. 

Lincoln  and  McClellan.  —  An  endless  controversy  arose  after  the  close  of 
the  peninsular  campaign  concerning  the  merits  of  the  relations  between  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  and  General  McClellan.  Many  take  the  ground  that  McClellan 
was  incompetent  and  should  have  been  recalled  sooner  than  he  was,  while  others 
claim  that  the  administration  did  not  support  the  army  properly,  and  actually 
desired  McClellan's  downfall.  There  was  merit  and  blame  on  each  side. 
McClellan  was  utterly  in  the  wrong  in  believing  that  Lincoln  did  not  wish  to 
sustain  him.  He  was  wrong  also  in  overestimating  the  force  of  the  enemy  ;  but 
he  accepted  the  reports  of  his  spies,  who,  some  have  believed,  were  in  sympathy 
with  the  enemy,  and  purposely  deceived  him.  The  claim  of  some  that  Lincoln, 
believing  that  McClellan  had  aspirations  to  the  presidency,  was  jealous  of  him 
and  wished  to  degrade  him,  will  seem  absurd  to  any  one  who  studies  Lincoln's 
whole  life.  But  Lincoln  was  at  fault  in  urging  McClellan  to  begin  great  opera- 


NOTES  703 


tions  in  midwinter.  He  simply  reflected  the  impatience  of  the  great  untrained 
public.  His  proclamation  ordering  the  army  to  move  on  the  22d  of  February  is 
pronounced  by  Ropes,  one  of  our  profoundest  military  critics,  "  a  curious  speci 
men  of  puerile  impatience,"  as  war  orders  and  proclamations  "will  not  make 
roads  passable."  McClellan  was  quite  right  in  deciding  not  to  move  till  spring, 
but  he  was  wrong  in  ignoring  public  opinion.  He  should  have  made  minor 
movements  here  and  there,  as  he  could  easily  have  done,  to  quiet  public  feeling. 
Again,  when  he  saw  that  there  was  a  frantic  fear  that  Washington  would  be 
captured,  he  should  have  done  more  than  he  did  to  allay  it,  though  he  did  not 
share  it.  Lincoln  was  greatly  handicapped  in  two  ways  :  First,  his  want  of 
military  training,  and,  it  may  be  added,  his  commonplace  native  judgment  in 
military  matters  ;  and  second,  his  inability  to  extricate  himself  from  the  all- 
powerful  political  influence  at  the  capital.  Many  of  his  appointments  were 
based  on  political  grounds.  Here,  is  an  example  :  McClellan  urged  (see  "  McClel- 
lan's  Own  Story,"  p.  226)  that  the  defenses  of  Washington  be  put  into  the 
hands  of  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  army  ;  but  Lincoln  appointed  to  this 
important  post  General  Wadsworth,  a  politician  wholly  without  military  train 
ing  or  experience.  The  secret  of  the  appointment  is  shown  in  a  letter  to 
McClellan  from  the  secretary  of  war.  "Wadsworth,"  wrote  Stanton,  "had 
been  selected  because  it  was  necessary  for  political  reasons  to  conciliate  the 
agricultural  interests  of  New  York,"  and  he  declared  that  it  was  useless  to  dis 
cuss  the  matter,  as  in  no  event  would  the  appointment  be  changed.  No  ill  effects 
came  of  this ;  but  had  a  Confederate  army  attacked  Washington  the  result  might 
have  been  disastrous.  Lincoln  was  a  victim  of  this  political  monster,  which, 
in  our  government,  is  so  strong  that  the  strongest  man  cannot  wholly  prevail 
against  it. 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

THE   CIVIL   WAR  — WAR   ON   A   GRAND   SCALE 

A  YEAK  had  now  passed  since  the  first  great  clash  of  arms  at 
Bull  Run.  It  was  a  momentous  year  in  American  history ;  it  had 
brought  the  marshaling  of  vast  armies  and  a  few  tremendous  battles. 
Neither  side  had  yet  much  to  boast  of.  The  North  was  as  deter 
mined  as  ever  to  preserve  the  Union;  but  the  Confederacy  seemed 
unshaken.  Yet  it  had  visibly  lost  ground  —  not  in  the  East,  save 
along  the  coast  of  the  Carolinas,  but  in  the  valley  of  the  great  river. 
Missouri  had  been  saved  to  the  Union  j  so  had  Kentucky ;  the  South 
had  lost  Arkansas  at  Pea  Ridge,  and  Tennessee  at  Pittsburg  Landing. 
The  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  had  been  seized,  and  the  greatest  port 
of  the  South  had  fallen  before  the  armies  from  the  North.  But  the 
year  ending  with  July,  1862,  with  all  its  great  events,  was  surpassed 
by  the  year  that  followed  it.  The  whole  land  was  now  astir  with 
the  spirit  of  war.  No  longer  did  any  one  dream  of  compromise ; 
the  two  mighty  powers  had  grappled  in  mortal  strife,  and  only 
when  one  had  slain  the  other  could  the  contest  end.  Which  would 
win  no  one  could  yet  say.  Certainly  the  North,  if  Europe  would 
keep  quiet ;  otherwise,  the  outcome  was  uncertain. 

THE  CONFEDERATE  GOVERNMENT 

At  this  point  a  rapid  view  of  the  Confederate  government  is  in 
place.  We  have  noted  the  forming  of  the  provisional  government 
at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  in  February,  1861,  the  election  of  a 
provisional  President  and  Vice  President,  the  adoption  by  the 
Congress  of  a  permanent  Constitution  in  March,  and  the  removal 
of  the  capital  to  Richmond,  Virginia.  The  provisional  government 
continued  for  one  year,  its  Congress  consisting  of  but  one  House, 
when  it  gave  way  to  the  "  permanent "  government,  in  which  the 
Congress  consisted  of  two  houses,  similar  to  those  of  the  Union. 

704 


THE   CONFEDERATE   CONGRESS  705 

The  laws  of  the  United  States  in  force  at  the  time  of  secession 
continued  to  operate  until  repealed. 

On  November  6,  1861,  an  election  of  President  and  Vice  Presi 
dent  for  the  full  six  years  was  held,  and  Davis  and  Stephens  were 
reflected  by  a  unanimous  electoral  vote.  The  inauguration  took 
place  on  February  22,  1862. 

Under  the  permanent  Constitution  two  congresses  were  elected. 
The  period  of  the  first  was  from  February  18,  1862,  to  February  18, 
1864,  four  sessions  being  held.  The  second  Congress  began  at  the  ex 
piration  of  the  first  and  continued  till  it  was  unceremoniously  broken 
up,  on  March  18,  1865,  by  the  proximity  of  General  Grant's  army. 
Thomas  S.  Bocock  of  Virginia  was  the  Speaker  of  both  congresses. 
In  the  first  Congress  there  were  delegates  from  the  non-seceding 
states  of  Missouri  and  Kentucky,  elected  by  rump  conventions  or 
by  soldiers  in  the  field.  The  highest  number  in  the  Confederate 
Senate  was  twenty-six  and  in  the  House  one  hundred  and  six.  The 
Congress  held  most  of  its  sessions  in  secret.  It  was  not  free  in  its 
acts ;  it  was  dominated  by  President  Davis,  and  its  main  business 
was  to  register  laws  prepared  by  him.  Davis  soon  had  quarrels  with 
the  leading  members  of  Congress  as  well  as  of  the  army.  Toward 
the  close  of  the  war  the  Congress  began  to  wrest  itself  from  the 
control  of  the  President.  As  early  as  December,  1863,  Foote  of 
Tennessee  stated  on  the  floor  of  the  House  that  President  Davis 
"never  visited  the  army  without  doing  it  injury  —  never  yet,  that 
it  has  not  been  followed  by  disaster."  The  only  known  instance, 
says  Alexander  Johnston,1  of  entirely  independent  action  in  an 
important  -matter  by  the  permanent  Congress  was  that  of  1865, 
when  it  voted  that  Davis' s  incompetency  was  the  cause  of  Con 
federate  disaster,  and  made  General  Lee  commander  in  chief  with 
unlimited  powers.  Certainly  the  presidency  of  the  Confederacy 
was  a  thorny  road  to  travel. 

The  suspending  of  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  was  practiced  in 
the  South,  as  in  the  North;  and  there  also  it  awakened  much  opposi 
tion,  especially  in  Georgia  and  North  Carolina.  In  the  matter  of 
conscription  the  South  dealt  more  drastically  than  the  North.  An 
act  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  February  17,  1864,  declared  all 
white  men  in  the  Confederate  states,  between  the  ages  of  17  and  50 
years,  in  the  military  service  for  the  period  of  the  war. 

Little  was  the  opportunity  of  the  people  of  the  South  to  show 
i  Lalor's  "  Cyclopedia,"  Vol.  I,  p.  570. 


706  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

their  capacity  for  self-government,  which,  with  their  many  trained 
statesmen,  they  no  doubt  had  in  a  high  degree.  The  brief  period  of 
the  Confederate  government  was  one  of  unceasing  warfare  with  a 
mightier  power,  and  its  game  was  a  losing  one  throughout.  Little 
could  its  Congress  do  but  pass  war  measures,  dealing  with  the 
raising  of  armies  and  the  distressing  subject  of  finance.  From 
the  beginning  the  government  relied  chiefly  on  loans.  It  hoped  to 
refrain  from  internal  taxation,  and  the  blockade  prevented  an  income 
from  foreign  trade.  The  first  issue  of  bonds,  in  February,  1861 ,  was 
for  $  15,000,000,  and  this  was  realized  in  specie ;  but  the  second, 
three  months  later,  for  a  hundred  millions,  was  raised  partly  by 
accepting  farm  produce,  by  which  the  government  became  the  pos 
sessor  of  vast  stores  of  cotton.  This  produce  loan  system  was  con 
tinued  through  the  years  1862  and  1863,  and  even  the  states  followed 
the  example  and  borrowed  cotton  by  the  issue  of  bonds.1 

As  the  raising  of  money  by  bond  issues  grew  more  difficult,  the 
government  came  to  rely  on  the  issue  of  treasury  notes,  or  paper 
money.  The  issue  was  at  first  meager ;  but  it  increased  rapidly,  and 
by  the  close  of  the  war  there  was  probably  $1,000,000,000  of  Con 
federate  money  afloat.  This  of  course  decreased  in  value  until  it 
became  worthless.  The  government  at  length  resorted  to  internal 
taxation ;  but  as  the  taxes  were  paid  in  its  own  depreciated  notes,  it 
provided  for  produce  taxation,  and  the  farmer  paid  his  tax  with  the 
products  of  the  farm.  On  the  whole  the  struggle  of  the  Confeder 
acy  for  life  was  one  of  the  most  heroic  in  history. 


POPE'S   CAMPAIGN  IN  VIRGINIA 

The  almost  unbroken  successes  of  the  Union  armies  in  the  Mis 
sissippi  Valley  created  a  feeling  that  their  leaders  were  superior  to 
those  of  the  East.  The  latest  of  these  western  men  to  call  attention 
to  himself  was  General  John  Pope,  a  Kentuckian  by  birth,  a  gradu 
ate  of  West  Point,  and  a  veteran  of  the  Mexican  War.  Pope's 
signal  victory  at  Island  No.  10  gave  him  national  fame,  and  in  June 
he  was  called  east  and  given  command  of  the  forces  under  McDowell, 
Banks,  and  Fremont,  and  the  combined  army,  some  forty  thousand 
men,  was  named  "The  Army  of  Virginia."2  The  following  month 

1  See  "  Cambridge  Modern  History,"  Vol.  VII,  p.  610. 

2  Fremont  refused  to  serve  under  Pope,  and  General  Franz  Sigel  was  appointed 
in  his  stead. 


POPE   IN  VIRGINIA  707 

General  Halleck  was  called  east  and  made  commander  in  chief  of 
all  the  armies  of  the  United  States.  Soon  after  this,  McClellan  was 
recalled  from  the  peninsula,  and  a  large  part  of  his  army  was  given 
to  Pope,  who  was  directed  to  make  an  aggressive  campaign  in  the 
vicinity  of  Manassas.  Pope  started  out  with  a  bombastic  proclama 
tion,  almost  as  turgid  as  that  of  General  Srnythe  before  Niagara 
in  1813. 

The  first  serious  encounter  took  place  at  Cedar  Mountain,  a  few 
miles  south  of  Culpeper.  The  corps  of  Banks,  about  eight  thou 
sand  men,  fought  with  more  than  twice  their  number  Banks  at 
under  Jackson.  Banks  rushed  upon  the  enemy's  lines  Cedar  Moun- 
with  great  fury  and  threw  them  into  disorder,  and  had  tain,  August  9. 
not  Jackson  received  reinforcements  he  might  have  been  routed, 
though  his  loss  was  much  less  than  that  of  Banks.1  The  next  few 
weeks  were  occupied  in  skirmishes,  marches,  and  countermarches. 
On  one  occasion  Stewart  with  his  cavalry  cut  Pope  off  temporarily 
from  his  base  of  supplies  at  Manassas  and  captured  his  private 
papers  ;  and  on  the  27th  of  August  Jackson  captured  the  great  Fed 
eral  stores  at  Manassas.  Lee  had  now  moved  forward  with  most  of 
his  army  to  the  aid  of  Jackson.  Pope  had  also  been  reenforced  from 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  but  his  force  was  still  inferior  to  that  of 
Lee. 

On  August  29  occurred  the  sanguinary  battle  of  Groveton.    Pope 
was  anxious  to  crush  Jackson  before  he  could  be  reenforced  by 
Longstreet,  who  was   fast   approaching.     He  ordered 
McDowell  to  fall  back  toward  Gainesville,  and  from 


here  he  arranged  his  whole  army  in  a  semicircle,  several 
miles  long,  to  Bull  Run.  But  Longstreet  had  arrived,  and  the  battle 
was  general  all  along  the  line  —  a  series  ot  heavy  skirmishes  rather 
than  a  pitched  battle.  The  fight,  especially  in  the  afternoon,  went 
against  the  Federals.  Pope  blamed  Fitz-John  Porter  for  this.  He 
had  sent  Porter  word  to  support  McDowell,  but,  as  Porter  claimed, 
the  word  did  not  reach  him  till  night.2  Pope  had  been  worsted  on 

1  Sigel  and  his  corps  were  only  a  few  miles  away,  but  through  some  misunder 
standing  he  failed  to  go  to  the  aid  of  Banks.    The  Union  loss  at  Cedar  Mountain, 
says  Livermore,  was  2353;  Confederate  loss,  1338. 

2  For  not  obeying  this  order  Porter  was  court-martialed,  dismissed  from  the 
service,  and  disqualified  from  holding  any  office  of  trust  or  profit  in  the  United 
States.    The  matter  became  the  subject  of  long  controversy.    In  1882  General  Grant 
reviewed   the   case   and   decided    that   Porter  was  innocent.      His  disability  was 
removed  that  year,  and  in  188fi  he  was  restored  to  the  army  and  retired. 


708  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

this  day,  but  he  prepared  for  a  new  attack  the  following  morning. 

Lee's  whole  army  was  now  in  his  front.     He  imagined  Lee  to  be  in 

retreat,  arid  sent  McDowell  to  follow  him  ;  but  McDowell  was  driven 

back,  and  Porter,  who  charged  Jackson's  right  repeatedly, 

of  °BuU  En"16  was  driven  back  with  great  loss-  The  Federals  were  at 
length  forced  back  over  Bull  Eun  toward  Centreville. 
This  battle,  in  which  Pope  was  again  defeated,  has  been  called  the 
second  battle  of  Bull  Run,  as  it  was  fought  on  almost  the  s-ame 
ground  as  that  on  which  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  defeated 
thirteen  months  before. 

Two  days  later  another  fierce  battle  occurred,  known  as  the  battle 
of  Chantilly.  Lee  had  sent  Jackson  around  Centreville  to  the  north, 
and  the  divisions  of  Hooker,  Reno,  and  Kearney  were 
Se  Member  1  sen^  aSa^ns^  him.  The  Federals  were  at  length  forced 
to  retire,  and  the  brave  General  Kearney,  who  had  lost 
an  arm  in  the  Mexican  War  and  had  just  passed  through  the  penin 
sular  campaign,  was  among  the  slain.  Pope  now  led  his  army  back 
to  the  defense  of  Washington.  The  campaign  had  cost  him  at  least 
fifteen  thousand  men ;  the  Confederate  loss  was  probably  above  ten 
thousand.  If  McClellan  had  failed  on  the  peninsula,  Pope,  with  all 
his  glowing  promises,  had  made  a  far  more  dismal  failure.  On  the 
same  day  that  he  reached  Washington  he  was  relieved  of  command 
at  his  own  request,  and  McClellan  was  restored  to  the  command  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

ANTIETAM 

When,  on  September  2,  1862,  President  Lincoln  called  in  person 
on  General  McClellan  and  requested  him  to  resume  command  of  the 
army,  McClellan  accepted  the  heavy  burden  without  a  murmur  con 
cerning  the  past,  and  the  soldiers  sent  up  cheer  after  cheer  at  the 
return  of  their  old  commander.  The  army  at  that  moment  was 
shattered  and  demoralized,  but  in  a  few  days  the  magic  hand  of 
McClellan  effected  a  new  organization. 

Lee  was  elated  at  his  recent  successes,  and  resolved  to  make 
an  immediate  invasion  of  Maryland.  In  a  few  days  his  army  was 
on  its  way  toward  Harpers  Ferry.  McClellan  at  the  same  time 
moved  his  army  up  the  north  bank  of  the  Potomac.  He  was  uncer 
tain  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  Confederates  until,  on  the  12th  of 
September,  Lee's  order  of  the  campaign  fell  into  his  hands.  By  this 


McCLELLAN   AND   LEE   IN   MARYLAND  709 

he  learned  that  Jackson  had  gone  to  Sharpsburg,  between  the  Poto 
mac  and  Antietam  Creek,  that  Longstreet  was  to  halt  at  Boonsboro 
with  the  supply  trains,  and  that  McLaws  was  to  occupy  the  heights 
above  Harpers  Ferry.  This  information  was  of  great  advantage  to 
McClellan.  When  Lee  entered  Maryland  he  called  upon  the  people  to 
rally  to  his  standard,  to  throw  off  the  foreign  yoke,  and  to  restore  the 
independence  and  sovereignty  of  their  state ;  but  the  people  failed 
to  respond,  and  the  southerners  found  only  closed  doors  and  frown 
ing  looks.  The  Union  army,  on  the  other  hand,  was  welcomed  with 
open  arms. 

The  first  encounter,  a  double  one,  took  place  at  two  passes  in  the 
South  Mountain,  a  continuation  of  the  Blue  Ridge  north  of  the  Poto 
mac.     General  Franklin,  who  had  been  sent  to  relieve   Battle  of 
Harpers  Ferry,  met  a  Confederate  force  at  Crampton's   south  Moun- 
Gap,  and  defeated  it  in  a  sharp  battle  of  three  hours.   tain-  Septem- 
At  the  same  time  the  main  army  under  Burnside  and  ber  14< 
Reno  encountered  a  stronger  force  at  Turner's  Gap,  seven  miles  farther 
up.     The  battle  here  continued  many  hours,  till  late  in  the  night, 
and  the  Union  troops  were  victorious,  though  General  Reno  was 
killed,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  R.  B.  Hayes,  a  future  President  of 
the  United  States,  was  among  the  wounded.     These  two  actions  are 
known  as  the  battle  of  South  Mountain.     The  Federals  won  a  decisive 
victory  in  both,  with  a  loss  of  twenty-one  hundred  men,1  but  they 
failed  to  save  Harpers  Ferry.     On  the  next  day  Jackson  on  the  one 
side  and  McLaws  on  the  other  looked  down  from  the  heights  on 
Harpers  Ferry,  where  Colonel  Dixon  S.  Miles  had  twelve  thousand 
men  and  vast  stores  of  arms  and  ammunition.    With  in-  Capture  Of 
explicable  stupidity  he  had  remained  in  the  trap  when  Harpers 
he  should  have  led  his  men  to  one  of  the  heights  and  Ferry, 
held  the  enemy  in  check  until  the  arrival  of  Franklin,   September  15. 
whom  he  knew  to  be  but  a  few  miles  away.     Scarcely  had  the  bom 
bardment  begun  when  he  raised  the  white  flag  and   surrendered 
his  army  and  the  great  stores  to  the  enemy.     Miles' s  action  arose 
probably  from  want  of  capacity,  rather  than  of  patriotism.     Yet 
he  would  doubtless  have  been  severely  dealt  with  but  for  the  fact 
that  a  stray  Confederate  bullet,  after  the  surrender,  laid  him  dead 
upon  the  ground. 

Jackson  and  McLaws  now  hastened  to  join  the  main  army,  which 

1  Lee's  loss  was  nearly  twenty-seven  hundred,  eight  hundred  of  whom  were 
prisoners.    Livermore,  p.  91. 


710  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

had  taken  a  strong  position  on  the  south  bank  of  Antietam  Creek, 
a  little  stream  that  flows  into  the  Potomac  above  Harpers  Ferry.  It 
was  evident  that  a  battle  of  vast  magnitude  was  imminent,  one 
that  must  decide  the  issue  of  Lee's  campaign.  If  Lee  won,  he  would 
push  northward  into  Pennsylvania,  or  strike  Baltimore ;  if  he  lost, 
he  must  return  to  Virginia.  After  an  artillery  duel  at  intervals,  and 
a  sharp  attack  by  Hooker  on  Lee's  left  wing,  the  two  great  armies 
bivouacked  on  the  field  for  the  night  and  sought  a  little  rest  and 
strength  for  the  fearful  business  of  the  coming  day.  At  sunrise  of 
the  17th  Hooker,  who  commanded  the  Union  right,  opened  his  cannon 
on  the  enemy's  left  under  Jackson.  Jackson  answered  with  fury, 
Battle  of  kut  an  enfilading  fire  from  Hooker's  batteries  pressed 
Antietam,  his  lines  back,  when  he  received  fresh  masses  of  troops 
September  and  was  about  to  drive  Hooker  from  his  position. 

1*7     1  ft£  9 

Hooker  was  painfully  wounded  and  was  borne  from  the 
field,  and  Sunmer  crossed  the  creek  and  threw  his  corps  into  the 
contest.  Thus  for  hours  the  Union  right  and  the  enemy  in  its  front 
surged  to  and  fro,  and  human  blood  flowed  like  water.  Meantime 
the  left  and  center  under  Burnside  and  Porter  remained  inactive  till 
afternoon,  when  Burnside  charged  upon  the  enemy.  As  evening 
approached  the  two  armies  ceased  fighting  as  if  by  mutual  consent. 
Both  had  suffered  severely.  More  than  23,000  men  lay  dead  or 
wounded  on  the  field,  divided  almost  equally  between  the  two  armies. 
This  day  has  been  pronounced  the  bloodiest  day  in  American  history. 
McClellan  reported  a  loss  of  12,640.  For  twenty-four  hours  the  two 
armies  rested,  glaring  at  each  other.  McClellan  meant  to  attack  on 
the  second  day,  but  during  the  preceding  night  Lee  escaped  across 
the  Potomac  in  the  darkness.  Antietam  was  a  drawn  battle ;  but 
in  another  sense  it  was  a  complete  victory  for  McClellan,  for  it  ended 
Lee's  proposed  invasion  of  the  North.  Lee  had  started  north  with  a 
fine  army  of  over  50,000  men  just  two  weeks  before ;  now  he  returned 
with  little  over  half  the  number,  having  lost  greatly  by  straggling 
as  well  as  in  battle.  Had  McClellan  known  that  on  the  day  after 
the  battle  Lee  was  nearly  out  of  ammunition  and  his  army  was 
greatly  disorganized,  he  could  have  overwhelmed  and  crushed  him. 
His  pursuit  of  Lee  was  long  delayed;  it  should  have  been  immediate 
and  vigorous.  He  alleged  that  his  army  was  short  in  horses,  short 
in  wagons,  rations,  clothing,  etc. ;  but  he  should  have  remembered, 
for  he  certainly  knew,  that  the  retreating  enemy  was  shorter  in  every 
thing  than  he  was.  Lincoln  urged  an  immediate  pursuit  of  Lee ; 


DISMISSAL   OF   McCLELLAN  711 

but  McClellan  waited  five  weeks  before  attempting  to  cross  the  Poto 
mac  Eiver.  At  last  he  did  move :  he  crossed  the  river  late  in  Octo 
ber,  and  the  celerity  of  his  march  was  unusual  for  him. 
But  the  patience  of  the  administration  had  been  ex- 
hausted,  and  on  November  7,  as  he  sat  in  his  tent  with 
his  friend  Burnside,  he  received  a  dispatch  from  the  President  re 
lieving  him  of  the  command  and  giving  it  to  Burnside. 

Why  McClellau  was  removed  at  this  time  the  historian  has  no 
power  to  determine.  Some  attribute  the  removal  to  the  inner  politi 
cal  councils  at  Washington.  It  was  known  that  McClellan  was  a 
conservative,  and  his  friends  outside  the  army  were  generally  Demo 
crats  or  conservative  Kepublicans.1  Others  believed  that  the  admin 
istration  feared  that  McClellan,  if  left  a  few  weeks  longer,  would 
crush  Lee,  annihilate  his  army,  and  end  the  rebellion,  leaving  slav 
ery  intact,  and  they  preferred  that  the  war  continue  rather  than  that 
it  should  end  with  the  cause  of  it  left  over  to  disturb  the  country  in 
future.  There  is  no  proof  that  this  motive  entered  the  mind  of  the 
President  and  his  advisers  ;  but  if  it  were  so,  we  cannot  hesitate  to 
give  it  our  approval.  From  a  military  standpoint,  however,  the  re 
moval  of  McClellan  was  a  serious  mistake.  It  is  certain  that  he 
was  a  growing  man,  and  that  with  his  extreme  caution  and  his  won 
derful  powers  of  organization  a  great  defeat  of  the  army  under  him 
was  scarcely  possible.  Thus  closed  his  career  as  a  soldier,  and  it 
is  with  sincere  regret  that  we  take  leave  of  McClellan.  He  was  a 
man  of  clean  moral  life  and  was  deeply  devoted  to  the  cause  of  the 
Union.  Much  has  been  written  concerning  McClellan  as  a  com 
mander,  and  the  best  summing  up  of  it  all,  in  our  opinion,  was  made 
by  General  Grant  in  later  years.  "  The  test  applied  to  him,"  said 
Grant,  "  would  be  terrible  to  any  man,  being  made  a  major-general 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  .  .  .  McClellan  was  a  young  man  when 
this  devolved  upon  him,  and  if  he  did  not  succeed,  it  was  because 
the  conditions  of  success  were  so  trying.  If  McClellan  had  gone  into 
the  war  as  Sherman,  Thomas,  or  Meade,  —  had  fought  his  way  along 
and  up,  —  I  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  would  not  have  won 
as  high  distinction  as  any  of  us."  2 

Who  should  succeed  McClellan?    Various  names  were  considered, 

1  Rhodes,  Vol.  IV,  p.  190.    Burgess  pronounces  the  dismissal  of  McClellan  "  a 
dark,  mysterious,  uncanny  thing,  which  the  historian  does  not  need  to  touch  and  pre 
fers  not  to  touch."     "  The  Civil  War  and  the  Constitution,"  Vol.  II,  p.  105. 

2  See  Young's  "  Around  the  World  with  General  Grant,"  Vol.  II,  p.  216. 


712  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

and  the  choice  fell  on  General  Burnside,  who  had  repeatedly  dis 
paraged  his  own  ability  and  had  affirmed  over  and  over  again  that 
McClellan  was  the  ablest  commander  in  the  army.  This  was  attrib 
uted  to  his  modesty.  Had  not  Caesar  refused  the  crown  offered 
him  by  the  Roman  Senate  ?  Twice  had  Burnside  been  offered  and 
twice  he  had  refused  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  de 
claring  that  he  was  incompetent.  But  George  AVashington  had  said 
the  same  thing  to  the  Continental  Congress.  It  was  left,  however, 
for  Burnside  to  do  what  Washington  never  did  —  to  prove  his 
assertion  to  be  true.  His  short,  disastrous  campaign,  which  we 
shall  notice  hereafter,  left  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  his  countrymen. 

EMANCIPATION 

The  battle  of  Antietam  not  only  drove  Lee  back  to  Virginia  soil 
and  ended  his  invasion,  which,  with  a  simultaneous  invasion  of 
Kentucky  by  forty  thousand  Confederates  under  General  Bragg,  had 
caused  great  excitement  in  the  North;  it  also  enabled  Lincoln  to 
issue  the  most  important  proclamation  ever  issued  by  a  President  of 
the  United  States. 

The  war  had  been  going  on  for  a  year  and  a  half ;  it  had  cost 
eighty  thousand  men  and  $1,000,000,000 ;  but  it  was  still,  as  in  the 
beginning,  a  war  for  the  Union.  The  real  cause  of  the  strife, 
slavery,  was  not  yet  seriously  molested.  But  a  beginning  had  been 
made,  and  after  Antietam  the  matter  took  such  shape  that  hence 
forth  there  could  be  no  backward  step.  Emancipation,  as  well  as 
the  preservation  of  the  Union,  became  the  policy  of  the  government. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  war  there  was  a  radical  party  that  ceased 
not  to  demand  that  the  government  strike  at  slavery.  But  the 
President  hesitated  long,  and  the  radicals  denounced  him  un 
sparingly  ;  yet  Lincoln  wa,s  right.  He  knew  that  the  radicals  were 
greatly  in  the  minority ;  he  knew  that,  with  all  his  desire  to  see  the 
institution  fall,  he  would  alienate  the  border  states  and  perhaps 
the  whole  Democratic  party  of  the  North  if  he  pressed  the  matter 
too  soon.  The  Democrats  claimed  to  be  fighting  for  the  Union  and 
not  for  the  negro.  Lincoln  therefore,  with  infinite  tact,  waited  fcr 
public  opinion  and  aided  in  its  development. 

The  gradual  steps  toward  emancipation  are  interesting  to  note. 
The  first  step  was  taken  by  General  Butler  while  in  command  at 
Fortress  Monroe.  He  refused,  in  May,  1861,  to  send  three  black 


STEPS   TOWARD   EMANCIPATION  713 

fugitives  back  to  their  master,  pronouncing  them  contraband  of  war. 
The  next  step  was  an  act  of  Congress  in  August  of  the  same  year, 
confiscating  all  property,  including  slaves,  employed  in  the  service  of 
the  rebellion.  Xext  came  Fremont's  confiscation  order  in  Missouri, 
which,  as  we  have  noticed,  was  overruled  by  the  Presi-  steps 
dent.  In  May  of  the  next  year,  1862,  General  David  emancipa- 
Himter,  commanding  on  the  coast  of  South  Carolina,  tion- 
issued  a  proclamation  declaring  the  slaves  in  his  department  — 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida  —  free ;  but  the  President  over 
ruled  this,  as  in  the  case  of  Fremont.  In  spite  of  these  apparent 
checks  the  subject  continued  to  develop.  On  April  16, 1862,  Congress 
abolished  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  with  compensation. 
In  June  it  passed  a  law  prohibiting  slavery  in  all  the  territories 
of  the  United  States,  including  those  to  be  acquired.  As  early  as 
March  6  Lincoln  had  urged  Congress  in  a  special  message  to  coop 
erate  with  any  state  for  the  gradual  emancipation  of  its  slaves,  with 
compensation  from  the  government.  He  figured  out  that  the  cost  of 
the  war  for  eighty-seven  days  would  purchase  all  the  slaves  in  the 
border  states  at  the  rate  of  $400  apiece.1  A  resolution  to  this  effect 
passed  the  House  on  March  11  and  the  Senate  on  April  2.  Lincoln 
in  July  called  the  senators  and  representatives  from  the  border 
states  to  the  White  House  for  a  heart  to  heart  talk  on  the  subject. 
He  begged  them  to  accept  his  policy,  pointing  out  to  them  that  the 
opportunity  might  never  come  again,  that  the  signs  of  the  times 
pointed  to  the  ultimate  extinction  of  slavery ;  but  he  pleaded  in  vain.2 

The  second  and  most  sweeping  Confiscation  Act  was  passed  on 
July  17,  1862.  This  act  in  substance  pronounced  all  slaves  free 
who  should  come  within  the  protection  of  the  government,  if  their 
owners  were  in  rebellion  against  the  government,  or  had  given  or 
should  give  aid  or  comfort  to  the  rebellion. 

On  July  22  at  a  Cabinet  meeting  Mr.  Lincoln  declared  his  pur 
pose  to  issue  an  emancipation  edict  to  take  effect  January  1, 1863,  and 
he  read  the  document  he  had  prepared.  Two  of  the  members,  Seward 
and  Welles,  had  been  taken  into  the  President's  confidence  and  knew 
what  was  coming.  The  others  were  astonished  at  the  announcement. 

1  The  war  at  that  time  cost  82,000,000  a  day,  and  the  cost  of  eighty-seven  days 
would  be  §174,000,000. 

2  The  next  winter  a  bill  came  up  in  Congress  to  offer  Missouri  $10,000.000  for  her 
slaves;  but  it  was  defeated  by  the  efforts  of  the  border  state  members, aided  by  the 
Democrats  of  most  of  the  northern  states. 


714  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

But  all  approved  it  except  Blair,  who  feared  that  it  would  throw  the 
fall  elections  against  the  administration.  At  Seward's  advice  Lin 
coln  decided  to  wait  for  some  signal  Union  victory  in  the  field,  and 
the  document  was  pocketed  and  the  secret  kept  for  two  months. 
Meantime  the  radical  party  continued  to  denounce  the  President 
for  moving  so  slowly.  Horace  Greeley,  representing  this  party, 
addressed  an  open  letter,  "  The  Prayer  of  Twenty  Millions,"  to  the 
President  through  the  New  York  Tribune,  urging  him  to  take  imme 
diate  action,  to  "  execute  the  laws/'  meaning  specially  the  confiscation 
laws.  To  this  Mr.  Lincoln  replied  that  while  his  personal  wish  was 
that  all  men  should  be  free,  his  paramount  official  duty  was  to  save 
the  Union  with  or  without  slavery.1 

Then  came  Antietam  and  the  retreat  of  Bragg  from  Kentucky. 
Now  the  proclamation  could  be  issued  and  seem  a  child  of  strength. 
On  the  22d  of  September,  therefore,  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  his  prelimi 
nary  Emancipation  Proclamation,  which  has  been  pronounced  the 
most  important  document  ever  issued  by  a  civil  ruler.  In  this  proc 
lamation  he  declared  that  the  slaves  in  all  the  states  or  designated 
parts  of  states  that  should  be  in  rebellion  against  the  government  on 
the  first  of  January,  1863,  should  be  forever  free.  This  gave  a  hun 
dred  days'  notice  to  the  rebellious  states,  but  none  of  them  heeded 
the  warning,  nor  were  they  expected  to  heed  it.  Accordingly,  on  the 
first  day  of  January  the  President  issued  his  proclamation,  of  which 
the  former  had  been  but  a  warning,  declaring  the  freedom  of  all 
slaves  in  the  seceding  states,  except  in  certain  parts  of  Louisiana 
and  Virginia,  then  held  by  the  Union  armies.2 

This  proclamation  had  no  immediate  effect  in  emancipating  the 
slaves,  no  more  than  had  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in  bring 
ing  independence.  This  could  not  have  been  expected.  But  the 
proclamation  set  forth  the  policy  of  the  government  on  this  most 
important  question  that  ever  arose  in  American  poli- 
me  ^it*  ^cs  s*nce  ^ne  Revolution,  except  that  occasioned  by 

secession;  it  placed  the  war  on  a  new  basis  without 
abandoning  the  old,  namely,  that  henceforth  it  should  be  a  war 
against  slavery  as  well  as  against  disunion ;  it  announced  to  the  world 
that  if  the  North  were  successful  in  the  great  war,  slavery  must 

1  This  letter  to  Greeley  was  written  on  August  22,  precisely  a  month  after  the 
famous  Cabinet  meeting,  and  precisely  a  month  before  the  more  famous  proclamation 
was  issued  to  the  world. 

2  It  will  be  remembered  that  slavery  in  the  border  states  was  not  affected  by  this 
proclamation. 


LINCOLN'S   MOTIVES  715 


perish.  The  proclamation  had  a  salutary  effect  on  Europe,  and  won 
the  North  many  friends.  Europe  cared  little  about  preserving  our 
Union,  but  as  soon  as  the  North  proclaimed  to  .the  world  that  it 
was  battling  against  human  slavery,  as  well  as  against  disunion,  the 
sympathies  of  mankind  were  turned  in  its  favor.1 

Lincoln  had  at  heart  belonged  to  the  radical  party  all  along,  in 
that  he  desired  the  overthrow  of  slavery ;  but  he  was  too  wise  to 
be  rash.  He  waited  for  the  development  of  public  opinion,  and  he 
waited  none  too  long.  The  proclamation  made  the  administration 
many  enemies,  as  well  as  friends,  and  it  doubtless  had  much  to  do 
in  bringing  about  an  alarming  political  reaction  in  the  fall  elections. 
A  new  Congress  was  elected  about  six  weeks  after  the  preliminary 
proclamation,  and  the  Democrats  showed  great  gains.  The  Repub 
licans  lost  nine  members  from  New  York,  six  from  Pennsylvania, 
eight  from  Ohio ;  and  but  for  New  England  and  the  border  states 
they  would  have  lost  control  of  the  House,  while  New  York  and  New 
Jersey  chose  Democratic  governors.  But  the  Emancipation  Procla 
mation  was  not  the  sole  cause  of  the  reaction.  Many  voted  against 
the  administration  because  of  arbitrary  arrests,  of  the  suspension  of 
the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  of  want  of  success  in  the  field,  of  the 
dismissal  of  McClellan ;  and  thousands  of  strong  friends  of  the 
Union  voted  the  Democratic  ticket  simply  because  they  had  always 
done  so.  The  result,  however,  fell  heavily  on  the  burdened  heart  of 
Lincoln.  He  feared  that  it  meant  a  want  of  confidence  in  himself, 
but  he  bore  the  burden  silently  and  took  no  backward  step. 

Often  has  the  constitutional  right  of  the  President  to  issue  this 
proclamation  been   questioned.     The   President   ordinarily   has  no 
power  to   interfere   with  private  property.     Not  even  the  general 
government  had  the  constitutional  right  to  touch   slavery  in   any 
state.     How  then  could  Lincoln  by  his  mere  fiat  set  free  four  mil 
lion  slaves  ?     The  answer  is  that  the  measure  was  a  war  measure. 
It  is  the  right  and  duty  of  the  President  to  suppress  rebellion  by 
any   means   necessary   to    success.     Here   was   a  vast  j^e  presi_ 
rebellion  against  the  government,  and  it  was  the  slaves   dent's  right 
that  raised  the  crops  that  fed  the  armies  that  fought   to  issue  the 
against    the   government.      Why   not    then   strike   at  Proclamatlon- 
slavery  ?     Here  was  the  legal,  technical  ground  on  which  Lincoln 

1  The  governing  classes  in  England,  however,  still  favored  the  South.  See  Lecky's 
"Democracy  and  Liberty,"  Vol.  I,  and  the  second  volume  of  McCarthy's  "History 
of  Our  Own  Times." 


716  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

could  do  what  he  did,  and  he  made  use  of  it.  He  issued  the  procla 
mation  ostensibly  to  weaken  the  southern  armies,  knowing,  at  the 
same  time,  that  he  would  not  weaken  them  thereby.1  This  then,  could 
not  have  been  his  real  object,  but  it  was  the  only  ground  on  which  he 
had  any  legal  right  to  act.  Must  we,  then,  pronounce  his  act  but  a 
lawyer's  trick  after  all  ?  However  that  may  be,  the  real  object  of  the 
proclamation  was  to  compass  the  downfall  of  slavery,  to  prepare  the 
way  for  a  constitutional  amendment,  to  secure  to  the  future  immunity 
from  the  curse  of  slavery.  The  end  accomplished  was  so  unselfish 
and  so  vast  as  a  factor  in  modern  civilization  that  the  world  has  long 
forgotten  the  technicality  in  admiration  of  its  author. 

BUELL,  BRAGG,  AND  ROSECRANS 

We  must  now  change  the  scene  again  to  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
A  year  has  passed  since  we  left  the  two  great  armies  stunned  and 
bleeding  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  and  it  was  a  year  of  great  activity  in 
the  West.  Hal  leek  had  taken  command  after  Shiloh.  He  moved 
to  Corinth,  which  the  Confederates  abandoned  on  his  approach.  In 
midsummer  he  was  called  to  Washington,  and  left  Grant  at  the 
head  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  The  star  of  General  Grant, 
which  had  burst  out  so  brilliantly  at  Donelson,  had  waned  after 
Shiloh,  and  nothing  but  another  victory  could  again  attract  to  it  the 
public  gaze.  For  a  year  the  army  under  Grant  lay  in  west  Tennes 
see  and  did  little,  while  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  under  Buell,  became 
the  chief  object  of  the  nation's  attention,  next  to  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  Early  in  the  summer  of  1862  Halleck  sent  Buell  to  capture 
Chattanooga,  in  southern  Tennessee,  an  important  railroad  center 
and  the  key  to  east  Tennessee.  But  Buell  was  delayed  in  repair 
ing  railroads,  and  the  Confederate  army,  now  commanded  by  General 
Braxton  Bragg,  who  had  succeeded  Beauregard,  reached  the  place 
before  him  and  held  it.  Bragg  was  a  stern,  exacting  man  of  much 
energy  and  moderate  ability.  His  name  had  long  been  familiar  to 
American  readers  through  the  historic  expression  of  Zachary  Taylor 
at  Buena  Vista,  "  A  little  more  grape,  Captain  Bragg." 

President  Davis  determined  to  retrieve,  if  possible,  the  losses  of 
Donelson  and  Shiloh,  and  he  sent  Bragg  to  invade  Tennessee  and 

1  It  is  true  that  as  the  war  neared  its  end  many  of  the  slaves  were  practically  free, 
but  this  condition  was  brought  about  more  by  the  exigencies  of  war,  the  ruin  of  the 
South,  than  by  the  proclamation. 


THE   FIGHT   FOR    KENTUCKY  717 

Kentucky.     A  sweeping   conscription   law  had  passed  the  Confed 
erate  Congress,  and  this  brought  many  new  recruits  to  the  western 
armies.      Bragg's  army  moved  northward  in  two  divi-  Bragg  starts 
sions,  one  commanded  by  himself  and  the  other  by  Kirby  north  across 
Smith.     Smith  moved  northward  from  Knoxville  late  Kentucky, 
in   August,  and   captured   Lexington.      The   people   of   Cincinnati 
became  greatly  frightened ;   but  Smith  made  no  attempt  on  that 
city.     He  Avaited  for  Bragg,  who,  with  the  main  army  and  a  wagon 
train  forty  miles  long,  was  racing  across  the  state  with  Buell.     Both 
were  headed  for  Louisville,  and  Bragg,  who  had  the  shorter  line  of 
march,  might  have  won,  but  he  hesitated  at  the  magnitude  of  the 
undertaking,  and  Buell  entered  the  city  in  the  last  days  of  Septem 
ber.     There  his  army  was  swelled  by  new  recruits  to  sixty  thousand, 
while  Bragg  had  fifty  thousand,  nearly  all  seasoned  veterans.    Bragg 
now  went  through  the  farce  of  setting  up  a  Confederate  state  govern 
ment  in  Kentucky.     Buell  moved  out  from  Louisville,  determined 
to  drive  Bragg  out  of  the  state.     The  latter  slowly  retreated  before 
the  advancing  army,  but  was  overtaken  at  Perryville,  where,  on  the 
8th  of  October,  was  fought  a  bloody  battle.      The  Union  left  wing 
under  General  McCook  was  assailed  with  great  fury  by   Battle  of 
General  Polk.     Buell,  who  had  not  expected  a  battle   Perryville, 
till   the  next  day,  was  a  few  miles   distant,  and  did  October  8, 
not  know  of  the  fighting  till  late  in  the  afternoon,  when   1862< 
too  late  to  make  disposition  for  a  general  battle.     He  fully  expected 
a  great  battle  on  the  morrow,  but  during  the  night  the  enemy  de 
camped  and  took  up  his  march  to  the  southland.1 

Buell  was  severely  censured  for  his  bad  management  at  Perry 
ville  and  for  his  subsequent  dilatory  pursuit  of  the  retreating 
enemy.  He  drove  Bragg  out  of  Kentucky,  and  that  was  a  victory, 
but  his  permitting  Bragg  to  escape  with  all  the  plunder  he  had 

1  The  Union  loss  at  Perryville  was  nearly  four  thousand ;  the  Confederate  loss 
was  about  one  thousand  less.  A  curious  incident  occurred  to  the  .Confederate  general, 
Leonidas  Polk,  near  the  close  of  the  battle.  It  was  growing  dark,  and  he  unwittingly 
rode  into  the  Union  lines,  thinking  them  his  own  men  firing  on  their  friends.  He 
angrily  demanded  why  they  were  shooting  their  friends.  The  colonel,  greatly  aston 
ished,  answered,  "  I  don't  think  there  can  be  any  mistake  about  it.  I  am  sure  they 
are  the  enemy."  "Enemy!"  rejoined  Polk,  "  why,  I  have  just  left  them  myself. 

Cease  firing,  sir.    What  is  your  name?"    "lam  Colonel of  the Indiana.    Pray, 

sir,  who  are  you?  "  Polk  now  saw  his  blunder,  and  saw  that  his  only  hope  of  escape 
was  to  brazen  it  out.  "I  will  show  you  who  I  am,"  he  shouted;  "cease  firing." 
Then  he  called  to  the  men  to  cease  firing,  and  cantering  down  the  line,  reached  a 
copse,  put  spurs  to  his  horse,  and  was  soon  back  in  his  own  lines.  "  Battles  and 
Leaders,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  (302. 


718  HISTORY    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

gathered  was  not  relished  at  the  North.  Lincoln's  pet  project  had 
long  been  to  throw  an  army  into  east  Tennessee,  and  soon  after 
Perryville  he  informed  Buell,  through  Halleck,  that  he  must  lead 
his  army  into  that  region  before  winter  and  live  off  the  country. 
Buell  knew  this  to  be  impossible,  as  east  Tennessee  had  already 
been  partially  stripped  by  the  Confederates ;  and  he  knew  it  to  be 
bad  policy,  as  any  army  subsisting  off  the  country  will  become 
demoralized  by  foraging  and  theft.  He  therefore  suggested  to  the 
President  that  if  it  were  the  intention  to  change  the  command,  now 
would  be  a  suitable  time  to  do  it.1  Mr.  Lincoln  thereupon  relieved 
Buell  and  appointed  General  William  S.  B-osecrans  commander  of 
the  Army  of  the  Ohio. 

The  parallel  between  Bragg's  invasion  of  Kentucky  and  Lee's 
invasion  of  Maryland  is  striking.  Both  occurred  in  the  early 
autumn  of  1862 ;  both  failed  to  awaken  much  border-state  enthusiasm 
for  the  southern  cause.  Both  ended  in  failure,  the  one  at  the  great 
battle  of  Antietam,  the  other  at  the  moderate  battle  of  Perryville 
three  weeks  later.  In  each  case  the  Confederate  commander  with 
drew  after  the  battle,  at  night,  and  abandoned  the  expedition.  The 
parallel  is  notable  also  between  the  two  Union  commanders  — 
McClellan  and  Buell.  Both  were  good  disciplinarians,  but  lacking 
in  the  fire  and  dash  necessary  to  an  offensive  campaign.  Both  were 
sincerely  devoted  to  the  Union,  but  were  conservative  on  the  slavery 
question.  Both  were  Democrats  in  politics.  Both  were  successful, 
without  a  great  victory,  in  driving  the  Confederates  from  border- 
state  soil.  Both  were  removed  by  the  President  at  the  close  of 
their  respective  campaigns,  ostensibly  because  they  were  too  slow  to 
satisfy  the  great  impatient  public  of  the  North. 

Now  we  turn  to  Eosecrans.  His  laurels  had  been  recently  won 
—  at  luka  and  Corinth  in  Mississippi.  When  Bragg  moved  into 
Kentucky  he  left  Generals  Van  Dorn  and  Price  with  a 
^ar§e  army  ^n  northern  Mississippi.  Price  seized  luka 
in  September,  and  Grant  sent  Rosecrans  against  him. 
A  sharp  battle  ensued,  with  a  loss  of  some  eight  hundred  on  each 
side.  Two  weeks  later  Van  Dorn,  now  joined  by  Price,  with  twenty- 
two  thousand  troops,  made  a  desperate  assault  on  Corinth,  in  which 

1  Buell  had  been  threatened  with  removal  for  some  weeks.  Before  he  left  Louis 
ville  an  order  was  sent  to  displace  him  and  to  put  General  Thomas  in  his  place ;  but  it 
was  recalled.  Military  critics  pronounce  Buell  one  of  the  ablest  commanders  of  the 
war,  and  agree  that  the  administration  was  wholly  at  fault  in  removing  him. 


CORINTH  AND   STONE   RIVER  719 

an  enormous  amount  of  supplies  were  stored  under  the  guardianship 
of  Rosecrans  with  twenty -three  thousand  men.  Here  Rosecrans 
displayed  remarkable  powers.  The  first  attack  was  made  on  the 
afternoon  of  October  3;  but  the  real  contest  came  the  next  day. 
About  the  middle  of  the  forenoon  a  vast  column  of  gleaming 
bayonets  flashed  out  from  the  woods  and  made  directly  for  the 
heart  of  the  town.  It  came  in  the  form  of  a  monstrous  wedge, 
which  presently  spread  out  in  two  great  wings.  On  Battie  of 
these  Rosecrans  opened  his  artillery,  which  mowed  down  Corinth,  Octo- 
the  men  with  merciless  slaughter.  As  the  column  ad-  "ber4, 1862. 
vanced  the  whole  line  of  Federal  infantry  opened  on  it  from  their 
intrenchments ;  but  the  Confederates  with  desperate  valor  came  on, 
averting  their  heads  like  men  striving  to  protect  themselves  against 
a  storm  of  hail.1  When  the  Federal  line  at  length  gave  way  at  one 
point,  Rosecrans  rode  between  the  lines  in  the  midst  of  the  fire  of 
both  sides,  rallied  his  men,  brought  in  his  reserves,  and  won  a  com 
plete  victory.  Corinth,  with  all  its  stores,  was  saved.  The  victory 
was  regarded  by  the  North  as  the  most  important  of  the  season, 
next  to  Antietam.  The  Confederate  loss  was  forty-two  hundred, 
while  the  Federals  lost  but  twenty-five  hundred.  Van  Dorn  was 
soon  replaced  by  General  John  C.  Pemberton ;  Rosecrans  was  made 
a  major-general  and  was  promoted  to  the  chief  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Ohio,  thenceforth  called  the  Army  of  the  Cumber 
land. 

Rosecrans  displayed  his  independent  spirit  by  refusing  to  attempt 
the  impossible  task  of  marching  into  east  Tennessee,  and  the  ad 
ministration  ax  was  soon  swinging  over  his  head.  On  December  4 
Halleck  telegraphed  him,  "  If  you  remain  one  more  week  at  Nash 
ville,  I  cannot  prevent  your  removal ; "  to  which  Rosecrans  made  the 
manly  reply,  that  he  was  trying  to  do  his  whole  duty,  and  that  he 
was  insensible  to  threats  of  removal.  Halleck  rejoined  apologetically 
that  no  threat  was  meant,  and  Rosecrans  remained  three  weeks  longer 
at  Nashville,  waiting  for  supplies. 

On  the  day  after  Christmas  Rosecrans  moved  his  army,  forty- 
seven  thousand  strong,  in  three  divisions  under  Thomas,   Batt^e  Of 
McCook,  and  Crittenden,   to   Murfreesborough,  a  town   Murfrees- 
forty  miles  from  Nashville,  in  which  Bragg  had  taken  borough  or 
up  "his    winter    quarters.       Bragg' s    army   of   thirty-  stoneEiver- 
eight  thousand   men   was   divided  into  three   corps  under  Hardee, 
i  See  Greeley,  Vol.  II,  p.  227. 


720  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Polk,  and  Kirby  Smith.  On  December  30  the  two  armies  lay 
on  the  banks  of  Stone  River  near  Murfreesborough,  within  can 
non  shot  of  each  other.  Rosecrans's  plan  of  battle  for  the  next 
day  was  perfect;  but  it  was  frustrated  by  Bragg,  who  took  the 
initiative.  McCook,  who  held  the  Union  right,  was  assaulted 
with  terrific  force  by  Hardee,  and  long  before  noon  his  division 
was  driven  back  and  almost  crumbled  to  pieces.  He  would  have 
been  utterly  defeated  but  for  the  heroic  stand  made  by  Thomas. 
By  noon  the  Union  forces  seemed  on  the  verge  of  defeat ;  but  the 
great  skill  and  the  prodigious  efforts  of  Rosecrans  during  the  after 
noon  —  galloping  from  one  division  to  another  and  rearranging  his 
lines  —  saved  the  day,  and  the  honors  at  nightfall  were  about  even 
between  the  two  armies.  Next  day,  the  first  of  the  year,  1863,  both 
armies  rested,  except  that  each  prepared  for  the  struggle  that  was 
to  follow  on  the  second.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  second  John  C. 
Breckenridge  was  sent  with  a  large  force,  the  best  soldiers  of  Bragg's 
army,  to  take  a  hill  near  the  bank  of  the  river.  He  succeeded,  but 
in  doing  so  he  came  in  range  of  the  Federal  batteries  across  the 
stream.  These  opened  such  a  murderous  fire  that  two  thousand 
of  Breckenridge's  men  fell  in  twenty  minutes.  When  darkness 
settled  over  the  field  of  carnage  the  Union  army  had  advanced  far 
enough  to  throw  shells  into  Murfreesborough.  Bragg  then  abandoned 
all  thought  of  victory,  and  sought  only  to  save  his  army ;  and  before 
the  morning  of  the  4th  he  had  stolen  away  with  his  army,  leav 
ing  his  dead  and  wounded  to  his  enemy.  Stone  River, 
retreat8  or  ^urf reesborough,  was  one  of  the  most  fiercely  fought 

battles  of  the  war.  It  was  a  clear  victory  for  Rosecrans, 
for  although  he  had  lost  more  heavily  than  the  enemy,1  he  drove 
Bragg  from  his  winter  quarters  and  opened  the  way  to  a  large  por 
tion  of  central  Tennessee.  Coming  within  a  few  weeks  after  the 
disaster  at  Frederick sburg,  this  battle  infused  new  courage  into  the 
dispirited  North  and  gave  a  new  meaning  to  the  Emancipation  Proc 
lamation,  which  had  just  gone  into  operation.  It  made  Rosecrans, 
for  a  season,  the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  the  field ;  and  it  brought 
also  into  prominence  a  superb  young  commander  from  Ohio  —  Philip 
Henry  Sheridan. 

The  battle  cost  Rosecrans  about  13,000  men  and  Bragg  nearly  12,000. 


BURNSIDE'S   BLUNDER  721 


FREDERICKSBURG  AND   CHANCELLORSVILLE 

Again  our  scene  must  be  shifted  to  the  East.  Ambrose  E.  Burn- 
side,  like  many  of  our  commanders,  was  a  graduate  of  West  Point, 
and  had  seen  service  in  Mexico.  Personally  he  was  an  admirable 
character,  but  he  was  quite  right  in  believing  that  he  was  not  com 
petent  to  command  a  great  army.  He  divided  the  army,  now 
swelled  by  reinforcements  to  120,000  men,  into  three  grand  divi 
sions,  to  be  commanded  respectively  by  Sumner,  Hooker,  and  Frank 
lin.  By  the  end  of  November  he  confronted  Lee  near  Fredericksburg, 
a  town  on  the  Rappahannock  Kiver,  about  halfway  between  Wash 
ington  and  Richmond.  Lee  had  placed  his  whole  army,  now  almost 
80,000  men,  in  a  strong  position  on  the  heights  just  south  of  the 
town.  Here  Burnside  determined  to  make  an  attack.  After 
infinite  trouble  he  succeeded  in  crossing  the  river  by  December  12, 
and  next  day  came  the  dreadful  slaughter  of  Fredericksburg.  Burn- 
side  seemed  bewildered,  and  he  would  listen  to  no  advice  of  his  sub 
ordinates.  He  decided  to  attack  Lee's  center,  occupying  Maryes 
Heights,  at  the  base  of  which  there  was  a  stone  wall  and  a  trench. 
The  hill  was  crowned  with  lines  of  cannon,  the  sides  were  covered 
with  rifle  pits  filled  with  sharpshooters,  and  several  regiments  of 
Confederate  infantry  crouched  behind  the  stone  wall.  In  the  face 
of  all  this  the  foolhardy  attack  was  to  be  made.  Simmer's  grand 
division  was  put  to  the  awful  work.  General  French  made  the  first 
assault,  but  he  was  driven  back  with  great  slaughter.  Then  went 
General  Hancock  with  5000  men ;  but  in  a  few  minutes  he,  too,  fell 
back  leaving  2000  men  stretched  upon  the  fatal  field.  Battle  of 
Three  other  divisions  were  then  successively  sent  for-  Fredericks- 
ward,  but  the  result  was  the  same  —  dreadful  slaughter,  *>urg,  Decem- 
with  no  impression  on  the  enemy's  works.  "  Oh,  great  er 
God ! "  cried  General  Couch,  "  see  how  our  men,  our  poor  fellows, 
are  falling  ;  it  is  only  murder  now."  l  Burnside  now  became  frantic. 
He  called  upon  Hooker  to  lead  his  men  to  the  assault.  Hooker 
protested  that  it  was  useless,  that  the  works  could  not  be  carried. 
Burnside  would  listen  to  nothing;  he  sternly  declared  that  his 
orders  must  be  obeyed.  Hooker  then  sent  4500  men  with  fixed 
bayonets  into  the  death  trap.  As  they  came  within  range  of  the 
muskets  the  top  of  the  stone  wall  became  a  sheet  of  flame.  The 

i  "  Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  173. 
SA 


722  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

brave  men  fell  by  hundreds,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  division  fell 
back,  leaving  a  third  of  its  number  on  the  ground.  Now  it  was 
night,  and  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg  was  over. 

Great  was  the  carnage  at  Fredericksburg,  and  it  brought  mourn 
ing  to  many  a  fireside  in  the  North.  The  sadder  it  seemed  from  the 
fact  that  it  might  have  been  prevented.  The  Union  loss  exceeded 
12,000  men,  the  Confederate  loss  was  slightly  more  than  5000.  Burn- 
side  was  wild  with  anguish  at  what  he  had  done.  "  Oh,  those  men, 
those  men  over  there,  I  am  thinking  of  them  all  the  time,"  he  wailed, 
pointing  to  his  army  of  dead  and  dying  across  the  river.  In  his 
desperation  he  decided  to  storm  the  heights  next  day  and  to  lead  the 
assault  in  person,  but  he  yielded  to  the  dissuasion  of  his  generals. 

Seldom  during  the  war  were  Confederate  hopes  so  high  as  in 
the  days  that  followed  Fredericksburg.1  The  correspondent  of  the 
London  Times  wrote  from  Lee's  headquarters  that  December  13 
would  be  a  memorable  day  to  the  historian  of  the  Decline  and  Fall 
of  the  American  Republic.  He  might  have  written  that  no  braver 
army  ever  wielded  the  sword  than  the  Union  army,  whose  legions 
dashed  six  times,  in  the  face  of  that  murderous  fire,  against  Maryes 
Heights  at  Fredericksburg.  Burnside  decided  on  another  general 
engagement  a  few  days  later,  but  he  was  overruled  by  the  President. 
The  morale  of  the  army  was  destroyed ;  officers  and  men  lost  confi 
dence  in  their  leader.  Burnside  offered  his  resignation,  which  was 
at  length  accepted  by  the  President,  who  then  appointed  Hooker  to 
the  command  of  the  army.  In  the  same  order  he  also  relieved  Sum- 
ner  at  his  own  request,  on  account  of  advancing  age,  and  Franklin, 
because  he  was  accused  of  not  properly  supporting  Meade  against 
Jackson  at  Fredericksburg. 

General  Joseph  Hooker,  known  among  the  soldiers  as  "  Fighting 
Joe  Hooker,"  took  control  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  late  in 
January,  1863.  He  found  it  greatly  disorganized  and 
discouraged ;  but  he  was  a  good  organizer,  and  in  two 
months  the  army  was  restored  to  an  excellent  condi 
tion  for  active  service.  The  entire  army  numbered  at  least  125,000, 
and  a  better  army  never  trod  American  soil.  It  spent  the  win 
ter  at  Falmouth,  across  the  Kappahannock  from  Fredericksburg, 
while  the  army  of  Lee,  now  reduced  to  60,000  by  the  detachment  of 

1  This  feeling  was  heightened  by  the  capture  of  Grant's  immense  stores  at  Holly 
Springs,  Mississippi,  by  General  Van  Dorn,  just  a  week  after  the  battle  of  Fredericks 
burg,  and  by  Sherman's  bloody  repulse  before  Vicksburg  a  little  later. 


HOOKER'S  BLUNDER  723 


Longstreet's  corps,  occupied  the  heights  beyond  the  river  whence 
it  had  dealt  such  fearful  blows  to  Burnside  in  December. 

There  were  various  cavalry  skirmishes  during  the  winter,  but 
nothing  serious  was  attempted  till  the  middle  of  April.  Hooker 
then  broke  camp,  moved  up  the  river  with  the  main  army,  crossed  it 
and  the  Rapidan,  and  marched  to  Chancellorsville,  a  country  tavern 
bearing  the  name  of  a  town,  about  ten  miles  west  of  Fredericksburg. 
Hooker  boasted  that  the  enemy  must  now  ingloriously  fly  or  come 
out  from  his  defenses  and  give  battle  "  where  certain  destruction 
awaits  him."  Lee  chose  the  latter  alternative ;  he  came  out  from 
his  defenses  to  give  battle  —  but  not  to  meet  certain  destruction. 

On  the  first  day  of  May,  1863,  the  two  armies  lay  near  Chancel 
lorsville,  on  the  edge  of  the  Wilderness  which  became  the  scene  of 
a  great  battle  a  year  later,  and  the  series  of  battles  Battle  Of 
of  the  next  few  days  are  known  collectively  as  the  chancellors- 
battle  of  Chancellorsville.  Hooker  enjoyed  every  ad-  yia-e- 
vantage  —  a  strong  position,  the  larger  army,  and  the  eager  confi 
dence  of  his  troops.  But  at  this  moment  Hooker  seems  to  have  lost 
his  judgment.  To  the  astonishment  of  the  enemy  and  of  his  subor 
dinates  he  ordered  his  army  to  fall  back  from  its  elevated  position 
to  a  lower  one  nearer  the  Wilderness.  "My  God!"  exclaimed 
Meade,  "  if  we  cannot  hold  the  top  of  a  hill,  we  certainly  cannot 
hold  the  bottom  of  it."  Little  fighting  was  done  on  that  day,  but 
on  the  2d  the  storm  broke  forth  with  fury.  Stonewall  Jackson 
now  made  one  (and  this  was  his  last)  of  the  rapid,  stealthy,  flanking 
marches  of  which  he  was  such  a  master.  With  a  force  of  thirty 
thousand  he  marched  fifteen  miles  around  the  Union  right  to  attack 
the  corps  under  Howard.  Hooker  and  Howard  believed  that  the 
enemy  was  in  retreat ;  but  they  were  soon  undeceived.  At  six  in 
the  evening,  while  Howard's  men  were  resting,  preparing  supper, 
or  playing  cards  —  all  unconscious  of  danger  —  a  sudden  rush  into 
camp  of  wild  animals,  deer  and  rabbits,  from  the  near-by  forest, 
apprised  them  of  the  coming  enemy.  They  seized  their  arras  and 
attempted  to  form  in  battle  line  —  but  it  was  too  late.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  Confederates  were  upon  them.  Howard's  men  fought 
nobly,  but  they  had  no  chance  of  success.  In  an  hour  the  corps  was 
cut  to  pieces  and  almost  annihilated,  the  survivors  fleeing  like  mad 
men.  As  night  fell  the  corps  of  Sickles  and  the  cavalry  of  Pleas- 
anton  planted  themselves  in  the  way  of  the  on-rushing  Confederates 
and  stopped  their  advance.  In  this  wild  desperate  charge  on  the 


724  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

evening  of  May  2  the  Confederates  had  slain  thousands,  and  had 
won  a  brilliant  victory.  But  it  was  a  dear  victory  'for  the  South : 
it  cost  the  life  of  Stonewall  Jackson.  It  was  after  nightfall,  when 
the  hush  after  the  battle  was  broken  only  by  the  wails  of  the  dying 
and  by  a  stray  shot  here  and  there,  that  Jackson  rode  out  with  his 
staff  to  view  the  ground  in  front  of  his  lines.  On  their  return  the 
Confederates  mistook  them  for  Union  horsemen  and  fired  on, them. 
Jackson  received  a  mortal  wound. 

Sickles  renewed  the  battle  by  night,  and  the  firing  did  not  cease 
till  midnight.  Next  morning  the  conflict  was  renewed  at  an  early 
hour.  Lee  had  brought  his  own  immediate  command  to  the  aid  of 
the  corps  of  Jackson.  Hooker  became  bewildered  and  knew  not 
what  to  do.  Nothing  was  plainer  than  that  he,  like  Burnside, 
was  not  competent  to  command  a  great  army  in  battle.  The  Con 
federates  dashed  upon  Sickles  again  and  again,  and  were  driven 
back.  Sickles  might  have  gained  a  great  victory  but  for  the  fact 
that  Hooker  held  back  in  idleness  probably  thirty  thousand  men. 
All  was  confusion  in  the  Union  ranks,  and  the  enemy  soon  gained 
the  high  ground  for  which  it  fought,  the  Federals  being  pressed  back 
to  the  river  bank. 

Thus  ended  Sunday,  the  3d  of  May,  with  another  Confederate 
victory.  Next  day  another  engagement  took  place  between  General 
Sedgwick,  who  had  been  left  at  Fredericksburg  with  twenty  thousand 
men,  and  a  portion  of  Lee's  army  under  Early.  All  day  the  fight 
continued,  and  at  night  Sedgwick  recrossed  the  Rappahannock.  Two 
days  later  Hooker  did  the  same,  and  the  battles  at  Chancellorsville 
were  ended,  both  armies  now  occupying  the  respective  positions  they 
had  held  during  the  winter.  The  campaign  had  cost  Hooker  more 
than  seventeen  thousand  men.  The  southern  loss  was  over  twelve 
thousand  —  and  Stonewall  Jackson. 

In  some  respects  this  man  was  the  most  remarkable  character 
brought  into  prominence  by  the  Civil  War.  There  is  a  glamour  of 
romance  around  the  name  of  Jackson.  As  a  schoolboy 
Jadkson*  ^e  dragged  ^ar  behind  his  class.  He  was  a  graduate 

of  West  Point ;  but,  disliking  warfare,  he  resigned  from 
the  army  and  became  a  college  professor  and  a  teacher  in  a  squalid 
negro  Sunday  School.  He  was  rather  slow-moving,  silent,  distant, 
had  few  friends,  and  was  not  generally  popular.  There  was  some 
thing  unfathomable  in  his  nature,  but  no  one  dreamed  that  he  was  a 
genius.  The  war  brought  out  his  powers  and  proved  him  one  of  the 


THE    WRIT  OF   HABEAS   CORPUS  725 

greatest  commanders  of  modern  times.  The  popular  notion  that  his 
attacks  were  impulsive  and  only  accidentally  successful  was  erro 
neous.  His  plans  were  well  laid  and  almost  faultless.  Jackson  was 
excessively  religious,  and  his  men  said  that  when  he  remained  long 
on  his  knees  in  his  tent  they  knew  that  a  great  battle  was  impend 
ing.  Lee's  estimate  of  Jackson  is  shown  in  a  note  sent  him  as  he 
lay  wounded.  In  this  note  Lee  stated  that  he  would  have  chosen 
for  the  good  of  the  country  to  be  disabled  in  Jackson's  stead.  Jack 
son  died  on  May  10,  and  there  was  none  to  fill  his  place.  During 
his  last  hours  he  seemed  to  have  forgotten  the  great  war.  He  lived 
now  with  his  God  and  with  his  family,  who  could  never  forget  the 
tender  beauty  of  his  final  words,  "  Let  us  cross  over  the  river  and 
lie  down  amid  the  shade  of  the  trees." 

DEMOCRATIC  OPPOSITION  —  VALLANDIGHAM 

As  we  have  noticed  in  a  former  chapter,  the  firing  on  Fort  Sum- 
ter  welded  the  North  into  a  unit  for  the  saving  of  the  Union.  The 
voice  of  the  politician  was  hushed  in  the  presence  of  the  national 
danger.  But  this  condition  could  not  continue.  The  old  party  that 
had  ruled  the  country  for  half  a  century,  that  had  been  defeated  by 
the  new-born  Republican  party  and  was  now  in  a  state  of  eclipse, 
could  not  long  remain  in  quiet.  It  might  agree  with  its  great  rival 
in  military  matters,  but  in  the  field  of  politics  new  issues  must  be 
found,  the  administration  must  be  attacked,  as  usual,  by  the  party 
out  of  power.  The  Democrats  soon  found  a  plausible  issue  in  the  sus 
pending  of  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  and  the  arbitrary  arrests  that 
followed  it.  As  early  as  April,  1861,  Mr.  Lincoln  authorized  General 
Scott  to  suspend  the  writ  between  Philadelphia  and  Washington. 
Congress  afterward  gave  the  President  full  power  in  the  matter,  and 
he  extended  the  suspension  from  time  to  time  till  it  covered  the 
entire  country  for  the  period  of  the  war.1 

This  was  a  dangerous  reach  of  power.  To  the  President's  con 
stitutional  power  as  commander  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  LTnited 
States  it  added  the  power  of  a  dictator,  of  an  absolute  monarch, 
the  control  of  the  whole  fabric  of  civil  government.  He  could 

1  On  September  24,  1862,  the  suspension  was  made  general  as  affecting  arrests  by 
military  authority  for  disloyal  practices.  In  March,  1863,  Congress  sustained  the 
President  and  again  authorized  the  suspension,  and  on  September  15, 1863,  the  Presi 
dent  issued  another  proclamation  limiting  the  suspension  to  prisoners  of  war, 
deserters,  abettors  of  the  enemy,  etc. 


726  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

arrest  any  man  in  civil  life,  from  a  Cabinet  officer  or  the  governor 
of  a  state  to  the  common  laborer,  throw  him  into  prison  and  retain 
him  indefinitely  without  giving  him  a  trial  or  informing  him  why  he 
was  arrested.  What  a  power  for  evil  this  would  have  been  in  the 
hands  of  a  tyrant !  But  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  a  tyrant.  Neverthe 
less  he  caused  thousands  of  men  to  be  arrested  and  cast  into  prison 
on  such  charges  as  "  disloyal  practice,"  "  discouraging 
enlistments,"  and  the  like.1  Justice  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  Benjamin  K.  Curtis,  who  had 
given  the  opinion  adverse  to  Chief  Justice  Taney  in  the  Dred  Scott 
case,  came  out  in  a  pamphlet  against  the  President.  He  stated  that 
to  the  rights  of  the  President  as  commander  were  added  the  powers 
of  a  usurper,  and  this  he  pronounced  military  despotism.  Other 
prominent  Republicans,  as,  for  instance,  Governor  Curtin  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  protested  loudly  against  the  arbitrary  acts  of  the  government. 
Above  all,  these  acts  became  a  powerful  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the 
Democrats,  who  were  unsparing  in  their  criticisms.  Some  of  the 
more  rabid  Democratic  journals  were  suppressed  by  the  government ; 
but  this  action  only  awakened  a  louder  demand  for  freedom  of  speech 
and  the  liberty  of  the  press,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  result  was 
a  weakening  of  the  administration  party.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
the  arbitrary  arrests.  In  some  cases  the  result  was  doubtless  benefi 
cial  ;  in  others  great  injustice  was  done.  On  the  whole  it  may  be 
safely  asserted  that  more  harm  than  good  came  of  the  suspending  of 
the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  especially  in  the  states  not  occupied  by  the 
armies,  and  that  it  weakened  rather  than  strengthened  the  Union  party. 
The  civil  authorities  should  not  have  been  superseded  by  the  military, 
except  in  the  armies  and  the  territory  occupied  by  them.  The  only 
reason  that  the  people  did  not  rise  against  the  government  for  its 
usurpations  was  the  same  that  prevents  a  sick  man  from  rising 
against  the  surgeon  that  operates  on  him  with-  the  knife.  Every 
man,  Democrat  or  Republican,  knew  in  his  heart,  whether  he  acknowl 
edged  it  or  not,  that  the  administration  did  not  mean  to  abolish  our 
free  institutions  or  to  overturn  our  form  of  government,  but  that  it 
meant  simply  to  put  down  the  rebellion.  The  people,  regardless  of 
party,  also  knew  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  from  the  rugged  honesty  of 
his  soul  and  the  breadth  of  his  human  sympathy,  was  not  and  could 

1  Alexander  Johnston  in  Lalor's  "  Cyclopedia  "  gives  thirty -eight  thousand  as  the 
whole  number  of  military  arrests ;  but  this  number  is  no  doubt  too  large.  See  dis 
cussion  in  Rhodes,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  231,  232. 


CONSCRIPTION  727 


not  be  a  tyrant ;  that  whatever  he  did,  and  however  many  his  mistakes, 
his  ultimate  aim  was  to  save  the  country  and  to  serve  the  people.1 

But  the  Democrats  must  oppose  the  administration.  Why  not  ? 
Such  is  the  chief  business  of  the  party  out  of  power  in  the  United 
States,  and  a  good,  wholesome  business  for  the  cou-ntry  it  is.  The 
Civil  War  period  was  no  exception.  There  was  much  to  criticise 
aside  from  what  has  been  mentioned  —  corruption  in 
the  giving  out  of  government  contracts,  extravagant 
expenditure  of  money,  political  favoritism  in  military 
appointments,  and  the  like.  The  Democrats  certainly  made  a  pro 
found  impression  on  the  country,  as  shown  by  their  carrying  so  many 
of  the  great  states  of  the  North  in  the  autumn  elections  of  1862. 
To  the  end  of  the  war  there  was  a  strong,  fearless  Democratic  mi 
nority  in  Congress.  Many  of  its  issues  were  well  chosen.  Its  influ 
ence  was  often  wholesome,  and  it  had  far  more  weight  in  shaping 
legislation  than  is  generally  believed.  There  were  other  issues, 
however,  concerning  which  we  have  less  sympathy  with  the  Demo 
crats.  They  —  many  of  them,  not  the  party  as  a  whole  —  opposed 
emancipation,  and,  still  worse,  they  opposed  the  draft.  They  had 
at  first  heartily  joined  the  administration  to  save  the  Union ;  but 
they  were  set  against  making  the  war  a  war  for  abolition  also. 

At  the  opening  of  the  war  there  were  more  volunteers  than  could 
be  used.  But  the  enthusiasm  subsided.  The  reports  of  the  fright 
ful  slaughter  on  the  battlefield,  of  the  hard  life  and  small  pay  of  the 
soldier,  contrasted  with  the  good  times  and  opportunities  to  make 
money  at  home,  led  men  to  prefer  staying  at  home.  Volunteering 
almost  ceased,  and  the  government  followed  the  example  of  the 
Confederacy  and  resorted  to  conscription.  In  March,  1863,  Congress 
passed  an  act  authorizing  the  President  to  make  drafts  on  the  na 
tional  forces  at  his  discretion,  after  the  first  of  the  ensuing  July. 
By  this  act  he  could  replenish  the  armies  by  force. 
Men  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five  years 
were  subject  to  the  draft ; 2  they  were  to  be  chosen  by  lot,  and  any  one 
drafted  who  did  not  report  was  to  be  treated  as  a  deserter.  One  might, 
however,  hire  a  substitute,  or  be  excused  on  the  payment  of  $300. 

1  This  thought  is  brought  out  by  Rhodes ;  see  Vol.  IV,  p.  171. 

2  There  were  many  exemptions  from  the  draft.    Certain  high  officials  of  the 
government  or  of  the  state,  the  only  son  of  a  widow  or  of  an  aged  father  dependent 
on  that  son,  the  father  of  motherless  children  under  twelve  years  of  age,  the  residue 
of  a  family  which  had  two  members  in  the  service,  and  others,  were  exempt  from  the 
draft. 


728  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

This  practice  raised  an  outcry  from  many,  chiefly,  but  not  exclusively, 
Democrats.  The  supreme  courts  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania 
pronounced  the  draft  unconstitutional  and  void.1  The  opposition 
broke  into  open  rebellion  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Most  of  the 
newspapers  of  -that  city  denounced  the  draft  as  an  outrage  on 
individual  liberty  and  state  rights.  When  the  enrollment  began  in 
that  city  (at  46th  Street  and  Third  Avenue),  a  mob  broke  into  the 
enrollment  office,  drove  the  officials  out  and  set  the  building  on  fire. 
For  three  days  thereafter  the  streets  of  the  city  were  filled  with  a 
drunken,  furious,  bellowing  mob  numbering  many  thousands.  The 
rioters,  many  of  them  foreign  born,  attacked  the  Trib- 
New  York8  m  une  on^ce>  ^e^  nP°n  negroes  on  the  streets,  killing  sev 
eral,  burned  the  colored  orphan  asylum  on  Fifth  Avenue, 
and  indeed  held  the  city  wholly  in  their  grasp  for  several  days.2 
Meantime  the  newly  elected  Democratic  governor,  Horatio  Seymour, 
addressed  the  crowd,  begging  them  to  return  to  their  homes  and  to  keep 
the  peace  until  he  heard  from  Washington,  as  he  had  sent  his  adju 
tant-general  thither  to  have  the  draft  suspended.  A  body  of  troops 
soon  arrived  in  the  city,  fired  on  the  mob,  killing  several,  and  at  length 
restored  order.  Similar  outbreaks  on  a  smaller  scale  took  place  in 
Jersey  City,  Boston,  and  other  places.  In  the  end,  however,  the 
people  submitted  to  the  government,  and  the  depleted  armies  were 
replenished  by  means  of  the  draft. 

Let  us  once  more  advert  to  the  subject  of  arbitrary  arrests  and 
note  the  most  conspicuous  case  in  the  history  of  the  war  —  that  of 
Clement  Laird  Vallandigham,  a  member  of  Congress  from  Ohio  until 
defeated  for  reelection  in  1862  by  Robert  C.  Schenck.  He  was  the 
leader  of  the  radical  element  of  the  Democrats  in  the  West,  often 
called  "  Butternuts  "  or  "  Copperheads,"  and  he  lost  110  occasion  to 
denounce  the  administration.  Referring  to  arbitrary  arrests,  he 
declared  that  Lincoln,  Stanton,  and  Halleck  should  be  arrested. 
Ohio  was  to  elect  a  governor  in  1863,  and  Vallandigham  was  an 
aspirant  for  the  Democratic  nomination.  He  went  about  over  the 
state  making  speeches  bitterly  denouncing  the  conduct  of  the  war. 
He  was  a  strong  and  able  leader,  a  successful  orator,  a  dashing  poli 
tician  of  the  Douglas  type,  but,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  without 
the  deep  sincerity  of  soul  that  characterized  Douglas.  The  last  and 

1  This  was  afterward  reversed  by  circuit  and  district  courts,  but  the  matter  never 
came  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

2  See  New  York  Tribune,  July,  18fi3. 


BANISHMENT   OF   VALLANDIGHAM  729 

most  violent  of  his  speeches  in  this  canvass  was  made  at  a  great 
Democratic  meeting  at  Mt.  Vernon. 

General  A.  E.  Burnside,  after  his  disaster  at  Frederick sburg,  was 
assigned  to  the  Department  of  Ohio,  with  headquarters  at  Cincinnati. 
Soon  after  he  was  installed  in  the  new  position  he  is 
sued  a  war  order  stating  that  declaring  sympathy  for 
the  enemy  would  not  be  allowed.  Burnside  soon  had 
his  eye  on  Vallandigham,  and  sent  agents  in  citizen's  clothes  to  hear 
his  speeches.  These  agents  declared  the  speech  at  Mt.  Vernon  in 
cendiary,  and  Burnside  determined  to  arrest  Mr.  Vallandigham.  On 
May  5,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  a  band  of  soldiers  beat  upon 
the  door  of  Vallandigham's  home  in  Dayton,  and,  being  refused 
admittance,  they  burst  in  the  door,  seized  Mr.  Vallandigham  in  his 
bedchamber,  and  carried  him  to  Cincinnati. 

In  a  few  days  the  distinguished  prisoner  was  tried  by  a  military 
court,  before  which  he  refused  to  plead  and  whose  jurisdiction  he  denied. 
But  the  trial  went  on,  and  Mr.  Vallandigham  was  found  guilty  of 
"  declaring  disloyal  sentiments,"  and  was  sentenced  to  close  confinement 
during  the  remainder  of  the  war.  Burnside  approved  the  decision, 
but  Mr.  Lincoln  commuted  the  sentence  to  banishment  to  the  southern 
Confederacy,  the  sentence  of  the  court  to  be  carried  out  only  in  case  of 
his  return.  The  banishment  was  duly  executed  by  General  Kosecrans. 

There  was  a  vigorous  Democratic  protest  from  all  sides  against 
the  summary  dealing  with  Vallandigham.  A  great  meeting  at  Albany, 
New  York,  strongly  condemned  the  proceedings,  and  sent  a  set  of 
resolutions  to  the  President  requesting,  almost  demanding,  a  reversal 
in  the  case  of  the  Ohio  statesman.  Mr.  Lincoln  answered  in  a  long 
argument  for  the  necessity  and  the  constitutional  warrant  for  the 
system  of  arbitrary  arrests.  He  touched  a  popular  chord  when,  in 
speaking  of  the  universal  rule  of  inflicting  the  death  penalty  for 
army  desertions,  he  said,  "  Must  I  shoot  a  simple-minded  soldier  boy 
who  deserts,  while  I  must  not  touch  a  hair  of  the  wily  agitator  who 
induces  him  to  desert  ?  " 

Vallandigham  did  not  remain  long  in  the  South.     He  escaped  in 
a  blockade  runner  and  repaired  to  Canada.     While  there  he  was 
nominated  by  the  Democrats  for  governor  of  Ohio,  and 
the  convention  that  made  the  nomination  appointed  a  ^^da*68  *° 
committee  of  eminent  citizens  to  address  the  President 
in  favor  of  a  revocation  of  the  order  of  banishment.     Lincoln  made 
a  most  ingenious,  if  not  a  very  dignified,  answer.     He  offered  to 


730  HISTOKY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

revoke  the  order  if  they,  the  members  of  the  committee,  would  sign 
a  paper  promising  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  aid  and  encourage  the 
army  and  navy  in  suppressing  the  rebellion.  The  committee  replied 
that  they  would  not  enter  into  any  bargains  or  contracts  with  the 
President  for  the  return  of  Mr.  Vallandigham,  that  they  asked  it  as 
a  right  and  not  as  a  favor. 

The  Ohio  canvass  went  on,  and  the  Democrats  declared  that  if 
their  candidate  were  elected  they  would  meet  him  at  the  state  line  and 
conduct  him  to  the  capital  in  such  numbers  as  to  protect  him  from 
attack.  But  the  news  from  Gettysburg,  from  Vicksburg,  and  from 
Port  Hudson  was  so  favorable  to  the  Union  cause  that  the  war  party 
took  new  courage  and  swept  the  state,  electing  their  candidate,  John 
Brough,  over  Vallandigham  by  a  majority  exceeding  a  hundred 
thousand.1 

DOINGS  OF  CONGRESS 

During  the  war  period  Congress  attracted  less  attention  than 
usual,  for  the  reason  that  the  eyes  of  the  country  were  directed  to 
the  armies  in  the  field  and  to  the  President,  whose  "  war  powers  " 
led  him  to  trench  greatly  on  the  power  of  Congress.2  To  the  ordinary 
legislation  necessary  to  support  the  war  it  is  needless  to  devote-  our 
space  ;  but  a  few  of  the  extraordinary  acts  must  be  noted.  We  have 
referred  to  the  scheme  for  internal  taxation  and  to  the  Confiscation 
Act,  and  also  to  the  action  of  Congress  concerning  the  writ  of  Habeas 
Corpus.  In  May,  1862,  the  Homestead  Act  was  passed,  which  has 
proved  a  wonderful  boon  to  the  settlement  of  the  great  West.  By 
this  law  any  citizen  was  given  the  right  to  settle  on  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  public  land,  and  at  the  end  of  five  years  to  own  it 
by  paying  $1.25  an  acre.  An  act  of  July,  1862,  provided  for  a  rail 
way  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  but  some  years  were  yet  to  pass  before  this 
great  work  could  be  completed. 

No  legislation  during  the  war  was  of  greater  importance  than 

1  Burnside  soon  after  this  affair  suppressed  the  Chicago  Times  for  disloyal  utter 
ances.    But  the  people  rose  in  great  numbers,  Republicans  as  well  as  Democrats,  and 
demanded  that  the  right  of  a  free  press  should  not  be  infringed,  and  President  Lincoln 
revoked  the  order  of  Burnside.    By  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  (The   Milligan  Case,  1866,  4  Wallace  128)  such  proceedings  as  that  against 
Vallandigham,  as  also  the  suspending  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  away  from  the  seat 
of  war, were  virtually  pronounced  unconstitutional.     Vallandigham  returned  to  Ohio 
in  June,  1864,  and  went  about  unmolested  by  the  government.    He  died  in  1871  by  a 
pistol  shot  fired  by  himself  accidentally,  while  explaining  a  murder  case  to  a  jury. 

2  See  Rhodes,  Vol.  IV,  p.  57. 


NATIONAL  FINANCES  731 

that  which  concerned  the  national  finances.  The  public  debt,  less 
than  $70,000,000  at  the  opening  of  the  war,  shot  upward  with  sur 
prising  rapidity,  and  within  two  years  it  had  reached  $500,000,000. 
In  December,  1861,  the  government  and  the  banks  agreed  to  suspend 
specie  payments.  To  meet  the  new  conditions  Congress  passed  the 
Legal  Tender  Act,  which  became  a  law  on  February  25, 
1862.  By  this  law  an  issue  of  $150,000,000  in  treasury  ^fal  Tendei 
notes  was  made  legal  tender  for  all  private  debts  and 
public  dues,  except  duties  on  imports  and  interest  on  the  public 
debt.  The  issues  were  afterward  increased  till  they  reached  $450,- 
000,000,  popularly  known  as  "greenbacks"  because  of  their  color. 
The  act  authorizing  the  first  issue  of  greenbacks  provided  also  for 
funding  them  in  six  per  cent  bonds,  payable  in  coin,  and  known  as 
"  five-twenties." l  The  great  problem  was,  how  to  keep  the  legal 
tender  notes  from  depreciating  in  value.  The  fact  that  they  could 
be  used  in  the  purchase  of  government  bonds  while  the  interest  on 
these  bonds  was  payable  in  coin  was  a  tower  of  strength.  But  the 
government  preferred  to  sell  its  bonds  for  coin,  as  coin  had  the 
greater  purchasing  power.  And  yet,  if  the  government  refused  its 
own  notes  in  the  sale  of  bonds,  the  value  of  the  notes  would  fall  in 
an  alarming  degree.  How  to  prevent  this  was  the  question;  and 
its  solution  in  part  was  found  in  the  establishing  of  the  National 
Banking  system. 

The  act  creating  the  National  Bank  was  passed  in  February, 
1863,2  and  was  based  on  the  state  bank  system  of  New  York.    Under 
this  law  a  company  of  five  or  more  persons  might  found  jfati0nal 
a  bank  with  a  capital  not  to  fall  below  a  certain  amount.  Bank  Act, 
The   company  was   then   obliged  to  deposit  with  the  February  25, 
United    States    treasurer    government    bonds    to    the  1863- 
amount  of  one  third  of  its  capital  stock  paid  in.     These  bonds  were 
then  held  to  secure  the  notes  issued  by  the  banking  company,  and 
such  notes  were  not  to  exceed  ninety  per  cent  of  the  bonds  held  by 
the  government.     The  government  thus  became  responsible  for  the 
bank's  notes,  made  them  legal  tender,  and  secured  the  holder  from 
loss  by  the  bank's  failure.     In  March,  1865,  Congress  passed  a  law 
taxing  state  banks  so  heavily  that  they  had  to  go  out  of  business  or 
become  national  banks.     This  admirable  system  relieves  the  people 

1  Because  payable  after  five  years  and  due  in  twenty  years  from  date.    Tbis 
loan  became  a  very  popular  one. 

2  Tbis  act  was  amended  and  improved  by  act  of  June  3,  1864. 


732  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

from  keeping  track  of  the  standing  of  any  bank  of  issue,  as  the 
nation  is  security  for  its  notes.  Some  object  to  the  national  banking 
system  because  it  precludes  the  full  payment  of  a  national  debt ; 
but,  as  I  have  stated  elsewhere,  a  moderate  national  debt  is  not  a 
burden,  and  it  may  be  a  benefit,  to  any  country.  This  system 
inspired  confidence  on  all  sides ;  it  became  a  power  in  drawing  from 
the  people  the  necessary  support  of  the  war,  and  in  later  years  it 
aided  the  government  greatly  in  resuming  specie  payments.  The 
banking  system  was  the  crowning  achievement  of  Secretary  Chase. 
It  has  grown  in  public  favor  to  this  -day,  and  it  promises  to  be  a 
fixture  in  our  government. 

It  will  be  observed  that  congressional  legislation  during  the  war 
encroached  seriously  upon  the  powers  granted  by  the  Constitution. 
This  was  especially  true  in  the  case  of  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of 
Habeas  Corpus,  as  we  have  noticed,  of  the  Revenue  Act,  and  of  the 
restriction  of  the  press.  The  Constitution  expressly  provides  for 
liberty  of  speech  and  of  the  press.  In  spite  of  this,  many  news 
papers  were  suppressed,  issues  of  others  were  seized  by  United  States 
officials,  and  the  use  of  the  mail  service  was  denied  them ;  and  many 
men  were  seized  and  imprisoned  merely  for  criticising  the  govern 
ment's  conduct  of  the  war.  In  time  of  peace  such  a  procedure  would 
be  alarming  to  a  free  people.  But  a  state  of  war  changes  the  whole 
aspect  of  the  government.  The  nation  was  struggling  for  its  life. 
Why  should  it  not  use  every  means  necessary  to  preserve  that  life  ? 
The  government  made  many  mistakes;  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
believe  that  there  was  any  intention  to  encroach  permanently  on 
American  personal  liberty.  Nor  did  it  so  result ;  for  now,  after  the 
space  of  forty  years,  personal  liberty  and  local  self-government  are 
as  sacred  and  as  fully  enjoyed  by  the  people  as  before  the  war. 

VICKSBURG 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1862  the  military  situation  was  not  very 
favorable  to  the  Union  cause.  In  the  East  the  mistake  had  been 
made  of  withdrawing  McClellan  from  the  peninsula,  and,  after  Antie- 
tam,  of  superseding  him  with  a  much  weaker  man.  This  had  resulted 
in  the  great  disaster  of  Fredericksburg,  and,  the  following  spring,  in 
that  of  Chancellorsville.  In  the  West,  Corinth  had  been  saved, 
Bragg  had  been  driven  from  Kentucky  and  defeated  in  early  Janu 
ary  at  Murfreesborough,  but  he  had  not  been  disabled  —  only  put  on 


HALLECK  IN   THE    SOUTHWEST  733 

the  defensive.     Meantime  the  Federals  had  lost  a  grand  opportunity 
to  seize  Vicksburg  before  it  was  fortified  by  the  Confederates. 

We  have  stated  that  Grant  did  little  for  a  year  after  the  battle 
of  Shiloh,  but  the  fault  lay  far  more  with  Halleck  than  with  him. 
After  Shiloh  Halleck  had  assumed  command  of  the  Army  of  Ten 
nessee,  which  had  swelled  to  a  hundred  thousand  men.  He  moved 
southward  and  occupied  Corinth  the  last  of  May,  the  Confederates 
having  abandoned  the  place  without  a  battle. 

A  week  later  the  Federal  fleet  on  the  Mississippi  captured  Mem 
phis,  after  a  fierce  fight  of  the  gunboats.  Farragut,  after  the  capture 
of  New  Orleans  in  April,  had  proceeded  up  the  river,  had  passed 
Vicksburg,  and  had  joined  with  Commodore  Davis,  the  successor  of 
Commodore  Foote  whose  wound  had  obliged  him  to  retire.  Farragut 
repeatedly  asked  Halleck  for  a  portion  of  his  army  to  occupy  Vicks 
burg,  and  thus  to  secure  the  whole  course  of  the  great  river.  Vicks 
burg,  situated  on  a  bluff  opposite  a  sharp  bend  in  the  river  halfway 
between  Memphis  and  New  Orleans,  was  the  greatest  stronghold, 
and,  next  to  Eichmond,  the  most  strategic  point,  in  the  South.  Its 
occupation  by  the  Federals  at  this  time  would  have  been  easy ;  and 
its  possession  would  have  given  them  control  of  the  whole  course  of 
the  Mississippi  and  would  have  severed  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  and 
Texas  from  the  rest  of  the  Confederacy.  But  Halleck's  mind  was  not 
large  enough  to  grasp  so  great  a  subject;1  he  refused  to  send  Far 
ragut  any  aid,  and  meantime  Van  Dorn  hastened  to  Vicksburg  with 
a  few  thousand  men  and  worked  them  day  and  night  Van  Dorn 
till  the  place  was  well  fortified  and  mounted  with  can-  occupies 
non.  Farragut  returned  to  New  Orleans,  and  Van  Vicksburg. 
Dorn  went  down  the  river  to  Port  Hudson,  two  hundred  miles  below 
Vicksburg,  fortified  it,  and  held  the  river  between  the  two  points. 
At  any  time  before  the  middle  of  July  1862,  Halleck,  cooperating 
with  Farragut  and  Davis,  could  have  secured  Vicksburg  with  a  small 
portion  of  his  army ;  but  the  opportunity  was  lost,  and  the  blunder 
cost  a  year  of  weary  warfare  and  thousands  of  human  lives. 

Again,  Halleck  might  have  seized  Chattanooga,  the  key  to  eastern 
Tennessee  and  the  chief  railroad  center  between  Virginia  and  the 
Southwest.  But  he  failed  also  to  do  this.  In  the  midst  of  this  series 
of  blunders  by  this  opinionated  western  commander,  President  Lin 
coln  committed  a  still  more  serious  blunder  —  he  appointed  Halleck 
commander  in  chief  of  all  the  armies  of  the  United  States. 
1  See  Fiske's  "  Mississippi  Valley  in  the  Civil  War,"  p.  141. 


734  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

This  promotion  of  Halleck  left  Grant  in  superior  command  in 
the  West,  and  he  immediately  began  planning  the  capture  of  the 
great  Confederate  stronghold,  Vicksburg.  The  Mississippi  River  in 
its  lower  course  winds  like  a  mighty  serpent  from  side  to  side  of  an 
alluvial  bottom  averaging  forty  miles  in  width.  On  the  eastern  side 
these  great  coils  here  and  there  sweep  up  to  the  bluffs  of  the  high 
lands  of  Tennessee  and  Mississippi.  On  such  bluffs  are  situated 
Vicksburg,  Memphis,  and  Port  Hudson,  and  these  strategic  points 
were  necessary  to  the  military  occupation  of  the  river.  Memphis 
had  fallen  from  the  Confederate  grasp,  and  Grant  saw  that  the 
capture  of  Vicksburg  would  occasion  the  fall  of  Port  Hudson  and 
would  sever  the  three  trans-Mississippi  states  from  the  Confederacy, 
which  drew  from  that  section  much  of  its  food  supply,  thousands  of 
its  soldiers,  and  even  munitions  of  war  from  Europe  through  the 
ports  of  Mexico.  But  Vicksburg  was  almost  impregnable.  Situ 
ated  two  hundred  feet  above  the  waves  that  break  upon  the  base  of 
the  cliff,  its  cannon  could  destroy  any  hostile  fleet  that  might 
approach  from  above  or  from  below,  while  the  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  a  land  approach  were  almost  equally  insurmountable.  The  capture 
of  Vicksburg  was  therefore  a  work  of  unknown  peril  to  an  army,  and 
few  generals  could  have  accomplished  it. 

Grant,  with  an  army  of  fifty  thousand  men,  made  several  unsuc 
cessful  attempts  in  the  autumn  of  1862,  and  the  northern  public 
grew  impatient  at  his  failure  and  clamored  loudly  for 
his  removal-  Halleck,  Stanton,  Chase,  and  others 
joined  in  the  general  demand  that  Grant  be  superseded ; 
but  President  Lincoln  determined  to  "  try  him  a  little  longer,"  and 
thus  in  some  degree  he  counteracted  his  mistake  in  making  Halleck 
commander  in  chief.  Grant's  first  attempt  consisted  in  moving  his 
army  down  into  the  interior  of  Mississippi  in  the  hope  of  forcing 
the  evacuation  of  Vicksburg  without  attacking  it.  In  this  way  — 
by  his  great  flanking  movement  up  the  Tennessee  by  way  of 
Donelson  to  Shiloh  —  he  had  caused  the  evacuation  of  Columbus, 
Fort  Pillow,  and  Memphis ;  but  in  the  case  of  Vicksburg  he  had  to 
leave  his  base  of  supplies  so  far  behind  that  the  plan  was  found  im 
practicable,  and  it  was  abandoned. 

The  next  plan  was  to  divide  the  army  :  Grant  was  to  remain  in 
Mississippi  with  a  portion,  while  Sherman  was  to  return  with  the 
rest  to  Memphis  and  embark  on  the  fleet  of  Admiral  Porter,  who 
had  succeeded  Davis,  for  a  point  just  north  of  Vicksburg,  and  thence 


MOVEMENTS   ALONG  THE   MISSISSIPPI  735 

to  cooperate  with  Grant.     This  plan  was  carried  out  in  December, 
and  might  have  promised  success  but  for  the  fearful  ravages  of  the 
Confederate  cavalry.     On  the  same  day  that  Sherman  VanDornca 
embarked  at  Memphis,  Van  Dorn  with  thirty-five  him-  tures  Holly 
dred  cavalry  swooped  down  like  an  eagle  upon  Holly   Springs, 
Springs,  where  Grant  had  stored  a  million  and  a  half  December  20, 
dollars'  worth  of  supplies,  destroyed  the  stores,  and 
captured  the  garrison.     At  the  same  time  General  Nathan  Forrest 
made  a  cavalry  raid  across  Tennessee,  destroyed  the  telegraph  and 
sixty  miles  of  railroad,  cutting  Grant  off  for  nearly  two  weeks  from 
all  communication  with   the  rest   of   the  world.     With  his  stores 
destroyed  and  no  railroad  left  by  which  to  secure  more,  Grant  could 
only  retreat  and  live  off  the  country  while  doing  so.1     While  Grant 
was   making   this   retreat   of   eighty  miles,   Sherman  with   thirty- 
two  thousand   men  was   floating   down   the   river.      Reaching   the 
mouth  of  the  Yazoo  just  above  Vicksburg,  he  ascended 
that  river  for  a   few  miles,  made  a  desperate  attack       *  Yazoo°n 
on  the  enemy's  works  at  Chickasaw  Bayou,  and  suffered 
a  stinging  defeat,  losing  eighteen  hundred  men  to  two  hundred  by 
the  enemy.     Sherman's  command  was  then  turned  over  to  General 
John  A.  McClernand,  who  had  come  down  the  river  with  an  inde 
pendent  command.     McClernand,  after  fighting  in  Grant's  army  at 
Donelson  and  Shiloh,  had  raised  an  army  in  the  West,  boasting  that  he 
was  tired  furnishing  brains  for  Grant,  and  had  persuaded  the  Presi 
dent  to  send  him  down  the  river  on  his  own  account.     He  and  Sher 
man  then  made  a  raid  up  the  Arkansas  River,  captured  Arkansas 
Post  (January  11,  1863),  and  were  about  to  make  an  expedition  far 
into  the  Red  River  country  when   Grant  made  serious  complaint 
against  taking  so  large  a  force  from  the  main  object  of  the  campaign  ; 
whereupon  Grant  was  given  the  command  over  McClernand,  with  the 
option  of  giving  that  general  the  conduct  of  the  movement  against 
Vicksburg,  or  of  assuming  it  himself ;  and  he  chose  the  latter. 

Grant  now  wrent  down  the  river,  collected  his  army  in  four  corps 
under  Sherman,  McClernand,  Hurlburt,  and  McPherson,  and  spent 
the  winter  in  making  various  unsuccessful  experiments.  First  he 
tried  to  dig  a  canal  across  the  narrow  peninsula  opposite  Vicksburg, 

1  Some  southern  ladies  tauntingly  asked  Grant  from-  what  source  he  could  now 
feed  his  army,  and  he  quietly  remarked  that  their  barns  seemed  to  be  well  stocked. 
"  What,"  they  exclaimed  in  alarm,  "  you  surely  would  not  lay  hands  on  private 
property!  "  Grant  regretted  the  necessity,  but  informed  them  that  they  could  not 
expect  him  to  starve  his  army.  Fiske,  p.  200. 


736  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

so  as  to  bring  his  supplies  from  Memphis  without  coming  within 
range  of  the  guns  of  the  city.  But  after  six  weeks  of  arduous  toil 
the  great  river  rose  beyond  its  banks,  submerged  the  work,  drowned 
Plans  to  many  horses,  and  forced  the  men  to  flee  for  their  lives. 

capture  Another  plan  was  to  follow  the  labyrinth  of  bayous  west 

Vicksburg.  Of  the  Mississippi;  but  this  too  had  to  be  given  up. 
Grant  next  attempted  to  approach  Vicksburg  by  way  of  the  Yazoo 
Pass  and  the  Tallahatchie  and  Yazoo  rivers;. but  his  vessels  were 
unable  to  pass  the  guns  of  Fort  Pemberton  on  the  Yazoo,  and  the 
plan  was  abandoned.  An  attempt  was  then  made  to  reach  the  Yazoo 
by  means  of  a  stream  that  empties  into  it  below  Fort  Pemberton,  but 
after  eleven  days  of  perilous  toil  this  too  was  given  up.  March  had 
passed,  and  Grant  had  made  no  progress  whatever  toward  invest 
ing  Vicksburg.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  cry  in  the  North  became 
loudest  that  Grant  should  be  dismissed,  and  that  Lincoln  decided  to 
try  him  a  little  longer. 

General  Grant  now  at  last  conceived  the  plan  that  was  destined 
to  succeed ;  namely,  to  send  the  army  to  a  point  below  Vicksburg  by 
an  overland  route  west  of  the  river  and  to  run  the  batteries  at 
Vicksburg  with  the  supply  boats  under  the  protection  of  Porter's 
Running  the  ironclads.  Silently  in  the  darkness  a  fleet  floated 
batteries,  down  the  river.  For  an  hour  the  darkness  and  silence 
April  16.  were  unbroken,  and  the  crews  began  to  believe  they 
would  pass  unnoticed,  when  suddenly  the  heavens  were  lighted  by 
burning  powder,  and  the  roar  of  artillery  burst  forth  from  the  tiers 
of  batteries  that  crowned  the  bluff  in  front  of  the  city.  "  The  sight 
was  magnificent,  but  terrible,"  said  Grant.  Porter  opened  his  guns 
from  the  fleet  and  threw  many  shells  into  the  streets  of  the  city. 
All  the  vessels  were  struck,  but  all  escaped  destruction  save  one  of 
the  steamers,  which,  being  set  on  fire,  burned  to  the  water's  edge. 
A  week  later  another  fleet  of  supply  boats  ran  the  batteries  in  safety, 
and  on  the  last  day  of  April  the  fleet  met  the  army,  which  had  been 
struggling  for  a  month  through  the  swamps  west  of  the  river.1  The 
army  was  now  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  opposite  Grand  Gulf, 
another  bluff  in  the  hands  of  the  Confederates  and  twenty-five  miles 
below  Vicksburg.  A  crossing  was  effected  some  miles  below,  and  on 
the  3d  of  May  Grand  Gulf  was  captured  after  a  sharp  battle  with 
eight  thousand  of  the  enemy. 

1  Sherman's  corps  was  still  above  Vicksburg,  but  came  down  and  joined  the  main 
army  early  in  May.  Hurlburt  was  still  at  Memphis. 


INVESTING   VICKSBURG 


737 


The  Federal  army  had  secured  a  footing  below  Vicksburg,  but 
its  tenure  was  uncertain.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  a  hostile  country, 
far  from  any  base  of  supplies,  and  every  day  would  increase  its 
perils.  Grant  knew  that  he  must  strike  without  delay.  He  came 
to  a  resolution  that  would  have  done  credit  to  the  great  Napoleon 
for  its  audacity.  Grant  had  about  forty-five  thousand  men.  Be 
fore  Vicksburg  sat  Pemberton  with  an  army  of  about  the  same 
size.  Near  Jackson,  the  capital  of  Mississippi,  fifty  miles  from 
Vicksburg,  was  another  Confederate  army,  fifteen  thousand  strong, 
soon  to  be  commanded 
by  Joseph  E.  Johnston, 
wrho  was  hastening  from 
Chattanooga.  Grant  de 
termined  to  cut  himself 
off  from  his  base  at 
Grand  Gulf,  to  inarch 
against  Johnston's  army 
and  destroy  it,  then  to 
turn  upon  Pemberton, 
beat  him  in  battle  and 
drive  him  within  the  de 
fenses  of  Vicksburg. 
The  daring  cam paign 
was  begun  on  the  7th  of 
May.1  On  the  12th  the 
battle  of  Raymond  was 
fought  between  McPher- 
son  and  five  thousand 
Confederates.  Two  days 
later  Johnston's  army 
was  again  routed,  and  the  city  of  Jackson  was  captured.  Leaving 
a  body  of  troops  to  burn  the  arsenals  and  military  factories  at 
Jackson  and  to  tear  up  the  railroad  for  twenty  miles  around,  Grant 
turned  his  face  toward  Vicksburg.  Pemberton  had  come  out  to 
meet  him,  and  they  came  face  to  face  at  a  place  called  Champion 
Hill.  Here  a  terrific  battle  of  eight  hours  was  fought,  in  which 
Pemberton  lost  all  his  artillery  and  four  thousand  men,  including 

1  The  Confederates  of  central  Mississippi  had  been  demoralized  by  a  daring  raid, 
April  17-May  2,  around  Jackson  by  one  thousand  cavalrymen  under  Colonel  Grierson. 
This  was  a  great  aid  to  Grant. 

3s 


738  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

prisoners,  while  four  thousand  others  became  detached  from  his  army 
and  fled  into  the  interior  of  Mississippi.  The  remainder  hastened 
toward  Vicksburg,  but  on  the  next  day  they  were  overtaken  at 
the  Big  Black  River,  and  were  again  defeated.1  The  Confederates 
then  took  refuge  in  the  defenses  of  Vicksburg ;  and  Haines  Bluff,  a 
stronghold  on  the  Yazoo  a  few  miles  above,  was  abandoned  to  the 
Union  army  with  its  stores  and  guns,  for  the  enemy  had  left  in  too 
great  haste  to  destroy  them.  On  the  18th  of  May  Grant's  army 
was  safely  lodged  on  the  heights  around  Vicksburg,  and  the  fall  of 
Haines  Bluff  had  opened  its  communications  with  the  North. 
This  was  without  exception  the  most  brilliant  campaign  of  the  Civil 
War.  It  is  true  that  Grant  fought  against  inferior  numbers  in  every 
battle;  but  this  was  largely  because  of  his  skill  in  preventing  the  two 
armies  of  the  enemy  from  uniting.  In  eleven  days  from  the  time  he 
left  Grand  Gulf,  Grant  had  marched  about  one  hundred 
an(^  ^ty  rn^es  *n  the  enemy's  country  without  a  base  of 
supplies,  had  fought  and  won  four  battles,  had  destroyed 
or  captured  twelve  thousand  of  the  enemy  with  a  loss  of  less  than 
five  thousand,  and  had  captured  a  state  capital.  He  had  moved  with 
a  celerity  never  surpassed  by  Stonewall  Jackson  in  his  palmiest 
days  ;  and  he  was  now  ready  to  invest  this  great  Gibraltar  of  the 
South.  On  the  morning  of  the  19th,  as  Grant  and  Sherman  rode 
out  on  the  bluff,  the  latter  burst  forth  in  praise  and  admiration  of 
his  chief  and  of  the  great  campaign  that  he  had  planned  and  carried 
through.  Grant  lighted  a  fresh  cigar,  smiled,  and  said  never  a  word.2 
The  Union  army  was  flushed  with  victory,  and  the  troops 
believed  they  could  carry  the  works  of  the  city  by  storm.  On  the 
Grand  19th  an  assault  was  made  npon  the  works,  and  the  result 

assault,  was  a  moving  of  the  base  of  the  besiegers  nearer  the 

May  22.  besieged,  a  tightening  of  the  coil  of  the  encircling  army 

about  the  doomed  city.  A  grand  assault  was  then  made  by  the 
whole  Union  army.  But  the  enemy  fought  like  a  wild  beast  at 
bay,  and  the  Federals  lost  three  thousand  men  and  won  nothing. 
Grant  has  been  censured  for  this  waste  of  men ;  but  he  believed  that 
his  army  would  be  impatient  of  a  long  siege  unless  first  convinced 
that  to  carry  the  works  by  storm  was  impossible.  After  the  assault 
the  army  was  content  to  settle  down  to  a  regular  siege. 

1  But  the  enemy  succeeded  in  burning  the  bridge  over  the  Big  Black.     Otherwise 
Grant  would  doubtless  have  beaten  him  in  reaching  Vicksburg. 

2  Fiske,  "The  Mississippi  Valley,"  p.  241. 


FALL   OF   VICKSBURG  739 

Johnston  was  raising  a  large  army  to  attempt  the  rescue  of 
Pemberton.  Grant  saw  the  danger,  and  called  for  reinforcements 
from  the  North.  The  response  was  prompt,  and  within 
a  few  weeks  his  army  was  almost  doubled.  He  placed 
nearly  half  the  army  under  Sherman  some  miles  in 
the  interior  to  watch  Johnston,  who  hung  in  the  rear  like  a  gath 
ering  cloud.  The  siege  went  on  for  six  weeks.  The  men  worked 
like  marmots  in  the  trenches,  approaching  nearer  and  nearer  the 
breastworks  of  the  enemy.  Porter's  fleet  lay  in  the  river,  from 
which  the  bombardment  was  incessant  day  and  night.  The  shriek 
ing  shells  rose  in  grand  parabolic  curves,  bursting  in  midair,  or  on 
the  streets  of  the  city,  spreading  havoc  in  all  directions.  The  people 
of  the  city  found  safety  by  burrowing  in  the  ground.  Whole  families 
lived  for  weeks  in  safety  in  these  dismal  homes,  with  their  walls  of 
clay  shaken  at  intervals  by  the  roar  of  battle  that  raged  above  them. 

Vicksburg  was  shut  out  from  the  world.  Food  soon  began  to  run 
low.  At  length  almost  nothing  could  be  had  except  mule  meat  and 
a  mixture  of  dried  peas  and  cornmeal,  and  these  were  becoming  ex 
hausted.  Many  had  perished,  both  of  the  garrison  and  the  residents, 
from  the  bursting  of  shells,  from  sickness  and  exhaustion  ;  and  at 
length  starvation  stalked  among  the  remnant  like  a  devouring  mon 
ster.  Such  was  Vicksburg  at  the  opening  of  July,  1863.  Further 
resistance  was  suicidal.  Nothing  was  left  but  to  surrender,  and  at 
ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  3d,  white  flags  were  seen  waving 
above  the  parapet.  The  cannon  instantly  ceased  to  roar,  and  that 
afternoon  Grant  met  Pemberton  to  arrange  terms  of  surrender. 
Next  day,  the  glorious  4th,  the  surrender  was  accomplished,  and  this 
powerful  citadel  of  the  South  fell  into  the  possession  of  the  Union  army. 

With  Vicksburg  were  surrendered  37,000  prisoners  of  war,  172 
cannon,  and  60,000  muskets.  Port  Hudson  could  .  not  stand 
after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg;  on  the  9th  of  July  it  surrendered  to 
General  Banks,1  and  the  whole  course  of  the  Mississippi  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  Union  armies.  In  the  vigorous  language  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  "  The  Father  of  Waters  rolled  unvexed  to  the  sea." 

GETTYSBURG 

During  the  last  days  of  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  still  greater  events 
were  taking  place  in  the  East.  Here  was  fought  at  this  time  the 

1  Grant  paroled  his  prisoners.  Port  Hudson  was  surrendered  by  General  Gardner 
with  over  6000  men  and  7500  muskets.  It  could  not  have  withstood  the  siege  much 
longer,  even  if  Vicksburg  had  not  surrendered. 


740  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

greatest  battle  of  the  Civil  War  —  the  battle  of  Gettysburg.  Most 
of  the  fighting  in  the  war  took  place  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line,  but  this  terrific  clash  of  arms  occurred  on  the  soil  of  the  old 
Keystone  state,  which  had  given  birth  to  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  and  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  We  left 
Lee's  army  flushed  with  victory  at  Chancellorsville  and  strength 
ened  by  the  memory  of  Fredericksburg.  Southern  hopes  were  high 
after  Chancellorsville,  and  public  opinion  was  unanimous  in  demand 
ing  an  invasion  of  northern  soil.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  under  its  many  masters,  had  met  with  one  discourage 
ment  after  another,  and,  with  all  its  patriotism  and  valor,  its  two 
years'  warfare  showed  but  few  bright  pages  to  cheer  the  heart  of 
the  war-broken  soldier,  and  to  inspire  the  hopes  of  an  anxious  public. 

Leaving  General  Stewart  with  ten  thousand  cavalry  and  a  part  of 
Hill's  corps  to  prevent  Hooker  from  pursuing,  Lee  crossed  the 
Potomac  early  in  June,  concentrated  his  army  at 
the  Potomac  Hagerston,  Maryland,  and  prepared  for  a  campaign  in 
Pennsylvania,  with  Harrisburg  as  the  objective  point. 
His  army  was  divided  into  three  corps  under  the  respective  com 
mands  of  Longstreet,  Ewell,  and  A.  P.  Hill.  Lee  had  divided  his 
army  so  as  to  approach  Harrisburg  by  different  routes  and  to  assess 
the  towns  along  the  way  for  large  sums  of  money,  when,  late  in 
June,  he  received  the  startling  intelligence  that  Stewart  and  Hill 
had  failed  to  detain  Hooker,  that  the  Federal  army  had  crossed  the 
Potomac  and  was  in  hot  pursuit. 

Lee  was  quick  to  see  that  his  programme  must  be  changed.  He 
knew  that  to  continue  his  march  he  must  keep  his  army  together  to 
watch  his  pursuing  antagonist,  and  that  such  a  course  in  this  hostile 
country  would  mean  starvation,  while  the  willing  hands  of  the  sur 
rounding  populace  would  minister  to  the  wants  of  his  enemy.  Again, 
if  he  should  scatter  his  forces  that  they  might  secure  the  necessary 
supplies,  the  parts  would  be  attacked  singly  and  destroyed.  Lee 
saw,  therefore,  that  he  must  abandon  his  invasion  of  the  North  or 
turn  upon  his  pursuing  foe  and  smite  and  disable  him,  in  order  to 
continue  his  march.  But  that  foe  was  a  giant  of  strength  and  courage 
equal  to  his  own;  and  the  coming  together  of  two  such  forces  in  a 
final,  mighty  death  struggle  meant  that  a  great  battle  must  be  fought 
—  a  greater  battle  than  this  western  world  had  hitherto  known. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  again  changed  hands,  and  George 
Gordon  Meade  was  now  its  master.  Hooker,  after  a  dispute  with 


GATHERING  AT   GETTYSBURG  741 

Halleck,  had  resigned  the  leadership,  and  Meade,  the  strongest  of 
the  corps  commanders,  was  appointed  in  his  place.  The  two  great 
armies  were  scattered  over  portions  of  Maryland  and  southern 
Pennsylvania,  moving  each  toward  the  other,  and  it  was  plain  that 
they  must  soon  come  together  in  a  contest  more  terrific  than  they 
had  yet  experienced  in  their  two  years'  struggle ;  but  just  where  the 
shock  of  battle  would  take  place  was  yet  unknown.  Meade  had 
ordered  a  general  movement  toward  Harrisburg,  and  he  sent  Gen 
eral  Buford  with  four  thousand  cavalry  to  intercept  the  advance  guard 
of  the  enemy.  On  the  night  of  June  30  Buford  encamped  on  a  low 
hill  a  mile  west  of  Gettysburg,  and  here  on  the  following  morning 
the  famous  battle  had  its  beginning. 

Gettysburg  was  a  quiet  hamlet  of  fifteen  hundred  people,  in  Adams 
County,  Pennsylvania,  and  some  twelve  miles  east  of  the  South 
Mountain  range.  West  of  the  village  is  situated  on  a  ridge  running 
north  and  south  a  Lutheran  Theological  Seminary,  and  this  ridge  is 
called  Seminary  Ridge.  Just  south  of  the  town,  about  a  mile  from 
Seminary  Ridge  and  parallel  to  it,  is  Cemetery  Ridge,  which,  curv 
ing  eastward  at  the  village,  culminates  in  Gulp's  Hill  on  the  bank 
of  Rock  Creek. 

On  the  morning  of  July  1  the  two  armies  were  still  scattered, 
the  extremes  being  forty  miles  apart.     But  General  Reynolds,  with 
three  corps  of  the  Union  army,  was  but  a  few  miles 
away,  and  was  hastening  to  Gettysburg,  while  Longstreet  ^0  baitle* 
and  Hill  were  approaching  the   town  from   the  west. 
Buford  had  opened  the  battle  with   Hill's  corps.     Reynolds    soon 
joined  Buford,  Longstreet  joined  Hill,  and  three  hours  before  noon 
the  battle  was  on  in  full  force  on  Seminary  Ridge.     Reynolds  rode 
out  to  his  fighting  lines  on  the  ridge,  and  here,  about  ten  o'clock,  he 
received  a  sharpshooter's  bullet  in  the  brain,  and  fell  dead.     John 
F.  Reynolds,  who  had  been  promoted  for  gallantry  at  Buena  Vista, 
was  one  of  the  bravest  and  ablest  generals  of  the  army.    No  casualty 
of  the  war  brought  more  widespread  mourning  in  the  North  than 
the  death  of  Reynolds. 

But  even  this  calamity  could  not  stay  the  fury  of  the  battle. 
By  one  o'clock  both  sides  had  been  greatly  reenforced,  and  the 
battle  line  extended  north  of  the  town  from  Seminary  Ridge  to  the 
bank  of  Rock  Creek.  Here  for  hours  the  roar  of  the  battle  was 
unceasing.  About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  a  breeze  lifted  the 
smoke  that  had  enveloped  the  whole  battle  line  in  darkness,  and 


742 


HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


revealed  the  fact  that  the  Federals  were  being  pressed  back  toward 
Gettysburg.     General  Carl  Schurz,  who  commanded  the  right  wing 


MAP  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD 
OF 

GETTYSBURG 


near  Kock  Creek,  leaving  nearly  half  his  men  dead  or  wounded  on 
the  field,  retreated  into  the  town,  where  the  enemy  pursued  him  and 


BATTLE   OF   GETTYSBURG  743 

captured  five  thousand  of  the  remainder.  The  left  wing  was  also 
forced  back,  and  it  took  refuge  on  Cemetery  Ridge,  which  had  been 
selected  by  General  0.  0.  Howard ;  and  the  first  day's  fight  was  over. 
It  was  some  hours  yet  till  night,  and  had  the  enemy  known  of  the 
disorganized  condition  of  the  Union  troops,  he  might  have  pursued 
and  captured  a  large  part  of  the  army.  Meade,  who  was  still  some 
miles  from  the  field,  hearing  of  the  death  of  Reynolds,  sent  Hancock 
to  take  general  charge  until  he  himself  should  arrive. 

Hancock  rode  at  full  speed  and  arrived  on  the  field  at  four 
o'clock.  His  presence  soon  brought  order  out  of  chaos.  His  superb 
bearing,  his  air  of  confidence,  his  promise  of  heavy  reinforcements 
during  the  night,  all  tended  to  inspire  confidence  and  to  renew  hope 
in  the  defeated  army.  Had  this  day  ended  the  affair  at  Gettysburg, 
the  usual  story  of  the  defeat  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  would 
have  gone  forth  to  the  world.  Only  the  advance  portions  of  both 
armies  had  been  engaged ;  and  yet  the  battle  had  been  a  formidable 
one.  The  Union  loss  was  severe.  A  great  commander  had  fallen,  and 
the  rank  and  file  had  suffered  the  enormous  loss  of  ten  thousand 
men. 

Meade  reached  the  field  late  in  the  night,  and  chose  to  make  this 
field,  on  which  the  advance  of  both  armies  had  accidentally  met,  the 
place  of  a  general  engagement.  Lee  had  come  to  the  same  decision, 
and  both  called  on  their  outlying  legions  to  make  all  possible  speed 
to  Gettysburg.  Before  morning  nearly  all  the  troops  of  both  armies 
had  reached  the  field.  The  Union  army  rested  with  its  center  on 
Cemetery  Ridge,  with  its  right  thrown  round  to  Gulp's  Hill  and  its 
left  extending  southward  to  a  rocky  peak  called  Round  Top.  The  Con 
federate  army  with  its  center  on  Seminary  Ridge,  extending  its  great 
wings  from  Rock  Creek  on  the  north  to  a  point  opposite  Round  Top 
on  the  south,  lay  in  a  grand  semicircle  half  surrounding  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  But  Lee  was  at  a  disadvantage.  First,  Stonewall 
Jackson  was  gone,  and  second,  Stewart  was  absent  with  his  ten 
thousand  cavalry.  And  further,  Meade  was  on  the  defensive, 
and  had  the  advantage  of  occupying  the  inner  ring  of  the  huge 
half-circle.  Thus  lay  the  two  mighty  armies  —  each  nearly  a 
hundred  thousand  strong  —  awaiting  the  morning  and  the  dread 
ful  carnage  that  the  day  was  to  bring.1  It  seemed  that  the  fate  of 
the  Republic  was  here  to  be  decided,  and  the  people  of  the  North 

1  Livermore  gives  the  fighting  strength  of  Meade's  army  at  88,289  and  of  Lee's 
at  75,000. 


744  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

and  of  the  South  awaited  with  breathless  eagerness  the  decision  now 
about  to  be  made  at  Gettysburg. 

The  sky  was  clear  on  July  2,  and  the  dawn  betokened  a  beau 
tiful  day  in  southern  Pennsylvania.  The  two  armies  hesitated,  as 
they  were  loth  to  begin  the  fearful  work  of  slaughter 
The  second  and  b^^shed.  The  hours  passed,  with  a  stray  shot  here 
and  there,  till  four  in  the  afternoon.  General  Sickles 
held  the  Union  left  wing  at  the  base  of  Round  Top,  and  opposite  him 
was  Longstreet.  At  this  point  occurred  the  chief  fighting  of  the  day. 
Sickles  moved  forward  half  a  mile  without  orders,  and  found  himself 
face  to  face  with  nearly  half  the  Confederate  army.  Longstreet 
advanced  in  a  magnificent  battle  line  and  opened  fire  with  his  bat 
teries.  Sickles  answered,  and  presently  the  musketry  was  opened,  at 
first  a  few  shots,  then  more  and  faster,  till  there  was  a  continuous 
roll,  and  no  ear  could  distinguish  one  shot  from  another.  Sickles 
was  pressed  slowly  back  to  the  position  he  had  occupied  in  the  morn 
ing,  and  might  have  been  routed  but  for  the  arrival  of  Sykes  to  his 
rescue.  His  lines  were  still  in  good  order;  but  of  his  brave  men, 
thousands  lay  in  the  fateful  valley,  and  among  them  lay  the  Confed 
erate  dead  and  wounded  in  almost  equal  numbers.  This  valley  has 
been  called  the  Valley  of  Death. 

Meantime  General  Early  made  a  desperate  attack  on  the  Union 
center  from  the  north,  and  was  repulsed  only  after  a  hand-to-hand 
encounter  in  which  clubs  and  stones,  as  well  as  muskets  and  bayonets, 
were  used.  An  attack  on  Gulp's  Hill  was  more  successful.  Ewell 
in  a  fierce  encounter  of  half  an  hour  gained  possession  of  the  hill  and 
held  it  during  the  night.  On  this  second  day  of  the  battle  the  Con 
federates  had  gained  an  apparent  advantage  in  forcing  Sickles  back 
and  a  real  advantage  in  gaining  possession  of  Gulp's  Hill.  Otherwise 
the  situation  was  not  greatly  changed  —  except  that  each  army  had 
lost  about  ten  thousand  men. 

On  the  morning  of  the  third  day  the  people  of  Gettysburg,  which 
lay  between  the  two  armies,  were  awakened  from  sleep  by  the  roar 
of  artillery.  At  daybreak  the  Union  guns  were  opened  on  Gulp's 
Hill,  and  after  a  bombardment  of  four  hours  the  hill  was  carried  and 
the  Union  lines  were  reestablished  where  they  had  been  the  day 
before.  But  the  most  famous  onset  of  the  three  days'  battle  was  yet 
to  come  —  Pickett's  Charge  on  Cemetery  Ridge  —  preceded  by  the 
heaviest  cannonading  ever  known  on  the  American  continent. 

After  the  contest  at  Gulp's  Hill  and  a  cavalry  fight  east  of  Rock 


PICKETT'S   CHARGE   AT   GETTYSBURG  745 

Creek,  there  was  a  lull,  almost  a  deep  silence,  over  the  whole  field. 
It  was  the  calm  that  precedes  the  storm.  Lee  had  been  massing 
artillery  on  Seminary  Ridge,  and  for  two  miles  the  hill  bristled  with 
cannon.  Lee  had  determined  on  a  great  final  charge  on  the  Union 
center.  Longstreet  strongly  opposed  it,  believing  that  it  could  not 
succeed ;  but  he  protested  in  vain. 

At  one  o'clock  the  silence  was  broken  by  a  terrific  outburst  from 
one  hundred  and  fifty  guns,  and  the  whole  crest  of  Seminary  Ridge 
was  a  line  of  fire.  The  Union  guns  were  soon  in  operation,  and 
cannon  answered  cannon  until  the  hills  shook  to  their  foundations.1 
After  an  hour  and  a  half  the  firing  gradually  slackened  and  ceased, 
and  the  Union  army  prepared  for  the  more  deadly  charge  of  infantry 
that  was  sure  to  follow. 

They  had  not  long  to  wait.  Fifteen  thousand  of  Longstreet's 
corps,  the  flower  of  the  Confederate  army,  emerged  in  a  grand 
double  column  from  the  wooded  crest  of  Seminary  Ridge  under  the 
command  of  General  Pickett.  Longstreet  foresaw  the  fate  of  his 
brave  men ;  he  had  opposed  their  going,  but  Lee  overruled  him,  and 
when  he  was  asked  for  final  permission,  he  could  not  speak,  he  only 
nodded  his  head  and  burst  into  tears. 

The  charge  was  one  of  the  most  daring  in  the  history  of  warfare. 
The  distance  to  the  Federal  lines  was  a  mile.  For  half  the 
distance  the  troops  marched  gayly,  with  flying  banners  and  glitter 
ing  bayonets.  Then  came  the  burst  of  Federal  cannon,  and  their 
ranks  were  torn  with  exploding  shells  ;  but  the  lines  reformed  and 
swept  on.  When  they  came  within  musket  range  Hancock's 
infantry  opened  a  terrific  fire,  but  Pickett's  valiant  band  only 
quickened  their  pace  and  returned  the  fire  with  volley  after  volley. 
They  rushed  to  the  very  mouths  of  the  cannon.  The  Union  line  fell 
back  from  the  shelter  of  a  stone  wall,  and  it  seemed  for  a  moment 
that  the  Confederates  would  reach  their  goal  —  would  capture  the 
works  on  Cemetery  Ridge  and  split  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in 
twain.  General  Armistead  leaped  upon  the  stone  wall  and  waved 
the  Confederate  banner  in  frenzied,  momentary  triumph.  Next 
instant  he  fell  mortally  wounded,  and  with  him  fell  the  hopes  of  the 
slaveholder's  rebellion  —  not  yet  slain,  but  mortally  wounded. 

This  was  the  supreme  moment  of  the  war.  The  tide  of  rebellion 
could  rise  no  higher ;  from  this  point  the  ebb  must  begin.  Not  only 

1  See  my  "  Side  Lights,"  Series  II,  Chap.  V.  I  have  drawn  freely  on  that  chapter 
in  this  account. 


746  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

here,  but  in  the  West  the  southern  cause  took  a  downward  turn ;  for 
at  this  very  hour  of  Pickett's  Charge,  Grant  and  Pemberton,  a  thousand 
miles  away,  stood  under  an  oak  tree  on  the  heights  above  the  rolling 
tide  of  the  Mississippi  and  arranged  for  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg. 

Pickett  had  entered  a  death  trap.  Thousands  of  musket  shots 
at  close  range  were  poured  into  his  ranks  every  minute.  The  tem 
pest  of  lead  was  beyond  human  endurance.  Great  numbers  fell 
on  the  gory  field,  many  surrendered,  and  the  remnant  fled,  blood 
stained  and  weary,  to  the  waiting  lines  on  Seminary  Ridge.  The 
battle  of  Gettysburg  was  over.  The  cost  in  men  was  frightful. 
The  losses  of  the  two  armies  reached  fifty  thousand,  about  half 
perhaps  on  either  side.  More  than  seven  thousand  men  had  fallen 
dead  on  the  field  of  battle.1 

Lee  could  do  nothing  but  lead  his  army  back  to  Virginia.  The 
Federals  pursued  but  feebly.  The  Union  victory  was  not  a  very 
decisive  one,  but  being  powerfully  supported  by  the  fall  of  Vicks 
burg,  the  moral  effect  on  the  nation  and  the  world  was  great.  The 
period  of  uncertainty  was  ended.  It  required  but  little  prophetic 
vision  now  to  foresee  that  the  Republic  would  survive  the  dreadful 
shock  of  arms,  and  that  secession  and  slavery  must  perish. 

NOTES 

Negro  Soldiery.  — During  the  early  period  of  the  war  while  the  ranks  were 
kept  filled  by  volunteers,  there  was  little  disposition  to  enlist  black  men  in  the 
service.  In  July,  1862,  however,  Congress  passed  an  act  for  the  employment  of 
negroes  in  camp  service,  on  intrenchment  constructing  and  the  like,  and  another  a 
year  later  for  their  enlistment  as  volunteers.  In  February,  1864,  an  act  was  passed 
to  include  the  blacks  in  the  national  enrollment,  and  if  a  slave  was  drafted,  his 
master  received  a  bounty  from  the  government.  Negro  soldiery  awakened 
some  race  prejudice  at  the  North,  and  much  more  at  the  South  ;  but  as  the  war 
progressed  this  was  largely  overcome  even  at  the  South.  Toward  the  close  of 
the  war  many  black  regiments  were  raised  for  the  northern  armies,  and  they 
were  conspicuous  in  the  fighting  at  Fort  Wagner,  Port  Hudson,  Mobile,  an4 
other  places.  The  South  also  accepted  military  service  from  negroes.  The 
legislature  of  Tennessee  authorized  the  governor  (June  28,  1861)  to  enlist  blacks 
in  the  service.  The  legislature  of  Virginia  discussed  a  similar  bill  in  February, 
1862.  In  November,  1862,  a  regiment  of  fourteen  hundred  free  black  troops 
entered  the  Confederate  service,  while  in  March,  1865,  the  Confederate  Congress 
passed  an  act  for  arming  the  slaves.  See  Greeley's  "American  Conflict," 
Vol.  II,  p.  522. 

1  Livermore gives  these  figures:  Federals  killed,  3155,  wounded,  14,529,  missing, 
5365;  Confederates  killed,  3903,  wounded,  18,735,  missing,  5425;  total,  51,112. 


NOTES  747 


Morgan's  Raid.  —  Of  the  many  cavalry  raids  during  the  war  the  most  famous 
and  daring  was  that  of  John  H.  Morgan  with  four  thousand  men,  in  July,  1863. 
He  crossed  the  Ohio  River  into  Indiana  below  Louisville.  The  Indiana  militia, 
called  out  by  the  governor,  swarmed  after  Morgan  in  such  numbers  that  he  left  the 
state  and  entered  Ohio.  Sweeping  past  Cincinnati  he  traversed  the  southern  part 
of  the  state,  burning  bridges  and  buildings,  stealing  horses,  and  plundering  the 
towns  and  farms.  But  there  was  a  band  of  men  in  hot  pursuit,  and  the  farmers 
obstructed  Morgan's  path  with  felled  trees.  Attempting  to  cross  the  Ohio  near 
Forneroy,  his  way  was  obstructed  by  gunboats  and  militia.  A  sharp  battle 
ensued  ;  Morgan  was  defeated  and  fled  up  the  river,  leaving  six  hundred  of  his 
men,  wounded  and  prisoners,  behind.  A  few  miles  further  up  the  raiders  again 
attempted  to  cross,  but  here  were  the  pursuers  and  the  gunboats.  Morgan 
lost  a  thousand  of  his  men  and  all  his  heavy  guns.  Many  of  his  men  had 
perished  in  attempting  to  swim  the  river.  Again  Morgan,  with  the  remnant, 
struck  the  river  above  Marietta,  but  he  was  again  prevented  from  crossing.  At 
length  (July  26)  he  was  captured  near  New  Lisbon.  Only  about  four  hundred 
of  his  band  escaped  death  or  capture.  Morgan  was  taken  to  Columbus  and  con 
fined  in  the  penitentiary,  whence  he  escaped  in  November  by  burrowing  under 
the  walls,  and  found  his  way  back  to  the  South.  The  following  year  he  was 
killed  in  Tennessee.  In  one  of  the  rights  with  Morgan  the  venerable  Daniel 
McCook  lost  his  life.  He  had  given  eight  sons  to  the  Union  armies,  four  of 
whom  became  generals.  They  were  known  as  "The  Fighting  McCooks." 

The  Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions.  —  These  voluntary  organizations 
did  in  war  times  the  same  kind  of  noble  work  as  has  been  done  in  later  years 
by  the  Red  Cross  Society.  The  Sanitary  Commission  was  organized  in  the 
spring  of  1861,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  H.  W.  Bellows  of  New  York  became  its  presi 
dent.  More  than  7000  women's  auxiliary  societies  were  afterward  organized. 
The  people  were  called  on  by  them  to  contribute  money  and  articles  of  useful 
ness  for  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  and  especially  for  those  in  hospitals.  In  the 
course  of  the  war  $15,000,000  worth  of  articles  and  $4,000,000  in  money  were 
contributed.  The  commission  followed  the  armies  with  its  supplies  and  helpers. 
For  example,  after  the  battle  of  Antietam  the  10,000  wounded  lying  on  the 
field  were  for  four  days  in  the  hands  of  this  commission  ;  and  on  this  one  occa 
sion  it  furnished  28,000  shirts,  towels,  etc.,  30  barrels  of  lint,  bandages,  etc., 
2000  pounds  of  condensed  milk,  and  other  things  in  proportion.  In  the  course 
of  the  war  it  furnished  4,500,000  meals  to  hungry  and  wounded  soldiers. 

The  Christian  Commission  was  organized  later  in  the  year  1861.  George  H. 
Stewart  of  Philadelphia  was  its  chairman.  It  sent  out  over  6000  delegates  without 
pay.  Its  work  was  confined  chiefly  to  supplying  religious  reading  matter  and  medi 
cal  supplies.  It  sent  out  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Bibles,  hymn  books,  magazines, 
and  over  10,000,000  religious  tracts.  In  addition  to  these  organized  societies, 
there  were  many  women  who  volunteered  as  nurses,  the  leader  of  whom  was 
Miss  Dorothea  L.  Dix.  Others  of  note  were  Miss  Amy  Bradley,  Mrs.  Barlow, 
and  Miss  Clara  Barton,  who  in  the  Spanish  War,  thirty-five  years  later,  became 
the  head  of  the  Red  Cross  Society.  The  women  of  the  South  were  also  devoted 
to  the  cause  in  which  they  believed,  and  were  even  more  self-sacrificing  than 
their  sisters  of  the  North. 


CHAPTER   XXX 

THE   CIVIL  WAR  — THE   GREAT  FINAL   DOUBLE  MOVEMENT 

THE  grand  twofold  movement  which  ended  the  war  was  that 
carried  on  by  Grant  in  Virginia  and  by  Sherman  farther  south;  but 
before  treating  this  we  must  notice  the  military  movements  at 

CHICKAMAUGA   AND   CHATTANOOGA 

After  the  battle  of  Stone  River  at  the  beginning  of  January,  1863, 
Rosecrans  and  Bragg  lay  for  many  months  near  Murfreesborough, 
each  sending  out  bands  of  cavalry  on  destructive  raids,  but  both 
avoiding  a  general  engagement.  Meantime  Grant  was  preparing  to 
invest  Vicksburg,  as  we  have  seen,  and  Hooker  was  battling  with 
Lee  in  Virginia.  Rosecrans's  immediate  object  was  to  prevent  Bragg 
from  joining  the  forces  against  Grant  near  Vicksburg.  Near  mid 
summer  he  began  to  move  his  army  toward  the  vicinity  of  Chat 
tanooga.  Bragg's  army  was  also  soon  in  motion.  Chattanooga  is 
situated  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Tennessee  River  in  the  midst  of 
a  vast  amphitheater  of  mountains.  Rosecrans  passed  through  the 
mountain  passes  south  of  the  town,  as  if  to  invade  Georgia.  Bragg 
followed  him,  and  here  on  the  banks  of  a  mountain  stream,  whose 
Indian  name,  Chickamauga,  is  said  to  signify  "  River  of  Death," 
was  fought  the  most  destructive  battle  of  the  war  thus  far,  except 
Gettysburg.  The  Federal  army  held  two  passes  through  Missionary 
Ridge,  which  lay  between  the  combatants  and  Chattanooga.  Bragg's 
aim  was  to  defeat  Rosecrans,  seize  these  passes,  and  beat  the  Feder 
als  back  to  Chattanooga.  And  he  had  every  hope  of  success,  for 
Longstreet  arrived  from  Virginia  on  the  evening  of  the  18th  with 
two  of  the  best  divisions  of  Lee's  army.  Buckner  had  come  from 
Knoxville,  and  Bragg  had  now  nearly  seventy  thousand  men,  while 
Rosecrans  had  but  sixty  thousand. 

The  first  day  began  with  heavy  skirmishing  that  grew  into  a 
battle,  which  continued  till  nightfall.  The  battle  was  renewed  next 

748 


CHICKAMAUGA  749 


morning.     The  Federals  might  have  held  their  own  but  for  a  sad 
blunder.     Rosecrans  sent  an  order  to  General  Wood  which  was  mis 
understood,  and  in  consequence  Wood  moved  his  divi-  Battle  of 
sion  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  a  wide  gap  in  the  center  Chickamauga, 
of  the  Union  lines.     Longstreet,  quickly  seeing  this,  September 
poured   an  overwhelming  mass  of   Confederate   troops  19~20> 1863- 
into  the  opening.     By  this  movement  the  entire  Union  right  wing 
was  torn  from  the  rest  of  the  army  and  swept  from  the  field,  and 
Rosecrans  and  two  of  his  corps  commanders,  McCook  and  Crittenden, 
were  carried  away  in  the  mad  rush. 

But  this  did  not  end  the  day's  work.  The  Union  left,  some 
twenty-five  thousand  men,  was  commanded  by  one  of  the  ablest 
generals  of  the  war,  George  H.  Thomas.  On  a  curving 
ridge  called  the  Horseshoe  he  planted  his  guns  and 
formed  his  lines.  •  The  Confederates,  now  sure  of  win 
ing  a  great  victory,  swarmed  up  the  slope  in  great  numbers ;  but 
Thomas  hurled  them  back,  with  fearful  slaughter.  Again  and  again 
they  came,  almost  the  whole  Confederate  army ;  but  Thomas  stood 
like  a  wall,  and  against  him  the  surging  enemy  dashed  in  vain. 
For  six  long  hours  the  assaults  continued,  but  the  Union  forces 
stood  their  ground  till  night,  at  the  cost  of  ten  thousand  of  their 
number.  The  spectacle  was  one  of  the  grandest  in  the  annals  of 
warfare.1  Thomas  was  afterward  known  as  "  The  Rock  of  Chicka- 
mauga."  He  withdrew  to  the  mountains  during  the  night,  and  soon 
joined  Rosecrans  in  Chattanooga.  In  this  battle  the  Union  army 
lost  about  sixteen  thousand  men  and  the  Confederates  above  eigh 
teen  thousand.  It  is  usually  considered  a  Confederate  victory ;  but 
Bragg  lost  the  greater  number,  and  failed  to  gain  the  passes  to 
Chattanooga. 

South  of  Chattanooga  lies  Missionary  Ridge,  a  few  hundred  feet 
high,  extending  north  and  south,  while  just  west  of  this  ridge  rises 
Lookout  Mountain,  a  bold  spur  three  thousand  feet  above  the  sea, 
extending  to  a  great  bend  of  the  river.1  These  heights  were  soon 
occupied  by  Bragg,  and  Rosecrans  found  himself  cooped  up  in 
Chattanooga  with  but  one  rough  mountain  road  over  which  to  bring 
his  supplies.  The  situation  was  growing  critical ;  ten  thousand 
mules  and  horses  died  within  a  few  weeks  from  want  of  food. 
The  government  saw  that  Rosecrans  must  be  rescued  or  his  army 
would  perish.  General  Grant  was  now  placed  in  command  of  all  the 
1  See  Fiske,  p.  275.  2  See  map  on  p.  759. 


750  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES 

forces  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Mississippi.  He  chose  to  go 
to  Chattanooga  and  take  personal  charge,  while,  at  his  suggestion, 
Grant  arrives  General  Thomas  succeeded  Rosecrans.  Grant  arrived  be 
at  Chatta-  fore  the  close  of  October ;  but  before  he  reached  his  new 
nooga.  command  Thomas  had  begun  to  act  on  a  new  plan  which 

proved  in  the  end  to  be  a  brilliant  conception.1  This  was  to  seize  a 
low  range  of  hills  on  the  peninsula,  made  by  the  bend  of  the  river, 
opposite  Lookout  Mountain,  and  thus  to  establish  a  wagon  road  to  a 
point  farther  down  the  river  to  which  supplies  could  be  brought  by 
boat.  This  line  was  soon  secured,  and  henceforth  the  army  received 
all  the  supplies  it  needed.  But  not  only  supplies;  by  this  same 
route  came  General  Sherman  with  the  army  that  had  captured 
Vicksburg,  and  joined  the  army  under  Grant.  At  the  same  time 
Bragg  made  the  unpardonable  blunder  of  weakening  his  army  by 
sending  Longstreet  with  twenty  thousand  men  to  attack  Burnside, 
who  had  come  out  from  Cincinnati  with  twenty-five  thousand  men, 
and  who  was  then  at  Knoxville. 

Grant  now  had  some  eighty  thousand  men.  He  sent  Sherman 
with  the  left  wing  to  make  an  attack  on  Missionary  Ridge,  while 
Thomas  held  the  center  and  "  Fighting  Jo  Hooker,"  who  had  come 
from  the  east,  with  the  Union  right  approached  Lookout  Mountain. 
Sherman  encountered  unexpected  obstacles  in  the  nature  of  the 
ground,  and  his  success  was  not  what  he  had  expected;  Thomas 
pressed  forward  upon  Bragg's  center  and  captured  Orchard  Knob, 
between  Chattanooga  and  Missionary  Ridge,  and  this  became  Grant's 
headquarters  next  day ;  while  Hooker  did  the  most  famous  day's 
work  of  all. 

Hooker  had  been  sent  to  the  base  of  Lookout  Mountain  ;  and  he 
led  his  men  up  the  rugged  slopes,  attacked  the  enemy  on  the  summit, 
Battle  of  an(*  won  a  complete  victory.  During  the  action  the 

Lookout  mountain  was  enveloped  in  a  dense  mist  and  was  invisi- 

Mountain,  ble  from  the  valley  below.  It  has  been  called  "The 
November 24.  Battle  aboye  th(J  Clouds  »  The  rQar  of  the  battle  roll_ 

ing  from  the  invisible  summit  of  the  mountain  seemed  literally  to 
indicate  a  battle  in  the  sky.  Nobly  here  did  Hooker  retrieve  the 
prestige  he  had  lost  at  Chancellorsville. 

Next  day  witnessed  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge.  The  whole 
Union  army  centered  its  attention  upon  this  last  Confederate  strong- 

1  Thomas  was  indebted  for  this  plan  to  his  chief  engineer,  General  W.  F.  Smith, 
who  first  suggested  it. 


CHATTANOOGA  751 


hold.  Hooker  hastened  from  Lookout  Mountain  to  the  support  of 
Sherman,  and  for  some  hours  the  fighting  was  heavy,  but  the  Union 
troops  made  little  headway.  Then  Thomas's  corps  of  twenty-five 
thousand  moved  against  the  Confederate  center  on  the  ridge  over 
looking  Orchard  Knob.  The  task  of  carrying  the  place  seemed  an 
impossible  one.  Along  the  crest  of  the  ridge  stood  fifteen  thou 
sand  veteran  soldiers  with  fifty  cannon.  But  the  Union  troops  ran 
across  the  plain  and  up  the  slope  with  a  courage  equal  to  that  of 
Pickett's  men  at  Gettysburg — and  with  a  different  result.  In  the  face 
of  a  galling  fire  —  grape  and  canister  and  shell  —  they  rushed  on 
and  on,  without  orders,  it  is  said,  leaving  hundreds  of  their  number 
dead  and  dying  on  the  hillside.  But  they  reached  the  goal,  and  a 
few  minutes  later  the  Confederates  fled  in  wild  disorder,  and  the  guns 
they  had  left  behind  were  turned  against  them. 

Thus  ended  the  campaign  of  Chattanooga.  Bragg's  army  had 
been  wholly  defeated,  and,  after  being  pursued  for  some  days  by 
Hooker,  it  found  a  resting  place  at  Dalton  among  the  mountains  of 
Georgia.1  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  this  was  the  only  battle  in  which 
the  four  greatest  Union  generals  of  the  war  were  engaged,  —  Grant, 
Sherman,  Sheridan,  and  Thomas.2 

Grant  then  dispatched  Sherman  to  Knoxville  to  aid  Burnside. 
Longstreet,  hearing  of  his  approach,  attempted  to  carry  the  works 
by  storm  ;  but  after  a  desperate  effort  in  which  he  lost  eight  hundred 
men  in  half  an  hour,  he  gave  up  the  siege,  and,  unwilling  to  meet 
Sherman,  marched  his  army  eastward  into  Virginia. 

The  Chattanooga  campaign  secured  to  the  Union  the  entire 
Mississippi  Valley.  Of  the  four  chief  strongholds  of  the  South  — 
Richmond,  New  Orleans,  Vicksburg,  and  Chattanooga  —  three  were 
now  in  possession  of  the  Union  armies. 

GRANT  IN  THE   WILDERNESS 

During  the  winter  that  followed  the  defeat  of  Bragg  at  Chatta 
nooga,  the  country  was  comparatively  quiet.  The  armies  lay  in 
winter  quarters  ready  for  active  operations  in  the  spring.  That  the 
Confederacy  would  collapse  within  the  coming  year  was  the  general 
belief,  and  this  feeling  was  strengthened  by  the  further  belief  that 

1  Grant  lost  about  six  thousand  in  killed  and  wounded.    The  Confederate  loss 
was  over  seven  thousand,  more  than  half  of  whom  were  prisoners. 

2  Fiske,  p.  315. 


752  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

the  "  coming  man,"  the  "  great  general/'  had  at  last  been  discovered. 
The  hopes  of  the  country  were  first  centered  in  McClellan,  then  in 
Halleck ;  but  now  the  steady  gaze  of  the  great  public  turned  upon 
the  hero  of  Donelson  and  Vicksburg.  In  February,  1864,  Congress 
revived  the  grade  of  lieutenant  general,  hitherto  held  only  by 
George  Washington  and  Winfield  Scott.1  As  every  one  knew,  it 
was  meant  for  Grant ;  and  the  President  promptly  sent  his  name  to 
the  Senate,  and  it  was  confirmed.  Grant  came  east  to  receive  his 
new  commission,  and  early  in  March  he  was  made  commander  in 
chief  of  all  the  armies  of  the  United  States.  This  would  insure 
the  concerted  action  of  the  western  with  the  eastern  armies.  Hal 
leck  was  nominal  commander  in  chief  up  to  this  time ;  but  he 
was  weak  and  incompetent,  and  his  orders  often  prevented  the 
armies  from  winning  victories.  This  was  now  changed,  and  the 
armies  were  henceforth  to  move  at  the  dictation  of  one  master 
mind. 

Grant  was  now  by  far  the  most  popular  man  in  the  country,  not 
excepting  the  President.  Crowds  followed  him  about  the  streets  of 
Washington  wherever  he  went.  He  is  described  by  one 2  who  saw  him 
at  the  time  as  a  "  short,  round-shouldered  man  in  a  very  tarnished 
major-general's  uniform.  .  .  .  He  had  no  gait,  no  station,  no  man 
ner,  rough,  light-brown  whiskers,  a  blue  eye,  and  a  rather  scrubby 
look  withal  ...  a  rather  seedy  appearance  .  .  .  but  he  had  ...  a 
look  of  resolution,  as  if  he  could  not  be  trifled  with,  and  an  entire 
indifference  to  the  crowd  about  him." 

Grant  soon  decided  on  the  great  twofold  movement, — the  campaign 
against  Lee  in  Virginia,  led  by  himself,  with  Richmond  as  his  goal; 
and  a  simultaneous  campaign  against  Johnston,  who  had  succeeded 
Bragg,  led  by  Sherman,  with  Atlanta  as  his  goal.  Should  either  or 
both  of  these  be  successful,  the  downfall  of  the  Confederacy  was 
assured.  First  we  turn  our  attention  to  Virginia. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  now  almost  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou 
sand  strong, 3  was  divided  into  three  corps  under  Hancock,  Warren,  and 
Sedgwick,  with  Meade  in  immediate  command,  and  Grant  in  superior 
command.  Sheridan  was  at  the  head  of  the  cavalry.  Lee's  army,  in 

1  Scott,  however,  held  it  only  by  brevet.     The  still  higher  grade  of  "general" 
was  conferred  on  Grant  in  1866,  and  later  on  Sherman,  then  Sheridan.    These  three 
alone  have  held  this  highest  military  grade  in  the  United  States. 

2  Richard  H.  Dana.    See  Adams's  "  Dana,"  Vol.  II,  p.  271. 

8  This  included  a  division  of  thirty  thousand  under  Butler  on  the  James  River, 
and  Burnside's  command,  which  had  been  brought  from  Knoxville. 


GRANT   AND   LEE   IN   THE    WILDERNESS  753 

three  corps  under  Longstreet,  Ewell,  and  A.  P.  Hill,  with  Stewart 
as  cavalry  leader,  is  said  to  have  numbered  sixty  thousand.  These 
were  the  actual  bearers  of  arms ;  but  by  the  method  of  counting  em 
ployed  by  the  Union  side  (which  included  teamsters,  cooks,  musi 
cians,  etc.,  as  well  as  soldiers),  these  figures  must  be  increased  to 
about  seventy-five  thousand.  These  two  great  armies  now  entered 
upon  a  month's  campaign,  —  the  bloodiest  and  most  murderous  cam 
paign  of  the  war,  —  which  brought  no  apparent  advantage  to  either  side. 

On  the  4th  of  May,  1864,  Grant's  army  crossed  the  Rapidan, 
and  entered  that  dreary  region  of  tangled  underbrush  near  Chan- 
cellorsville  known  as  the  Wilderness.1  The  battle  of  the  Wilderness 
proper,  as  generally  understood,  continued  but  two  days,  the  oth 
and  6th  of  May.  Grant  had  no  thought  of  offering  battle  in  this 
jungle;  but  Lee  considered  this  his  opportunity,  and  moved  his  army 
upon  the  Federals.  Ewell  attacked  Wrarren's  corps  on  the  morning 
of  the  5th  and  pressed  it  back;  but  it  made  a  stand  and  joined 
the  Federal  left  wing  under  Hancock,  and  thus,  with  almost  the 
whole  of  both  armies  in  action  the  fight  continued  Battle  of  ^e 
till  night.  Next  morning  the  battle  was  renewed  at  an  wilderness, 
early  hour,  as  both  Grant  and  Lee  had  determined  to  take  May  5  and  6, 
the  offensive.  Hancock  attacked  Hill  with  great  fury.  1864- 
Hill  was  driven  back,  but  Longstreet,  who  had  not  been  present 
on  the  5th,  came  to  his  rescue,  and  the  Federals  in  turn  were 
driven  back.  At  this  point  General  Wadsworth  was  killed  and 
Longstreet  was  dangerously  wounded.2  All  along  the  line  the  bat 
tle  raged  during  the  day.  Saplings  by  thousands  were  cut  down, 
and  even  large  trees  were  felled  by  the  flying  missiles.  The  Federal 
loss  in  the  two  days'  battle  was  more  than  seventeen  thousand,  the 
Confederate  loss,  not  accurately  known,  was  much  less,  probably 
twelve  thousand. 

Four  days  after  the  close  of  this  fight  in  the  Wilderness  the  great 
battle  of  Spottsylvania  was  fought.  Grant  began  his  movement 
toward  Spottsylvania  Court  House,  between  the  enemy  and  Rich 
mond,  on  the  night  of  the  6th.  It  is  said  that  the  soldiers,  not 
knowing  whether  they  had  suffered  defeat  or  won  a  victory,  as  is  often 
true  of  the  rank  and  file,  feared  that  the  movement  was  to  be  a  retreat 

1  See  map  on  p.  695. 

2  Longstreet's  wound  is  said  to  have  been  received  from  his  own  men.    It  was 
similar  in  character  to  that  received  by  Stonewall  Jackson  near  the  same  spot  a  year 
and  three  days  before. 

3c 


754  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

back  across  the  Rapidan ;  but  when  they  found  that  they  were  march 
ing  toward  Richmond,  they  sent  up  cheer  after  cheer.  Under 
McClellan,  Pope,  Burnside,  and  Hooker,  respectively,  this  army  had 
made  an  attempt  on  Richmond;  but  in  each  case  it  had  retreated 
after  encountering  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  Lee  believed 
that  Grant  also  was  now  in  retreat,  but  he  was  soon  undeceived.  On 
learning  of  Grant's  destination  he  made  a  forced  march  and  reached 
Spottsylvania  before  him.  Every  day  there  was  heavy  skirmishing, 
and  on  the  9th  the  brave  General  Sedgwick,  one  of  the  ablest  of  the 
corps  commanders,  was  struck  in  the  face  by  a  sharpshooter's  bullet 
and  fell  dead.  Sheridan  on  the  8th  began  a  cavalry  raid  around  the 
Confederate  army,  and  in  a  terrific  fight  within  seven  miles  of  Rich 
mond  the  ablest  cavalry  leader  of  the  South,  General  J.  E.  B.  Stewart, 
was  killed. 

The  battle  of  Spottsylvania  was  fought  on  the  10th  and  the  12th  of 
May,  both  armies  resting  on  the  intervening  day  ;  and  it  was  on  this 
day  that  Grant  sent  his  famous  dispatch  to  Washington,  declaring 
his  purpose  to  "fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer.'' 
The  chief  feature  of  the  action  on  the  12th  was  the  attack  by  Han 
cock  on  a  weak  position  of  the  enemy  called  a  "  salient."  He  suc 
ceeded,  and  captured  four  thousand  men  after  great  slaughter  on  each 
side.  Five  desperate,  fruitless  efforts  the  Confederates  made  to  re 
take  the  position.  One  of  these  General  Lee  started  to  lead  in  per 
son,  but  his  men  refused  to  advance  till  he  went  back  beyond  the 
Spottsyl-  danger  line.  At  a  point  known  as  the  "  death  angle " 
vania,MaylO  the  hand-to-hand  fighting,  which  continued  till  mid- 
and  12.  night,  was  equal  to  any  ever  known  in  war.  Men  fought 

from  the  top  of  heaps  of  dead  men  till  their  own  bodies  were  added 
to  the  pile  and  others  came  to  take  their  places.  Not  a  tree  or  a 
sapling  was  left  alive  and  standing.  One  tree  nearly  two  feet  in 
diameter  was  literally  cut  in  two  by  musket  balls. 

The  battle  of  Spottsylvania  was  one  of  the  most  tremendous  of 
modern  times.  Had  it  continued  another  day,  it  would  have  sur 
passed  Gettysburg.  Neither  side  won.  The  losses,  about  the  same 
on  each  side,  footed  up  the  frightful  total  of  thirty-six  thousand  men.1 

For  a  week  now  the  two  armies  remained  inactive.     On  the  19th 

the  Confederates  under  Ewell  made  a  fierce  assault  on  the  Union 

right,  but  were  repulsed.     Lee  then  took  up  a  strong  position  on  the 

North  Anna  River ;  but  Grant  refrained  from  an  attack,  moved  toward 

i  "  Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  182;  Burgess,  Vol.  II,  p.  252. 


COLD    HAKBOR   AND   PETERSBURG  755 

Kichmond,  and  crossed  the  Pamunkey  but  twenty  miles  from  that 
city.  Lee  followed  and  there  was  heavy  fighting  nearly  every  day, 
but  no  general  engagement.  At  length  they  reached  the  old  battle 
ground  where  McClellan  had  fought  two  years  before.  Lee,  on  the 
first  days  of  June,  took  up  a  very  strong  position  at  Cold  Harbor. 
The  only  chance  to  attack  him  was  in  front.  Grant  determined  to 
make  an  assault.  His  troops  knew  that  it  would  be  jjattie  of  Cold 
hopeless,  that  it  would  mean  wholesale  murder,  and  Harbor, 
many  of  them  tacked  labels  to  their  clothes,  giving  June  3,  1864. 
their  names  and  addresses  that  their  friends  at  home  might  learn 
where  and  when  they  died.  The  result  was  as  expected :  the 
Union  men  were  mowed  down  in  thousands.  Not  even  at  Spottsyl- 
vania  or  at  Gettysburg  was  the  slaughter  more  terrible  than  here. 
The  main  assault  lasted  but  half  an  hour,  and  it  was  the  bloodiest 
half  hour  in  American  history.  About  twelve  thousand  Union  men 
lay  dead  or  writhing  on  the  ground.1  Ordering  this  charge  was  the 
greatest  military  error  in  the  life  of  General  Grant,  and  he  frankly 
acknowledges  in  his  "  Memoirs  "  that  he  never  ceased  to  regret  it. 

Grant  now  determined  on  a  change  of  base.  He  decided  to  cross 
the  Rappahannock  and  the  James  to  a  point  below  Petersburg,  and 
to  approach  Richmond  from  the  south.  It  was  exactly 
this  move  that  Halleck  had  prevented  McClellan  from 
making  two  years  before.  Grant  made  the  transfer 
with  consummate  skill,  but  he  suffered  great  losses  in  attempting  to 
carry  Petersburg  by  storm.  By  the  20th  of  June  his  army  was  joined 
by  that  of  Butler  on  the  James. 

The  Union  loss  in  this  campaign,  from  the  Wilderness  to  Cold 
Harbor,  reached  the  appalling  total  of  nearly  sixty  thousand  men. 
The  Confederate  loss  was  something  less  than  forty  thousand.2  Why 
this  wide  difference  in  numbers  ?  The  fact  that  Lee  knew  the 
ground  well  and  Grant  did  not,  may  account  for  it  in  part,  but  not  in 
full.  Indeed,  this  may  be  balanced  by  the  further  facts  that  Grant's 
generals,  if  not  himself,  were  familiar  with  the  country  and  that 
while  his  army  was  well  fed  the  Confederates  were  in  a  half-starved 


1  Livermore  gives  this  number  as  an  estimate  (p.  114) .    Swinton  says  that  Grant's 
loss  was  twenty  times  greater  than  Lee's  in  this  engagement.      "  Campaigns  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,"  p.  494. 

2  These  figures  represent  the  men  rendered  hors  de  combat,  many  of  whom  were 
captives  and  were  eventually  restored  to  their  homes.    Neither  army  had  decreased 
greatly,  as  both  were  reenforced  from  time  to  time. 


756  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

condition.1  If  we  can  rise  above  all  sectional  or  partisan  bias,  we 
must  agree  with  the  military  critics  that  Grant  was  no  match  for  Lee 
as  a  strategist.  Grant  himself  practically  admits  this  in  his  state 
ment  that  his  plan  was  to  keep  hammering  away  and  to  reduce  the 
enemy's  force  by  mere  attrition.  Grant,  however,  grasped  the  great 
purpose  of  the  campaign  —  to  destroy  the  Confederate  army  and 
bring  the  war  to  a  close.2  If  this  could  not  be  done  by  strategy,  by 
outwitting  the  enemy,  there  was  just  one  way  left  —  to  pound  him 
to  death  by  superior  numbers ;  and  this  Grant  proceeded  to  do. 
We  deplore  the  costly  mistake  at  Cold  Harbor ; 3  we  deplore  the 
making  desolate  of  so  many  thousand  homes ;  but  we  must  not  over 
look  the  main  object  of  the  war  —  to  save  the  country  even  at  the 
sacrifice  of  the  armies.  This  campaign,  however,  with  all  its  vast 
sacrifice  of  men,  had  thus  far  failed.  The  country  was  much  dis 
satisfied  with  Grant,  and  some  urged  that  McClellan  be  recalled ;  but 
there  is  no  evidence  that  Mr.  Lincoln  contemplated  doing  this. 
During  the  long  period  of  inaction  that  followed,  Grant's  dispatches 
did  not  bear  the  air  of  confidence  that  marked  them  before  he  entered 
the  Wilderness.  Soon  after  crossing  the  James  the  army  made  at 
tempts  to  carry  Petersburg  by  storm.  One  of  these  was  by  means 
of  a  mine  which  exploded  with  great  violence.  But  the  enemy  was 
on  the  alert,  and  every  attempt  to  carry  their  works  was  fruitless. 
Grant  then  settled  down  to  a  long  siege,  and  his  army  did  little  active 
field  work  till  the  following  spring. 

Closely  associated  with  this  campaign,  or  rather,  a  continuation 
of  it,  was  that  of  Sheridan  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  In  the  hope 
Early  °^  relieving  Richmond  and  Petersburg,  Lee  sent  <Jubal 

threatens  A.  Early  with  fifteen  thousand  veterans  to  threaten 
Washington.  Washington.  Early  drove  Sigel  out  of  Martinsburg, 
occupied  Hagerstown,  and  then  turned  toward  Washington.  On 
July  10  and  11  he  was  but  a  few  miles  from  the  city  and  in  sight 
of  the  Capitol  dome.  The  excitement  in  the  city  was  great.  The 
President  was  composed,  and  made  no  provision  for  his  personal 
safety ;  but  a  vessel  lay  waiting  in  the  river,  without  his  knowledge, 

1  Major  Eggleston  (Confederate)  relates  in  "  Battles  and  Leaders  "  (Vol.  IV,  p. 
231)  that  his  men  marched  fifty  hours  from  the  North  Anna  without  food,  when  they 
received  each  three  hard  biscuits  and  a  very  small  slice  of  fat  pork.    Two  days  later 
they  received  each  a  single  cracker  without  meat. 

2  Rhodes,  Vol.  IV,  p.  447. 

8  Though  it  was  scarcely  a  greater  mistake  than  that  of  Lee  in  sending  Pickett  to 
Cemetery  Ridge  at  Gettysburg. 


SHERIDAN   IN  THE   SHENANDOAH   V ALLEY  757 

to  take  him  away  in  case  the  enemy  should  capture  the  city.  Wash- 
ington  was  then  garrisoned  by  some  twenty  thousand  raw  troops,  and 
there  is  little  doubt  that  Early  could  have  defeated  them  and  cap 
tured  the  city  on  the  llth.  But  for  some  unknown  cause  he  hesitated, 
and  before  night  of  that  day  his  great  opportunity  was  gone  ;  for  in 
the  afternoon  two  corps  sent  by  Grant  had  arrived,  and  the  Capitol 
was  safe.  Early  then  turned  up  the  valley  and  sent  General 
McCausland  into  Pennsylvania.  McCausland  occupied  Chambers- 
burg,  July  30,  1864,  and  demanded  a  large  sum  of  money  on  pain  of 
burning  the  town.  The  money  was  not  forthcoming,  and  he  carried 
out  his  threat.  Grant  at  length  appointed  Sheridan  in  command  in 
the  Shenandoah  Valley.  That  the  Confederate  raids  along  the 
Shenandoah  be  prevented  in  future,  Sheridan  was  instructed  to 
lay  waste  the  valley  and  destroy  everything  that  would  support 
an  army.  Sheridan  had  shown  the  mettle  of  which  he  was  made  at 
Murfreesborough,  at  Chickamauga,  and  at  Missionary  Ridge  ;  and  no 
one  doubted  that  he  would  do  the  work  assigned  him.  With  nearly 
forty  thousand  men  he  entered  the  valley,  and  first  met  Early  at 
Opequan  Creek  near  Winchester,  and  a  sharp  battle  ensued.  Some 
weeks  then  passed  with  little  action,  when  Lee  recalled  some  of 
Early's  troops,  leaving  his  army  scarcely  half  the  size  of  Sheridan's, 
and  Sheridan  saw  his  chance.  The  two  armies  met  again  on  nearly 
the  same  spot,  and  a  terrific  battle  ensued.  Sheridan  won  a  clear 
victory,  driving  the  enemy  through  the  streets  of  Win-  Battle  Of 
Chester.1  Three  days  later  the  two  armies  met  again  at  Opequan.  or 
Fisher's  Hill,  and  Early  was  again  defeated,  with  a  loss  Winchester, 
of  twelve  hundred  men,  while  Sheridan  lost  but  five  SePtember19- 
hundred.  These  battles  saved  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  from 
further  invasion. 

Sheridan's  famous  raid  down  the  valley  began  on  October  5. 
He  destroyed  everything  that  an  enemy  might  use.  He  spared  the 
dwellings,  but  he  burned  two  thousand  well-filled  barns  and  seventy 
mills  filled  with  wheat  and  flour,  and  drove  before  him  four  thousand 
head  of  cattle.  Early  had  meantime  been  reenforced  and  was  follow 
ing  the  Federals,  who  had  encamped  at  Cedar  Creek.  The  troops 
were  not  expecting  an  attack  when,  in  the  misty  dawn  of  the  morning, 
the  enemy  crept  by  stealth  upon  the  sleeping  army.  The  Federals 
sprang  to  arms,  but  they  had  little  time  to  form  in  line,  and  in  a 

1  Sheridan's  loss  \vas  ahout  five  thousand,  exceeding  that  of  the  enemy  by  about 
one  thousand. 


758  HISTORY   OF   THE  UNITED    STATES 

short  time  they  were  defeated.  Sheridan  had  gone  to  Washington 
Battle  of  an(^  was  then  a^  Winchester,  some  miles  away.  Hear- 
Cedar  Creek,  ing  the  cannonade,  he  galloped  to  the  battle  field. 
October  19,  Meeting  his  men  in  flight,  he  stopped  them,  saying, 
"  Face  the  other  way,  boys ;  we  will  go  and  recover  our 
camps  ! "  1  With  marvelous  skill  Sheridan  went  about  re-forming 
his  lines  and  infusing  his  own  spirit  into  the  army.  From  the 
moment  of  Sheridan's  arrival  the  whole  current  of  the  movement 
was  changed.  The  men  threw  up  their  hats  and  leaped  and  danced 
for  joy.2  In  a  few  hours  Sheridan  had  the  troops  again  in  fighting 
trim,  and  in  the  afternoon  he  led  them  against  the  enemy.  Early 
was  not  only  defeated,  but  thoroughly  routed,  and  his  army  was 
practically  destroyed ;  and  thus  ended  the  war  in  the  Shenandoah 
Valley. 

THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN  —  MOBILE 

General  Grant,  on  assuming  command  in  the  east,  had  planned 
for  Sherman  a  campaign  against  Atlanta,  Georgia,  an  important 
railroad  center  and  base  of  military  supplies.  To  carry  out  this 
plan  Sherman  had  to  penetrate  the  heart  of  the  Confederacy  and 
cope  with  the  army  of  J.  E.  Johnston,  which  had  spent  the  winter  at 
Dalton.  Preliminary  to  this  great  move,  a  portion  of  Sherman's  army 
joined  with  that  of  Banks  and  with  the  fleet  of  Admiral  Porter  in  an 
expedition  up  the  Red  River.  Several  severe  battles  were  fought 
on  this  expedition,  but  in  the  end  it  played  only  a  small  part  in  the 
general  plan. 

The  direct  line  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta  is  only  a  hundred 
miles,  but  the  country  is  rugged,  and  Johnston  was  a  vigilant,  able 
commander  and  had  sixty-five  thousand  men  in  his  army.  Sherman's 
army  numbered  over  one  hundred  thousand,  and  was  in  three  parts 
under  Thomas,  J.  B.  McPherson,  and  John  M.  Schofield.3  Of  this 
force  Sherman,  as  he  progressed,  had  to  leave  many  to  guard  his  line 
of  supplies  to  Nashville.  Johnston,  on  the  other  hand,  could  keep 
his  entire  army  with  him  and  use  the  whole  when  needed  in  battle. 
Sherman  began  this  great  march  from  Chattanooga  on  the  day  after 
Grant  entered  the  Wilderness.  Johnston  came  out  of  Dalton  and 

1  Sheridan's  "  Memoirs,"  Vol.  IT,  p.  81. 

2  Davies's  "  Life  of  Sheridan,"  p.  185. 

3  It  was  the  three  armies  of  the  Cumberland,  the  Tennessee,  and  the  Ohio 
combined. 


SHERMAN   MOVES   TOWARD   ATLANTA 


759 


intrenched  his  army  at  Resaca.  Here  Sherman  stood  before  him 
on  the  13th  of  May.  For  two  days  there  was  heavy  fighting,  but 
Sherman  refrained  from  a  direct  attack.  His  maneuvers,  however, 
were  such  as  to  force  Johnston  to  abandon  his  position  and  retreat 
southward.  Sherman  followed,  and  the  two  armies,  both  moving 
toward  Dallas,  met  at  a  little  church  called  New  Hope,  where  a 
considerable  battle  was  fought, 
neither  army  gaining  great  ad 
vantage. 

By  the  end  of  May  each 
army  had  lost  about  ten  thou 
sand  men.  Sherman  was  near- 
ing  his  goal ;  but  he  found  in 
Johnston  a  master  strategist. 
There  was  now  heavy  skir 
mishing  and  artillery  firing 
nearly  every  day.  On  the  14th 
of  June  General  Polk  was  killed. 
While  standing  with  Generals 
Johnston  and  Hardee  on  the 
crest  of  Pine  Mountain,  viewing 
the  field  through  a  glass,  he 
was  struck  squarely  in  the 
breast  by  a  cannon  ball,  and 
his  body  was  torn  to  pieces. 
As  a  youth,  Polk  had  gradu 
ated  at  West  Point;  he  then 
studied  theology,  and  for  twenty 
years  before  the  war  he  was  Episcopal  bishop  of  Louisiana. 

The  last  week  of  June  found  Johnston  strongly  intrenched  on 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  and  here,  for  the  first  time  in  the  campaign, 
Sherman  decided  to  make  a  front  attack  on  his  works.  Kenesaw 
The  attempt  was  a  foolish  one  and  must  be  classed  with  Mountain. 
Pickett's  charge  at  Gettysburg  and  Grant's  at  Cold  June 27, 1864. 
Harbor.  And  the  result  was  the  same :  Sherman  lost  over  two 
thousand  men  and  won  nothing.  General  Daniel  McCook  was 
among  the  killed.  Sherman  made  no  more  such  blunders.  He 
again  resorted  to  his  flanking  tactics.  On  the  17th  of  July  he 
led  his  army  across  the  Chattahoochee  Eiver  within  a  few  miles 
of  Atlanta,  and  on  the  same  day  Jefferson  Davis  made  the  great 


Atlanta 

Borm*,  t  Co..  X.  T 


760  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED    STATES 

mistake  of  dismissing  Johnston  because  he  had  "  failed  to  check  the 
advance  of  the  enemy,"  and  placing  General  John  B.  Hood  in  com- 
Hood  mand.  The  change  was  a  happy  one  for  the  Union 

succeeds  army;    for   Hood,  though  a  bold  and  fearless  fighter, 

Johnston.  was  no  match  as  a  tactician  to  the  masterly  Johnston. 
Three  days  after  receiving  the  command  Hood  left  his  intrench- 
meiits  and  offered  battle  in  the  open  field  at  Peach  tree  Creek. 
He  was  driven  back  by  Hooker  with  heavy  loss.  On  the  22d  Hood 
again  made  an  attack,  and  on  this  day  the  battle  became  general 
all  along  the  lines.  Hood  was  thoroughly  defeated,  losing  probably 
eight  thousand  men,  while  Sherman  lost  less  than  half  that  number. 
But  the  Union  loss  was  very  great,  nevertheless,  for 
General  McPherson  was  killed.  He  was  riding  through 
a  wood  almost  alone  when  a  sharpshooter's  bullet 
pierced  his  brain  and  his  horse  galloped  back  riderless.  McPherson 
was  one  of  the  ablest  commanders  in  the  army.  He  was  the  only 
man  whom  Grant  on  going  east  placed  in  the  same  class  with  Sherman. 
Another  battle,  known  as  the  battle  of  Ezra  Church,  took  place 
on  the  28th  of  July,  and  Hood  was  again  defeated,  with  a  loss  six 
times  as  great  as  that  of  Sherman.  A  month  more  was  spent  in 
maneuvering,  in  raiding  with  cavalry,  and  in  tightening  the  coils 
about  Atlanta,  where  Hood  had  taken  refuge.  Finding  that  he  could 
hold  the  city  no  longer,  Hood  escaped  with  his  army  on  the  night  of 
September  1,  and  next  day  Sherman  entered  and  took  possession. 
The  campaign  had  been  four  months  in  duration,  and  the  Federal 
loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing  was  about  thirty-two  thousand. 
The  Confederate  loss  was  probably  thirty-five  thousand. 

While  Sherman  was  maneuvering  around  Atlanta,  Farragut  won 
his  famous  naval  victory  in  Mobile  Bay.  This  was  the  most  impor 
tant  harbor  on  the  gulf  coast,  and  next  to  Charleston,1  the  most  impor 
tant  on  the  entire  Confederate  coast.  Here  the  Confederate  blockade 
runners  found  a  retreat  when  nearly  all  other  ports  were  closed  to 
them.  The  closing  of  this  port  was  determined  on,  and  Admiral 
Farragut  was  intrusted  with  the  perilous  task.  For  months  he  was 
preparing  and  waiting  for  a  land  force  to  cooperate  with  him.  At 
length  the  land  force  arrived  under  General  Gordon  Granger,  and  was 

1  The  summer  before  had  witnessed  a  determined  but  unsuccessful  effort  to  cap 
ture  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  guarded  by  General  Beauregard.  General  Gilmore 
and  Admiral  Dahlgren  led  the  expedition.  They  captured  Fort  "Wagner  on  Morris 
Island,  after  a  long  and  terrific  siege,  and  reduced  Fort  Sumter  to  ruins,  but  they 
failed  to  capture  Charleston. 


FARRAGUT   AT   MOBILE  761 

landed  on  Dauphin  Island  in  the  mouth  of  Mobile  Bay.  The  naval 
battle  took  place  on  August  5.  Two  forts,  Gaines  and  Morgan, 
guarded  the  main  entrance  of  the  bay,  while  within  the  bay  lay  a 
line  of  sunken  torpedoes  and  beyond  these  a  Confederate 
fleet  of  gunboats  and  the  powerful  ram  Tennessee,  com-  ?^  t  1864 
manded  by  Admiral  Buchanan.  Farragut  had  a  fleet  of 
four  ironclads  and  some  other  vessels.  That  he  might  not  fall  to  the 
deck,  if  shot,  Farragut  had  himself  tied  to  the  mast  of  his  flagship,  the 
Hartford,  and  the  fleet  steamed  into  the  harbor  amid  a  storm  of  shot 
and  shell  from  the  two  forts  and  the  opposing  fleet.  One  of  the 
Union  vessels,  the  Tecumseh,  was  wrecked  by  a  torpedo,  and  sank 
with  one  hundred  and  thirteen  men  on  board.1  The  forts  were 
soon  silenced,  and  the  battle  with  the  Confederate  fleet  was  short 
and  furious.  Two  of  the  Confederate  gunboats  were  soon  destroyed, 
a  third  fled  into  shallow  water  and  escaped.  The  Tennessee  made  a 
brave  fight  against  the  whole  Union  fleet,  but  at  last  a  fifteen-inch 
solid  shot  pierced  her  armor,  and  she  surrendered.  The  two  forts 
soon  afterward  surrendered  to  Granger ;  and  thus  ended  the  career 
of  the  blockade  runners  in  Mobile  Bay.  The  city  of  Mobile  at  the 
head  of  the  bay,  however,  with  its  guarding  forts,  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  Confederates  for  many  months  longer.  It  was  sur 
rendered  to  a  Union  army  of  forty  thousand  men  under  General 
Can  by  in  April,  1865. 


THE   PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION 

Politics,  like  the  poor,  is  always  with  us.  In  the  midst  of  the 
great  war  came  a  presidential  election.  The  risk  of  changing  the 
'whole  policy  of  the  government  at  such  a  time,  when  ultimate 
military  victory  seemed  in  sight,  was  not  relished  by  the  friends  of 
the  Union  and  the  enemies  of  slavery.  But  the  civic  campaign  had  its 
compensations ;  it  was  some  relief  for  the  great  public  for  a  season 
to  take  its  eyes  from  the  dreadful  scenes  of  carnage,  and  to  witness 
the  familiar  scene  of  the  battle  of  the  ballots.  In  view  of  the 

1  A  remarkable  incident  occurred  at  the  sinking  of  the  Tecumseh.  There  was  a 
narrow  ladder,  the  only  possible  means  of  escape.  When  the  vessel  was  about  to 
sink,  Captain  Craven,  her  commander,  a.nd  his  pilot  met  at  the  foot  of  this  ladder. 
The  pilot  stepped  aside  that  the  captain  might  go  up  first;  but  the  captain  said, 
"  After  you,  pilot,"  and  stepped  back.  The  pilot  then  ran  up  the  ladder  to  the  deck, 
and  was  saved.  But  he  was  the  last;  the  ship  sank,  and  the  chivalrous  Captain 
Craven  went  down  with  his  crew  and  was  lost. 


762  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

world's  present  estimate  of  Abraham  Lincoln  it  seems  strange  that 
within  his  own  party  there  was  a  powerful  opposition  to  his  renomi- 
nation  to  the  presidency  in  1864.  But  such  was  the  case.  Among 
Lincoln's  opposers  were  such  leaders  as  Horace  Greeley,  William 
Cullen  Bryant,  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Thaddeus  Stevens,  and  no 
doubt  a  majority  of  the  senators  and  representatives  in  Congress. 
The  choice  of  the  opposing  faction  was  Mr.  Chase,  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury.  Chase  was  an  all-round  leader  and  had  proved  himself 
a  great  financier.  In  January,  1864,  a  committee  of  pf eminent 
Republicans  issued  a  circular,  known  as  the  "  Pomeroy  Circular," 
named  from  the  chairman,  Senator  Pomeroy  of  Kansas,  attempting 
to  show  that  it  were  better  for  the  country  if  Chase  instead  of  Lin 
coln  be  chosen  President.  The  ground  of  objection  to  Lincoln  was 
that  he  was  too  slow  and  too  conservative  in  dealing  with  the  rebel 
lion  and  with  the  slavery  question,  nor  was  his  plan  of  reconstruction, 
to  be  noticed  later,  pleasing  to  the  leaders  in  Congress.  No  doubt 
the  President  was  disturbed  by  this  movement,  but  his  outward 
calm  was  unbroken.  With  admirable  magnanimity  he  said  concern 
ing  the  Chase  movement :  "  I  have  determined  to  shut  my  eyes,  so 
far  as  possible,  to  everything  of  the  sort.  ...  If  he  (Chase)  be 
comes  President,  all  right.  I  hope  we  may  never  have  a  worse 
man." 1  Lincoln's  strength  lay  with  the  masses  of  the  people,  who 
had  learned  to  trust  him  and  to  recognize  his  great  ability  in 
managing  the  war.  Chase  was  anxious  for  the  nomination,  and, 
with  well-feigned  reluctance  and  with  the  usual  coyness,  gave  his  name 
to  the  movement.  When,  however,  the  Republicans  of  the  legislature 
of  his  own  state,  Ohio,  held  a  caucus  and  declared  for  Lincoln,  Chase 
thought  it  wise  to  withdraw  from  the  canvass,  and  did  so.  Other 
states  followed  the  example  of  Ohio,  and  long  before  the  convention 
it  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that  Lincoln  would  be  renominated. 

But  there  was  in  the  Republican  party  an  extremely  radical 
faction  that  refused  to  abandon  its  hostility  to  Lincoln,  and  when 
his  nomination  was  seen  to  be  assured,  this  faction  called  a  conven 
tion  to  meet  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  to  name  its  own  candidate.  It 
nominated  John  C.  Fremont,  who  a  few  days  later  came  out  with  his 
letter  of  acceptance,  in  which  he  denounced  the  administration, 
and  hinted  that  he  would  retire  from  the  contest  if  the  coming  Re 
publican  convention  would  select  any  candidate  other  than  Lincoln. 

The  Republican  convention  met  in  Baltimore  on  the  7th  of 
i  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  316. 


COMMOTION   OF   THE   REPUBLICANS  763 

June,  and  the  name  "  Union  "  was  substituted  for  "  Republican  "  to 
accommodate  the  war  Democrats  that  were  acting  with 
the  party.  The  platform  pronounced  in  favor  of  putting 
down  the  rebellion  without  compromise,  and  of  an  amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution  abolishing  slavery  forever  in  the  United 
States.  It  also  approved  the  administration  of  Lincoln  in  vigorous 
terms,  and  pledged  the  national  faith  for  the  payment  of  the  public 
debt.  Lincoln  was  nominated  on  the  first  ballot  amid  great  en 
thusiasm.  He  received  the  votes  of  all  the  delegates  except  those 
from  Missouri,  who  voted  for  General  Grant. 

The  choosing  of  a  candidate  for  the  vice  presidency  brought  a 
contest.  It  was  generally  conceded  that  a  war  Democrat  should  be 
selected,  and  Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennessee  was  chosen,  for  two 
reasons  :  First,  the  choice  would  "  nationalize  "  the  Republican  party, 
which  had  hitherto  been  considered  sectional,  and  second,  it  would 
have  a  salutary  effect  on  the  nations  of  Europe.  By  thus  choosing 
the  second'highest  official  in  the  land  from  the  heart  of  the  Confed 
eracy,  an  impression  would  be  made  on  foreigners  that  the  country 
was  simply  dealing  with  a  rebellion  and  was  not  in  reality  divided. 
The  choice  of  Johnson  as  his  running  mate  was  favored  by  Lincoln,  as 
was  disclosed  many  years  later.1  He  made  his  wishes  known  to  a  few 
friends,  who  had  much  influence  in  shaping  the  action  of  the  convention. 

The  weeks  that  followed  the  Republican  convention  were  marked 
by  great  discontent  throughout  the  country.  The  people  were  weary 
of  the  long  war,  which  seemed  less  hopeful  now  than  the  year  before 
after  the  victories  at  Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg.  Two  attempts  at 
reconciliation  had  been  made,  without  success.  President  Davis, 
approached  on  the  subject,  declared  that  he  would  listen  to  no  over 
tures  for  peace  except  on  the  ground  of  southern  independence. 
Lincoln  had  said  with  equal  decision  that  the  war  could  end  only  on 
the  ground  of  a  restored  Union  and  the  abolition  of  slavery.  The 
gloom  of  the  northern  people  was  great.  The  public  mind  dwelt 
011  the  failure  of  Grant's  campaign  before  Richmond,  the  awful 
slaughter  at  Spottsylvania  and  Cold  Harbor,  the  defeat  at  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  the  death  of  the  noble  McPherson,  and  the  threatening  of 
Washington  by  the  army  of  Early. 

There  was,  furthermore,  great  dissatisfaction  with  Lincoln. 
Nearly  all  the  leaders  of  the  party  .believed  that  the  convention  had 

1  See  McClure's  "Lincoln  and  Men  of  War  Times,"  Appendix.  Vice  President 
Hainlin  received  150  votes  on  the  first  ballot. 


764  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

made  a  serious  mistake  in  renominating  him,  and  there  was  a  loud 
cry  for  a  new  convention  arid  a  new  ticket.  "  Mr.  Lincoln  is  already 
beaten.  .  .  .  He  cannot  be  elected,"  wrote  Greeley.  Thurlow  Weed 
wrote  Seward  that  the  election  of  Lincoln  was  impossible.  The 
chairman  of  the  Republican  national  committee,  Henry  J.  Raymond, 
informed  the  President  that  there  was  but  one  voice  from  all  sides, 
"the  tide  is  setting  strongly  against  us."  Lincoln  fully  believed 
that  he  would  be  defeated,  and  his  unselfish  soul  was  shown  by  a 
private  memorandum  stating  that  it  would  be  his  "  duty  to  so  co 
operate  with  the  President  elect  to  save  the  Union  between  the  elec 
tion  and  the  inauguration."  1 

All  this  convulsion  took  place  in  Republican  ranks  before  the 
meeting  of  the  Democratic  convention.  This  convention  met  in 
Chicago^  on  August  29.  Governor  Seymour  of  New  York 
S°McC?eUan  was  ^s  Pei>manent  chairman,  and  Vallandigham  one  of 
its  leading  spirits  and  the  writer  of  its  platform.  The 
platform  in  substance  pronounced  the  war  a  failure  and"  demanded 
that  immediate  efforts  be  made  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  that  a 
convention  of  all  the  states  be  held,  to  the  end  that  peace  be  restored 
on  the  basis  of  a  restoration  of  the  Union.  On  the  first  ballot 
General  McClellan  was  nominated  for  President,  and  George  H. 
Pendleton  of  Ohio  was  nominated  for  Vice  President. 

The  Democratic  platform  was  very  weak  in  its  two  main  points : 
its  pronouncing  the  war  a  failure,2  and  its  call  for  a  conference  with 
the  Southern  states  to  treat  for  peace  on  the  basis  of  a  restored  Union. 
The  first  did  not  take  account  of  the  sentiment  of  the  vast  number 
of  northern  families  from  which  a  father,  a  husband,  or  a  brother 
was  serving  in  the  ranks  or  had  filled  a  soldier's  grave.  How  could 
these  admit  that  the  war  had  been  a  failure  and  that  their  loved 
ones  had  fought  and  died  in  vain  ?  The  second  did  not  take  ac 
count  of  the  fact  that  the  South  was  still  defiant  and  hostile,  that 
it  had  recently  declared  through  its  President  that  it  would  treat  for 
peace  on  no  ground  except  that  of  separation.  And  yet,  on  these 
two  points  the  Democrats  had  laid  down  the  gauge  of  battle,  and  on 
these  the  people  must  decide  the  election. 

Scarcely  had  the  Chicago  convention  completed  its  work  when  a 
reaction  set  in  in  favor  of  Lincoln.  Fremont  withdrew  from  the  con- 

1  See  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Vol.  IX,  p.  251. 

2  This  item  of  the  platform  McClellan  practically  set  aside  in  his  letter  of  accept 
ance;  but  the  letter  had  little  effect  on  the  campaign. 


SHERMAN   STARTS   FOR   THE    SEA  765 

test  in  his  favor,  and  the  leaders  were  inspired  to  renewed  efforts.  The 
pithy  phrase  of  Lincoln  that  it  was  "  not  best  to  swap  horses  when 
crossing  a  stream  "  touched  a  popular  chord.  But  this  was  not  all. 
The  news  from  the  front  was  suddenly  changed  in  complexion. 
First  came  the  report  of  Farragut's  great  victory  in  Mobile  Bay ; 
this  was  followed  early  in  September  by  the  news  of  Sherman's 
capture  of  Atlanta,  and  a  few  weeks  later  came  the  thrilling  account 
of  Sheridan's  terrible  devastation  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  which 
insured  henceforth  the  safety  of  the  capital.  "  Is  the  war  a  failure  ?  " 
tauntingly  asked  the  Republicans  ;  and  the  Democrats  could  make 
no  satisfactory  answer.  The  autumn  state  elections  added  another  to 
the  unerring  signs  that  pointed  to  a  victory  for  Lincoln.  The  elec 
tion  was  held  on  November  8,  and  Lincoln  electors  were  chosen  in 
all  the  states  except  three,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  Kentucky, 
he  receiving  212  electoral  votes  to  21  for  McClellan.  The  meaning 
of  this  voice  of  the  people  was  twofold,  —  that  the  Union  must  be 
restored  at  all  hazards,  and  that  slavery  in  the  United  States  must  be 
no  longer. 

THE  FINAL  WORK  OF  THE  ARMIES 

We  left  Sherman  at  Atlanta,  where  he  remained  for  six  weeks, 
sending  the  residents  out  of  the  city  and  making  it  a  purely  military 
center.  Hood  hovered  around  with  his  army  for  some  weeks,  fight 
ing  several  small  engagements,  and  then  determined  to  move  north 
ward  into  Tennessee.  By  this  move  he  expected  to  draw  Sherman 
after  him  and  thus  to  force  him  to  abandon  all  he  had  gained  in  the 
campaign  against  Atlanta ;  or,  in  case  Sherman  did  not  follow,  Hood 
felt  that  he  would  defeat  any  force  that  he  might  encounter,  after 
which  he  would  march  into  Kentucky  and  then  deflect  eastward  and 
join  Lee  against  Grant  in  Virginia.1  But  Sherman,  after  pursuing 
Hood  as  far  as  Gaylesville,  Alabama,  left  Thomas  with  an  army  to 
take  care  of  him,  and  returned  and  prepared  for  his  great  march  from 
Atlanta  to  the  sea. 

Receiving  permission  from  General  Grant  to  do  as  he  thought 
best,  Sherman,  after  destroying  the  machine  shops  and  other  public 
property  in  Atlanta,  set  out,  November  15,  on  his  historic  march. 
The  army  was  sixty-two  thousand  strong,  with  General  0.  0.  Howard 
in  command  of  the  right  wing  and  General  Henry  W.  Slocum  of  the 
left,  while  Judson  Kilpatrick  was  at  the  head  of  the  cavalry.  There 

i  See  "  Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  426. 


766 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


were  sixty-five  heavy  guns,  six  hundred  ambulances,  and  twenty-five 
hundred  wagons,  each  drawn  by  six  mules.  The  army  was  instructed 
to  inarch  by  four  roads  as  nearly  parallel  as  could  be  found,  to  begin 
marching  at  seven  o'clock  each  morning,  and  to  cover  fifteen  miles  each 
day.  The  soldiers  were  permitted  to  forage  freely,  but  not  to  enter 
private  houses.  All  railroads  and  public  property  that  might 


aid  the  Confederate  armies  were  to  be  destroyed.  The  distance  to 
Sherman's  ^he  sea  was  a^out  three  hundred  miles ;  the  swath  cut 
march  to  the  by  the  army  was  from  forty  to  sixty  miles  wide.  But 
sea,  1 864.  little  opposition  was  encountered  in  the  march,  and  it  was 
play  compared  with  the  campaign  of  the  past  summer  against  Atlanta. 
By  the  middle  of  December  the  army  came  in  sight  of  the  sea,  re 
duced  Fort  McAllister,  opened  communication  with  Admiral  Dahl- 
gren's  fleet,  and  made  ready  to  besiege  Savannah.  General  Hardee, 
who  held  the  city,  evacuated  it  by  night,  and  Sherman  entered  it  on 
the  21st  of  December.  He  then  sent  President  Lincoln  the  well- 
known  dispatch,  "I  beg  to  present  to  you,  as  a  Christmas  gift,  the 
city  of  Savannah,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  heavy  guns  and  plenty 


THOMAS   AT   NASHVILLE  767 

of  ammunition,  and  also  about  twenty-five  thousand  bales  of  cotton." 
Thus  after  nearly  four  years  in  the  possession  of  the  Confederates, 
this  old  historic  city  of  the  Revolution,  where  Pulaski  had  fallen, 
came  again  into  the  hands  of  the  Federal  government. 

General  Thomas,  as  we  have  noticed,  had  been  sent  to  Tennessee 
to  deal  with  Hood.  Sherman  left  Thomas  but  twenty-seven  thousand 
men,  retaining  to  himself  more  than  twice  that  number  for  the  easier 
task  of  marching  to  the  sea.  Hood's  force  consisted  of  forty  thousand 
infantry  and  ten  thousand  cavalry  under  Forrest.  Had  Thomas  been 
beaten  by  Hood  the  blame  would  have  fallen  on  Sherman,  and  the 
country  would  have  severely  condemned  him  for  leaving  Thomas 
with  an  insufficient  force.  Thus  the  status  of  Sherman's  name  in 
history  rested  with  Thomas.  With  many  a  commander  the  risk 
would  have  been  greater,  but  Thomas  was  the  Rock  of  Chickamauga. 
He  occupied  Nashville,  where  he  was  joined  the  last  of  November 
by  General  A.  J.  Smith  with  fourteen  thousand  men  from  Missouri, 
and  by  some  nine  thousand  stragglers  and  colored  troops,  raising 
his  army  to  over  fifty  thousand  men.  But  this  did  not  excuse 
Sherman,  for  if  Hood  had  not  been  delayed  three  weeks  in  Ala 
bama,  waiting  for  supplies,  he  would  have  struck  the  Union  army 
before  it  had  been  reenforced.  Hood  was  now  moving  rapidly  toward 
Nashville,  where  Thomas  held  the  main  army.  Scho- 
field,  however,  had  been  sent  with  two  corps  to  retard 
the  enemy,  and  he  retreated  before  him  to  Franklin,  Ten 
nessee,  where  he  took  a  strong  position  and  stood  for  battle.  Here 
Hood  made  an  attack  on  the  afternoon  of  November  30.  With  the 
valor  of  desperation  the  Confederates  assaulted  again  and  again, 
continuing  till  midnight.  They  lost  several  generals  and  six  thou 
sand  men ;  but  they  failed  to  dislodge  Schofield's  army  or  to  inflict 
upon  it  half  the  loss  they  had  themselves  sustained.  Soon  after  mid 
night  the  Union  army  continued  its  march  and  by  noon  of  the  next  day 
it  had  joined  the  main  army  at  Nashville.  Hood  was  soon  in  front 
of  Nashville  with  his  challenge  to  battle.  Thomas  waited,  and  two 
weer:s  passed.  Lincoln  and  Grant  became  very  impatient  lest  Hood 
escape,  and  they  threatened  to  remove  Thomas  if  he  did  not  strike. 
Strange  that  they  did  not  know  the  man  better.  Thomas  replied 
that  he  could  not  get  ready  sooner,  and,  if  relieved,  he  would  "  submit 
without  a  murmur."  On  December  9  he  was  ready ;  but  then  carne 
a  freezing  rain  and  he  decided  to  wait  for  a  thaw.  Grant  now  lost 
patience  and  determined  to  go  to  Nashville  in  person.  Arriving  at 


768  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

Washington,  he  received  a  dispatch  from  Thomas  stating  that  he 
would  attack  the  next  day. 

Thomas's  tactics  at  Nashville  were  perfect.  The  city,  situated 
within  a  great  double  curve  of  the  Cumberland  River,  is  inclosed  on 
the  south  by  a  chain  of  low  hills.  On  these  Thomas  held  his  army 
facing  the  enemy.  His  plan  was  to  threaten  and  hold  the  enemy's 
right,  and  swing  his  own  right,  as  on  a  pivot,  and  overwhelm  the  ene 
my's  entire  left  wing.  The  plan  was  eminently  successful.  Hood  was 
Battle  of  pressed  back  with  heavy  losses.  The  next  day  the  bat- 
Nashville,  tie  was  renewed,  and  before  nightfall  the  Confederate 
December  15  army  was  utterly  demoralized,  routed,  and  in  full  flight. 
Hood  escaped  across  the  Tennessee  with  scarcely  half 
his  force.  He  could  not  rally  ;  his  army  was  practically  destroyed. 
The  defeat  was  the  most  decisive  one  suffered  by  any  army  in  a 
general  engagement  in  the  whole  war.  And  it  is  said  that  the  plan 
of  Thomas  is  the  only  one  of  the  Civil  War  that  is  now  studied  as  a 
model  in  the  military  schools  of  Europe.1  The  power  of  the  Con 
federacy  was  now  destroyed  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 

The  opening  of  the  year  1865  found  General  Grant  in  the 
trenches  before  Petersburg  and  Sherman  at  Savannah.  The  next 
Sherman  plan  was  that  Sherman  should  move  northward  through 

leaves  the  Carolinas  to  the  aid  of  Grant  in  crushing  Lee  and 

Savannah.  ending  the  rebellion.  He  had  already  marched  four 
hundred  miles  from  Chattanooga,  and  a  greater  distance  yet  lay 
before  him.  Since  leaving  Atlanta  his  army  had  diminished  but 
little,  and  it  was  fully  sixty  thousand  strong  when  he  left  Savannah 
on  the  1st  of  February. 

Before  this  march  began,  however,  and  preliminary  to  it,  the 
capture  of  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  was  decided  on.  This  was 
the  last  opening  the  Confederacy  had  to  the  outside  world,  and  it 
was  guarded  by  Fort  Fisher.  About  the  middle  of  December,  1864, 
Admiral  Porter  approached  this  fort  with  a  strong  fleet,  and  soon 
Capture  of  reduced  it  to  ruins  ;  but  the  garrison  was  overpowered 
Fort  Fisher,  only  after  a  desperate  assault  by  a  land  force  under 
January  15,  General  Terry,  whom  Grant  had  sent  to  the  aid  of 

1  8fi*»  •  . 

Porter.  This  closed  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  River, 
shut  the  Southern  states  out  from  the  world,  and  thus  completed  the 
blockade  proclaimed  by  Lincoln  in  April,  1861. 

1  McClure's  "  Lincoln  and  Men  of  War  Times." 


INVESTMENT  OF   RICHMOND  769 

Sherman's  march  from  Savannah  was  far  more  difficult  than  his 
more  famous  march  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea ;  for  now  he  had  to  cross 
the  rivers  instead  of  following  their  courses  (and  most  of  the  bridges 
were  destroyed),  and  he  found  more  opposition  from  the  enemy. 
There  were  also  vast  swamps  and  marshes  to  be  crossed.  The  right 
wing  of  the  army  was  still  commanded  by  Howard  and  the  left  by 
Slocum.  At  Orangeburg  a  slight  battle  was  fought,  and  another 
before  Columbia,  the  enemy  being  led  by  General  Wade  Hampton. 
Columbia  surrendered  on  February  17,  Hampton  escaping  after 
setting  fire  to  five  hundred  bales  of  cotton.  The  fire  soon  spread, 
and  a  large  part  of  the  town  was  consumed.1  Charles 
ton  was  also  abandoned  by  the  Confederates,  who,  on 
leaving,  set  fire  to  the  great  stores  of  cotton.  The 
flames  spread  until  the  greater  part  of  the  city  was  laid  in  ashes. 
Sherman  moved  on,  without  touching  Charleston,  toward  Goldsboro. 
The  opposing  forces  were  again  in  command  of  Johnston,2  who  was 
defeated  in  a  sharp  battle  at  Bentonville.  On  the  23d  of  March 
Sherman  occupied  Goldsboro,  where  he  was  joined  by  Schofield,  who 
had  been  sent  with  a  force  from  Thomas's  army  at  Nashville,  and 
Terry,  who  had  captured  Fort  Fisher.  Sherman  was  then  in  a  position 
to  cooperate  with  Grant.  Meanwhile  Stoneman  was  sent  with  his 
cavalry  to  destroy  the  railroad  from  Virginia  to  Tennessee,  and  thus 
cut  off  from  Lee  an  important  source  of  supplies. 

Another  attempt  had  been  made  to  bring  about  peace.  A.  H. 
Stephens  and  others  met  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Secretary  Seward  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  February  3,  in  a  long  conference.  But  as  Lincoln  refused 
all  overtures  except  on  the  basis  of  a  restored  Union  and  the  abo 
lition  of  slavery,  the  conference  came  to  nothing.  He  declined 
absolutely  to  treat  with  the  Confederacy  as  a  government,  and  the 
Southerners  went  back  and  did  everything  in  their  power  to  "  fire 
the  southern  heart."  3 


1  Mr.  J.  F.  Rhodes  in  an  article  in  the  American  Historical  Eeview,  Vol.  VII, 
p.  485  sq.,  gives  as  his  opinion  that  Columbia  did  not  take  fire  from  the  burning  cot 
ton,  but  was  set  on  fire  by  drunken  soldiers,  negroes,  and  escaped  prisoners. 

2  Lee  had  been  made  commander  in  chief  by  act  of  the  Confederate  Congress 
(January  19) ,  and  it  was  he  that  reappointed  Johnston,  against  the  wishes  of  Presi 
dent  Davis,  who  greatly  disliked  Johnston. 

3  Mr.  Stephens,  in  trying  to  induce  Lincoln  to  treat  with  the  Confederacy,  cited 
the  case  of  Charles  I  of  England   treating  with  his  rebellious   subjects.      Lincoln 
answered:  "  I  am  not  strong  on  history.    I  depend  mainly  on  Secretary  Seward  for 
that.    All  I  remember  about  Charles  is  that  he  lost  his  head." 


770  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

The  days  of  the  Confederacy  were  almost  run.  Atropos  was 
ready  to  cut  the  thread.  The  coils  of  the  Union  army  were  tighten 
ing  around  Petersburg  and  Richmond.  Lee  had  been  empowered  to 
treat  for  peace,  and  on  March  3  he  made  overtures  to  Grant.  But 
Grant,  after  receiving  instructions  from  Washington,  answered  that 
this  power  belonged  to  the  President  alone.  Lee  then  informed 
Fort  Sted-  Davis  that  Richmond  could  hold  out  but  a  little  time, 
man,  and  it  was  decided  that  Lee  should  lead  his  army 

March  25.  toward  Danville  and  make  a  junction  with  Johnston. 
But  first  Lee  decided  to  make  an  assault  on  Grant's  lines.  He  sent 
General  J.  B.  Gordon  to  attack  Fort  Stedman,  and  the  attack  was 
made  with  great  vigor.  But  Grant  had  expected  just  such  an  attack, 
and  had  prepared  for  it.  His  artillery  opened  on  Gordon's  men, 
and  half  of  them  were  cut  down,  many  were  made  prisoners,  and  the 
rest  fled  in  disorder. 

Grant's  object  was  to  prevent  the  escape  of  Lee  southward. 
He  sent  Sheridan  with  his  cavalry  to  Five  Forks,  a  few  miles 
from  Petersburg,  to  try  to  gain  the  Confederate  rear. 
Here  Sheridan  met  a  strong  force,  which  was  soon 
increased  by  Pickett  with  seven  thousand  men,  and 
Sheridan  was  pressed  back  to  Dinwiddie  Court  House.  But  Grant 
sent  Warren  to  his  aid,  and  a  desperate  battle  followed,  resulting  in  the 
utter  rout  of  the  Confederates,  five  thousand  of  whom  were  captured. 
Never  did  Sheridan  display  his  powers  better  than  at  Five  Forks. 

It  is  sad  to  relate  that  the  war  continued  another  day  after  Five 
Forks.  Why  should  another  life  have  been  sacrificed  when  the  out 
come  was  so  easy  to  foresee  ?  It  is  no  credit  to  Lee 1  and  Davis  that 
they  again  pitted  this  faithful,  obedient  army  against  an  antagonist 
now  three  times  its  size.  Grant  had  ordered  a  general  assault  at 
Petersburg  all  along  the  line,  to  begin  at  daybreak  on  Sunday, 
April  2.  The  Confederates  met  it  as  only  brave  men  could.  Hun 
dreds  were  slain  on  each  side.  Long  before  night  the  battle  was 
over  and  Grant  had  taken  twelve  thousand  prisoners. 

On  that  Sunday  morning,  as  Jefferson  Davis  sat  in  his  pew  at 
church,  an  officer  walked  up  the  aisle  and  handed  him  a  telegram 
from  Lee.  Davis  opened  it  and  read,  "  Richmond  must  be  evacuated 
this  evening."  Concealing  his  feelings,  he  rose  and  left  the  church. 

1  And  yet  the  calm  letter  that  Lee  wrote  Davis  on  April  2,  discussing  the  methods 
of  recruiting  the  army,  etc.,  would  indicate  that  he  had  no  thought  that  the  end  was 
near.  See  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Vol.  X,  p.  183. 


END   OF  THE   WAR  771 


Calling  his  Cabinet  together,  he  hastened  to  pack  the  archives  of 
the  government  and  to  board  a  train  for  the  southward.  The  fatal 
news  spread  through  the  city  and  the  scene  during  that  after 
noon,  the  coming  night,  and  the  next  day  was  such  as 
no  pen  can  describe.  All  social  order  was  destroyed  to  jl-  I 
its  foundations.  Many  left  the  city,  but  the  great 
majority  could  not  do  so.  The  nine  ships  building  in  the  river  were 
set  on  fire,  and  so  were  the  bridges  and  the  great  tobacco  and  cotton 
warehouses.  The  arsenal  was  also  fired,  and  the  thousands  of  burst 
ing  shells  sounded  like  an  artillery  battle.  Barrels  of  liquor  were 
emptied  into  the  streets,  and  hundreds  of  the  rabble  became  intoxi 
cated  ;  and  these,  joined  by  the  convicts  from  the  penitentiary,  ran  howl 
ing  like  demons  through  the  streets.  The  fire  spread  to  the  city,  and 
seven  hundred  buildings  were  soon  in  flames,  and  the  crash  of  falling 
walls  was  added  to  the  general  pandemonium.  The  people  rushed  from 
their  homes  to  the  streets  and  to  Capitol  Square  with  the  few  effects 
they  could  carry.  Such  was  the  condition  of  Richmond  on  the  2d  and 
3d  of  April,  1865,  —  the  proud  city  on  the  James  that  had  defied  the 
Union  armies  for  four  years.  On  the  3d  the  Union  troops  entered  the 
city,  and  within  a  few  days  order  was  in  some  degree  restored.1 

Lee  thought  only  of  escape  with  his  army,  but  at  every  turn  he 
found  Grant's  troops  planted  in  the  way.  Grant  denied  himself  the 
pleasure  of  entering  the  conquered  city.  He  determined  to  capture 
Lee's  army  then  and  there.  Lee  reached  Amelia  Court  House,  some 
thirty  miles  from  Richmond ;  but  here  he  found  that  his  expected 
train  of  supplies  had  gone  on  to  Richmond;  and  his  starving  army 
had  to  stop  a  day  to  forage.  This  enabled  Sheridan  to  pass  around 
him  and  gain  his  front.  Lee  then  attempted  to  march  around  the 
Federal  left  toward  Lynchburg.  Grant  divided  his  army  into 
three  parts,  placing  one  part  .north  of  Lee,  another  south,  a  third  in 
direct  pursuit,  while  Sheridan  with  the  cavalry  was  sent  to  his 
front.  Ewell's  corps  and  Pickett's  division  were  soon  cut  off  and 
forced  to  surrender.  Lee's  army,  now  cut  down  to  thirty-five 
thousand  men,  was  in  a  deplorable  condition ;  but  it  fought  a  fierce 
battle  to  gain  the  bridge  across  the  Appomattox,  succeeded,  and 
hurried  on  toward  Lynchburg.  But  Sheridan's  cavalry  and  Ord's 
infantry  were  again  planted  in  the  way.  There  was  nothing  left 
but  surrender,  and  the  despairing  Confederates  raised  the  white 
flag.  This  was  the  9th  of  April.  Grant  had  demanded  a  surren- 

1  President  Lincoln  visited  Richmond  on  April  4,  while  the  fires  were  yet  burning. 


772  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

der  on  the  7th.  Lee  offered  to  treat  for  peace,  but  Grant  had 
no  authority  to  do  this.  The  great  commanders  met  at  the  house 
of  a  Mr.  McLean  at  Appomattox  Court  House,  and  Grant  wrote 
out  the  terms  of  surrender  :  the  army,  officers  and  men,  were  to  be 
Surrender  of  re^ease(i  on  parole,  not  to  take  up  arms  against  the 
Lee  at  Appo-  United  States  until  properly  exchanged ;  the  officers 
mattox,  April  were  to  retain  their  side  arms,  baggage,  and  horses. 
9,  1865.  rpQ  £njg  -j^ee  agreed,  and  Grant  then  generously  added 

that  the  private  soldiers  might  also  retain  their  horses,  as  "  they 
would  need  them  in  their  spring  plowing."  Grant  refused  to  per 
mit  his  army  to  fire  a  salute  in  honor  of  their  victory.  Lee  informed 
Grant  that  his  men  were  in  a  starving  condition,  and  the  latter 
ordered  that  they  be  fed  from  his  supplies.  The  number  of  men 
surrendered  was  28,231,  not  counting  the  thousands  who  had 
deserted  or  had  been  captured  during  the  preceding  weeks. 

When  Johnston  learned  that  Lee  had  surrendered,  he  saw  that 
his  hour  had  come.  He  therefore  sought  Sherman,  and  the  two 
agreed  on  terms  of  surrender  ;  but  Sherman  exceeded  his  authority 
in  attempting  to  arrange  the  future  relations  between  the  seceded 
states  and  the  national  government.1  His  action  was  disapproved 
at  Washington ;  he  so  informed  Johnston,  and  prepared  for  further 
hostilities.  But  Johnston  was  willing  to  accept  the  terms  granted 
Surrender  of  -^ee  a*  Appomattox.  The  two  generals  met  again  on 
Johnston,  April  26,  and  the  surrender  was  effected.2  A  week  later 
April  26.  all  the  remaining  Confederate  forces  east  of  the  Missis 
sippi  were  surrendered  by  General  Eichard  Taylor,  and  on  May  26, 
E.  Kirby  Smith  surrendered  the  last  Confederate  army  west  of  the 
Mississippi  —  and  the  great  tragedy  of  the  Civil  War  was  at  an  end. 

A  grand  review  of  the  Union  armies  took  place  in  Washington  on 
May  24  and  25,  when  sixty-five  thousand  men  marched  through  the 
streets.  The  parade  was  viewed  by  the  highest  civil  and  military 
officials  of  the  nation.  But  the  one  on  whom,  above  all  men,  the  march 
ing  veterans  would  have  loved  to  cast  their  eyes,  —  the  one  who,  more 
than  any  of  the  commanders  in  the  field  or  on  the  sea,  had  attracted 
the  world's  notice  and  the  nation's  love,  —  this  one  was  not  there. 

1  Grant  had  also  exceeded  his  authority  in  granting  full  amnesty  to  all  of  Lee's 
army.    But  in  the  general  rejoicing  this  was  overlooked.     Sherman,  acted  in  perfect 
good  faith,  nor  did  he  deserve  the  abuse  heaped  upon  him  by  Stanton  and  others  on 
account  of  his  mistake. 

2  Johnston's  surrender,  made  at  Durham's  Station,  Virginia,  included  all  his 
military  department,  some  thirty-seven  thousand  men. 


ASSASSINATION  OF   LINCOLN  773 


DEATH  AND   CHAKACTER   OF  LINCOLN 

The  most  atrocious  murder  in  American  annals  was  committed  on 
the  night  of  April  14,  1865,  in  the  city  of  Washington,  when  the 
great  war  President  suffered  death  at  the  hands  of  an  assassin.  The 
day  had  been  one  of  rejoicing  throughout  the  land  over  the  pros 
pects  of  early  peace.  It  was  the  fourth  anniversary  of  the  fall  of 
Fort  Sumter.  A  great  celebration  had  taken  place  at  Charleston, 
and  General  Robert  Anderson  had  raised  over  the  ruined  walls 
of  the  fort  the  identical  flag  that  he  had  been  forced  to  haul 
down  four  years  before.  The  country  was  settling  down  to  the 
serene  happiness  of  peace,  and  none  was  happier  than  the  President, 
who  looked  forward  to  four  years  of  comparative  rest  in  his  great 
office.  But  his  duties  were  still  arduous,  and  on  the  14th,  after 
a  long  session  of  the  Cabinet,  after  meeting  many  officials  and 
doing  much  business,  he  sought  diversion  by  attending  the  theater. 
He  was  a  little  late,  and  the  play  had  begun,  but  when  the  President 
entered  a  private  box,  the  acting  stopped  for  the  moment  and  the 
audience  rose  and  cheered.  The  play  was  then  resumed,  and  it  con 
tinued  till  a  few  minutes  after  ten  o'clock,  when  the  audience  was 
startled  by  the  sharp  report  of  a  pistol.  The  President  was  shot  by 
an  assassin,  who  then  leaped  from  the  private  box  to  the  stage, 
dramatically  brandished  a  dagger  before  the  audience,  cried,  "Sic 
Semper  Tymnnis"  1  ran  down  the  back  stairway,  leaped  upon  a  horse 
held  in  waiting,  and  galloped  away  in  the  darkness.  The  assassin 
was  John  Wilkes  Booth,  an  actor,  who  was  at  the  head  of  a  plot  to 
murder  the  chief  officials  of  the  government.  At  the  moment  he 
entered  the  theater  one  of  his  accomplices,  Lewis  Payne,  entered 
the  chamber  of  Secretary  Seward,  who  had  been  seriously  hurt  by 
being  thrown  from  his  carriage,  and,  after  a  desperate  fight  with 
Mr.  Seward's  son  and  other  attendants,  stabbed  the  secretary  several 
times  and  then  made  his  escape,  after  having  inflicted  terrible 
wounds  on  five  persons.2 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  shot  through  the  brain.  His  head  fell  forward 
and  his  eyes  closed,  but  he  uttered  no  sound.  The  audience  was 
stupefied  with  horror  at  the  appalling  tragedy,  and  few  thought  of 

1  The  state  motto  of  Virginia. 

2  All  recovered.      Mr.  Seward's  son,  Frederick,  did  not  recover  consciousness 
for  several  weeks. 


774  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

attempting  to  apprehend  the  murderer  till  he  had  made  his  escape.1 
The  President  was  carried  to  a  house  across  the  street,  and  physi 
cians  were  summoned.  He  continued  to  breathe  through  the  night, 
but  he  did  not  recover  consciousness.  At  a  few  minutes  past  seven 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  15th,  as  the  physicians  and  members 
of  the  Cabinet  were  standing  about  the  bed,  the  breathing  ceased  and 
the  great  life  was  over.  Stanton  first  broke  the  silence  by  saying, 
"  Now  he  belongs  to  the  ages." 2  The  people  mourned  theb;great  dead 
as  never  before  in  American  history.  The  funeral  train  paped  through 
the  chief  cities  of  the  East,  taking  nearly  the  same  route  by  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  had  come  to  Washington  in  1861.  At  every  stopping  place 
the  remains  were  viewed  by  silent,  mourning  thousands,  many  of  whom 
had  come  hundreds  of  miles  to  pay  their  last  respects  to  their  beloved 
President.  The  body  was  carried  to  Springfield,  Illinois,  the  Presi 
dent's  home,  and  there  on  the  4th  of  May  it  was  laid  to  rest. 

From  the  time  of  Lincoln's  death  until  the  present  his  fame  has 
been  rising.  He  is  at  this  day  considered,  not  only  America's  ablest 
President,  but  also  one  of  the  most  powerful  world  figures  in 
history.  His  name  alone  stands  coordinate  with  that  of  Washing 
ton  in  the  history  of  his  country.  His  achievements  were  two,  — • 
either  of  which  would  embalm  his  name  forever  in  history,  — the 
destruction  of  slavery  and  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  His 
motives  in 'striking  at  the  evil  of  slavery  were  the  same  as  those 
held  by  millions  of  his  countrymen,  —  the  belief  that  no  man  has  a 
right  to  enslave  his  fellow-man,  and  that  slavery  was  a  political  evil 
and  a  drawback  to  civilization.  But  his  motives  in  saving  the  Union 
were  higher  than  those  of  most  men.  Others  of  the  North  rushed  to 
arms  in  1861  because  they  loved  the  Union  and  would  not  have  it 
divided.  Lincoln  grasped  the  subject  in  its  larger  sense.  He  saw 
that  the  principle  of  democracy,  of  self-government,  was  at  stake, 
that  the  welfare  of  the  "  whole  family  of  man  "  was  wrapped  up  in 
the  issue.  These  two  great  ends  could  not  have  been  achieved  by 
Lincoln  but  for  the  powerful  and  loyal  nation  at  his  back,  and  millions 
must  share  the  honors  of  the  victory ;  but  as  he  was  at  the  helm 
of  the  ship  when  the  breakers  came,  as  it  was  his  masterly  skill  that 
guided  the  vessel  and  kept  his  subordinates  employed,  each  in  his 


1  Colonel  Rathbone,  who  sat  by  the  President's  side,  leaped  to  catch  the  assassin, 
and  was  terribly  slashed  in  the  arm  with  the  dagger. 

2  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Vol.  X,  p.  302. 


CHARACTER   OF  LINCOLN  775 

proper  .place,  it  is  only  just  that  the  chief  glory  of  weathering  the 
storm  should  fall  to  him. 

No  one  now  questions  that  Lincoln  was  a  very  great  man ;  but  it 
is  not  easy  to  point  out  the  qualities  in  which  he  was  great.  Cer 
tainly  he  did  not  generally  impress  his  immediate  associates  with 
his  powers,  °nd  it  is  a  strange  fact  that  his  own  Cabinet  was  longer 
in  discovering  those  powers  than  were  the  masses  of  the  people. 
Many  did  not  realize  what  a  vast  man  he  was  until 
after  he  was  gone;  then  the  consummate  skill  with  £ . aracter 
which  he  had  managed  affairs  in  that  critical  period 
began  to  appear,  and  to  this  day  the  deeper  one  studies  into  the 
words  and  acts  of  Lincoln  the  greater  he  seems.  His  greatest  quality 
was  perhaps  his  ability  to  read  public  opinion,  and  few  public  men 
have  ever  enjoyed  a  fuller  confidence  of  the  masses.  He  not  only 
led  the  people  to  believe  in  his  sincerity  of  purpose  and  his  wisdom, 
but  he  had  a  profound  belief  in  the  correctness  of  his  own  judgment.1 
He  was  a  man  of  infinite  tact  and  patience,  and  his  great  kindliness 
of  heart  impressed  itself  upon  all  who  were  about  him.2 

No  one  attempts  to  explain  the  origin  of  the  genius  of  Lincoln. 
No  character  in  history  has  proved  a  greater  surprise  to  the  world. 
"  Only  America  has  produced  his  like,"  says  a  British  historian.3 
Born  among  the  lowliest  of  the  lowly,  trained  in  the  merciless 
school  of  adversity  and  penury,  he  rose  in  public  life  and  became 
the  leading  American  of  his  time.  Entering  upon  his  great  office 
at  the  moment  when  the  forces  of  freedom  and  of  slavery  were 
ready  to  grapple  in  deadly  conflict,  he  grasped  the  reins  of  govern 
ment  with  a  master  hand ;  and  but  for  his  consummate  ability,  many 
believe  the  Union  could  not  have  been  saved. 

In  the  life  of  Lincoln  we  find  a  series  of  contradictions.  He  was 
untrained  in  the  art  of  oratory,  yet  an  audience  would  listen  un 
wearied  as  long  as  he  chose  to  speak.  He  never  studied  logic  nor  the 
arts  of  casuistry,  yet  his  speeches  on  the  slavery  question  were  the 
most  concise,  logical,  and  unanswerable  produced  by  that  generation 
of  eloquence.  In  literature  he  was  unversed,  yet  in  his  Gettysburg 
speech  and  his  second  inaugural  address  are  literary  gems  that  will 
live  as  long  as  the  language  in  which  he  spoke  or  the  nation  that  he 

1  Elaine,  Vol.  I,  p.  547. 

2  While  not  devoted  to  any  particular  creed,  Lincoln  was  deeply  religious  at  heart, 
and  his  reverence  for  God  is  shown  in  almost  every  state  paper  that  he  wrote. 

3  Gold  win  Smith. 


776  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

served.  Apparently  confiding  with  his  friends,  his  inmost  soul  was 
fathomless  and  was  veiled  from  every  eye.  Awkward  and  ungainly  in 
appearance,  there  was  something  so  deeply  impressive  in  his  face  that 
none  who  ever  saw  him  could  forget  it.  Always  ready  with  a  witty 
answer  or  a  droll  story,  there  was  yet  a  strange  vein  of  sadness  that 
pervaded  his  whole  life,  and  was  always  visible  in  his  countenance. 

Lincoln  was  the  Providential  instrument  in  guiding  the  nation 
through  the  wilderness  of  threatened  disunion,  and  it  seemed  sad 
that  when  the  wanderings  were  at  an  end,  and,  like  Moses,  he 
could  ascend  the  mountain  and  view  the  promised  land,  he  was  not 
permitted  to  enter.  But  Lincoln's  work  was  done.  He  was  prob 
ably  less  fitted  for  the  arduous  work  of  reconstruction  than  for  the 
great  work  that  was  assigned  him.  Many  who  are  not  in  sympathy 
with  the  harsh  measures  of  Congress  that  characterized  the  recon 
struction  period,  believe  that  Lincoln  would  have  swung  too  far  in 
the  opposite  direction ;  that  he  was  too  great-hearted,  that  his  soul  was 
too  generous  and  forgiving,  for  him  to  have  been  the  proper  one  to 
adjust  the  legal  relations  between  the  emancipated  slave  and  his 
former  taskmaster,  and  that  in  the  death  of  the  great  President,  as 
well  as  in  his  life,  we  can  see  the  hand  of  God.1 

FOREIGN  RELATIONS  —  THE  ALABAM A 

Aside  from,  the  Trent  Affair  and  the  recognition  with  undue 
haste  of  the  belligerency  of  the  South  by  the  European  nations, 
there  were  two  items  in  our  foreign  relations  during  the  war  that 
became  serious.  One  was  the  building  in  British  waters  of  Con 
federate  cruisers  to  prey  on  United  States  shipping ;  the  other  was 
the  attempt  of  France  to  set  up  a  monarchy  in  Mexico.  The  one  was 
a  palpable  violation  of  neutrality,  the  other  a  violation  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine. 

The  English  Foreign  Enlistment  Act,  passed  in  the  reign  of 
George  III,  forbade  the  equipping,  furnishing,  fitting  out,  or  arming 
within  the  British  dominions  of  any  vessel  to  be  used  against  any 
state  with  whom  his  Majesty  should  then  be  at  peace.  This  was  con 
strued  to  mean  that  a  vessel  could  be  built  for  such  a  purpose  in 
British  waters  if  fitted  out  elsewhere.  Mr.  J.  D.  Bullock,  the  Con 
federate  naval  agent  in  England,  soon  found  therefore  that  the 

1  Others  believe  that  Lincoln,  with  his  tact,  his  firmness,  and  his  great  popularity, 
would  have  won  Congress  to  his  plan  of  reconstruction,  and  would  have  thereby  left 
far  less  bitterness  between  the  sections  than  was  actually  the  case.  See  next  chapter. 


THE  ALABAMA  AND  THE  KEARSAEGE         111 

English  shipyards  were  open  to  him.  The  first  vessel  to  be  so  built 
was  the  Florida;  but  the  most  notorious  was  the  Alabama,  to  which, 
as  an  example  of  all,  we  give  more  particular  attention.  The  Alabama 
was  built  on  the  Mersey,  by  Laird  and  Sons,  the  senior  member  of 
the  firm  being  a  member  of  Parliament.  The  ship,  known  while 
building  as  "290,"  was  a  vessel  of  about  a  thousand  tons,  her 
engines  representing  three  hundred  horse  power.  It  was  generally 
understood  that  she  was  intended  for  the  Confederate  service,  and 
our  minister  at  London,  Mr.  Adams,  procured  the  necessary  evidence, 
and  called  on  the  British  government  to  detain  her.  But  the  matter 
was  delayed,  owing  to  the  illness  of  the  chief  advocate,  and  the  "  290," 
under  pretext  of  making  her  "  trial  trip,"  escaped.  She  steamed  to 
the  Azores,  where  she  was  equipped  by  two  British  vessels,  and  was 
placed  in  command  of  Eaphael  Semmes.  She  then  unfurled  the 
Confederate  banner,  and  on  August  24,  came  out  in  her  true  colors 
as  a  privateer,  and  took  the  name  Alabama. 

After  capturing  a  few  American  vessels  near  the  British  coast, 
the  Alabama  started  on  her  wonderful  tour  of  the  oceans.  She 
swept  across  the  Atlantic  to  within  two  hundred  miles  _ 
of  New  York,  thence  turning  southward  to  the  West 
Indies.  By  the  1st  of  November  she  had  captured  twenty-two  Federal 
vessels.  In  the  early  spring  of  1862  the  Alabama  made  another 
grand  detour,  touching  the  coast  of  Brazil,  and  proceeding  thence  east 
ward  to  South  Africa  and  to  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  where  she  spent  the 
following  winter,  making  prize  of  every  American  vessel  that  came 
within  her  reach.  In  June,  1864,  we  find  her  in  the  harbor  of  Cher 
bourg,  France.  Here  also  was  the  United  States  war  vessel,  the 
Kearsarge,  commanded  by  Captain  John  A.  Winslow. 

Semmes  had  been  twitted  with  being  a  pirate,  and  to  prove  the 
Alabama  a  legitimate  war  vessel,  and  to  revive,  if  possible,  the  expir 
ing  question  of  the  recognition  of  his  new-born  nation  by  the 
European  powers,  he  challenged  Captain  Winslow  to  a  naval  duel. 
The  challenge  was  accepted;  and  the  two  vessels,  about  the  same  in 
size  and  force  steamed  out  to  neutral  waters  and  began  their  death  duel. 

People  gathered  in  thousands  on  the  shore  to  witness  the  strange, 
unnatural  spectacle  —  the  mortal  strife  between  the  estranged  breth 
ren  of  the  same  household.  The  two  vessels  began 
circling  round  and  round,  lessening  the  distance  between 
them  and  pouring  in  their  broadsides.  One  shell  from 
the  Kearsarge  exploded  on  the  Alabama  and  killed  or  wounded 


778  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

eighteen  men.  The  Alabama  was  soon  disabled,  and  after  an  hour 
of  conflict  she  raised  the  white  flag ;  but  before  her  crew  could  all  be 
rescued  she  sank  beneath  the  waves.  For  two  years  she  had  plowed 
the  main  unhindered  on  her  mission  of  destruction.  She  had  de 
stroyed  sixty-nine  vessels,1  ten  million  dollars'  worth  of  property. 
But  at  last  her  meteoric  course  was  ended,  and,  with  many  of  her 
devoted  crew,  she  found  a  final  home  on  the  bottom  of  the  ocean, 
on  whose  bosom  she  had  reigned,  a  queen  without  a  rival,  until  her 
too-sanguine  master  made  this  hapless  challenge  to  fight  a  duel  with 
the  Kearsarge.2 

Nearly  a  score  of  Confederate  vessels,  built  in  English  waters, 
preyed  on  American  vessels.  The  most  destructive,  next  to  the 
Alabama)  was  the  Shenandoah,  which  made  thirty-six  captures  ;  the 
Florida  made  thirty-seven  and  the  Tallahassee  twenty-nine.  The 
subject  gave  rise  to  a  serious  international  dispute,  to  be  noticed  on 
a  later  page. 

The  occupation  of  Mexico  by  France  also  came  near  bringing  in 
ternational  trouble.  Mexico  had  suffered  a  revolution  almost  every 
year,  and  sometimes  oftener,  from  the  time  she  had  won  her  inde 
pendence  in  1824,  to  1858.  The  country  was  usually  in  a  state  of 
anarchy,  and  was  unable  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of  foreign 
residents  and  sojourners  within  her  bounds.  In  1861  the  foreign 
debt  amounted  to  nearly  $100,000,000,  but  the  treasury  was  bank 
rupt,  and  the  Mexican  Congress  decided  that  no  foreign  obligation 
should  be  paid  for  two  years.  This  was  done  under  President 
Benita  Juarez,  a  full-blooded  Indian,  a  highly  educated  and  honor 
able  man.  The  intention  was,  not  to  repudiate  the  debts,  but  to 
recuperate  the  treasury. 

France,  England,  and  Spain,  however,  had  grown  impatient  and 
they  decided  to  make  a  joint  demand  for  immediate  payment  of 
their  claims  on  Mexico.  But  as  Mexico  was  utterly  unable  to  pay, 
they  sent  a  fleet  to  take  possession  of  Vera  Cruz  and  collect  the 
customs  of  that  port  until  the  claims  were  settled.  This  was  in 
the  spring  of  1862.  In  a  short  time  the  Mexican  government  made 
arrangements  by  which  England  and  Spain  were  satisfied,  and  they 
withdrew  their  vessels.  But  France  refused  to  accept  the  same 

1  Bullock's  "  History  of  the  Confederate  States  Navy,"  p.  815. 

2  See  "Side  Lights,"  Series  II,  p.  224.     Most  of  the  survivors  of  the  Alabama 
became  prisoners  of  Captain  Winslow ;  but  Semmes  was  rescued  by  a  British  vessel 
and  given  his  freedom. 


EXECUTION   OF   MAXIMILIAN  779 

terms,  and  then  it  developed  that  she  had  ulterior  motives  —  noth 
ing  less  than  the  seizure  of  the  Mexican  government  and  the  setting 
up  of  a  monarchy  on  the  ruins  of  the  Republic.  As  a 
pretext  the  French  espoused  the  famous  Jecker  bond 
swindle.  A  few  years  before  this  a  revolutionary  govern 
ment  in  Mexico  had  issued  $  15,000,000  in  bonds,  and  these  were  pur 
chased  by  the  Swiss  banker,  Jecker,  at  five  cents  on  the  dollar.  France 
now  demanded  full  payment  of  this  fraudulent  debt,  and  as  Mexico 
could  not  pay,  determined  on  the  conquest  of  the  country.  This  was 
accomplished  by  midsummer,  1863,  and  Maximilian,  archduke  of 
Austria,  was  invited  to  become  the  emperor  of  Mexico.  A  year 
later  Maximilian,  who  was  doubtless  a  sincere  man,  but  not  a  states 
man,  assumed  the  government,  the  Mexicans  at  the  same  time 
making  a  pretense  of  being  content  with  the  new  order.  The 
French  army,  however,  remained,  and  on  it  rested  the  security  of  the 
throne. 

All  this  was  galling  to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  It  was 
the  most  radical  infraction  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  yet  attempted. 
But  as  it  occurred  during  the  darkest  period  of  the  Civil  War, 
Mr.  Seward  managed  the  matter  with  admirable  tact,  lest  the 
life  of  the  nation  be  endangered.  Not  until  after  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg  and  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  did  he  inform  the  French  that 
the  proceedings  in  Mexico  were  distasteful  to  the  United  States 
government.  After  the  war  had  closed,  Seward  came  out  boldly  and 
demanded  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  that  the  French  armies  be  with 
drawn  from  Mexico ;  and  to  emphasize  this  demand 
General  Sheridan  was  sent  into  Texas  with  fifty  thou- 
sand  veteran  troops.  The  Emperor  of  France  now 
clearly  understood,  and  ere  long  he  withdrew  his  armies.  Maximilian, 
however,  remained,  in  the  belief  that  he  had  won  the  Mexican  people, 
and  that  they  would  willingly  remain  his  subjects.  But  in  this  he 
was  sadly  in  error.  The  deposed  President  Juarez  marched  upon 
the  capital  with  an  army.  The  unhappy  Maximilian  was  easily 
overpowered  and  captured.  He  was  executed  in  1867,  and  Mexico 
again  became  a  republic. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  turn  to  our  relations  with  Germany  and  Russia 
during  the  war.  Not  only  was  the  German  Confederation  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  Union  cause,  but  thousands  of  German-Americans 
gave  their  lives  in  defense  of  that  cause.  But  Russia  was  the  most 
conspicuous  foreign  friend  we  had  in  war  times.  Not  long  after  the 


780  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

war  opened,  the  Czar  revealed  to  the  United  States  that  some  of  the 
powers  were  contemplating  concerted  action  against  the  Union.  In 
the  spring  of  1863  a  fleet  of  Russian  war  vessels  was  stationed  in 
New  York  harbor  and  another  at  San  Francisco,  where  they  remained 
for  many  months.  The  admiral  of  the  fleet  at  New  York,  being 
asked  why  he  was  here,  answered  that  he  did  not  know,  that  his 
orders  were  sealed  and  were  not  to  be  broken,  except  in  a  certain 
contingency  which  had  not  occurred.  It  was  afterward  learned  at  St. 
Petersburg  that  the  orders  were,  that  in  case  of  war  between  the 
United  States  and  England  01*  France,  the  Russian  fleets  were  to 
report  to  the  President  for  duty.  Various  motives  for  the  action  of 
Russia  are  given,  the  most  plausible  of  which  is  that  the  Crimean 
War  had  left  with  her  bitterness  toward  France  and  England. 

OBSERVATIONS   ON  THE   WAR 

The  magnitude  of  the  Civil  War  may  be  realized  by  contrasting 
it  with  the  Revolution.  The  army  of  McClellan  in  1862  or  that  of 
Grant  in  1865  was  at  least  seven  times  greater  than  any  ever  com 
manded  by  Washington.  When  Lee  surrendered  at  Appomattox  his 
army  was  less  than  half  its  usual  size,  and  yet  he  surrendered  twice 
as  many  men  as  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga  and  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown 
combined.1  There  were  cavalry  raids  in  the  Civil  War  that  are 
scarcely  mentioned  in  history,-  any  one  of  which  in  one  month  de 
stroyed  more  property  and  took  more  captives  than  did  any  British 
army  of  the  Revolution  in  a  whole  year. 

The  cost  of  the  Civil  War  in  life  and  treasure  was  enormous.  Of 
the  northern  armies  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  men  were  shot 
dead  or  mortally  wounded  in  battle,  while  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  died  of  disease  or  accident.  If  the  losses  to  the  South 
were  proportionally  great,  as  they  probably  were,  the  war  cost  the 
...  nation  at  least  half  a  million  human  lives,  to  say  noth 

ing  of  thousands  who  returned  to  their  homes  with 
broken  health  or  maimed  bodies.  President  Lincoln  issued  twelve 
calls  for  volunteers,  and  the  whole  number  of  men  enlisted  was 
2,773,400, 2  many  of  whom  were  reenlistments.  The  highest  num 
ber  of  northern  men  in  the  field  at  one  time  (April,  1865)  slightly 

1  Johnson,  p.  321. 

2  This  does  not  include  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  emergency  men  who 
were  not  in  active  service. 


GREAT  COMMANDERS  781 

exceeded  one  million.      The  whole  number  of  enlistments  in  the 
South  probably  reached  a  million.1 

The  cost  in  treasure  was  equally  astonishing.  The  expense  to 
the  government  reached  an  average  of  nearly  $3,000,000  a  day,  and 
there  was  a  public  debt  in  August,  1865,  of  $2,845,000,000.  These 
figures  take  no  account  of  the  separate  expenditures  of 
the  states  and  cities,  amounting  to  nearly  $500,000,000, 
nor  of  the  expense  to  the  South,  nor  of  the  incalculable 
destruction  of  property.  To  all  this  must  be  added  the  interest  on 
the  public  debt  and  the  pensions  paid  to  the  soldiers,  to  the  widows, 
and  the  orphans.  The  total  cost  of  the  war  no  doubt  exceeded 
$10,000,000,000.  And  yet  the  country  increased  in  wealth  and 
resources  during  the  war  and  the  period  following  it.  The  South, 
it  is  true,  was  ruined  and  exhausted ;  but  the  North  was  stronger 
and  better  equipped  in  1865  than  in  1861. 

A  great  movement  will  always  bring  before  the  public  gaze  great 
characters  who  might  otherwise  have  died  unknown.  In  the  Civil 
War  several  commanders  in  the  field  achieved  fame  of  the  first  order ; 
while  in  civil  life  the  fame  of  only  one,  Abraham  Lincoln,  was  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  war.  The  reverse  was  true  of  the  Revolution.  Of 
the  half  dozen  who  achieved  great  fame  in  that  period,  only  one  was 
a  commander  of  armies.2 

The  Civil  War  brought  out  no  commanders  of  the  very  highest 
grade  —  certainly  no  Napoleons  or  Hannibal s.  The  first  place  among 
the  commanders  is  usually,  and  perhaps  justly,  awarded  to  Grant. 
He  has  been  severely  criticised.  It  is  often  stated  that  his  army 
always  outnumbered  the  army  of  his  enemy,  that  he  was  simply  a 
bull-dog  fighter,  was  no  tactician,  and  won  his  victories  by  brute 
force.  Much  of  this  is  true,  and  it  is  also  true  that  Grant  was  waut- 

1  "Battles  and  Leaders,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  768.    Livermore  makes  a  higher  estimate 
based  on  the  census  of  1860 ;  but  no  accurate  records  of  Confederate  enlistments  were 
kept. 

2  Washington  stands  without  a  rival  as  the  military  leader  of  the  Revolution. 
Greene,  who  comes  next,  must  be  classed  below  him.      But  Franklin,  Jefferson, 
Patrick  Henry,  and  John  and  Samuel  Adams  are  all  among  the  first-rank  heroes 
in  the  popular  mind.    The  Civil  War  gave  us  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan,  and  Far- 
ragut,  closely  seconded  by  Meade  and  Thomas:  and,  if  we  include  the  other  side,  Lee 
and  Jackson.    But  outside  the  battle  field  Lincoln  stands  grandly  alone.    Other  great 
names  we  have:  Seward,  Sumner,  Chase,  Fessenden,  Wade,  and  Stevens;  but  most 
of  them  had  reached  the  acme  of  their  fame  before  the  war,  and  none  of  the  galaxy 
is  classed  in  popular  fancy  as  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude.  —  Note  from  "  Side 
Lights,"  Series  II,  p.  48. 


782  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

ing  in  that  essential  to  a  great  commander,  —  personal  magnetism, 
the  ability  to  electrify  an  army  with  his  own  spirit.  But  with  all 
this,  the  facts  remain  that  Grant  did  at  times  display  great  power  as 
a  tactician,  and  that  the  three  great  surrenders,  at  Donelson,  Vicks- 
burg,  and  Appomattox,  were  all  made  to  him. 

Next  to  Grant  stands  Sherman  and  then  Sheridan.  Sherman  dis 
played  extraordinary  talents  at  Shiloh  and  in  the  Atlanta  campaign, 
as  did  Sheridan  at  Cedar  Creek  and  at  Five  Forks. 
Great  mm-  Sheridan  possessed  the  power  above  all  men  in  the  war, 
except  Stonewall  Jackson,  to  infuse  the  fire  of  his  own 
soul  into  an  army.  Next  to  these  we  would  place  Thomas.  There 
was  nothing  more  grandly  heroic  in  the  war  than  the  stand  made  by 
Thomas  at  Chickamauga,  and  there  was  no  battle  more  perfectly 
planned  than  the  battle  of  Nashville.  But  Thomas  never  received 
the  honor  he  deserved.  Why  the  name  of  Thomas  was  not  men 
tioned  in  the  congratulatory  order  to  the  officers  and  men  who  fought 
at  Mill  Spring ;  why  he,  instead  of  Rosecrans,  did  not  succeed  Buell 
after  Perry ville ;  and  why  General  Grant  in  his  Memoirs  persistently 
withholds  from  Thomas  the  credit  he  deserves,  are  among  the  war 
mysteries  not  yet  revealed.  Rosecrans  gave  much  promise  for  a 
time,  but  he  never  recovered  from,  his  unfortunate  disaster,  for  which 
he  was  not  to  blame,  at  Chickamauga. 

On  the  southern  side  there  were  at  least  five  able  commanders  — 
Lee,  Jackson,  the  two  Johnstons,  and  Longstreet.  The  fact  that 
two  of  these  were  slain  in  battle  before  the  issue  of  the  war  was  de 
cided  may  have  had  much  to  do,  if  not  with  the  ultimate  result,  cer 
tainly  with  the  duration  of  the  war.  Albert  Sidney  Johnston  was  at 
first  believed  to  be  the  ablest  commander  in  the  South,  and  Jefferson 
Davis  declared  that  when  Johnston  fell  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  the 
cause  of  the  South  was  lost.  The  worth  of  Jackson  is  well  known. 
Lee  declared  that  he  would  have  won  a  mighty  victory  at  Gettysburg 
had  Jackson  still  been  with  him,  and  it  is  possible  that  he  would 
have  done  so.  Bishop  Polk  ranked  next  in  importance  among  the 
southern  slain,  but  his  death  did  not  perceptibly  affect  the  outcome. 

On  the  northern  side  at  least  four  prominent  men  were  killed,  — 
Baker,  Reynolds,  Sedgwick,  and  McPherson ;  but  the  death  of  none 
of  these  is  believed  to  have  affected  the  general  result.  One  of  the 
southern  generals  of  some  prominence  was  born  in  the  North, — 
Pemberton,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  —  while  two  of  the  strongest 
northern  commanders  —  Farragut  and  Thomas  —  were  of  southern 


PERMANENT  RESULTS   OF  THE   WAR  783 

birth.  It  will  be  noticed  that  all  the  generals  who  achieved  the 
highest  success  were  graduates  of  West  Point.  A  few  volunteers, 
however,  such  as  John  A.  Logan,  N.  P.  Banks,  Lew  Wallace,  Butler, 
Phil  Kearney,  Kelson  A.  Miles,  Sigel,  and  Carl  Schurz,  made  most 
creditable  records.  It  is  notable  that  no  well-known  commander  of 
the  war,  except  General  Hunter,  had  reached  the  age  of  fifty  years 
at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  many  of  them  were  under  forty.1 

In  addition  to  the  causes  of  northern  success  given  on  a  preceding 
page,  another  must  be  mentioned,  —  the  great  superiority  of  Lincoln 
over  Jefferson  Davis.  These  two  opposing  chieftains  were  born  in 
the  same  state,  Kentucky,  but  a  year  apart.  Both  left  their  native 
state  in  early  life,  the  one  drifting  northward  absorbed  the  free-soil 
sentiment  of  his  adopted  section,  until  it  became  the  guiding  star  of 
his  life  ;  the  other,  migrating  to  the  cotton  belt,  espoused  the  cause  of 
the  slaveholder  and  became  the  leader  of  the  far-famed  aristocracy 
of  the  South.  It  is  curious  to  speculate  what  might  have  been  the 
history  of  our  country  had  the  direction  of  the  migration  of  these 
two  been  reversed. 

The  most  remarkable  fact  concerning  the  Civil  War  is  that  it 
wrought  no  permanent  change  in  our  civic  institutions  (aside  from, 
slavery),  that  it  left  no  trace  upon  the  people  as  regards  local  govern 
ment,  personal  liberty,  or  freedom  of  speech,  and  that  it  did  not 
change  our  character  as  a  peace-loving  people.  For  four  years  the 
President  wielded  almost  imperial  power,  but  the  functions  of  his 
office  were  not  permanently  affected.  No  President  since  Lincoln 
has  enjoyed  greater  power  than  those  who  preceded  him.  The  thou 
sands  of  arbitrary  arrests  and  the  suppression  of  many  newspapers 
have  left  not  a  trace  on  our  personal  liberty  and  freedom  of  the 
press.  At  the  close  of  the  war  the  armies  melted  away  like  magic, 
the  soldiers  returned  to  the  pursuits  of  peace,  and  the  relative  im 
portance  of  the  civil  and  military  authorities  was  left  absolutely  the 
same  as  before  the  war.  These  facts  we  look  upon  with  pardonable 
pride,  as  they  prove  our  great  steadiness  and  conservatism  as  a 
people. 

What  then  were  the  results  of  the  great  war  aside  from  the 
extinction  of  slavery?  It  readjusted  the  relations  between  the 
nation  and  the  individual  states,  and  established  the  nation  on  a 
permanent  basis  by  eliminating  from  American  politics  the  idea  of 
state  sovereignty  and  of  secession;  it  transferred  the  primary  alle- 
i  See  Elaine,  Vol.  II,  p.  29. 


784  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

glance  of  the  citizen  from  the  state  to  the  nation  ; l  and,  by  removing 
slavery,  the  war  opened  the  way  for  a  feeling  of  common  brotherhood 
between  the  two  great  sections  of  the  country,  and  led  to  the  devel 
opment  of  the  vast  resources  of  the  South.  The  war  was  a  surgical 
operation,  severe  indeed,  but  necessary  to  restore  the  normal  health 
of  the  nation,  and  with  all  its  cost  it  brought  untold  blessings  to  the 
United  States.  Never  before  the  war  was  the  development  of  the 
country  so  marvelous  as  it  has  been  since ;  never  was  there  a  feel 
ing  of  oneness  in  all  sections  of  our  broad  land  as  at  present,  and 
never  in  history  was  the  theory  of  self-government  so  firmly  estab 
lished  as  a  practical  and  enduring  thing  as  to-day  in  the  United 
States. 

NOTES 

Capture  of  Jefferson  Davis.  —  The  Confederate  President,  on  escaping  from 
Richmond,  April  2,  went  with  his  cabinet  to  Danville,  where  they  obtained  rooms, 
set  up  the  departments  of  the  government,  and  issued  an  address  to  ' '  fire  the 
southern  heart."  Learning  of  Lee's  surrender  and  of  the  approach  of  Federal 
cavalry,  he  hastened  to  move  to  Greensboro,  North  Carolina.  Here  he  had  an 
interview  with  Johnston  and  Beauregard,  who  declared  that  the  cause  was  hope 
less,  and  advised  a  surrender ;  but  Davis  refused  to  give  up.  From  here  the 
party  moved  in  all  sorts  of  vehicles  to  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  thence  to 
Abbeville,  South  Carolina,  and  thence  to  Washington,  Georgia.  On  leaving 
Charlotte  the  company  consisted  of  some  two  thousand  persons,  mostly  cavalry 
from  Johnston's  army,  but  it  rapidly  melted  away  until  few  were  left  except 
the  fallen  President,  his  family,  one  member  of  his  cabinet,  and  a  few  servants. 
The  aim  was  to  move  westward  and  join  with  the  army  of  Kirby  Smith  west  of 
the  Mississippi  j  but  this  was  now  given  up,  and  it  was  decided  that  Davis  leave 
his  family  and  proceed  on  horseback  to  the  coast  of  Florida  and  thence  embark 
for  Texas.  The  party  encamped  on  the  night  of  May  9  in  a  pine  forest  near 
Irwinville,  in  southern  Georgia,  and  here  at  daybreak  next  morning  they  were 
captured  by  a  band  of  Federal  cavalry  under  Colonel  Pritchard  of  Michigan. 
Davis  was  defiant  and  sullen,  though  he  was  well  treated  by  his  captors.  He  was 
carried  northward,  and  imprisoned  in  Fortress  Monroe.  Here  he  remained  for 
two  years,  when  he  was  indicted  for  treason  and  released  on  bail,  his  bondsmen 
being  Horace  Greeley,  Gerrit  Smith,  and  Cornelius  Vanderbilt.  On  Christmas 
day,  1868,  President  Johnson  proclaimed  a  pardon  for  all  hitherto  unpardoned 
participants  in  the  rebellion.  This  included  Davis,  who  thus  became  a  free  man. 
He  returned  to  his  former  home  in  Mississippi,  where  he  lived  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  in  retirement,  writing,  meantime,  his  "  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate 
Government  "  in  two  large  volumes. 

Fate  of  Lincoln's  Assassins.  —  John  Wilkes  Booth  was  found  to  be  at  the 
head  of  a  few  conspirators,  whose  headquarters  had  been  at  Washington  for 

1  This  was  accomplished  by  the  Civil  War  and  was  put  into  permanent  form  by 
the  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution. 


NOTES  785 


several  months.  Their  intention  was  to  abduct  President  Lincoln  and  carry  him 
to  Richmond  ;  but  as  no  opportunity  offered,  and  as  the  surrender  of  Lee  mad 
dened  their  brains,  already  insanely  devoted  to  the  southern  cause,  they 
resolved  to  kill  the  President,  the  Vice  President,  Mr.  Seward,  and  General 
Grant.  But  Grant  went  to  Baltimore  on  the  afternoon  of  the  14th,  and  thus 
escaped. 

After  the  assassination,  Booth  escaped  across  the  navy-yard  bridge  and, 
joined  by  an  accomplice  named  Herold,  rode  till  toward  morning,  and  came  to 
the  house  of  Dr.  Mudd,  a  sympathizer,  who  set  the  bone  of  Booth's  broken  leg. 
They  were  aided  by  sympathizers  along  the  way,  remaining  a  whole  week  with 
a  Mr.  Jones  near  Port  Tobacco.  At  length  they  were  rowed  across  the  Potomac 
into  Virginia;  but  the  government  detectives  were  scouring  the  country,  and 
escape  was  impossible.  Booth  was  greatly  disappointed.  He  expected  the 
whole  South  to  rise  up  and  call  him  a  hero.  On  the  night  of  the  25th  of  April, 
Booth  and  his  companion  were  found  sleeping  in  the  barn  of  a  Mr.  Garrett  near 
Port  Royal,  by  a  searching  party  under  Lieutenant  Doherty.  Herold  came  out 
and  surrendered,  but  Booth  refused  to  do  so,  and  the  barn  was  fired.  While  it 
was  burning,  Booth  was  shot  in  the  neck  by  Boston  Corbett,  and  died  three  hours 
later. 

Payne,  who  had  attempted  the  life  of  Secretary  Seward,  left  his  hat  when 
he  escaped.  This  led  to  his  capture.  Hiding  a  few  days  near  Washington, 
he  stole  into  the  city,  hatless,  in  search  of  food,  and  was  arrested.  He  and 
Herold,  Mrs.  Surrat,  at  whose  house  the  conspiracy  was  hatched,  and  an  accom 
plice  named  Atzerodt,  were  hanged,  while  Dr.  Mudd  and  a  few  others  were  im 
prisoned  for  life,  but  were  afterward  released.  The  common  belief  at  first,  that 
Jefferson  Davis  was  connected  with  the  conspiracy  to  assassinate  Lincoln,  was 
proved  to  be  wholly  without  foundation. 

The  Finances.  —  The  government  met  its  war  expenses  by  laying  an  income 
tax  of  3  per  cent  on  all  incomes  over  $800,  by  tariff  duties,  by  internal  revenue, 
and  by  issuing  interest-bearing  bonds  to  the  extent  of  $1,199,000,000,  and  non- 
interest-bearing  notes  called  "greenbacks"  to  the  extent  of  $450,000,000,  as 
noted  in  the  text.  By  the  close  of  the  year  1861,  all  banks  had  suspended  specie 
payments,  and  the  government  soon  did  the  same.  All  coin  soon  disappeared 
from  circulation,  and  gold  rose  rapidly  in  value,  reaching  285,  its  highest  point, 
in  July,  1864.  A  soldier's  pay  was  $13  per  month  with  food  and  clothes.  It 
cost  the  government  about  S1000  a  year  to  keep  each  soldier  in  the  field.  The 
Confederate  notes  depreciated  until,  in  the  spring  of  1805,  it  required  $100  to 
purchase  one  dollar  in  gold,  and  $1000  to  purchase  a  barrel  of  flour,  while  a 
spool  of  thread  cost  $20,  and  a  pound  of  sugar  $75.  This  money,  of  course,  had 
no  purchasing  power  on  the  collapse  of  the  Confederate  government. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

ANDREW  JOHNSON   AND   RECONSTRUCTION 

THE  surrender  of  the  Confederate  armies  marked  the  end  of  blood 
shed,  but  did  not  bring  rest  and  peace  to  the  American  people.  As 
at  the  close  of  the  Revolution  the  great  problem  of  self-government 
remained  to  be  solved,  so  with  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  came  the 
serious  task  of  restoring  the  seceded  states  to  their  normal  relations 
in  the  Union. 

THE   NEW   PROBLEM 

Long  before  the  war  had  closed,  the  subject  of  how  to  get  the 
seceding  states  back  into  the  Union  began  to  occupy  the  attention  of 
the  President  and  Congress.  The  problem  was  a  new  one  and  had 
no  precedent  in  history,  nor  was  it  provided  for  in  the  Constitution. 
Much  eloquence  was  wasted  on  the  subject  of  the  relations  the 
rebellious  states  bore  to  the  Union  during  the  war.  Some  took  the 
ground  that  the  seceding  states  had  lost  all  standing  as  members  of 
the  Union,  others,  including  President  Lincoln,  contending  that  the 
relations  of  the  seceded  states  to  the  government  were  only  suspended 
and  could  not  be  severed.1 

But  the  practical  question  was,  how  to  reinstate  the  straying 
sisters  in  the  family.  On  this  subject  the  Republican  party  came 
to  be  seriously  divided.  One  faction  took  the  position  that  when 
the  war  was  over  and  the  Southern  states  had  accepted  the  great  two 
fold  result,  —  the  restoration  of  the  Union  and  the  removal  of  slavery, 
The  President  —  tne7  should  be  readily  forgiven  and  should  be  read- 
and  Congress  mitted  with  as  little  further  humiliation  as  possible. 
at  variance.  TO  this  class  belonged  President  Lincoln,  Secretary 
Seward,  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman,  and  many  of  the  leading  men 
of  the  North  who  had  done  all  in  their  power  to  put  down  the  rebel 
lion.  The  opposing  faction  was  far  more  radical.  It  comprised  the 

1  This  position  was  sustained  in  a  Supreme  Court  decision  (Texas  vs.  White, 
1868),  in  which  our  country  is  pronounced  "an  indestructible  Union  composed  of 
indestructible  states." 

786 


RADICALS  IN  CONGRESS  787 

majority  of  the  members  of  Congress,  led  by  Charles  Sumner  in  the 
Senate  and  by  Thaddeus  Stevens  in  the  House.  These  men  and 
their  followers  were  ready  to  humiliate  the  people  of  the  South  still 
further  after  defeating  them  in  battle,  and  to  grant  them  forgiveness 
only  when  they  abjectedly  begged  it  and  acknowledged  themselves 
utterly  in  the  wrong.  This  was  asking  too  much.  If  it  be  granted 
that  the  southern  people  were  sincere  in  warring  against  the  Union, 
how  could  they  be  expected,  on  their  defeat,  instantly  to  denounce 
the  cause  in  which  their  fathers  and  brethren  had  died  as  a  false 
one  ?  Time  alone  can  bring  such  changes ;  matters  of  the  heart 
and  conscience  are  wholly  beyond  the  powers  of  legislative  coercion. 
The  South  has  come  to  see  that  a  division  of  the  Union  would  have 
been  a  disaster,  and  that  slavery  was  an  evil ;  but  such  a  condition 
could  not  have  been  expected  in  1865. 

Early  in  the  war  Stevens  took  the  ground  that  the  seceded 
states  had  forfeited  all  rights  under  the  Constitution,  and  should 
be  dealt  with  as  conquered  territory.  As  the  war  drew  to  a  close,  he 
and  his  followers  became  more  fierce  in  their  attitude  toward  the 
South ;  they  displayed  an  utter  want  of  magnanimity,  and  they  failed 
also  to  realize  that  their  course  was  bad  public  policy.  Many  of  the 
leading  southerners  would  have  been  of  great  service,  had  they  been 
given  an  opportunity,  in  leading  their  countrymen  to  accept  in  good 
faith  the  results  of  the  war  and  to  become  good  citizens.  "  I  per 
ceived  that  we  had  the  unbounded  respect,"  said  General  Sherman, 
"  of  our  armed  enemies.  ...  I  am  sure  that  at  the  close  of  the 
Civil  War  the  Confederate  army  embraced  the  best  governed,  the 
best  disposed,  the  most  reliable  men  of  the  South ;  and  I  would  have 
used  them  in  reconstruction  instead  of  driving  them  into  a  hopeless 
opposition."  This  was  also  the  view  of  President  Lincoln  ;  but  not 
so  with  the  leaders  in  Congress,  and  the  result  was  a  serious  breach 
between  the  legislative  and  executive  branches  of  the  government. 

Mr.  Lincoln  believed  that  as  the  pardoning  power  in  the  case  of 
an  individual  rested  with  the  Executive,  the  same  should  extend  to 
the  states.     In  December,  1863,  he  set  forth  a  plan  of  reconstruction 
by  which  he  offered  pardon  to  those  who  had  been  in  rebellion,  with 
certain  exceptions,  on  condition  that  they  take  an  oath   £incoin»s 
to  support  and  defend  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,   plan  of  recon- 
and  to  abide  by  the  laws  and  proclamations  relating  to  struction. 
slavery.    He  also  declared  that  a  state  might  resume  its  place  in  the 
Union  when  one  tenth  of  the  number  of  the  voters  of  1860  had  taken 


788  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

this  oath  and  had  set  up  a  state  government.  At  the  same  time  he 
confessed  that  the  question  of  the  admission  of  their  representatives 
in  the  national  Congress  must  be  decided  by  the  respective  houses. 
It  was  not  long  before  Louisiana  and  Arkansas  took  advantage  of 
this  offer,  framed  and  adopted  constitutions  in  which  slavery  was 
forever  forbidden,  and  set  up  state  governments  under  them.  A 
little  over  one  tenth  of  the  presidential  vote  of  1860  was  cast  in 
these  two  states.  The  element  of  weakness  in  these  governments  lay 
in  the  fact  that  they  could  exist  only  when  protected  by  national  arms. 

Mr.  Lincoln  acted  in  good  faith.  He  bore  no  malice  toward  the 
people  of  the  South.  But  his  plan  was  not  carefully  completed,  and 
he  was  wrong  in  not  taking  more  pains  to  win  Congress  to  his  way 
of  thinking.  The  opposition  in  Congress  to  the  President's  plan 
was  at  first  feeble ;  but  owing  to  a  growing  jealousy  of  the  executive 
department,  to  a  distrust  of  the  ex-Confederates,  and  to  a  belief  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  would  be  too  lenient  in  his  dealings  with  them,  the 
majority  came  to  be  openly  hostile  to  the  "ten  per  cent"  plan,  and 
when  the  newly  elected  members  from  Arkansas  presented  them 
selves,  they  were  unceremoniously  rejected  by  both  House  and 
Senate.  Congress  then  passed  a  reconstruction  bill  differing  widely 
from  the  views  of  the  President.  By  this  bill  the  President  was 
directed  to  appoint  a  provisional  governor  for  each  rebellious  state, 
and  this  governor  should,  on  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  make  an 
enrollment  of  all  the  white  male  citizens ;  and  if  a  majority  of  these 
should  take  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  a  convention  should 
be  called  to  frame  a  state  Constitution,  which  should  disfranchise 
the  leaders  of  the  rebellion,  abolish  slavery,  and  pronounce  against 
the  payment  of  any  Confederate  debt.  This  Constitution  must  then 
be  submitted  to  a  popular  vote ;  if  it  were  supported  by  a  majority, 
the  governor  was  to  report  the  fact  to  the  President,  who  should  recog 
nize  the  state  government  after  obtaining  the  consent  of  Congress.1 

The  measure  was  a  severe  rebuke  to  the  President.  It  was  sent 
to  him  on  July  4,  1864,  the  last  day  of  the  session,  and  he  quietly 
disposed  of  it  by  a  pocket  veto.2  A  few  days  after  the  session  closed 

1  Even  this  bill  was  too  mild  for  Stevens,  the  House  leader,  who  denied  all  con 
stitutional  rights  to  the  South,  and  favored  confiscating  the  property  of  the  leaders 
of  the  rebellion. 

2  The  Constitution  provides  that  a  congressional  bill  must  be  signed  or  vetoed  by 
the  President  within  ten  days  after  its  passage.     If  he  does  neither,  it  will  become  a 
law  without  his  signature.     This,  however,  does  not  apply  when  Congress  adjourns 
within  the  ten  days.     If  in  that  case  the  President  withholds  his  signature,  the  bill 


LINCOLN'S   PLAN   OF   RECONSTRUCTION  789 

he  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  that  he  was  "unprepared  ...  to  be 
inflexibly  committed  to  any  single  plan  of  restoration,"  or  to  declare 
the  governments  in  Louisiana  and  Arkansas  set  aside,  thereby  repel 
ling  the  loyal  citizens  of  these  states.  Had  Congress  been  in  session, 
a  fierce  conflict  would  doubtless  have  been  precipitated.  But  the 
members  had  gone  to  their  homes  and  would  not  again  assemble  for 
some  months ;  and  further,  the  country  was  in  the  midst  of  a  presi 
dential  campaign,  and  any  party  schism  at  that  time  might  have 
proved  disastrous.  Most  of  the  leaders  therefore  smothered  their 
resentment  and  continued  to  work  for  Mr.  Lincoln's  reelection. 

But  there  were  two  notable  exceptions.    Senator  Benjamin  Wade 
of  Ohio  and  ^Representative  Henry  Winter  Davis  of  Maryland,  chair 
men  of  the  respective  committees  on  rebellious  states,   j^e  wade- 
came  out  in  a  most  caustic  paper  against  the  President.   Davis 
This  paper  was  published  widely  over  the  signatures  of  manifesto, 
the  two  statesmen.     It  arraigned  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  severest  lan 
guage,  declaring  that  the  Union  men  in  Congress  "  would  not  submit 
to  be  impeached  of  rash  and  unconstitutional  legislation,"  that  the 
President  "  must  confine  himself  to  executive  duties  —  to  obey  and 
execute,  and  not  to  make  the  laws."     This  remarkable  paper  only 
served  to  rouse  Lincoln's  friends,  and  it  doubtless  contributed  to  his 
great  majority  at  the  polls  in  November.     So  fully  had  Lincoln  won 
the  hearts  of  the  people,  even  in  Maryland,  that  Mr.  Davis,  who  had 
written  this  paper,  was  denied  a  renomination  to  Congress.     When 
Congress  assembled  in  December,  the  President  wisely  refrained,  in 
his  message,  from  making  any  reference  to  reconstruction,  and  the 
winter  passed  without  further  progress.      But  Congress  was  still 
defiant ;  and  an  open  rupture  with  the  President,  when  the  great 
subject  should  again  be  reached,  seemed  inevitable.    Lincoln  adhered 
to  his  "Louisiana  plan"  with  unexpected  tenacity.     In  a  speech 
made  on  April  11,  1865,  the  last  public  speech  of  his 
life,  he  reviewed   his  plan  of   reconstruction,   stating   gpgg^11  S 
what  he  had  done  and  why  he  did  it.     He  explained 
how  unwise  it  would  be  to  reject  and  spurn  the  loyal  people  of  the 
South  in  their  endeavors  to  aid  in  bringing  back  the  erring  states 

does  not  become  law.  This  is  called  a  pocket  veto.  Congress  was  wrong  in  rebuking 
the  President  so  sharply  in  this  bill ;  but  Mr.  Lincoln  no  doubt  made  a  serious  mistake 
in  not  signing  it.  In  a  private  conversation  with  Sumner  he  expressed  his  regret  at 
not  having  done  so.  The  bill  was  far  milder  than  the  reconstruction  bill  adopted 
three  years  later. 


790  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

into  the  Union.  "  It  may  be  my  duty,"  were  his  final  words,  "  to 
make  some  new  announcement  to  the  people  of  the  South.  I  am 
considering  and  shall  not  fail  to  act  when  satisfied  that  action  will 
be  proper."  What  the  "new  announcement"  was  to  be  was  never 
known.  Four  days  after  making  this  speech  the  great  President  was 
dead. 

THE  NEW  PRESIDENT  AND  THE  OLD  PLAN 

Of  all  our  Presidents  who  rose  from  the  humbler  walks  of  life, 
the  most  notable  example  was  Andrew  Johnson.  He  was  the  third 
accidental  President,  the  third  also  to  be  born  in  North  Carolina 
and  elected  from  Tennessee.  As  a  youth  Johnson  belonged  to  the 
class  of  "  poor  whites  "  in  the  South,  a  class  whose  social  standing 
was  scarcely  above  that  of  the  slave.  Besides  being  low  in  the 
social  scale,  Johnson  was  illiterate.  A  tailor  by  trade,  he  worked 
industriously  and  picked  up  the  little  knowledge  within  his  reach. 
When  married,  he  was  scarcely  able  to  read ;  his  wife  became  his 
first  and  only  teacher,  and  he  soon  acquired  a  fair  working  education. 
He  was  a  coarse,  honest,  powerful  personality.  Becoming  interested 
in  politics,  he  was  sent  to  the  legislature  of  his  adopted  state,  whence 
he  was  promoted  in  1843  to  the  Lower  House  of  Congress.  After 
Early  life  of  ten  vears'  service  in  the  House,  he  was  elected  governor 
Andrew  of  Tennessee,  and  later  he  entered  the  United  States 

Johnson.  Senate.  Here  we  find  him  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war ; 

and  he  alone,  of  the  twenty-two  senators  from  the  seceded  states, 
remained  true  to  the  Union.  Thus  Johnson  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  country  and  especially  of  Lincoln,  who  made  him  military 
governor  of  Tennessee,  and  who  later  gave  his  voice  for  him  as 
candidate  for  the  vice  presidency. 

Johnson's  patriotism  was  unquestioned,  and  his  courage  rose  to 
the  heroic.  On  one  occasion  he  kept  at  bay  a  mob  thirsting  for  his 
blood  by  the  defiant  glare  of  his  eyes.  But  his  courage  was  of  the 
bull-dog  character.  To  the  better  part  of  valor,  discretion,  he  was  a 
stranger.  He  was  pugnacious  and  egotistical;  "he  seemed  to  enjoy 
combat  and  continued  to  fight  after  he  was  beaten  with- 
character  ou^  knowing  he  was  beaten." l  In  ordinary  times  John 
son  might  have  made  a  good  President.  But  the  times 
were  inauspicious.  The  agitation  of  the  people  over  reconstruction 
was  scarcely  less  than  during  the  war,  arid  moreover,  the  machinery 
i  "  Side  Lights,"  Series  II,  p.  186. 


JOHNSON  AND   SEWARD  791 

of  government  had  been  thrown  out  of  balance  by  the  death  of 
Lincoln.  Among  public  men  of  the  time,  it  would  have  been  diffi 
cult  to  find  a  man  less  fitted  for  the  ponderous  duties  of  the  great 
office  than  was  this  belligerent,  egotistical,  tactless  man  from 
Tennessee. 

Now  in  the  midst  of  the  strife  over  reconstruction  Andrew  Johnson 
became  President  of  the  United  States.  Twice  before  had  the  Vice 
President  succeeded  to  the  chief  office,  and  in  each  case  the  policy  of 
the  government  had  been  radically  changed.  That  the  same  would 
again  occur  seemed  evident  from  the  earliest  utterances  of  the  new 
President.  In  the  first  weeks  of  his  presidency  he  breathed  out 
threatenings  against  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion  continually.  What 
a  contrast  with  the  attitude  of  the  mild,  the  ever  humane  Lincoln ! 
But  a  change  came  over  the  mind  of  the  newly  installed  Presi 
dent.  Only  a  few  weeks  passed  before  he  veered  about  in  his  attitude 
toward  the  South,  and  seemed  ready  to  go  as  far  as  Lincoln  had  ever 
gone  in  his  efforts  at  conciliation.  The  change  in  Johnson  is  sup 
posed  to  have  been  wrought  by  the  influence  of  Seward,  whom  he 
retained  as  secretary  of  state.  The  wounds  received  by  Mr.  Seward 
on  the  night  of  the  assassination  of  Lincoln  were  at  first  thought  to 
be  fatal.  For  days  he  hovered  between  life  and  death.  Then  he 
began  to  improve,  and  so  rapid  was  his  recovery  that  in  a  few  weeks 
he  again  took  his  place  in  the  Cabinet.  Seward  did  not  favor  the 
harsh  measures  toward  the  South  implied  in  the  threats  of  Johnson. 
In  magnanimity  of  soul  he  was  comparable  with  his  fallen  chieftain. 
Johnson  came  under  the  subtle  power  of  Seward's  mind,  and  the  less 
yielded  to  the  greater.1  The  outcome  of  this  coalition  was  unhappy ; 
but  neither  foresaw  this,  and  Seward,  judged  alone  from  his  motives, 
was  never  greater  in  all  his  great  life,  never  more  heroic  and  admi 
rable. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  for  many  years  before  the  war,  Sew 
ard,  as  champion  of  the  cause  of  the  slave,  as  the  unrelenting  politi 
cal  foe  of  the  slaveholders,  as  the  father  of  Republican 
ism,  was  despised  from  one  end  of  the  South  to  the  g^rd68*  ° 
other.     But  as  the  war  neared  its  ending  he  became  an 
advocate  of  mild  measures  toward  the  South,  and  he  labored  with 
Lincoln  for  months  to  make  the  pathway  of  the  erring  sisters  easy  to 

1  This  view  is  strongly  advocated  by  Mr.  Elaine  and  is  doubtless  the  correct  one, 
though  it  is  quite  probable  that  Johnson's  change  was  partly  due  to  the  reasserting 
of  his  democratic  views. 


792  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

retrace.  While  thus  engaged,  he  was  attacked  on  the  bed  of  sickness 
by  a  half-crazed  sympathizer  with  disunion,  and  stabbed  and  gashed 
till  life  was  almost  gone.  Had  there  been  a  grain  of  littleness  in 
Seward's  soul,  It  would  now  have  gained  the  mastery.  But  instead 
of  showing  resentment,  he  resumed  his  place  in  the  Cabinet  and 
advocated  the  same  mild  reconstruction  plan  for  which  he  had  labored 
before.  Johnson  now  took  up  the  thread  of  reconstruction  where 
Lincoln  had  left  off,  and  henceforth  his  attitude  was  one  of  concilia 
tion  toward  the  South. 

Congress  was  not  in  session,  and  Johnson  was  easily  persuaded  to 
believe  that  he  had  power  to  restore  the  Southern  states  to  the  Union 
without  the   aid   of   Congress.     On  the  29th  of  May, 
mn  S°tn  S         1865,  he  issued  his  great  amnesty  proclamation  extend 
ing  pardon  to  almost  the  entire  South,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  the  leaders  in   the  rebellion   who   were   designated   under 
thirteen   different   headings ;    and  most   of   these   exceptions   were 
promised  pardon  on  the  condition  that  they  personally  seek  it. 

On  this  same  day,  May  29,  the  President  issued  a  second  procla 
mation  appointing  a  provisional  governor  of  North  Carolina,  who 
was  to  reestablish  the  machinery  of  government  in  that  state  on  the 
basis  of  the  vote  of  the  white  citizens  who  should  take  the  oath 
required  by  the  amnesty  proclamation.  In  a  short  time  similar 
action  was  taken  with  regard  to  other  states,  and  by  the  middle  of 
July  all  the  seceded  states  had  taken  steps  toward  setting  up  gov 
ernments  by  the  authority  of  Johnson,  —  except  four,  Louisiana, 
Arkansas,  Tennessee,  and  Virginia,  whose  "ten  per  cent"  govern 
ments,  established  under  Lincoln's  authority,  were  now  recognized ;  — 
and  each  soon  had  its  legislature  at  work  and  everything  moving  in 
apparent  harmony. 

What  a  marvelous  achievement !  This  great  problem  of  recon 
struction  for  which  the  history  of  the  ages  furnished  no  precedent, 
which  had  puzzled  the  brain  of  the  wisest  statesmen,  —  this  vast 
problem  had  been  completely  solved  and  disposed  of  in  a  few  weeks 
by  this  accidental  President  who  had  scarcely  learned  to  read  when 
he  reached  adult  life.  Johnson  had  asked  no  advice  of  Congress. 
He  seemed  to  have  forgotten  that  President  Lincoln 
na^  f°un(l  a  powerful  obstacle  to  his  method  of  recon- 

A 

struction  in  the  opposition  of  the  legislative  branch. 
Johnson's  egotism  led  him  to  believe  that  he  could  do  what  Lincoln 
had  failed  to  do,  and  that  he  was  quite  competent  to  perform  the 


AMENDING  THE   CONSTITUTION  793 

work ;  and  he  was  led  to  believe  that  it  came  within  his  duty  and 
authority  to  readmit  the  seceded  states  single-handed.  He  probably 
expected  opposition  from  the  legislative  branch,  but  there  is  little 
reason  to  believe  that  Johnson  meant  to  defy  or  to  offend  Congress, 
or  to  alienate  the  party  that  had  elected  him. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  there  was  much  merit  in  the  plan  of 
Johnson,  of  which,  however,  Lincoln  and  Seward,  rather  than  he,  were 
the  authors.  John  Sherman  in  his  "Recollections'7  declares  the 
scheme  "  wise  and  judicious."  Johnson's  plan  was  based  on  Lincoln's 
Louisiana  plan,  but  it  also  contained  many  features  of  the  congres 
sional  bill  that  Lincoln  had  refused  to  sign  the  year  before.  By 
this  plan  a  state  was  to  be  restored  to  the  Union,  after  it  had  abol 
ished  slavery,  repudiated  any  debt  incurred  in  aid  of  rebellion,  and 
ratified  the 

THIRTEENTH  AMENDMENT 

For  more  than  sixty  years  the  Supreme  Law  of  the  land  had 
remained  unchanged.  So  slow  moving  are  we,  and  so  tenaciously 
do  we  cling  to  our  organic  law,  that  in  those  sixty  years  every  pro 
posed  amendment,  and  they  were  many,  fell  to  the  ground.1  Nothing 
short  of  a  great  national  upheaval  could  bring  about  constitutional 
changes,  and  this  was  furnished  by  the  Civil  War,  whose  permanent 
results  are  registered  in  three  amendments  to  the  Constitution.  The 
first  of  these,  the  Thirteenth,  is  very  short  and  deals  only  with  re 
moving  slavery  forever  from  the  United  States.  When  President 
Lincoln  issued  his  Emancipation  Proclamation,  he  intended  it  only 
as  a  preliminary  measure,  and  it  applied  only  to  slaves  of  disloyal 
masters,  He  knew  that  to  be  effective  and  universal  it  must  be 
followed  by  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution.  When  the  saving 
of  the  Union  seemed  assured,  the  great  subject  on  the  mind  of  the 
President  was  that  of  removing  slavery.  His  later  messages  are 
full  of  the  subject.  In  his  annual  message  of  December,  1864, 
referring  to  the  blacks  who  had  been  set  free  by  the  proclamation 
of  1863,  or  by  acts  of  Congress,  he  declared  that  if  the  people  should 
make  it  an  "  executive  duty  to  reen slave  such  persons,  another  and 
not  I  must  be  their  instrument  to  perform  it."  This  was  a  notice 

1  See  Ames's  "Proposed  Amendments,"  passim.  Other  reasons  for  our  not 
amending  the  Constitution  more  frequently  are,  that  some  features  have  been  changed 
by  custom,  others  by  the  decisions  of  the  Federal  court  in  accordance  with  broad 
construction,  and  the  fact  that  the  machinery  of  amendment  is  very  cumbersome. 
See  supra,  p.  339. 


794  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

that  he  would  resign  his  office  rather  than  become  an  instrument  in 
reenslaving  the  blacks  already  set  free. 

As  early  as  April,  1864,  the  Senate  adopted  an  emancipation 
amendment;  but  it  failed  in  the  House.  As  the  summer  and 
autumn  passed,  the  Union  armies  made  notable  progress ;  Lincoln 
was  reflected  and  the  Republican  majority  increased  in  Congress. 
Maryland  had  emancipated  of  her  own  accord,  and  other  border 
states  were  moving  in  the  same  direction.  It  seemed  certain  that 
if  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  refused  to  reconsider  and  pass  the 
amendment,  the  Thirty-ninth  would  pass  it.  But  the  Thirty-eighth 
did  not  wait.  A  few  Democratic  votes  were  needed  to  make  the 
two-thirds  majority,  and  these  President  Lincoln  secured  by  an  adroit 
use  of  the  patronage.  After  some  weeks'  debate,  the  measure  was 
passed  (119  to  56)  amid  the  greatest  excitement.  The  members  of 
the  House  then  sang  the  doxology  and  adjourned. 

The  Thirteenth  Amendment,  abolishing  slavery  forever  in  the 
United  States,  was  then  sent  to  the  states  and,  being  ratified  by  the 
necessary  three  fourths,  was  proclaimed,  on  December  18,  1865,  a 
part  of  the  Supreme  Law  of  the  land.1 

On  meeting  in  December,  1865,  Congress  utterly  ignored  the 
work  of  Johnson.  The  House,  after  electing  a  speaker,  entertained 
a  motion  made  by  Thaddeus  Stevens,  that  a  joint  committee  of 
House  and  Senate  be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the 
seceded  states,  and  passed  it  without  debate  —  before  the  annual 
message  of  the  President  had  been  received.  The  seceded  states, 
whose  representatives  waited  outside  for  admission,  were  not  even 
mentioned  in  the  roll  call.  The  Senate,  led  by  Sumner,  was  equally 
defiant,  and  the  President  soon  found  himself  out  of  harmony  with 
both  houses.  Admitting  that  the  Johnson  plan  of  reconstruction 
was  wise  in  many  respects,  as  is  now  generally  agreed,  but  two 
reasons  are  apparent  for  this  action  of  Congress.  The  first  was 
ignoble  and  unworthy  the  lawmakers  of  a  great  nation.  It  was  a 
feeling  of  malice  toward  the  people  of  the  South,  coupled  with  a 
feeling  of  pique  that  the  President  had  attempted  this  great  work 
without  consulting  them.  The  second  reason,  a  commendable  one 
which  justified  their  revising  of  Johnson's  work,  but  not  their 

1  Among  the  states  ratifying  were  a  few  that  had  seceded  and  had  not  yet  "been 
readmitted  by  Congress.  These  were  necessary  to  make  the  three  fourths.  This 
fact  forced  the  country  to  one  of  two  conclusions:  that  the  Amendment  was  not 
legally  adopted,  or  that  the  restoration  of  states  hy  Lincoln  and  Johnson  was  valid. 


RECONSTRUCTION  795 


wantonly  offending  him,  was  the  fact  that  some  of  the  southern 
legislatures,  assembled  under  the  Johnson  plan,  had  already  passed 
unjust  laws  discriminating  against  the  black  man.  To  these  may  be 
added  a  third  reason,  namely,  a  fear  that  the  Democrats  of  the  North 
would  join  their  political  fortunes  with  the  South,  and  at  an  early 
day  get  control  of  the  government. 

Euined  by  the  war,  the  South  had  won  the  sympathy  of  the 
world,  and  there  were  many  in  the  North  ready  to  follow  the  lead  of 
Lincoln,  Seward,  and  Grant,  and  deal  gently  with  the  fallen  foe. 
During  the  summer  of  1865  the  South  had  a  great  opportunity  to 
show  its  appreciation  of  this  and  to  increase  the  rising  sympathy  by 
dealing  gently  with  the  negro.  But  various  Southern  states  took  the 
opposite  course.  It  is  true  that  the  problem  of  the  southern  whites 
was  a  hard  one.  The  government  of  millions  of  illiterate  freedmen, 
ignorant,  lazy,  and  often  vicious,  required  special  legislation ;  but 
such  legislation,  instead  of  being  humane,  was  in  some  cases  harsh 
and  unjust,  and  this  threw  a  chill  over  the  rising  sympathy  of  the 
North,  and  gave  color  to  the  harsh  measures  of  Congress  that  were 
soon  to  be  enacted. 

CONGRESSIONAL  RECONSTRUCTION 

With  the  meeting  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress  in  December, 
1865,  began  the  most  violent  political  contest  in  American  history. 
Congress,  as  stated,  ignored  the  work  of  the  President  and  formu 
lated  its  own  plan  of  reconstruction.  The  President,  whose  chief 
characteristic  was  pugnacity,  refused  to  bow  to  the  will  of  Congress ; 
and  he  made  personal  attacks  in  public  speeches  on  the  leading  men 
in  Congress,  pretending  to  believe  that  they  were  desirous  of  having 
him  assassinated.1  Such  a  radical  departure  was  this  from  the  ordi 
nary  presidential  dignity  that  it  produced  a  shock,  and  served  only 
to  unite  the  President's  enemies  against  him. 

The  great  debates  on  reconstruction,  covering  many  months, 
began  on  December  18,  1865.  On  that  day  Thaddeus  Stevens,  who 
was  henceforth  to  the  end  of  his  life  dictator  of  the  House,  made  a 
radical,  not  to  say  violent,  speech,  in  which  he  pronounced  the  South 
conquered  territory  whose  future  condition  must  depend  on  the  will 
of  the  conquerors.  The  Senate,  led  by  Sumner  and  his  colleague, 
Henry  Wilson,  was  equally  radical.  The  Freednien's  Bureau  Bill 
1  See  McCall's  "  Thaddeus  Steveiis,"  p.  253. 


796  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

was  passed  in  February,  vetoed  by  the  President,  but  failed  to  pass 
over  the  veto.  The  act  provided  for  selling  land  to  the  freedmen  at 
a  very  low  rate,  reserved  the  property  of  the  late  Confederate  gov 
ernment  for  their  education,  and  ordered  the  President  to  protect 
them  when  necessary.1  A  few  days  after  the  failure  to  pass  this  bill 
over  the  veto,  President  Johnson  made  a  violent  speech  from  the 
steps  of  the  White  House  in  which  he  pronounced  Congress  an 
irresponsible  body  and  denounced  its  leaders  unsparingly.  This 
speech  tended  to  solidify  Congress  against  him,  and  when  in  March 
he  vetoed  the  Civil  Eights  Bill,  it  readily  passed  over  his  veto.  This 
law  was  intended  to  give  the  negro  the  rights  of  a  citizen  before  the 
law ;  but  its  principles  were  soon  embodied  in  a  more  permanent 
form  by  the  passing  in  June,  1866,  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment. 
It  was  believed  that  merely  giving  to  the  black  man  his  freedom 
would  not  insure  his  rights  before  the  law.  He  must  have  other 
safeguards  or  his  freedom  would  amount  to  little.  The  Fourteenth 
Amendment,  therefore,  in  its  first  section,  defined  citizenship  in  such 
a  way  as  to  make  the  negro  a  citizen,  and  to  place  him  exactly  on 
a  footing  with  the  white  man  in  his  relation  to  the  Federal  govern 
ment.  It  also  denied  to  any  state  the  right  to  abridge  the  privi 
leges  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  to  deprive  them  of  life, 
liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of  law,  or  to  deprive  any 
within  its  jurisdiction  of  equal  protection  of  the  law.  The  second 
section  declared  that  if  any  state  denies  the  elective  franchise  to 
any  portion  of  its  male  citizens  above  twenty-one  years  of  age,  its 
representation  in  the  Lower  House  of  Congress  should  be  reduced 
in  like  proportion.2  This  left  in  the  power  of  the  state  the  colored 
man's  right  to  vote,  and  any  state  might  disfranchise  him  if  it 
were  willing  to  pay  the  penalty  of  a  reduced  representation  in 
Congress. 

The  adoption  by  the  Southern  states  of  this  Amendment  was  now 
made  a  condition  of  their  readmission  to  the  Union.  One  of  the 
eleven,  Tennessee,  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  and  came 
back  into  the  Union  fold.  The  other  ten  held  aloof.  The  summer 

1  The  Freedman's  Bureau  Bill  came  up  again  and  was  passed  over  the  executive 
veto  in  July. 

2  The  third  section  excluded  from  the  right  to  hold  office  under  the  government 
all  who,  having  held  a  national  or  state  office,  had  entered  into  rebellion  against  the 
government.    The  fourth  section  pronounced  on  the  validity  of  the  public  debt,  and 
forbade  any  state  from  paying  any  debt  incurred  in  rebellion,  or  for  any  of  the  eman 
cipated  slaves. 


CONGRESSIONAL   ELECTION   OF   1866  797 

of  1866  passed,  and  the  autumn  brought  the  election  of  a  new  Con 
gress.  Never  before  had  there  been  such  a  bitter  fight  when  a 
President  was  not  to  be  elected.  Both  parties  held  great  national 
conventions  in  various  cities.  The  Johnson  party  consisted  of  the 
Democrats  and  a  considerable  section  of  the  Republican  party  led  by 
Henry  J.  Raymond,  editor  of  the  New  York  Times.  President  John 
son  at  this  time  made  his  famous  "  swinging  round  the  circle  "  tour, 
ostensibly  to  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  Doug-  AUgust_ 
las  monument  in  Chicago.  But  it  became  a  campaigning  September, 
tour,  and  the  partisan  speeches  of  the  President  were  so  1866- 
violent  and  so  unbecoming  the  exalted  office  that  he  filled  as  to  make 
every  true  American  blush.  He  attacked  Congress  with  great  fury, 
declared  he  would  stick  to  his  "  policy,"  nor  be  turned  from  his  pur 
pose  "though  the  powers  of  hell  and  Thad  Stevens  and  his  gang 
were  by,"  that  Stevens  and  Wendell  Phillips  should  be  hanged,  and 
the  like.  But  Johnson's  policy  was  very  much  discredited  at  the 
election.  The  opposition  won  a  great  victory  and  had  a  majority  of 
nearly  three  to  one  in  the  next  House. 

Had  Johnson,  on  learning  the  result  of  the  election,  bowed  him 
self  to  his  master,  the  people,  with  "Thy  will  be  done,"  he  might 
have  regained  much  that  he  had  lost,  and  his  name  might  now  have 
a  meaning  in  history  that  it  can  never  have.  But  Johnson  still 
showed  fight ;  he  clung  to  hi^  plan,  and  the  Southern  states  took 
courage.  They  seemed  to  think  that  he  would  win  in  the  end,  and 
the  entire  ten  deliberately  rejected  the  Fourteenth  Amendment. 

Congress  regarded  this  as  a  defiance  of  its  power  and  a  challenge 
to  battle.  The  recent  election  was  looked  upon  as  an  approval  by 
the  people  of  its  plans,  and  henceforth  its  dealings  j^e  Qreat 
with  the  South  were  drastic  and  merciless.  It  was  Kecon- 
now  evident  that  the  radicals  meant  to  reconstruct  the  struction  Act. 
South  over  again  under  the  supervision  of  the  army  directed  by 
Congress  and  to  build  up  a  Republican  party  in  the  South  by 
enfranchising  the  negro.  That  this  was  the  aim  of  Congress  was 
acknowledged  by  such  leaders  as  Sumner,  Stevens,  and  Wade.1  In 
February,  1867,  Stevens  moved  in  the  House  the  "  Great  Reconstruc 
tion  Act "  which  provided  that  the  ten  states  not  yet  admitted  be 
divided  into  five  military  districts,  into  each  of  which  should  be 
sent  an  officer  with  an  army  to  supplant  the  civil  government.  The 
bill  was  passed  over  the  President's  veto  on  the  2d  of  March, 
i  "  Cambridge  Modern  History,"  Vol.  VII,  p.  633. 


798  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

and  two  days  later  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress  expired.  But  instead 
of  taking  the  usual  recess  of  nine  months,  the  new  Congress  met  at  the 
moment  the  old  expired,  in  the  fear  that  the  President,  if  left  alone, 
would  not  properly  carry  out  its  desires. 

This  reconstruction  act,  with  a  supplementary  one  passed  later 
in  March,  provided  that  the  military  governor  of  each  district 
make  a  registration  of  all  the  male  citizens  of  each  state,  submit 
to  them  a  test  oath,  and  call  for  a  constitutional  convention,  the 
delegates  to  be  elected  by  those  who  should  take  the  oath.  If  a 
state  constitution  so  framed  should  conform  with  the  national  Con 
stitution,  should  be  ratified  by  a  majority  of  the  voters  of  the  state, 
and  be  approved  by  Congress,  the  state  would  thereupon  be  read 
mitted  to  the  Union,  after  its  legislature  had  ratified  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment. 

Thus  the  Southern  states  were  placed  under  military  rule,1  order 
was  again  restored,  and  most  of  them  at  length  proceeded  to  comply 
with  the  exactions  of  Congress.  Within  a  year  and  a  half  after  the 
military  occupation  of  the  South  seven  of  the  ten  states  had  com 
plied  with  the  conditions  and  were  readmitted  to  representation  in 
Congress,  each  having  ratified  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  which 
became  a  part  of  the  Constitution  in  July,  1868.  Three  states,  how 
ever,  Virginia,  Mississippi,  and  Texas,  still  held  aloof  and  thereby 
denied  themselves  the  privilege  of  taking  part  in  the  presidential 
election  of  1868. 

The  Southern  states  that  ratified  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  had 
done  so  through  the  newly  built-up  Republican  party,  composed 
chiefly  of  negroes  in  those  states.  But  the  northern  radicals,  fearing 
that  the  Republican  party  in  the  South,  which  depended  on  the  negro 
vote,  would  be  insecure  when  the  whites  again  gained  control,  and 
believing  that  the  ballot  would  be  a  permanent  means  of  protection 
in  the  hands  of  the  blacks,  now  determined  that  the  right  of  the 
negro  to  vote  should  not  be  left  with  the  states  at  all.  This  idea 
took  shape  in  the  Fifteenth  Amendment,  which  denied  to  Congress  or  to 
any  state  the  power  to  disfranchise  a  man  on  account  of  race,  color, 
or  previous  condition  of  servitude.  This  amendment  passed  both 
houses  in  February,  1869,  and  the  three  states  that  had  not  yet  been 
admitted  were  now  required  to  ratify  it,  as  well  as  the  Fourteenth,  as 

1  The  five  districts  were  put  under  the  respective  commands  of  Generals  Schofield, 
Sickles,  Pope,  Ord,  and  Sheridan  (who  was  soon  supplanted  by  Hancock) .  They  were 
appointed  by  the  President  with  the  advice  of  General  Grant. 


THE   FINAL   REUNION  790 


a  condition  of  their  admission.  This  they  eventually  did,  and  before 
the  close  of  the  year  1870  all  had  been  reinstated,  and  the  Fifteenth 
Amendment  was  part  of  the  Constitution.1 

THE  CARPETBAGGERS  —  THE  RACE  QUESTION 

Congressional  reconstruction  was  thorough,  drastic,  merciless ;  a 
study  of  it  enlists  our  sympathies  with  the  South.  The  governments 
it  set  up  were  all  temporary,  and  during  their  short  existence  the 
most  corrupt  in  the  annals  of  the  United  States.  Had  it  not  been 
for  the  summary  negro  laws  made  by  some  of  the  Southern  states  in 
1865,  and  the  abusive  violence  of  President  Johnson,  public  opinion 
at  the  North  would  not  have  sustained  Congress  in  its  methods  of 
procedure.  It  is  true  that  something  more  was  necessary  to  be  done 
for  the  black  man  than  merely  to  set  him  free.  It  seemed  needful 
that  he  be  protected,  for  a  time  at  least,  by  the  national  arm.  This 
was  effected  by  congressional  reconstruction,  and  the  result  was  a  series 
of  milder  negro  laws  in  the  Southern  states  and  the  adoption  of  the 
Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  amendments  to  the  national  Constitution. 
Aside  from  this,  congressional  reconstruction  left  no  permanent  re 
sults,  and  the  expediency  of  adopting  the  two  amendments  is  at  this 
day  seriously  questioned,2  and,  whatever  their  merits,  they  have 
practically  ceased  to  be  operative  in  the  South.  The  Fourteenth 
and  Fifteenth  amendments,  it  will  be  remembered,  deal  only  with 
the  states  and  do  not  protect  the  individual  voter  from  local  violence 
while  casting  his  ballot.  For  such  protection  the  negro  must  still 
depend  solely  on  the  state  in  which  he  resides.  If  it  refuses  to  pro 
tect  him,  he  has  no  redress. 

The  governments  set  up  during  those  days  were  scandalous  be 
yond  precedent.  The  old  political  leaders  were  not  yet  permitted  to 
take  part  in  the  state  governments.  The  newly  enfranchised  f reedmen 
were  utterly  unfit  to  take  the  lead,  and  the  result  was  that  a  class  of 
unscrupulous  adventurers  from  the  Xorth,  packing  up  their  goods  in 
a  carpetbag,  as  it  was  said,  went  to  the  South,  won  the  negro  voters  by 
their  blandishments,  and  soon  had  the  state  governments  under  their 

1  Georgia,  however,  had  forfeited  its  rights  by  pronouncing  the  negro  ineligible 
to  hold  office.    The  state  was  obliged  to  repeal  this  law,  and  it  was  January,  1871, 
before  it  was  finally  readmitted. 

2  Mr.  Elaine,  Mr.  John  Sherman,  and  most  of  the  leading  Republicans  of  the 
period  following  the  war  agree  that  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  was  an  unwise  meas 
ure.    See  Elaine's   "  Twenty  Years  of  Congress,"  Vol.  II,  p.  418,  and  Sherman's 
"Recollections,"  Vol.  I,  p.  450. 


800  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

control.  The  state  treasuries  were  plundered  and  bonds  were  issued 
increasing  the  state  debts  to  an  alarming  degree.  In  Louisiana  the 
public  debt  rose  from  ten  to  fifty  million  dollars  in  the  few  years  of 
carpetbag  government ;  in  Alabama  it  increased  over  thirty  million ; 
in  Georgia  nearly  fifty  million.1  These  are  but  samples  of  all.  The 
increase  indicated  no  public  improvements  —  only  theft.  Taxes  rose 
to  a  point  beyond  the  ability  of  the  people  to  pay.  In  Mississippi 
six  hundred  and  forty  thousand  acres,  one  fifth  of  the  state,  were 
forfeited  for  taxes.  In  South  Carolina  twenty-six  hundred  pieces  of 
land  were  sold  for  taxes  in  one  county  in  a  single  year.2  The  negro 
voters  were  easily  led  into  the  corrupt  business,  but  the  carpet 
bagger  always  managed  to  get  the  lion's  share.3  Here  and  there  an 
ex-Confederate  would  join  the  thieving  gang  for  the  plunder  there 
was  in  it.  Such  were  called  "  scalawags." 

The  better  class  of  whites  stood  aghast  and  helpless  at  the  further 
impoverishment  of  their  already  bankrupt  states.  Many  kept  a 
sullen,  bitter  silence ;  but  the  more  vicious  class  formed  a  secret 
organization  known  as  the  "  Ku  Klux  Klan  "  with  the  object  of  in 
timidating  the  black  voter.  These  governments  were  sustained  by 
the  military  arm.  The  Republican  party  as  a  whole  received  the 
blame.  There  were  many  thousands  of  whites  in  the  South  at  the 
close  of  the  war  who  were  in  sympathy  with  the  Republican  party; 
but  now,  almost  to  a  man,  they  turned  against  it  and 
South S°lld"  j°ine(l  fcne  Democrats.  For  many  years  thereafter  the 
South  was  known  as  the  "  solid  "  South.  Before  the 
war  the  South  was  scarcely  more  Democratic  than  Whig ;  and  it  was 
not  the  war  that  made  it  solidly  Democratic, — it  was  preeminently 
the  carpetbag  governments.4 

The  carpetbag  governments  disappeared  with  the  withdrawal  of 
the  troops,  and  the  state  governments  immediately  passed  again  into 
the  hands  of  the  white  men.5  And  this  was  most  natural.  Nothing 
else  could  possibly  have  been  expected.  The  white  race  had  labored 
for  centuries  to  attain  self-government.  It  paid  more  than  99  per 

1  Curry's  "  The  South,"  p.  231. 

2  McCall's  "  Thaddeus  Stevens,"  American  Statesman  Series,  p.  303. 
s  Lalor's  "Cyclopedia,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  554. 

4  And,  it  may  be  added,  the  race  question  helped  to  keep  it  solid  so  long.  See  the 
following  pages. 

6  President  Johnson  had  issued  a  universal  pardon  in  December,  1868,  and  in 
May,  1872,  Congress  removed  the  disabilities  imposed  by  the  Fourteenth  Amendment, 
except  in  a  few  cases. 


THE   RACE   PROBLEM  801 

cent  of  the  taxes.  Could  it  be  possible  that  the  government  of  these 
great  communities  should  be  turned  over  to  a  landless,  penniless, 
homeless,  illiterate  race  that  knew  not  the  first  principles  of  self- 
government  ?  Such  a  spectacle  is  unknown  in  the  world's  history. 
Where  the  brains  and  property  are  on  the  one  side  and  most  of  the 
ignorance  and  poverty  on  the  other,  the  former  will  rule  at  any  cost. 
The  cost  in  this  case  was  too  often  violence  and  fraud ;  but  under 
the  same  conditions  the  same  results  must  have,  followed  in  the 
North,  or  anywhere  else. 

The  rule  of  the  white  man   is   essential  to  southern  progress. 
Can  it  be  said,  on  general  principles,  or  on  the  basis  of  the  car 
petbag   governments,    that   the   black    race   could   have   developed 
the  South  as   it   has   been   developed   since  the  war?   The  white 
The  writer  of  this  volume  believes  himself  to  be  as  man's 
nearly  without  race  prejudice  as  a  normal  white  man   government, 
can  be;  but  he  believes  that  all  thoughtful  people  will  agree  that  the 
great  development  of  the  South  since  the  war  —  in  art,  in  science, 
literature,  education,  and  in  material  resources  — could  not  have  been, 
except  under  the  domination  of  the  white  race. 

Then  arises  the  question,  Why  do  not  the  two  races  blend  and  coop 
erate  in  matters  of  government  ?  This  brings  up  the  so-called  race 
problem,  the  most  serious  and  menacing  question  before  the  American 
people  to-day.  In  two  respects  the  two  races  have  refused  to  blend 
—  politically  and  socially.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  coerce  them.  It  is 
folly  to  attempt  by  legislative  acts,  or  by  moral  pressure,  to  force 
unnatural  relations  between  them.  Nature  seems  to  have  drawn  a 
line  between  the  races  that  man  has  no  power  to  obliterate.  In 
matters  of  business  the  two  races  may  have  and  do  have  the  most 
cordial  relations ;  but  in  politics  and  in  the  social  circle  there  is  a 
gulf  between  them,  almost  as  wide  now  as  at  the  close  of  the  war. 
For  a  generation  after  the  war  the  North  reproached  the  South  for 
its  attitude  toward  the  colored  man,  and  in  so  far  as  this  pertained  to 
violence  and  abuse,  the  reproach  was  just;  but  in  matters  of  politics 
the  North  has  come  to  take  practically  the  same  ground  as  held  all 
along  by  the  South.  I  make  no  attempt  to  explain  why  the  white  man 
will  not  admit  the  black  man  as  a  partner  in  governmental  affairs ; 
this  belongs  to  the  domain  of  the  sociologist;  but  there  are  the  facts, 
and  the  instinct  far  transcends  any  party  allegiance.  It  is  not  a  tenet 
of  Democratic  doctrine  peculiar  to  that  party.  The  Republicans 
have  reached  the  same  attitude.  For  many  years  after  the  war 
3r 


802  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

there  were  colored  Eepublicans  in  both  houses  of  Congress ;  to-day 
(1904)  there  is  not  one  in  either  House.     The  Republican  state  con 
vention  in  North  Carolina  in  September,  1902,  as  in 
proWem  several  other  Southern  states  the  same  year,  refused  to 

admit  a  single  black  man  to  its  membership.1  In  recent 
years  the  solidity  of  the  South  has  been  broken,2  but  this  was  not 
done  until  the  Republicans  threw  the  race  question  into  the  back 
ground  and  made  other  issues  paramount.  We  want  no  solid  South, 
nor  solid  North,  no  dividing  on  sectional  lines  in  American  politics. 
As  above  stated,  the  race  question  is  not  a  political  question,  and 
if  the  Democrats  of  the  North  were  to  attempt  to  force  their 
brethren  of  the  South  in  this  matter,  the  South  would  soon  be 
solidly  Republican. 

What,  then,  of  the  negro  in  the  future  ?  He  can  become  equal  to 
the  white  man  in  the  government  of  the  South  only  when  he  makes 
himself  an  equal  force  in  civilization.  And  perhaps  this  may  never 
be,  for  Nature  has  done  more  for  his  pale-faced  brother  than  for  him. 
What,  then,  of  the  negro  in  the  future  ?  The  best  thing  remains  to 
be  told,  namely :  The  negro  is  quite  safe  and  his  happiness  quite 
secure  under  the  white  man's  government.  The  white  man  at  this 
time  makes  every  law  in  every  southern  state,  but  in  no  case,  aside 
from  those  pertaining  to  the  franchise,  do  the  laws  now  discriminate 
against  the  black  man.  There  is  not  a  colored  child  in  any  city, 
village,  or  township  of  the  whole  South  that  has  not  access  to  a  free 
public  school,  established  under  the  white  man's  government,  and 
supported  by  his  money.3  So  in  property  rights,  the  negro  stands 
before  the  law  on  a  level  with  his  white  brother.  If  the  time  shall  ever 
come  when  the  negro  can  make  himself  an  equal  force  with  the  white 
man  in  matters  of  government,  he  need  not  build  the  edifice  ;  there  it 
stands  ready  for  him  to  occupy,  there  is  the  unchangeable  law,  making 
him  an  equal,  in  the  last  three  amendments  to  the  Constitution  —  so 
much  for  congressional  reconstruction.  Meantime  if  he  is  denied  a  free 
ballot,  if  he  is  denied  a  part  in  making  the  laws,  he  still  enjoys  the 
same  protection  under  the  laws  with  the  men  who  make  them. 

There  still  remains  the  social  problem.  In  this  the  line  between 
the  races  is  more  tensely  drawn  than  is  the  political  line,  and  all 

1  See  the  Outlook,  Vol.  LXXII,  p.  2591. 

2  Notably  in  Maryland,  West  Virginia,  and  Kentucky. 

3  Except  in  some  localities  where  schools  are  not  provided  for  either  race.    The 
whites  still  pay  above  90  per  cent  of  the  taxes.     See  Curry's  "  The  South,"  p.  238. 


UNDOING  OF   RECONSTRUCTION  803 

attempts  at  coercion  are  worse  than  folly.  Why  should  there  be  any 
attempt  at  coercion?  Why  should  not  the  races  remain  apart 
socially  and  each  be  content  with  his  own  society  ?  If  the  white 
man  is  content  with  the  society  of  his  own  race,  why  should  not  the 
negro  be  content  with  his  ?  Constitutions,  congresses,  and  courts  are 
powerless  to  change  the  social  relations  between  the  races.  Until 
this  natural  difference  between  them  is  properly  recognized,  this 
great  problem  cannot  be  solved. 

The  future  of  the  negro  rests  chiefly  with  himself.  The  great 
curse  of  the  race  to-day  is,  not  the  want  of  a  free  ballot,  but  the  want 
of  ambition  to  do  something  and  to  be  somebody.  Vast  numbers  of 
the  southern  blacks  are  of  the  listless,  aimless  class  who  aspire  to 
nothing,  who  are  content  to  live  in  squalor  and  ignorance.  But  there 
are  noble  exceptions ;  there  are  many  southern  colored  men  who  are 
striving  to  uplift  their  race  to  a  higher  plane  of  civilization.  If  the 
bulk  of  the  race  would  follow  the  guidance  of  that  most  useful  of  all 
colored  men  in  the  United  States,  Booker  T.  Washington,  the  race 
question  would  soon  cease  to  be  troublesome. 

A  final  word  must  here  be  said  about  congressional  reconstruc 
tion  The  process  of  the  "undoing  of  reconstruction"  began  with 
the  downfall  of  the  carpetbag  governments,  continued  jj^  Un(j0ing 
for  more  than  thirty  years,  and  resulted  in  the  complete  of  reconstruc- 
restoration  of  the  whites  to  power  throughout  the  South.  tion- 
The  first  stage  in  this  process  was  marked  by  violence  and  disorder 
in  the  extreme,  the  most  prominent  feature  being  the  work  of  the 
Ku  Klux.  This  condition  led  Congress  to  pass  the  Enforcement 
Act  of  1870,  the  Ku  Klux  Act  of  1871,  and  of  an  additional  Civil 
Rights  Bill  in  1875.  There  were  also  Federal  Elections  acts  passed 
in  1871  and  1872.  But  in  spite  of  all  this,  every  southern  state  that 
had  seceded  turned  Democratic,  beginning  with  Tennessee  in  1869  and 
ending  with  Florida,  Louisiana,  and  South  Carolina  in  1877.  But  as 
violence  in  the  South  against  the  black  voter  always  awakened  an  out 
cry  from  the  North,  a  new  plan  was  inaugurated  about  1877,  which 
marks  the  beginning  of  the  second  stage  of  the  undoing  of  reconstruc 
tion.  During  this  period,  which  continued  till  1890,  the  whites  kept 
control  chiefly  by  sharp  practice,  such  as  gerrymandering  and  ballot- 
box  juggling,  by  which  the  ignorant  blacks  were  easily  managed.1 

1  All  sorts  of  devices  were  employed.  Sometimes  the  negroes  were  obliged  to 
travel  thirty  or  forty  miles  to  vote,  where  rivers  without  bridges  were  to  be  crossed, 
and  all  the  ferries  would  be  tied  up  on  election  day.  In  one  town  where  a  poll  tax 


804  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES 

Meantime,  a  series  of  Supreme  Court  decisions,  if  we  may  antici 
pate  a  little  more,  served  to  encourage  the  southern  democracy  in 
its  methods.  A  decision  of  1873,  known  as  the  Slaughter  House 
Cases,  to  be  referred  to  later,  greatly  weakened  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment  as  compared  with  its  earlier  intended  meaning,  and 
other  later  decisions  continued  this  weakening  process.  In  a  decision 
of  1875  and  another  in  1882,  the  Enforcement  Act1  of  1870  and  the 
Ku  Klux  Act  were  rendered  null  by  their  being  confined  to  state 
action,  and  not  to  individuals  who  conspired  to  deprive  negroes  of 
their  rights,  and  in  1883  the  Supreme  Court  pronounced  the  Civil 
Eights  Act  of  1875  unconstitutional. 

During  this  period  the  equality  of  the  negro  with  the  white  man 
was  recognized  in  law,  though  not  in  fact.  But  in  1890  the  third 
and  last  stage  of  the  process  of  disfranchising  the  blacks  began.  In 
this  year  Mississippi  applied  another  method  without  treading  on 
the  Fifteenth  Amendment.  The  state  adopted  a  constitution  which 
shut  out  nearly  all  the  black  voters  by  a  property  and  educational 
test,  while  the  ignorant  white  voter  was  taken  care  of  through 
the  "reasonable  interpretation"  of  the  constitution  clause.  South 
Carolina  followed  in  1895  with  an  "understanding"  clause  to  save 
the  illiterate  white  voter ;  for  the  white  election  officer  may, 
all  unconsciously  of  course,  decide  that  the  ignorant  negro  does 
not  understand  the  constitution,  while  the  equally  ignorant  white 
man  does.  Louisiana,  in  1898,  protected  the  ignorant  whites  by 
a  new  device  known  as  .the  "Grandfather  clause"  by  which  a 
man  could  not  be  denied  the  right  to  vote  if  his  father  or  grand 
father  was  a  voter  in  1867.  North  Carolina  followed  this  example 
in  1900,  and  other  states  have  since  then  adopted  similar  constitu 
tions.  These  new  state  constitutions  render  the  Fifteenth  Amend 
ment  and  parts  of  the  Fourteenth  almost  a  dead  letter  at  the  South. 
Some  of  these  constitutions  have  been  tested  before  the  Federal 
Supreme  Court  but  in  each  case  the  matter  has  been  dismissed  for 
want  of  jurisdiction,2  nor  have  the  Republicans  of  the  North  shown 

was  required,  and  the  Republicans  had  furnished  hundreds  of  the  negroes  with  tax 
receipts  for  a  certain  election,  the  Democrats  managed  to  have  a  circus  in  town  on 
election  day,  and  arranged  to  have  tax  receipts  accepted  for  admission.  The  election 
booth  was  deserted  by  the  blacks  while  the  circus  was  crowded.  See  Professor  W.  A. 
Dunning's  "  Undoing  of  Reconstruction,"  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  Vol.  88,  p.  437  sq. 

1  All  the  Force  Acts  were  repealed  by  a  Democratic  Congress  in  1894. 

2  See  Williams  vs.  Mississippi,  170  U.S.  213;  the  Nation  of  April  30  and  May  7, 
1903. 


THE   PRESIDENT  AND   CONGRESS  805 

a  disposition  to  apply  the  test  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  to 
reduce  the  representation  of  the  Southern  states  in  Congress,  in  con 
sequence  of  their  disfranchising  so  large  a  portion  of  their  voters. 

IMPEACHMENT   OF   PRESIDENT  JOHNSON 

By  far  the  greatest  historic  trial  ever  held  in  the  United  States 
was  that  of  Andrew  Johnson  by  the  Senate  in  the  spring  of  1868, 
after  his  impeachment  by  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  strife 
between  the  President  and  Congress  that  began  in  December,  1865, 
increased  in  violence  for  two  and  a  half  years,  culminating  in  the 
impeachment  by  the  House  and  the  trial  by  the  Senate.  Had  Lincoln 
been  spared,  he  might  have  succeeded  in  his  method  of  reconstruc 
tion.  He  had  won  the  hearts  of  the  people  as  few  had  ever  done, 
and  they  would  probably  have  sustained  him  in  defiance  of  Congress. 
But  Johnson  had  never  won  the  people,  and  without  the  aid  of  Con 
gress  he  was  powerless  to  carry  out  his  plans.  Moreover,  Lincoln 
was  a  man  of  infinite  tact,  and  he  could  parry  the  blows  of  his 
enemies  with  his  consummate  wit.  Johnson  was  peculiarly  lacking 
in  these  respects,  and  if  Congress  had  the  temerity  to  oppose  Lincoln 
with  all  his  resources  of  power,  would  it  not  more  readily  set  its 
hand  against  this  accidental  President  ? 

The  warfare  between  the  President  and  Congress  went  on  month 
by  month,  and  on  the  2d  of  March,  1867,  Congress  passed  over 
the  President's  veto,  not  only  the  Great  Reconstruc-  Tenure  Of 
tion  Act,  which  we  have  noticed,  but  also  the  Tenure  Office  Bill, 
of  Office  Bill.  By  this  law  the  power  of  the  President  March,  1867. 
was  greatly  curtailed.  The  Constitution  provides  that  many  of  the 
more  important  official  appointments  of  the  President  must  be  rati 
fied  by  the  Senate,  but  all  such  officials  were  subject  to  removal  by 
the  President  alone.  So  the  practice  had  continued  by  common 
consent  from  the  founding  of  the  government ;  but  the  Tenure  of 
Office  Act  required  the  consent  of  the  Senate  for  removals,  as  well 
as  for  appointments.  Two  reasons  are  conceivable  for  the  enact 
ment  of  this  law :  first,  a  fear  entertained  by  some  that  the  Presi 
dent  designed  some  attack  on  the  powers  and  privileges  of  Congress ; 
and  a  personal  dislike  of  Johnson,  coupled  with  a  desire  to  curb  his 
power  wherever  possible.1 

1  In  other  ways  the  power  of  the  President  was  also  curbed.  A  "rider "  of  the 
Army  Appropriation  Bill  took  from  him  the  command  of  the  army  and  gave  it  to  the 


806  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

Johnson,  on  becoming  President,  had  retained  the  Cabinet  of  Lin 
coln.  At  first  the  members  generally  agreed  with  the  new  President's 
policy ;  but  as  the  contest  grew  hot,  several  of  them  took  the  side  of 
Congress,  and  for  this  reason  three  of  them  resigned  from  the  Cab 
inet  in  the  spring  of  1868.  The  secretary  of  war,  however,  Edwin 
M.  Stanton,  though  condemning  the  President's  course,  refused  to 
resign.  As  the  months  passed  all  personal  relations  ceased  between 
the  President  and  his  secretary,  and  yet  the  latter  clung  to  his  office. 
In  August,  1867,  Johnson  addressed  a  note  to  Stanton  requesting 
his  resignation,  but  Stanton  bluntly  refused  to  resign.  A  week  later 
Johnson  suspended  him  from  the  office  and  appointed  General  Grant 
secretary  ad  interim.  The  Tenure  of  Office  Law  permitted  such  action 
during  the  recess  of  Congress,  but  required  the  President  to  make  a 
report  of  it  to  the  Senate  at  its  next  meeting.  If  the  Senate  approved 
his  action,  it  stood ;  if  not,  the  old  official  resumed  his  place. 

Accordingly,  President  Johnson  reported  his  action  to  the  Senate 
on  its  meeting  in  December,  and  some  weeks  later  he  was  astonished 
when  that  body  refused  to  concur  in  the  removal  of  Stanton.  No 
explanation  can  be  given  for  this  action  of  the  Senate,  except  on  the 
ground  of  personal  feeling  against  Andrew  Johnson.  There  was  no 
public  demand  for  Grant's  removal,  for  at  this  moment  Grant  was 
the  most  popular  man  in  the  United  States.  Thus  Johnson  had 
forced  upon  him  a  secretary  with  whom  he  was  not  on  speaking 
terms,  and  the  United  States  Senate  never  did  a  less  creditable  act. 
Johnson's  anger  rose  to  the  boiling  point.  He  even  chided  General 
Grant  and  made  a  personal  enemy  of  him  for  giving  up  the  office 
too  readily  on  hearing  of  the  action  of  the  Senate.  Grant  had  been 
on  very  friendly  terms  with  Johnson,  and  had  accompanied  him  on 
his  "  swinging  round  the  circle  "  tour  of  the  West.  Had  Johnson 
been  possessed  of  a  tithe  of  the  tact  of  his  predecessor,  he  would 
have  retained  the  friendship  of  Grant  at  any  cost.  But  now  with  a 
few  reproachful  words  he  ended  their  friendship,  and  they  were 
never  afterward  reconciled.1  No  man  in  public  life  ever  played  into 
the  hands  of  his  enemies  more  completely  than  did  Andrew  Johnson. 
The  majority  of  the  Republican  party  had  been  looking  forward  to 

general  of  the  army.  In  January,  1867,  a  law  was  passed  denying  him  the  power  to 
proclaim  general  amnesty ;  but  Johnson  deemed  the  law  unconstitutional,  and  went 
on  issuing  pardons  at  his  pleasure. 

1  The  first  hitch  in  their  friendship,  however,  had  occurred  the  year  before,  when 
Johnson,  against  Grant's  wishes,  removed  Sheridan  from  command  of  a  district  in 
the  South. 


THE   HOUSE   IMPEACHES  JOHNSON  807 

making  Grant  their  candidate  for  President  in  the  approaching  cam 
paign,  and  they  were  not  pleased  with  the  warm  friendship  between 
him  and  their  most  implacable  enemy.  They  were  now  highly  grati 
fied  at  this  open  rupture  between  the  two. 

Stanton  had   resumed  his  place  in  the  Cabinet.     But  Johnson 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis  when,  on  the  21st  of  February,  he  defied 
the    Senate   by  dismissing  Stanton  from  the  Cabinet,   jo^g^ 
The  country  was  startled  at  the  reckless  courage  of  the  removes  Stan- 
President.     The  Senate  was  enraged  at  the  defiance  of  ton.  February 

91      1  8  f\  ft 

its  authority,  bat  it  could  do  nothing  except  condemn 

the  action  of  Johnson  in  a  resolution.     This  it  did,  as  Elaine  says, 

"promptly,  resentfully,  almost  passionately."1 

With  the  House  rests  the  power  of  impeachment.  Many  were 
Johnson's  enemies  in  the  House.  They  had  attempted  to  impeach 
him  the  year  before,  and  had  failed.  Since  then  they  had  watched  with 
eagle  eye  for  an  opportunity  to  renew  their  efforts,  and  they  promptly 
seized  on  his  quarrel  with  the  Senate.  On  the  same  day  that  John 
son  sent  to  the  Senate  a  notice  of  Stanton's  removal,  a  resolution  was 
brought  before  the  House  that  "  Andrew  Johnson,  President  of  the 
United  States,  be  impeached  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors."  The 
resolution  was  referred  to  a  committee  with  Stevens  at  its  head.  It 
reported  next  day  and  recommended  that  the  resolution  pass  without 
debate.  Two  days,  however,  were  taken  for  debate,  and  when  the 
vote  was  taken  the  ballot  stood  126  for  impeachment  and 
47  against  it.  Thus  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
for  the  first  and  only  time  in  our  history,  was  legally 
impeached,  ?,nd  he  must  now  stand  before  the  bar  of  the  Senate  and 
answer  for  his  alleged  crimes.  The  House  proceeded  to  elect  seven 
of  its  members  as  prosecutors  in  the  trial  that  was  to  follow.2 

Johnson  meantime  seemed  calm  and  undisturbed  by  the  great 
movement  going  on  in  Congress.  He  quietly  sent  to  the  Senate  the 
name  of  Thomas  Ewing  as  secretary  of  war.  This  for  once  was  a 
tactful  stroke.  It  had  been  rumored  that  Johnson  meant  to  usurp 
the  government  and  to  place  it  in  the  hands  of  the  military.  But 
the  appointment  of  Ewing,  a  man  of  well-known  honesty  and  patriot 
ism,  rendered  all  such  rumors  idle  and  foolish. 

1  "Twenty  Years  of  Congress,"  Vol.  II,  p.  355. 

2  The  men  elected  were  Boutwell  and  Butler  of  Massachusetts,  Williams,  Bing- 
ham,  and  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania,  Wilson  of  Iowa,  and  Logan  of  Illinois.     All  were 
intensely  hostile  to  the  President. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


THE   GREAT   TRIAL 

The  Senate  sat  in  grave  silence  with  Chief  Justice  Chase  as  its 
presiding  officer,  when,  on  the  5th  of  March,  1868,  the  members  of 
the  House  filed  into  the  chamber,  led  by  their  chosen  managers,  to 
present  formal  charges  against  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  charges  were  eleven  in  number,  the  most  important  being  the 
second,  charging  Mr.  Johnson  with  violating  the  Constitution  by 
removing  Mr.  Stanton  in  defiance  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act ;  the 
third,  charging  him  with  appointing  another  to  fill  the  office  when 
no  vacancy  existed ;  and  the  eleventh,  charging  the  President  with 
stating  in  a  public  speech  that  the  Thirty -ninth  Congress  was  not  a 
lawful  body  because  certain  Southern  states  were  not  represented. 

The  most  serious  of  these,  and  that  on  which  the  trial  hinged, 
was  the  removal  of  Stanton.  Let  us  look  into  this  for  a  moment. 
When  the  Tenure  of  Office  Bill  was  pending  before  the  Senate,  it  was 
agreed  by  a  majority  of  the  senators  that  Cabinet  officials  be  not 
included  in  the  law,  but  the  House  insisted  that  they  be  included, 
and  won  its  point ;  not,  however,  without  bringing  out  some  signifi 
cant  remarks  from  leading  Republican  senators.  "  If  a  Cabinet 
officer,"  said  John  Sherman,  "  should  attempt  to  hold  his  office  for  a 
moment  beyond  the  time  when  he  retains  the  entire  confidence  of 
the  President,  I  would  not  vote  to  retain  him."  Similar  expressions 
were  heard  from  Senators  Fessenden,  Edmunds,  and  others.1  The 
attempt  of  Congress  to  force  upon  the  President  a  confidential  adviser 
in  whom  he  had  no  confidence  and  whom  he  personally  disliked,  fur 
nishes  a  spectacle  unknown  before  or  since  in  our  government.  Mr. 
Elaine,  in  his  "Twenty  Years  of  Congress,"  discusses  this  subject 
with  great  fairness,  and  agrees  with  every  thoughtful  student  of  the 
subject  at  this  time  that  Congress  was  clearly  in  the  wrong  and  was 
prompted  by  ignoble  motives.  And  the  more  does  this  appear  when 
it  is  remembered  that  the  defense  sought  to  show  at  the  trial  that 
one  of  the  objects  of  Johnson  in  removing  Stanton  was  to  bring  the 
matter  before  the  Supreme  Court  in  order  to  test  the  validity  of  the 
Tenure  of  Office  Law. 

After  the  formal  presentation  of  the  articles  of  impeachment  on 

March  5,  the  high  court  adjourned,  and  the  trial  was  not  properly 

begun  till  the  30th.     The  President's  counsel  was  composed  of  men 

of  the  highest  ability.      Among  them  were  Benjamin    R.    Curtis, 

i  See  Elaine,  Vol.  II,  p.  352. 


A   PREJUDICED   JURY  809 

former  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  William  M.  Evarts,  the 
eminent  New  York  lawyer. 

In  the  course  of  the  trial  Mr.  Evarts  offered  to  prove  that  while 
the  Tenure  of  Office  Act  was  before  President  Johnson,  it  was  sub 
mitted  to  the  Cabinet,  every  member  of  which  deemed  it  unconstitu 
tional,  and  that  the  duty  of  preparing  the  veto  message  devolved  on 
Mr.  Seward  and  Mr.  Stanton.  Chief  Justice  Chase  decided  to  admit 
this  testimony,  but  a  vote  of  the  Senate  on  its  admissi- 
bility  was  called  for  and  a  majority  decided  to  exclude  eJfction  ° 
it.  Again  Mr.  Evarts  offered  to  show  that  the  entire 
Cabinet  had  agreed  that  the  appointees  of  President  Lincoln  could 
not  come  within  the  law.  Mr.  Chase  decided  that  this  testimony 
should  be  received,  but  this  too  was  cast  out  by  a  vote  of  the  Senate. 
Still  again,  Evarts  offered,  on  the  part  of  the  President,  to  prove  that 
he  and  his  Cabinet  agreed,  before  the  removal  of  Stanton,  that  the 
legality  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Law  should  be  tested,  and  that  one 
object  in  dismissing  Stanton  was  to  bring  the  matter  before  the 
Supreme  Court.  But  even  this  testimony  was  ruled  out  by  the 
eminent  jury.  Certainly  this  was  an  extraordinary  method  of  deal 
ing  with  an  accused  before  a  court.  When  a  man,  on  trial  for  the 
alleged  violation  of  a  questionable  law,  offers  to  show  that  his  motive 
was  to  put  the  law  itself  on  trial,  and  his  offer  is  rejected,  what 
unbiased  observer  can  believe  otherwise  than  that  such  rejection  is 
based  on  prejudice  ? 

Among  the  witnesses  in  the  great  trial  were  men  of  national 
fame,  members  of  the  Cabinet,  and  generals  of  the  army.  Gideon 
Wells  and  General  Sherman  each  sat  for  two  days  under  the  cross 
fire  of  the  contending  lawyers.  By  the  22d  of  April  the  testimony 
was  all  in,  and  then  began  the  fierce  oratorial  contest  of  the  lawyers. 
For  many  days  they  furnished  the  country  with  a  rare  intellectual 
treat.  Not  until  May  16  was  the  Senate  ready  to  vote  on  the  great 
question  —  whether  the  President  of  the  United  States  should  be 
acquitted  or  deposed  from  his  office. 

There  were  fifty-four  senators,  and  it  would  require  two  thirds, 
or  thirty-six,  to  convict.  Eight  of  the  senators  were  Democratic, 
and  these,  having  no  quarrel  with  the  President,  were  sure  to  vote 
for  his  acquittal.  So  also  were  four  others,  who  were  known  as  ad 
ministration  Republicans.  In  addition  to  the  votes  of  these  twelve, 
seven  more  were  needed,  from  the  regular  Republican  ranks,  to  save 
the  President.  Many  of  the  senators  filed  their  opinions,  giving 


810  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

their  reasons,  before  the  voting  began ;  but  enough  had  declined  to 
do  this  to  leave  the  outcome  in  doubt.  The  doubtful  class  was  led 
by  Fessenden  of  Maine  and  Trumbull  of  Illinois. 

The  voting  began  on  the  16th  of  May.  The  occasion  was  a  solemn 
and  momentous  one ;  for  the  decision  on  this  great  question  must  be 
a  precedent  for  generations  to  come.  The  interest  became  intense 
as  the  moment  for  taking  the  first  ballot  approached.  The  members 
of  the  House  were  admitted  to  the  floor  of  the  Senate  chamber,  and 
the  galleries  were  packed  with  high  officials  of  the  government, 
foreign  ministers,  and  citizens  of  every  rank  from  all  parts  of 
the  country.1  Outside  the  chamber  surged  a  multitude  unable  to 
gain  admittance.  Telegraph  operators  sat  at  their  places  ready  to 
flash  the  news  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  Union  —  to  the  cities, 
towns,  and  railroad  stations,  where  eager  throngs  had  gathered  to 
await  the  verdict  of  the  Senate.  Within  the  chamber  the  silence 
was  almost  painful  as  the  roll  call  proceeded,  and  each  senator  rose 
in  his  place  and  pronounced  "  guilty,"  or  "  not  guilty."  The  first 
vote  was  taken  on  the  eleventh  impeachment  article,  as  it  in  a 
general  way  embodied  all  the  rest.  The  result  was  thirty-five  for 
conviction  and  nineteen  for  acquittal.  The  President  therefore 
escaped  deposition  by  a  single  vote.  The  Senate  then 
e  acquittal.  adjourned  to  the  26th  of  May.  When  the  Court  of  Im 
peachment  met  again  and  voted  on  the  second  and  third  articles,  the 
vote  stood  the  same  as  before.  The  court  then  adjourned  sine  die  ;  the 
remaining  articles  were  never  voted  on;  the  great  trial  was  over. 

Secretary  Stantoii  immediately  resigned  his  office,  and  General 
Schofield  was  appointed  in  his  stead.  Stanton  had  served  as  secre 
tary  of  war  from  the  time  of  his  appointment  by  Lincoln 
in  1862,  and  no  man  ever  filled  that  office  with  greater 
fidelity  and  devotion  to  the  public  service.  He  was  an  unrelenting 
foe  to  all  jobbery  and  corruption,  and  while  we  cannot  sympathize 
with  him  in  this  contest  with  Johnson,  we  honor  his  memory  for  his 
unselfish  public  service.  Soon  after  the  trial  his  health  failed  and 
the  next  year  he  sank  into  the  grave,  after  being  honored  by  Presi 
dent  Grant  with  an  appointment  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

Next  to  the  President  and  Stanton  the  one  most  concerned  in 

the  outcome  of  the  trial  was  Senator  Benjamin  Wade  of  Ohio.    Had 

the  trial  gone  against  Johnson,  Wade,  as  president  of  the  Senate, 

would  have  been  President  of  the  United  States  until  the  following 

i  Elaine,  Vol.  II,  p.  374. 


END   OF  THE   GREAT  TRIAL  811 

spring.  He  had  missed  it  by  a  single  vote.  In  our  history  but  two 
others,  Aaron  Burr  and  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  have  come  so  near  the 
great  prize  and  yet  missed  it.  Wade's  political  life  was  soon  to  close  ; 
it  had  reached  its  zenith  and  it  took  a  downward  turn  at  the  great  trial. 
He  had  been  a  powerful  leader.  For  eighteen  years  his  voice  had 
been  heard  in  the  Senate  chamber.  The  public  awarded 

TTT,,  Jp 

him  high  honor ;  but  now  he  voted  against  Johnson  and 
thus  for  himself.     His  friends  had  boasted  that,  if  he  could  not  give 
his  voice  for  acquittal,  he  would  refrain  from  voting  at  all ;  but  he 
voted  nevertheless.     The  public  never  fully  forgave  him.    It  still 
honored  him  still,  but  not  so  highly  as  before.1 

The  verdict  of  the  Senate  was  at  first  a  disappointment  to  the 
Republican  party  ;  but  when  the  excitement  of  the  moment  had  sub 
sided,  a  general  satisfaction  with  the  verdict  was  manifest.  The 
people  could  not  wrholly  forget  the  noble  stand  for  the  Union  taken 
by  Andrew  Johnson  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  They  remembered, 
too,  that,  with  all  his  faults,  Johnson  had  risen  of  his  own  force  from 
the  lowest  depths  of  society,  and  such  a  record  is  the  highest  pass 
port  to  public  esteem  in  America.  Nor  could  the  belief  be  eradicated 
from  the  public  mind  that  the  trial  was  not  altogether  a  fair  one, 
that  many  of  the  members  of  Congress  were  unconsciously  prejudiced 
against  the  President.  In  ordinary  criminal  cases  the  members  of 
the  jury  are  required  to  be  without  previous  personal  relations  with 
the  accused;  but  "here  was  a  jury  the  greater  part  of  which  had,  for 
a  long  season,  been  engaged  in  a  bitter  contest  with  the  accused. 
They  were  men  of  the  highest  training  and  education,  but  this  did 
not  lift  them  above  the  common  weaknesses  of  humanity.  Educa 
tion  gives  a  man  greater  self-control  and  develops  any  talent  with 
which  nature  has  endowed  him ;  but  it  cannot  implant  new  virtues, 
nor  train  out  of  a  man  the  common  follies  of  our  nature.  This  highly 
cultured  jury  was  in  some  measure  partial  and  prejudiced,  simply 
because  it  could  not  help  being  so. 

The  real  offense  of  the  President  consisted,  not  in  the  removal  of 
Stanton  nor  in  anything  written  in  the  impeachment  articles,  but 
in  his  persistent,  exasperating  opposition  of  the  party  that  gave 
him  his  power.2  Johnson  had  a  legal,  if  not  a  moral,  right  to  his 
course  concerning  the  negro  and  the  South ;  but  as  the  enemies  he 

1  Within  the  same  week  Wade  was  defeated  as  candidate  for  Vice  President,  and 
these  disasters  closely  followed  his  defeat  for  reelection  to  the  Senate. 

2  See  the  Nation,  Vol.  VI,  p.  384;  Elaine,  Vol.  II,  p.  377. 


812  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

made  by  taking  this  course  could  not  reach  him  on  account  of  it, 
they  arraigned  him  on  a  technicality  which  under  other  conditions 
would  have  attracted  little  attention.  The  most  gratifying  fact  in 
connection  with  the  great  trial  is  that  during  its  progress  there  was 
no  popular  uprising,  no  disturbance  of  the  social  and  business  rela 
tions  of  the  country,  no  evidence  that  the  quiet  reign  of  law  would 
be  disturbed  whatever  the  result  of  the  trial. 


NOTES 

Thaddeus  Stevens.  —  During  the  last  years  of  his  life,  Stevens  was  not  only 
the  leader  in  Congress,  but  also  the  leader  of  his  party  throughout  the  country, 
and  congressional  reconstruction  was  an  embodiment  of  his  ideas.  So  radical 
and  relentless  was  he  that  at  first  Congress  was  unwilling  to  follow  him,  but  at 
length  came  to  do  so,  except  as  to  his  desire  to  confiscate  the  property  of  Con 
federates.  Stevens's  attitude  toward  the  South  arose  less  from  a  malicious  feel 
ing,  than  from  his  extreme  principles  of  democracy,  almost  approaching  the 
John  Brown  type  ;  though,  unlike  Brown,  he  shrank  from  bloodshed.  His  love 
for  the  black  man  seemed  to  reach  an  abnormal  state,  and  just  before  his  death 
he  requested  that  his  body  be  buried  in  an  obscure  private  cemetery,  because 
the  public  cemeteries  excluded  negroes  by  their  charters.  Stevens  was  a  man  of 
unusual  wit.  On  one  occasion,  while  speaking  in  the  House,  a  certain  very 
loquacious  member,  who  always  affected  great  humility  and  put  a  low  estimate 
on  his  own  ideas,  desired  Stevens  to  yield  him  the  floor  for  a  time.  Stevens  did 
so,  saying  "Now  I  yield  the  floor  to  Mr. ,who  will  make  a  few  feeble  re 
marks."  (McCall's  "Stevens,"  p.  314.)  During  the  last  months  of  his  life, 
Stevens  was  so  weak  that  he  had  to  be  carried  about  in  a  chair.  One  day  he 
said  to  the  two  stalwart  men  who  were  carrying  him,  "  Who  will  carry  me  when 
you  two  strong  men  are  dead  and  gone  ?  " 

Nebraska  and  Alaska.  —  Nebraska  was  part  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase. 
The  country  was  partly  explored  in  1804  by  Lewis  and  Clark.  In  1854  it  was 
organized  as  a  territory  in  the  famous  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill.  In  1863  Nebraska 
was  reduced  to  its  present  limits,  and  in  1867,  having  sixty  thousand  inhabit 
ants,  it  was  admitted  as  a  state.  President  Johnson  vetoed  the  bill  of  admission 
because  it  forbade  the  new  state  ever  to  deny  a  man  the  right  to  vote  on  account 
of  race  or  color.  But  it  passed  over  the  veto,  and  Nebraska  became  a  state  on 
March  1,  1867.. 

Within  the  same  year,  1867,  the  territory  of  Alaska  was  purchased  by  the 
United  States  from  Russia  for  $7,200,000.  Russia  acquired  the  right  to  Alaska 
through  the  discoveries  of  Vitus  Bering  in  1741.  It  is  a  dreary,  mountainous 
region  of  long,  severe  winters.  Its  valleys  are  fertile,  and  at  the  time  of  the 
purchase  the  country  was  inhabited  by  various  Indian  tribes,  with  a  few  white 
men  and  Chinese.  In  recent  years  it  has  been  found  to  be  exceedingly  rich  in 
gold  deposits,  while  the  seal  fisheries  have  amounted  to  over  $12,000,000.  The 
whole  country  comprises  599,446  square  miles.  See  map  following  p.  896. 


CHAPTER   XXXII 

RECUPERATING   YEARS 

PEACE,  the  long-desired,  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  spread  her 
white  wings  over  the  land  until  reconstruction  had  been  practically 
accomplished  and  the  trial  of  Johnson  was  over.  Now  at  last  the 
great  strife  was  ended,  and  though  the  bitterness  engendered  by  it 
could  only  wear  away  with  the  passing  of  the  generation,  every  one 
felt  that,  as  the  one  and  only  cause  of  internecine  war  had  been 
removed,  never  again  would  America  witness  the  scenes  of  the  past 
eight  years.  Before  reconstruction  had  been  fully  accomplished  the 
country  turned  to  its  quadrennial  duty  of  electing  a  President. 

THE   ELECTION  OF   1868 

Four  days  after  the  deciding  vote  in  the  trial  of  Johnson  had 
been  cast,  the  national  Republican  convention  met  in  Chicago.  For 
the  first  place  on  the  ticket  there  was  no  contest,  as  the  whole  party 
was  agreed  in  its  choice  of  the  valiant  commander  who  had  won 
first  honors  on  the  battle  field.  Not  only  had  General  Grant  dis 
tinguished  himself  in  war,  but  during  the  Johnson  administration, 
though  his  position  was  a  trying  one,  he  had  borne  himself  with 
great  discretion  and  dignity.  So  reticent  had  Grant  been  in  regard 
to  politics  that  for  some  time  after  the  close  of  hostilities  his  politi 
cal  bias  was  unknown.  He  had  voted  for  James  Buchanan  in  1856, 
and  the  rumor  gained  currency  that  the  Democrats  hoped  to  make  him 
their  candidate  in  1868.1  But  Grant  indicated  that  his  sympathies 
were  with  the  Republicans.  On  the  first  ballot  Grant  was  named 
by  a  unanimous  vote.  For  Vice  President  the  convention  named 
Schuyler  Colfax  of  Indiana,  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  platform  adopted  by  the  convention  made  two  points  coii- 

1  Colonel  A.  K.  McClure  declares  (see  "Our  Presidents,"  p.  202)  that  Grant 
before  the  war  was  a  radical  proslavery  Democrat,  not  even  so  liberal  as  Douglas,  and 
that  he  never  voted  the  Republican  ticket  before  he  became  President.  It  was 
Colonel  Forney  of  the  Philadelphia  Press  who  persuaded  Grant  to  permit  the  Repub 
licans,  rather  than  the  Democrats,  to  make  him  their  candidate. 

813 


814 


HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 


spicuous,  —  a  pledge  in  substance,  though  not  in  so  many  words,  to 
pay  the  public  debt  in  coin,  and  a  demand  for  equal  suffrage  for 
white  and  black  men  in  the  South.  The  first  of  these,  concerning  the 
finances,  was  highly  commendable,  and  the  pledge  was  carried  out  to 
the  letter  in  the  following  years.  But  the  other  plank  was  highly 
discreditable  to  the  party.  It  imposed  negro  suffrage  on  the  South 
(the  Fifteenth  Amendment  being  not  yet  adopted)  and  left  the  matter 
to  be  decided  by  the  various  states  in  the  North.  "  This  was  an 
evasion  of  duty  quite  unworthy  the  Republican  party,"  says  Mr. 
Elaine,  and  "  carried  with  it  an  element  of  deception." l  It  was  a 


L '.'. ;.. .'.  J  REPUBLICAN 
[•'."•'    I  DEMOCRATIC 

LECTORS  CHOSEN  BY  THE    LEGISL/s 


strange  proceeding  to  attempt  to  force  the  South  to  stand  upon  a 
higher  plane  of  political  virtue  than  the  North  itself  was  willing  to 
adopt.  The  object  in  exempting  the  Northern  states  from  this  con 
dition  was  to  avoid  giving  offense  to  a  few  doubtful  states,  notably 
Indiana  and  California.2  The  Republican  keynote  of  the  campaign, 
however,  was  not  found  in  the  platform,  but  in  the  laconic  phrase, 
"  Let  us  have  peace,"  from  General  Grant's  letter  of  acceptance. 

The  Democratic  convention,  which  met  on  the  4th  of  July  in 
New  York  City,  was  looked  forward  to  with  great  interest  because  of 

1  "Twenty  Years  of  Congress,"  Vol.  II,  p.  388. 

2  Other  Republican  states,  Connecticut,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Ohio,  and  Kansas, 
had  recently  rejected  negro  suffrage. 


PRESIDENTIAL   ELECTION  OF    1868  815 

the  uncertainty  as  to  what  it  would  do.  Two  great  questions  must  be 
pronounced  on :  Republican  reconstruction,  and  the  payment  of  the 
public  debt  in  specie ;  and  it  decided  adversely  on  both.  The  platform 
adopted  declared  that  the  portion  of  the  public  debt  not  payable  by 
express  terms  in  coin  "  ought  to  be  paid  in  lawful  money,"  that  is,  legal 
tender  notes,  which  were  far  below  the  gold  standard  in  value  ;  and 
it  pronounced  the  reconstruction  acts  "usurpations,  unconstitutional, 
revolutionary,  and  void."  The  plank  on  the  money  ques 
tion  appealed  to  many  who  did  not  hold  government 
bonds ;  but  that  on  reconstruction  was  not  popular  at 
the  North,  as  the  people  were  weary  of  the  long-drawn-out  subject 
and  were  unwilling  to  undo  the  great  work  now  so  nearly  completed. 

The  most  widely  discussed  candidates  for  the  nomination  were 
George  H.  Pendleton,  who  represented  the  greenback  craze,  and 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  both  of  Ohio.  Chase  had  first  been  elected  to  the 
Senate  by  the  Democrats,  but  for  many  years  he  had  acted  with 
the  Republicans.  He  had  resigned  from  Lincoln's  Cabinet  in  1864, 
and  was  now  chief  justice  of  the  Federal  Supreme  Court.  Thomas 
A.  Hendricks  of  Indiana  and  General  W.  S.  Hancock  were  also  voted 
for ;  but  after  the  convention  had  cast  twenty-one  ballots  without  result, 
there  was  a  sudden  stampede  for  Horatio  Seymour  of  New  York 
who  at  that  moment  sat  before  the  delegates  as  chairman  of  the 
convention.  Repeatedly  had  Mr.  Seymour  declined  to  permit  his 
name  to  be  considered,  and  he  now  reiterated  this  decision  from  the 
chair.  But  his  words  were  unheeded.  On  the  twenty-second  ballot 
the  convention  cast  a  unanimous  vote  for  Seymour.  Frank  P.  Blair 
of  Missouri  was  then  nominated  for  the  vice  presidency. 

Mr.  Seymour  was  a  man  of  great  ability  and  political  sagacity, 
and  was  doubtless  the  most  popular  man  the  party  could  have 
named.  During  the  war  he  had  vigorously  criticised  the  administra 
tion,  but  he  was  never  violent  nor  disloyal.  Moreover,  he  was  a 
"  hard  money  "  man,  and  on  this  point  opposed  to  his  party  platform. 
Blair  had  acted  with  Lincoln  during  the  war,  but  now  he  was  a 
radical  Democrat  on  reconstruction.  So  extreme  were  his  views  that 
he  became  a  heavy  burden  for  the  party  to  carry.  The  party  was 
further  handicapped  by  the  prominent  part  taken  in  the  convention 
by  former  leaders  of  the  Rebellion,  notably  Wade  Hampton,  who  had 
written  the  plank  on  reconstruction. 

General  Grant  was  elected  by  214  votes  to  80  for  Mr.  Sey 
mour.  These  figures  would  indicate  an  overwhelming  victory  for 


816  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

Grant ;  but  an  analysis  of  the  vote  was  by  no  means  reassuring  to  the 
Republicans.  Of  the  eight  seceded  states  which  voted,  six  cast 
their  ballots  for  Grant.1  This  was  due  chiefly  to  the 
fact  that  many  of  the  whites  were  disfranchised,  and  that 
these  states  were  under  carpetbag  governments.  Seymour  carried 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Oregon,  and  Delaware,  and  also  Maryland, 
Georgia,  and  Louisiana.  Had  all  the  Southern  states  voted,  and  had 
the  South  been  solidly  Democratic,  as  it  came  to  be  a  few  years 
later,  Seymour  would  have  been  elected  President  over  Grant.  But 
this  was  not  all.  Seymour  came  within  less  than  a  thousand  votes  of 
winning  in  Indiana  and  was  but  514  below  Grant  in  California,  while 
the  Republican  majorities  in  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  other  Northern 
states  were  very  small.  These  facts  were  startling  to  the  Republi 
cans,  and  convinced  them  that  henceforth,  as  in  ante-bellum  days, 
they  would  have  to  reckon  with  a  powerful  rival  in  the  Democratic 
party.  The  two  chief  causes  of  this  unexpected  showing  of  the 
Democrats  were,  that  thousands  of  their  number  who  had  acted  with 
the  "  Union "  party  during  the  war  had  now  returned  to  their  old 
allegiance,  and  that  a  considerable  number  of  Republicans,  who  had 
followed  President  Johnson  and  had  opposed  congressional  recon 
struction,  now  found  a  permanent  home  in  the  Democratic  fold. 

OPENING   OF  A   NEW   ERA 

Many  of  our  Presidents  have  been  men  with  military  records ; 
but  only  once  before  the  election  of  Grant  —  just  twenty  years  before 
—  had  the  people  chosen  a  chief  magistrate  on  account  of  a  purely 
military  record.  General  Grant's  inaugural  address,  in  which  he 
said  that  he  accepted  the  responsibilities  of  the  great  office  without 
fear,  and  his  subsequent  choosing  of  a  cabinet,  revealed  his  profound 
ignorance  of  the  great  work  that  lay  before  him.  The  surprise  to 
his  party  was  complete  when  he  named  Mr.  A.  T.  Stewart,  the  well- 
known  New  York  merchant,  as  secretary  of  the  treasury.  Mr. 
Stewart  was  ineligible,  as  a  law  passed  in  1789  forbade  the  employ 
ment  in  the  revenue  service  of  any  one  engaged  in  foreign  com 
merce.  When  the  President  ascertained  this  fact  he  chose  George 
S.  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts  to  fill  the  office.2 

1  As  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  Virginia,  Mississippi,  and  Texas  did  not  vote 
in  this  election. 

2  First,  however,  he  requested  Congress  to  remove  the  disability  of  Mr.  Stewart, 
hut  this  request  was  not  granted. 


SUPREME   COURT  DECISIONS  817 

Other  appointments  were  quite  satisfactory :  E.  B.  Washburne 
became  secretary  of  state,  Jacob  D.  Cox,  secretary  of  the  interior,  E. 
R.  Hoar,  attorney -general,  and  J.  A.  J.  Cresswell,  post 
master-general.    Mr.  Washburne,  however,  after  a  week's 
service,  resigned  and  became  minister  to  France,  and  was  succeeded 
in  the  Cabinet  by  Hamilton  Fish  of  New  York. 

The  House  was  organized  on  March  4,  1869,  according  to  the  law 
passed  two  years  before,  and  James  G-.  Elaine  was  elected  speaker. 
The  Senate  easily  maintained  its  standard  of  ability.  Among  its  lead 
ing  members  were  Carl  Schurz,  newly  elected  from  Missouri ;  Hannibal 
Hamlin  of  Maine,  former  Vice  President ;  Henry  Wilson,  a  future  Vice 
President ;  George  F.  Edmunds  of  Vermont,  Allan  G.  Thurman,  the 
sturdy  Ohio  Democrat  who  came  to  be  called  the  "  Old  Roman/''  John 
Sherman,  Charles  Simmer,  Jonathan  Trurnbull,  W.  P.  Fessenden,  and 
William  A.  Brownlow,  the  erratic  fighting  parson  of  Tennessee. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  this  Congress  was  to  modify  the  Tenure 
of  Office  Act  to  an  extent  amounting  almost  to  its  repeal.  This  was 
an  acknowledgment  that  the  law  was  a  purely  partisan  one.  Affairs 
at  the  South  were  still  in  an  unsettled  condition,  and,  as  briefly  stated 
on  a  preceding  page,  Congress  passed  laws  known  as  "  force  bills," 
aimed  chiefly  at  Ku  Klux  interference  with  elections  in  the  South. 
The  first  of  these,  passed  in  May,  1870,  provided  that  in  cities  of  more 
than  twenty  thousand  inhabitants  the  elections  be  controlled  by 
Federal  supervisors.  The  second,  passed  in  April,  1871,  was  far  more 
sweeping.  It  resembled  the  famous  Sedition  Law  of  1798.1  It  made 
the  depriving  of  any  one  of  the  rights  of  citizenship,  as  defined  in  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment,  a  penal  offense,  held  the  state 
responsible  for  the  enforcement  of  that  Amendment,  £jjj  f orce 
authorized  the  President,  for  a  specified  time,  to  suspend 
the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  and  to  suppress  any  insurrection  by  the 
army  and  navy  of  the  United  States.  But  for  some  years  longer  elec 
tion  troubles  at  the  South  continued  to  disturb  the  whole  country, 
and  President  Grant  was  frequently  called  on  to  quell  the  riots  and 
to  decide  the  contests.  In  some  states  "  Returning  Boards  "  had  been 
created  by  law,  and  these  boards  were  empowered  to  sit  in  judgment 
on  all  election  returns.  They  w'ere  destined  to  attract  great  attention 
a  few  years  later,  at  the  disputed  presidential  election  of  1876. 

Meantime  the  Federal  Supreme  Court  was  again  making  itself 
felt  in  the  land.     Three  decisions  of  great  national  importance  were 
1  Alexander  Johnson's  "American  Politics,"  p.  214. 


818  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

made  at  this  period.  The  first  of  these,  the  famous  Texas  vs.  White 
case  of  1868,1  while  upholding  congressional  reconstruction,  pro 
nounced  that  the  seceding  states  had  not  been  out  of  the  Union,  and 
that  the  act  of  secession  was  void.  The  second,  in  1869,  was  a  deci 
sion  against  the  constitutionality  of  the  Legal  Tender  Law  of  1862. 
In  this  famous  case,  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold,  Chief  Justice  Chase  pro 
nounced  unconstitutional  a  portion  of  the  law  by  which  he  had,  as 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  issued  the  greenbacks  eight  years  before. 
The  decision  pronounced  against  the  validity  of  the  law  with  refer 
ence  to  preexisting  debts.  But  this  decision  was  not  permitted  to 
stand.  Two  new  justices  having  been  appointed,  the  case  was  tried 
again  the  next  year  and  the  decision  was  reversed.2  Finally,  the 
"  Slaughter  House "  cases  of  1873  concerning  the  chartering  of  a 
company  by  the  government  of  Louisiana  practically  set  state  rights 
on  the  same  footing  as  that  commonly  understood  at  the  North  before 
the  war,  and  decidedly  limited  the  scope  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment. 
These  decisions  were  very  conservative  in  their  tendencies,  and  they 
strongly  emphasize  what  I  have  stated  on  a  preceding  page,  —  that 
the  Civil  War  wrought  little  permanent  change  in  the  civil  govern 
ment  of  the  nation,  or  even  in  the  relation  of  the  states  to  the  Union. 

The  great  industrial  event  of  this  period  was  the  completion  of 
the  first  railroad  across  the  continent  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The 
great  West  was  rapidly  growing.  In  the  late  fifties  gold  had  been 
discovered  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
Kail  way  near  tne  Present  °ity  °f  Denver,  and  silver  within  the 

bounds  of  Nevada.  But  these  places  were  far  from 
civilization.  It  was  determined  therefore  to  build  a  railroad  through 
this  vast  mountainous  region  at  the  nation's  expense.  The  work  was 
begun  in  1862.  Two  companies  were  chartered,  the  Union  Pacific 
to  build  westward  from  Omaha,  and  the  Central  Pacific  to  build  east 
ward  from  Sacramento.  On  the  10th  of  May,  1869,  the  two  companies 
met  at  a  point  in  Utah,  the  last  rail  was  laid  with  impressive  cere 
mony,  and  the  great  work  was  completed. 

More  than  $27,000,000  had  been  given  by  the  government  to  each 
of  these  companies,  and  they  received,  in  addition,  every  odd  section 
of  land  in  a  strip  twenty  miles  wide  along  the  entire  route.  This 
land  grant  came  to  give  great  dissatisfaction  to  a  large  portion  of 
the  people  of  the  country,  and  was  for  many  years  a  disturbing 
element.  The  building  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  occasioned,  a  few 

i  See  7  Wall.  700.  2  gee  McPherson's  "  Hand-Book  for  1871-1872,"  p.  53. 


STRAINED   RELATIONS   WITH   ENGLAND  819 

years  later,  one  of  the  greatest  scandals  in  the  history  of  Congress, 
known  as  the  Credit  Mobilier  case. 

Soon  after  Grant  became  President  he  conceived  the  project  of 
annexing  the  Dominican  Republic,  comprising  the  eastern  portion  of 
the  island  of  San  Domingo,  to  the  United  States.  But  the  scheme 
was  opposed  by  most  of  the  leading  statesmen  of  the  party,  and  it 
came  to  naught.  In  the  light  of  these  later  days,  since  we  have 
acquired  West  Indian  possessions,  greater  wisdom  must  be  accorded 
General  Grant's  views  than  was  accorded  them  at  the  time.  The 
President's  views  remained  unchanged  in  regard  to  San  Domingo, 
and  he  referred  to  it  again  in  his  last  message  to  Congress.  One 
effect  of  the  matter  was  a  complete  alienation  between  him  and 
Senator  Simmer,  who  had  led  the  opposition  to  annexation.  They 
were  henceforth  personal  enemies.1 

THE   TREATY   OF   WASHINGTON 

In  our  foreign  relations  the  chief  legacy  of  the  war  was  the 
unsettled  dispute  with  Great  Britain  concerning  the  depredations 
of  the  reckless  Alabama  and  her  reckless  sisters.  Mr.  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  our  minister  at  London,  protested  from  the  begin 
ning  against  the  building  of  Confederate  cruisers  in  English  waters, 
and  in  1865  he  made  to  Earl  Russell  an  official  statement  of  the 
number  and  tonnage  of  the  United  States  vessels  transferred  to  the 
British  flag  on  account  of  the  depredations  of  the  southern  cruisers. 
The  earl  answered  in  the  following  decisive  language:  "Her 
Majesty's  government  must  decline  either  to  make  reparation  and 
compensation  for  the  captures  made  by  the  Alabama,  or  to  refer  the 
question  to  any  foreign  state."  Secretary  Seward  some  time  later 
sent  a  list  of  the  claims  for  which  the  British  government  would 
be  held  responsible.  The  British  government  still  refused  to  be 
moved ;  but  when,  in  1868,  Mr.  Adams's  successor  concluded  a  treaty 
with  that  government  which  ignored  the  Alabama  claims,  providing 
only  for  a  commission  to  settle  private  claims  of  both  countries,  and 
that  treaty  was  rejected  by  the  United  States  Senate  by  an  almost 
unanimous  vote,  the  English  public  began  to  awaken  to  the  fact 
that  there  was  something  serious  between  the  two  nations.  Senator 
Simmer  had  made  a  most  radical  speech,  in  which  he  put  forth  the 

1  Sumner  was  in  the  end  greatly  humiliated  by  being  removed,  through  Grant's 
influence,  from  the  head  of  the  Senate  committee  on  foreign  affairs,  and  by  the  recall 
of  his  personal  friend,  John  Lothrop  Motley,  from  the  post  as  minister  to  England. 


820  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES 

most  extravagant  claims.  He  contended  that  England  was  responsi 
ble  not  only  for  the  destruction  of  our  shipping,  but  for  our  loss  in 
the  carrying  trade,  and  even  for  the  prolongation  of  the  war  occa 
sioned  by  the  early  recognition  of  the  belligerent  rights  of  the  South 
by  the  British  queen.  According  to  Sunmer's  rating,  the  British 
government  should  pay  to  the  United  States  some  hundreds  of 
millions  of  dollars. 

General  Grant,  who  had  now  become  President,  gave  no  counte 
nance  to  the  preposterous  claims  of  Sumner  ;  but  with  the  more  mod 
erate  claim  of  damages  for  the  destruction  of  our  shipping  he  was 
in  full  sympathy.  In  his  annual  message  of  1870  he  recommended 
that  the  government  assume  and  pay  these  claims  of  American  citi 
zens  against  England,  and  thus  raise  the  affair  to  the  dignity  of  a 
purely  international  one.  The  message  made  a  profound  impression 
in  England,  and  moved  the  Ministry  to  speedy  action.  Some  weeks 
later  the  English  minister  at  Washington,  Sir  Edward  Thornton, 
proposed  a  Joint  High  Commission  to  sit  at  Washington  and  discuss 
pending  questions.  The  offer  was  accepted  and  this  commission, 
composed  of  men  of  the  highest  standing  in  the  two  countries,  began 
its  sittings  early  in  March,  1871.1 

For  two  reasons  the  British  were  now  anxious  for  an  early  settle 
ment  :  to  preclude  all  danger  of  hostilities  with  the  United  States, 
and,  as  Lord  Granville  said  in  the  House  of  Lords,  to  prepare  for 
"possible  complications  in  Europe"  that  might  arise  from  the 
Franco-Prussian  War.  If  England  had  become  embroiled  in  a 
European  war  with  the  Alabama  claims  unsettled,  she  could  hardly 
have  expected  the  United  States  to  take  the  trouble  to  prevent  the 
building  and  fitting  out  in  American  waters  of  vessels  hostile  to 
her. 

The  Joint  High  Commission  labored  for  two  months  and  brought 
forth  the  Treaty  of  Washington,  which  was  ratified  by  the  Senate 
in  May,  by  the  British  government  in  June,  and  was 
Commis^on  proclaimed  in  force  by  President  Grant  on  the  4th  of 
July.  The  treaty  provided  not  only  for  the  settlement 
of  the  Alabama  Claims,  but  also  for  the  settlement  of  the  north 
western  boundary  of  the  United  States  which  had  been  but  vaguely 

1  The  United  States  was  represented  by  Hamilton  Fish,  secretary  of  state; 
Robert  C.  Schenck,  minister  to  England;  Samuel  Nelson,  E.  R.  Hoar,  and  G.  H. 
Williams.  Great  Britain  was  represented  by  Earl  de  Grey  and  Ripou,  Sir  Stafford 
Northcote,  Sir  Edward  Thornton,  Sir  John  A.  Macdonald,  and  Professor  Bernard 
who  held  the  chair  of  international  law  at  Oxford. 


THE    ALABAMA   CLAIMS  821 

defined  in  the  Treaty  of  1847,  and  for  the  claims  of  Canada  against 
the  United  States  concerning  the  fisheries.1  The  Alabama  claims 
were  to  be  decided  by  a  tribunal  of  five  men  to  meet  at  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  the  fisheries  dispute  by  a  commission  to  meet  at  Hali 
fax,  and  the  boundary  between  the  United  States  and  British  Colum 
bia  was  to  be  referred  to  the  Emperor  of  Germany. 

Of  the  five  men  who  were  to  form  the  Court  of  Arbitration  at 
Geneva,  one  each  was  to  be  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  the  Queen  of  England,  the  King  of  Italy,  the  Emperor  of 
Brazil,  and  the  President  of  the  Swiss  Republic.  President  Grant 
appointed  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Queen  Victoria  appointed  Sir 
Alexander  Cockburn,  lord  chief  justice  of  England,  the  King  of 
Italy  named  Count  Sclopis,  whose  reputation  as  a  jurist  and  a  man  of 
letters  extended  throughout  Europe,  while  the  Emperor  of  Brazil 
appointed  the  Viscount  d'ltajuba,  and  the  Swiss  President  chose 
Jacques  Staempfli.  These  men  were  all  of  great  eminence.  They 
began  their  sittings  on  December  15,  1871.  The  claims  at  first 
put  forth  by  the  agent  of  the  United  States  were  very  extravagant, 
and  included  the  "  indirect  claims  "  for  consequential  damages,  such 
as  Mr.  Sumner  had  advanced  in  his  Senate  speech.  Mr.  Gladstone 
declared  that  the  "  indirect  claims  "  did  not  come  within  the  tribu 
nal's  jurisdiction,  and  the  whole  British  press  broke  out  fiercely 
against  the  American  proposal.  While  the  two  nations  were  in  a 
furor  of  excitement  over  the  matter,  the  Geneva  tribunal  ended  the 
suspense  by  deciding  in  favor  of  the  British  view,  namely,  that  only 
the  claims  for  actual  destruction  of  property  by  English-built  Con 
federate  cruisers  could  be  considered. 

The  real  work  of  the  tribunal  continued  for  many  months,  and 
was  not  completed  until  the  following  September.  The  decision 
was  that  the  British  government  had  failed  to  use  due 
diligence  in  the  performance  of  its  neutral  obligations, 
and  that  it  pay  the  United  States  the  sum  of  6 15,500,000 
in  gold.  The  only  negative  vote  cast  was  that  of  Chief  Justice  Cock- 
burn,  who  refused  also  to  sign  the  article  when  it  was  completed. 
The  British  public  was  greatly  displeased  with  the  verdict ;  but  the 
Ministry  accepted  it,  and  the  troublesome  question  was  settled.  The 
Americans  rejoiced,  not  on  account  of  the  money  to  be  paid,  but 
over  the  moral  victory,  as  the  verdict  pronounced  England  in  the 
wrong  throughout  the  long  controversy.  This  Alabama  Affair  has 
i  See  McPherson's  "Hand-Book,"  p.  87. 


822  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

been  pronounced  the  most  unfortunate  blunder  in  the  history  of  the 
British  Monarchy.1 

The  decision  of  the  German  Emperor  with  regard  to  the  boun 
dary  dispute  in  the  Northwest  was  in  favor  of  the  United  States, 
giving  us  a  group  of  small  islands  that  had  been  claimed  by  both 
countries.  This  left  the  United  States,  for  the  first  time  after  the 
close  of  the  Eevolution,  as  stated  by  President  Grant,  without  a 
boundary  dispute  with  Great  Britain.2 

THE   LIBERAL   REPUBLICAN   MOVEMENT 

No  party  was  ever  founded  on  purer  motives  than  was  the  Repub 
lican  party,  and  no  President  ever  entered  on  the  great  office  with 
nobler  intentions  than  did  General  Grant.  But  no  party  can  long 
have  a  monopoly  of  government  without  the  rise  of  demagogues  and 
corruptionists  within  its  ranks.  Especially  is  this  true  at  a  time  of 
great  social  upheaval  like  civil  war,  when  offices  are  multiplied 
and  when  the  opposing  rival  becomes  so  weak  that  its  protesting 
voice  can  be  heard  but  faintly.  The  Republican  party  proved  no 
exception  to  the  rule.  Its  achievements  during  the  first  years  of  its 
power  were  great.  It  had  left  a  record  in  American  annals  that  can 
not  be  effaced,  but  the  canker  worm  had  begun  its  work.  The  political 
jobber  had  gained  his  seat  in  the  inner  councils  of  the  nation ;  and 
now,  to  his  great  advantage,  the  people  had  chosen  a  President  who, 
though  a  true  soldier,  was,  like  Zachary  Taylor,  only  a  soldier,  a 
President  who  wanted  the  knowledge  and  capacity  for  administration, 
who  was  honest  —  too  honest  to  suspect  and  watch  the  dishonest  man. 

Before  the  close  of  Grant's  first  term  there  was  widespread 
demoralization  in  high  government  circles.  Few  if  any  suspected 
Grant  of  conniving  at  wrong  doing,  but  many  believed  that  his  sim 
plicity  of  nature,  his  want  of  capacity  to  curb  the  wily  politician  in 
search  of  plunder,  was  the  chief  obstacle  to  good  government.  The 
Force  Bill,  which  practically  suspended  civil  government  in  parts  of 
the  South,  also  helped  to  cause  a  reaction  in  the  North ;  and  a  very 
respectable  element  in  the  Republican  party  opposed  the  renomi- 
nation  of  Grant  for  a  second  term.  In  this  class  of  anti-Grant 
Republicans  we  find  such  leaders  as  Seward,  Greeley,  and  Charles 
A.  Dana  of  New  York ;  Lyman  Trumbull  and  David  Davis  of  Illi- 

1  The  Nation,  Vol.  XIV,  p.  84. 

2  The  fisheries  question  was  iiot  disposed  of  for  some  years  after  this.    It  will  be 
noticed  later. 


ANTI-GRANT  MOVEMENT  823 

nois;  Chase  and  Stanley  Matthews  and  Thomas  Ewing  of  Ohio*, 
Governor  Curtin  and  A.  K.  McClure  of  Pennsylvania;  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  Senator  Sumner,  Carl  Schurz,  General  Banks, 
Cassius  M.  Clay,  Justice  Field,  and  many  others.  These  men 
had  many  followers,  and  were  supported  by  such  great  dailies  as 
the  New  York  Tribune,  the  Chicago  Tribune,  and  the  Cincinnati 
Commercial.  The  great  body  of  the  Republican  party,  however, 
determined  to  renominate  Grant,  whereupon  a  majority  of  the  oppos 
ing  faction  broke  away  from  the  party,  put  its  own  ticket  in  the 
field,  and  called  itself  the  Liberal  Republican  party.  The  national 
movement  was  preceded  by  a  local  movement  in  Missouri,  where  the 
liberals,  led  by  Carl  Schurz  and  B.  Gratz  Brown,  joining  the  Demo 
crats,  won  a  victory  over  the  radicals,  who  favored  retaining  the  dis 
abilities  of  the  ex-Confederates.  The  Missouri  liberals  were  soon 
joined  by  a  similar  faction  in  New  York  and  other  states,  and  thus 
the  anti-Grant  or  Liberal  Republican  party  came  into  existence. 

When  the  Liberals  saw  that  the  nomination  of  Grant  by  the 
regular  party  was  inevitable,  they  called  a  national  convention,  to 
meet  at  Cincinnati  on  the  1st  of  May,  1872.1  The  proposal  met  with 
a  wide  response,  and  on  the  appointed  day  the  city  on  the  Ohio  wit 
nessed  a  great  gathering,  a  huge  mass  meeting  rather  than  a  conven 
tion.  Much  of  the  best  Republican  brains  was  represented,  but  the 
crowd  was  a  motley  one ;  the  members  had  not  been  sent,  they  had 
come  of  their  own  accord.  They  represented  every  shade  of  politi 
cal  opinion,  and  were  of  the  same  mind  in  one  thing  only  —  opposi 
tion  to  Grant.  Had  the  regular  party  consented  to  drop  Grant,  the 
Liberal  movement  would  doubtless  have  dissolved;2  but  as  this 
could  not  be,  they  proceeded  with  their  work.  Their  platform  pro 
nounced  against  civic  corruption,  and  the  continued  disabilities  of 
the  ex-Confederates,  and,  as  a  direct  thrust  at  Grant,  declared  that 
no  President  should  be  a  candidate  for  reelection.3  On  £iberai  con_ 
the  tariff  they  could  not  agree,  and  they  waived  the  vention,  May, 
issue.  The  momentous  question  was  the  choice  of  a  1872. 
candidate  for  the  presidency.  On  this  point  success  or  failure  would 
probably  turn.  It  was  known  that  the  new  party  could  not  win 
alone ;  but  there  was  a  tacit  understanding  that  the  Democrats  would 
indorse  its  nominees  if  acceptable  to  them.  Much,  therefore,  de 
pended  on  the  choice  of  the  Liberal  convention. 

1  The  call  was  made  by  the  Missouri  Liberals. 

2  The  Nation,  Vol.  XV,  p.  20.  8  McPherson,  p.  207. 


824  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

The  leading  name  before  the  convention  was  that  of  Charles 
Francis  Adams.  Adams  was  a  finished  statesman.  He  had  dis 
played  high  diplomatic  skill  as  minister  to  England  during  the  war, 
and,  moreover,  he  belonged  to  the  only  family  in  America  that  had 
given  two  Presidents  to  the  United  States.  But  Adams,  like  his 
father  and  grandfather,  was  wanting  in  tact  and  in  the  winning  arts 
of  the  politician ;  and,  true  to  his  ancestral  precedents,  he  made  a 
foolish  blunder  at  the  moment  when  this  convention  seemed  about  to 
name  him  for  the  highest  office  in  the  land.  He  telegraphed  his 
managers  to  "take  him  out  of  that  crowd"  rather  than  make  any 
pledges  for  his  honesty.  There  were  men  in  "  that  crowd "  who 
resented  the  apparent  reflection  and  cast  their  ballots  in  another 
direction.  The  other  leading  candidates  were  Lyman  Trumbull, 
David  Davis,  and  Horace  Greeley.  Any  one  of  the  first  three  would 
have  been  agreeable  to  the  Democrats.  The  convention  nominated 
the  fourth. 

HORACE   GREELEY 

The  great  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune  was  the  most  con 
spicuous  man  in  the  country  next  to  President  Grant;  and  while 
Grant  had  but  recently  loomed  first  upon  the  military,  then  upon 
the  political,  horizon  with  the  suddenness  of  a  meteor,  Greeley's  fame 
had  shone  with  a  steady  light  for  a  generation.  While  Grant  was 
yet  a  boy  in  knickerbockers  on  his  father's  farm  in  southern  Ohio, 
Greeley  was  experimenting  in  the  nation's  metropolis  with  the  first 
one-cent  daily  ever  issued ;  while  Grant  was  an  unknown  cadet  at 
West  Point,  Greeley  was  in  the  forefront  of  the  memora- 
Gr^l'  a  kle  political  battle  of  1840 ;  and  while  Grant  was  hauling 

cordwood  and  hoeing  potatoes  in  Missouri,  already  a 
middle-aged  man,  and  perhaps  without  a  dream  of  future  greatness, 
Greeley  was  the  proprietor  of  the  leading  American  newspaper  and 
the  acknowledged  prince  of  American  editors. 

Horace  Greeley,  the  son  of  a  farmer,  was  born  in  New  Hampshire 
in  1811.  As  a  well-grown  boy  we  find  him  in  the  printing  business 
in  Erie,  Pennsylvania.  At  length,  determined  to  strike  out  in  the 
great  world  and  win  for  himself  the  best  that  his  talents  could  procure, 
he  went  to  the  city  of  New  York.  After  a  long  journey  on  foot  and 
on  canal  boats  he  reached  the  metropolis  with  ambition  in  his  soul 
and  nothing  in  his  pocket;  to  become,  after  years  of  toil  and  dis 
couragement,  the  leading  editor  in  the  city  and  the  nation. 


THE   DEMOCRATS  JOIN   THE    LIBERALS  825 

For  many  years  G-reeley  had  been  in  the  midst  of  every  political 
battle  in  his  state  and  in  the  nation.  His  pen  was  often  caustic, 
always  powerful ;  his  courage  never  faltered,  but  he  often  displayed 
a  singular  lack  of  wisdom  at  a  critical  moment.  So  outspoken  had 
he  been  011  public  questions  that  he  had  made  enemies  on  every  side. 
Herein  lay  his  weakness  as  a  candidate.  He  could  not  hope  to  be 
elected  without  the  aid  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  he  had  been  the 
implacable  foe  of  that  party  for  a  generation.  Scarcely  a  leading  man 
in  the  party  had  escaped'the  bitter  castigation  of  his  pen.  Could  this 
party  now  make  this  man  their  standard  bearer  in  the  great  contest  ? 

The  nomination  of  Greeley  at  Cincinnati  stunned  the  Democracy 
of  the  Xorth.1  Any  other  public  man  would  have  suited  them 
better.  For  a  time  the  opposition  to  him  was  formidable ;  but  as  the 
weeks  passed  and  the  leaders  perceived  the  hopelessness  of  their 
cause,  except  they  joined  with  the  Liberals,  it  was  decided  to  swal 
low  the  medicine,  however  bitter.  Accordingly,  the  Democratic  con 
vention,  which  met  in  July  at  Baltimore,  nominated  Greeley  and 
B.  Gratz  Brown,  the  Liberal  Republican  candidates.2 

The  Eepublicans  had  met  in  Philadelphia,  and  had  renominated 
Grant  by  a  unanimous  vote.  Henry  Wilson,  the  Massachusetts  sena 
tor,  was  named  for  Vice  President.3  The  campaign  partook  of  the 
character  of  that  of  1840,  when  Greeley  first  rose  to  public  notice. 
The  Greeley  orators  rung  many  changes  on  Grant's  civic  incapacity, 
his  nepotism  in  public  appointments,  and  on  the  corrupt  carpetbag 
governments  of  the  South.  The  Grant  supporters  declared  that  if 
Greeley  were  elected,  it  would  be  a  Democratic  victory,  as  the  great 
majority  of  his  supporters  came  from  that  party ;  that  it  would  be 
turning  the  government  over  to  the  unregenerate  Democracy.  It  was 
dangerous,  they  argued,  to  intrust  the  hard-won  fruits  of  the  war  to 
the  party  that  but  eight  years  before  had  pronounced  the  war  a  fail 
ure,  the  party  that  was  unfriendly  to  the  freedman  and  to  the  last 
three  amendments,  the  party  that  included  all  the  old  slaveholders 
and  ex-rebels.  But  Greeley  was  hopeful  until  the  early  state  elections 

1  Greeley  was  more  popular  at  the  South  because  of  his  mild  attitude  on  recon 
struction,  and  because  he  had  signed  the  bail  bond  of  Jefferson  Davis. 

2  A  small  faction  of  the  party,  however,  calling  themselves  "  the  Straightouts," 
refused  to  support  Greeley,  met  in  convention  at  Louisville,  and  nominated  Charles 
O'Connor  and  John  Quincy  Adams.    This  party  made  little  showing  in  the  election. 

3  Wilson's  origin  was  as  obscure  as  that  of  Lincoln  or  of  Andrew  Johnson.    He 
was  the  son  of  an  Irish  farm  laborer  named  Colbath,  and  his  own  name  was  Jeremiah 
Jones  Colbath.    Not  liking  his  name,  he  bad  it  changed  by  the  state  legislature  to 
Henry  Wilson. 


826  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

pointed  unerringly  to  the  reelection  of  Grant.     The  election  came, 

and  Grant  swept  the  country  overwhelmingly,  receiving 
Grant°n  °  ^e  vo^es  °^  eveiT  state  in  the  North,  and  of  all  but  six 

in  the  South.  Since  the  reelection  of  Monroe  in  1820, 
but  twice  (in  1852  and  in  1864)  had  there  been  such  a  sweeping 
victory.  Greeley's  elements  of  weakness  were  two  :  tens  of  thousands 
of  old-time  Democrats  refused  to  support  him  and  remained  away 
from  the  polls ;  and  a  great  many  Republicans,  who  were  at  first  in 
full  sympathy  with  the  Liberals,  finding  themselves  in  Democratic  com 
pany,  hastened  before  election  day  to  get  back  into  the  Republican  fold. 
Greeley's  defeat  came  upon  him  with  a  shock.  It  was  not 
simply  the  defeat,  for  that  was  not  unexpected,  even  by  him,  but  the 
overwhelming  vastness  of  it,  that  was  crushing.  Greeley  had  come  to 
believe,  from  his  great  editorial  success  and  from  his  influence  in 
national  councils,  that  he  was  one  of  the  most  highly  honored  among 
his  countrymen ;  and  now  to  have  his  idol  shattered  at  one  fell  blow 
was  more  than  his  sensitive  nature  could  endure.  He  could  not  see  that 
thousands  of  his  friends  had  voted  against  him  because  they  feared 
that  a  change  in  the  government  at  that  time  would  not  be  well  for 
the  country,  and  that  they  were  still  his  friends.  He  did  not  foresee 
that  his  countrymen,  for  generations  after  he  was  gone,  would  honor 
his  memory  as  one  of  the  ablest  and  noblest  men  of  his  times.  He 
saw  only  the  result  of  the  election,  and  it  crushed  him.  Moreover, 
the  last  weeks  of  the  campaign  he  spent  at  the  bedside  of  his  dying 
wife,  the  companion  of  his  long  struggles.  Her  death  occurred  just 
before  the  election,  and  the  double  blow  proved  too  heavy.  Greeley's 
reason  was  dethroned,  and  he  was  sent  to  an  insane  asylum.  Ere 

the  month  that  brought  his  great  defeat  had  closed  — 
Greeley*  while  the  shouts  of  victory  for  his  successful  rival  were 

still  resounding  and  the  bonfires  were  still  burning  — 
Horace  Greeley  was  dead.  The  whole  nation  mourned  at  the  sad 
end  of  Greeley,  one  of  the  noblest  of  men  with  all  his  political 
antagonisms;  and  men  of  every  political  shade,  including  President 
Grant,  stood  sorrowing  about  the  grave  when  his  body  was  laid  to  rest. 


EXECUTIVE   DEMORALIZATION 

The  sweeping  victory  of  Grant  in  1872  gave  the  Republican  party 
a  feeling  of  security,  a  belief  that  it  was  more  strongly  intrenched  in 
power  than  ever  before.  This  condition  was  an  unwholesome  one. 


DISHONEST   GOVERNMENT   OFFICIALS  827 

and  it  led  the  party  more  than  ever  to  disregard  the  accusations  of 
corruption  that  had  been  so  freely  made  in  the  campaign.  The 
prophecies  of  evil,  freely  made  by  the  Democrats,  were  soon  amply 
justified.  General  Grant  proved  utterly  incapable  of  cleaning  the 
Augean  stables,  and  during  his  second  term  the  demoralization  in 
public  life  was  more  widespread  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of 
the  government.  If  Grant  were  not  utterly  without  a  knowledge 
of  the  responsibilities  of  the  great  office,  he  was  hopelessly  egotistical. 
This  was  shown  by  his  appointing  his  first  Cabinet  without  consulting 
any  of  the  leaders  of  his  party.  And  he  maintained  this  attitude 
throughout  the  eight  years.  Nor  was  he  a  good  j  udge  of  character ;  the 
political  adventurer  could  gain  his  ear  as  readily  as  the  long-tried  states 
man  of  well-known  probity,  and  many  of  his  appointments  were  made 
without  consultation  with  his  Cabinet.  The  result  was  that  every  branch 
of  the  government  became  infested  with  men  who  sought  only  plunder. 

The  most  notable  of  the  resulting  scandals  was  that  known  as  the 
Credit  Mobilier  case.  The  Credit  Mobilier  was  a  corporation,  which 
in  1864  became  a  company  to  construct  the  transcontinental  railroad. 
During  the  presidential  campaign  of  1872  the  Democratic 
leaders  charged  various  Kepublican  leaders  with  holding 
stock  in  the  Credit  Mobilier  Company.  For  members 
of  Congress  to  be  interested  in  a  company  whose  profits  and  fortunes 
depended  mainly  on  friendly  acts  of  Congress  was  considered  highly 
improper.  A  searching  investigation  revealed  that  the  charges  were 
founded  on  facts.  Many  reputations  were  blasted,  and  two  members 
of  the  House  were  severely  censured. 

The  "  Whiskey  Ring  "  was  exposed  by  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
Bristow.  In  many  western  towns  —  St.  Louis,  Chicago,  Milwaukee, 
and  others  —  the  manufacturers  of  whiskey  corrupted  the  govern 
ment  officials,  and  in  two  years  defrauded  the  government  of  over 
$4,000,000.  More  than  fifty  United  States  officials  were  arrested,  but 
most  of  them  escaped  punishment. 

The  corrupt  practices  were  not  confined  to   the  lower  officials. 
In  1876,  Secretary  of  War  W.  W.  Belknap  was  accused  of  offering  to 
sell  the  control  of  the  post-tradership  at  Fort  Sill,  Indian 
Territory.    An  investigation  followed,  and  the  most  glar 
ing  frauds  were  unearthed.     Belknap  was  shown  to  have  received 
at   least   $24,000   by  "farming  out"  contracts.     He   was   speedily 
impeached  by  the  House  of  Representatives ;  but  before  he  could  be 
tried  by  the  Senate,  and  indeed,  a  few  hours  before  the  impeachment 


828  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

vote  was  passed,  he  resigned  from  the  Cabinet,  and  thus  no  doubt 
escaped  conviction  by  the  Senate. 

Indian  affairs  were  woefully  mismanaged  during  this  period. 
The  Indian  bureau  had  its  ring  of  contractors  who  grew  rich  by 
defrauding  the  government  and  the  Indians.  Many  of  the  tribes, 
entitled  to  certain  supplies  by  treaty  with  the  government,  were 
systematically  defrauded,  and  they  grew  discontented  and  hostile. 
The  disastrous  Indian  troubles  in  the  Northwest  at  this  time  were 
due  chiefly  to  the  gross  mismanagement  of  the  Indian  bureau. 

In  1873  the  Modocs  of  Oregon  became  unmanageable  and  General 
Canby,  a  distinguished  officer  of  the  Mexican  and  Civil  wars,  was 
sent  to  pacify  them.  With  two  civilians  he  met  the  Modoc  chief, 
Captain  Jack,  and  his  attendants,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  when  sud 
denly  the  Indians  opened  fire  without  a  word  of  warning.  Canby 
and  one  of  his  companions  were  killed.  A  vigorous  campaign  was 
then  opened  against  the  tribe,  and  it  was  soon  subdued  and  the  as 
sassins  captured.  They  were  tried  in  a  civil  court  for  murder,  and 
three  of  them,  including  Captain  Jack,  were  put  to  death. 

The  most  disastrous  Indian  battle  in  the  last  half  century  oc 
curred  in  June,  1876,  on  the  Little  Big  Horn  Biver  in  Montana. 
It  was  decided  that  a  band  of  Sioux  be  removed,  and 
General  George  A.  Custer,  a  noted  cavalry  leader  of  the 
Civil  War,  was  assigned  the  dangerous  task.  The  Sioux 
resisted,  and  Ouster's  army,  consisting  of  less  than  three  hundred 
men,  was  unexpectedly  attacked  by  an  Indian  band  numbering  prob 
ably  three  thousand  warriors,  led  by  Sitting  Bull.  The  troops  fought 
bravely  and  slew  many,  but  the  odds  were  too  great,  and  Custer  and 
his  whole  band  perished  in  the  battle.1 

Not  all  the  troublesome  questions  of  the  day  resulted  from  execu 
tive  incapacity.  The  political  turmoils  of  the  South,  the  remaining 
legacy  of  the  war  and  reconstruction,  grew  out  of  the  opposition  to 
the  Force  Bill.  The  southern  whites  were  determined  to  terrorize 
the  black  voters  and  to  drive  the  northern  squatters  from  the  coun 
try.  To  do  this  bands  of  masked  men  rode  through  the  country 
by  night  and  spread  terror  on  every  hand.  But  there  were  other 
causes  of  disorder.  In  Arkansas  two  of  the  carpetbaggers,  Brooks 

1  Only  one  man,  a  half-breed  scout,  escaped  alive.  The  horse  "  Comanche  "  also 
escaped,  and  was  found  some  miles  from  the  battle  ground  with  seven  wounds.  The 
secretary  of  war  afterward  detailed  a  soldier  to  attend  the  horse  and  forbade  any 
one  to  ride  him. 


DIVISION   IN  THE   SOUTH  829 


and  Baxter,  both  claiming  to  be  Republicans,  fought  over  the  gov 
ernorship.  The  struggle  covered  two  years  ;  finally  President  Grant, 
through  his  attorney  general,  settled  the  matter  in  favor  of  Baxter. 
Louisiana  was  the  state  to  suffer  most  and  longest  through  po 
litical  disorders.  Here  also  the  fight  began  between  Republican 
factions,  but  it  soon  became  a  war  between  the  Republicans  and  the 
Democrats.  W.  P.  Kellogg,  the  Republican  governor,  was  accused 
of  running  the  state  into  ruinous  debt,  and  his  election 
was  disputed.  In  August,  1874,  an  outbreak  in  the  Red 
River  Parish  resulted  in  the  killing  of  six  Republican 
officials.  President  Grant  was  about  to  send  troops  when  the  de 
feated  candidate  for  lieutenant  governor,  Mr.  D.  B.  Penn.  in  the  ab 
sence  of  Mr.  McEnery,  the  defeated  candidate  for  governor,  denounced 
Kellogg  as  a  usurper,  and  called  on  the  people  to  arm  and  drive  him 
from  office.  Some  ten  thousand  men  responded  to  Penn's  call,  and  an 
armed  collision  took  place  on  the  streets  of  New  Orleans  in  which  a 
dozen  or  more  men  were  killed  on  each  side.  Kellogg  was  driven  from 
the  statehouse,  and  Penn  was  installed  governor.  But  Federal  troops 
soon  arrived  and  drove  Penn  out  and  reinstated  Kellogg.  The  next 
year  the  trouble  was  renewed  over  the  election  of  the  legislature,  and 
bloodshed  was  narrowly  averted.  At  length  the  Democrats  sullenly 
yielded  to  the  Kellogg  government,  owing  to  the  presence  of 
Federal  troops.  On  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops  in  1877  the  state 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Democrats,  where  it  has  since  re 
mained. 

FINANCIAL  LEGISLATION 

The  great  subject  of  finance,  with  which  the  country  had  to 
grapple  during  the  war  period,  as  we  have  noticed  here  and  there  in 
treating  of  that  period,  was  still  a  troublesome  problem  in  the  years 
that  followed  the  war.  Whatever  fault  may  be  found  with  the 
government  during  these  post-bellum  years,  in  one  thing  —  in  manag 
ing  the  finances  —  it  did  nobly. 

At  various  times  during  the  war  there  were  temporary  spasms  in 
the  money  market,  but  on  the  whole  the  finances  were  kept  in  a  fairly 
steady  condition,  owing  chiefly  to  the  masterly  ability  of  Secretary 
Chase,  and  to  the  legal  tender  and  banking  acts  of  Congress.  Never 
theless  gold  rose  to  285,  as  before  mentioned,  and  ceased  to  circu 
late  in  the  channels  of  trade ;  and  with  all  the  vast  sources  of  current 


830  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

revenue  the  public  debt  reached  $2,800,000,000.     This  debt  had  to  be 
reckoned  with,  and  in  doing  so  the  Eepublican  party,  in 
1865  order  to  maintain  the  public  credit,  took  a  stand  equally 

commendable  with  that  of  the  Federal  party  eighty 
years  before.  Mr.  Hugh  McCulloch,  secretary  of  the  treasury,  be 
gan  retiring  the  greenbacks  in  1866,  but,  after  he  had  withdrawn 
some  $66,000,000  from  circulation  in  a  little  over  two  years,  Con 
gress,  alarmed  at  an  outcry  against  it  from  the  West,  put  a  stop  to 
the  process.  Through  the  able  management  of  McCulloch  the  public 
debt  had  been  reduced  before  the  close  of  the  year  1868  by  more 
than  $200,000,000,  while  the  annual  revenue  had  been  cut  down 
$140,000,000,  and  nearly  all  the  temporary  obligations  had  been 
exchanged  for  long-time  bonds. 

In  1869  occurred  the  great  gold  conspiracy,  culminating  in  "  Black 
Friday."  The  leading  character  in  this  plot  to  corner  the  gold  market 
Black  Friday  was  ^ay  Gould  of  New  York.  It  had  been  the  custom 
September  '  of  the  government  to  sell  a  million  dollars'  worth  of 
24,  1869.  gold  per  month  for  the  accommodation  of  importers  and 
others.  Gould,  who  was  aided  by  James  Fisk  and  A.  It.  Corbin,  a 
brother-in-law  of  President  Grant,  and  one  or  two  others,  conspired 
to  corner  the  gold  market ;  but  this  could  not  be  done  while  the  gov 
ernment  sales  continued.  They  convinced  the  President,  therefore, 
that  it  would  be  better  for  the  country,  the  movement  of  the  crops, 
and  the  like,  if  the  gold  sales  were  suspended.  The  President  inno 
cently  consented  and  promised  to  grant  their  request.  Lest  he  should 
change  his  mind,  however,  he  was  induced,  how  or  by  whom  is  not 
known,  to  make  a  visit  of  a  week  or  two  with  an  old  friend  in  an 
obscure  town  in  western  Pennsylvania,  which  was  without  railroad 
or  telegraphic  communication.  The  conspirators  determined  to  pur 
chase  all  the  gold  in  sight  and  then  force  it  to  the  highest  possible 
point  before  selling.  Everything  seemed  to  work  well.  The  pool 
held  a  hundred  millions.  On  the  fatal  Friday  they  purchased  twenty- 
six  million  at  1.60,  and  pandemonium  reigned  in  the  stock  exchange. 
But  on  one  thing  they  had  not  reckoned.  President  Grant  had 
returned  to  Washington,  and  in  response  to  many  letters  and  telegrams 
urging  him  to  break  the  conspiracy,  he  yielded  and  threw  five 
millions  of  gold  on  the  market.  This  worked  like  magic.  It  caused 
a  sudden  drop  in  the  gold  market,  and  the  conspirators  were  beaten 
at  their  own  game.  Their  losses  reached  many  millions.  The  panic 
caused  by  this  plot  was  temporary  and  was  purely  financial.  The 


THE   PUBLIC   DEBT  831 

real  panic  that  was  to  lay  a  heavy  hand  on  all  the  people  was  four 
years  yet  in  the  future. 

We  return  to  our  subject  —  the  doings  of  Congress  concerning 
the  public  debt.  President  Grant  in  his  annual  message  of  1869 
recommended  that  the  large  portion  of  the  public  debt  which  still 
bore  6  per  cent  interest  be  funded  at  41  per  cent.  The  response 
was  a  refunding  act  in  July,  1870,  and  a  supplementary  one  the 
following  January.  These  acts  authorized  the  issue  of  $500,000,000 
of  5  per  cent  bonds  redeemable  in  ten  years,  $300.000,000  at  41  per 
cent  to  run  fifteen  years,  and  $1,000,000,000  of  4  per 
cent  bonds  to  run  thirty  years.  All  were  payable  in 
coin  and  exempt  from  taxation.  The  saving  to  the 
government  occasioned  by  refunding  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest 
amounted  to  many  millions  a  year.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
revenues  were  greatly  reduced  by  the  expiration  of  the  income  tax 
law  at  the  end  of  the  year  1871,  and  by  the  reduction  of  the  duties 
on  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  and  some  other  articles ;  and  yet,  the  war 
expenses  being  cut  off,  the  public  debt  diminished  rapidly,  and  by 
the  close  of  the  year  1872  it  was  nearly  a  thousand  million  dollars 
less  than  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

Before  the  refunding  was  completed,  the  silver  question  came 
into  prominence.  In  February,  1873,  a  law  was  passed  to  "  demon 
etize  "  silver,  or  to  drop  the  standard  silver  dollar  of 
4121  grains  from  the  list  of  United  States  coins,  and  sub- 
stitute  the  trade  dollar  of  420  grains.1  This  caused  a 
drop  in  the  value  of  silver,  and  a  popular  desire  that  the  old  dollar 
be  restored  grew  up.  The  result  was  the  Bland-Allison  Bill  of  1875.2 
By  this  law  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  was  directed  to  purchase 
enough  silver  to  coin  not  less  than  two  million  nor  more  than  four 
million  dollars  a  month  of  4121  grains ;  while,  by  a  law  of  1877,  the 
trade  dollar  ceased  to  be  a  legal  tender.  By  a  law  of  1878,  the  dollar 
of  4121  grains  was  made  a  legal  tender,  and  the  following  year  silver 
coins  of  less  than  one  dollar  were  made  legal  tender  to  the  amount 
of  ten  dollars.  Thus  began  the  silver  agitation  that  was  to  result  in 
the  Sherman  Law  of  1890,  its  repeal  a  few  years  later,  and  the  great 
silver  movement  that  was  to  mark  the  closing  years  of  the  century. 

The  great  aftermath  of  the  inflation  of  the  war  period  was  the 

1  This  act  was  not  opposed  by  any  one,  as  the  silver  dollar  had  long  been  out  of 
circulation. 

2  Passed  over  the  President's  veto. 


HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 


panic  of  1873.  For  sjme  years  after  the  war  money  was  plentiful, 
and  the  people  formed  the  habit  of  spending  it  freely, 
and  of  engaging  in  unwise  speculation.  The  cur 
rency  had  been  greatly  contracted  by  the  canceling  of  legal  tender 
notes  under  Secretary  McCulloch.  But  the  people  did  not  take 
account  of  the  new  conditions  ;  they  went  on  in  the  old  way  until  tho 
crash  came.  Hundreds  of  miles  of  needless  railroads  were  built  in 
the  unpeopled  West ;  great  business  enterprises  were  undertaken  on 
borrowed  capital.  As  a  fever  leaves  its  victim  weaker  than  before,  so 
the  fever  of  inflated  prices  and  overissues  of  money  will  in  the  end 
bring  disaster  in  the  business  world.  The  panic  of  1873,  which  ran  its 
course  in  four  or  five  years,  was  occasioned,  but  not  caused,  by  the 
failure  of  the  great  Philadelphia  banking  house  of  Jay  Cooke  and  Com 
pany  on  September  18,  1873.  This  day  is  known  as  a  second  Black 
Friday.  From  this  day  failure  followed  failure  among  the  great 
business  and  banking  firms.  Business  of  every  sort  became  stagnant, 
and  only  after  years  of  recuperation  could  the  normal  conditions  of 
trade  be  resumed. 

POLITICAL  REACTION 

In  our  American  politics  a  money  panic  or  an  industrial  depression, 
"  hard  times  "  from  whatever  cause  and  however  inevitable,  is  laid 
at  the  door  of  the  party  in  power.  For  many  scandals  in  public 
life  and  for  many  other  shortcomings  the  Republican  party  was,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  responsible ;  but  no  human  wisdom  could  have  pre 
vented  the  panic  of  1873.  And  yet  the  party  was  held  responsible  for 
it,  and  it  became  a  powerful  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the  Democrats  in 
their  struggle  for  supremacy.  The  defeat  of  Greeley  in  1872  left  the 
Democratic  party  disorganized  and  prostrate ;  but  in  the  end  the  party 
was  strengthened  by  the  escapade.  It  went  down  in  the  disaster,  but 
it  had  become  used  to  defeat,  and  it  rose  with  its  usual  resilience. 
The  Liberal  party  was  crushed  to  rise  no  more,  and  most  of  its  mem 
bers  went  back  to  the  Republican  fold  whence  they  had  come ;  but 
not  all,  —  thousands  remained  with  the  Democratic  party,  and  in 
this  way  was  that  party  strengthened  by  the  Liberal  movement.1 

1  As  examples  take  A.  K.  McClure  and  ex-Governor  Curtin  of  Pennsylvania. 
McClure,  one  of  the  ablest  editors  in  the  country  and  the  intimate  friend  of  Lincoln, 
after  many  years  as  a  Republican  manager,  now  became  a  leader  of  the  Democrats. 
Curtin  never  went  back  to  the  Republicans,  but  was  sent  to  Congress  for  severa' 
terms  as  a  Democrat.  Thomas  Ewing  and  Lyman  Trumbull  were  of  this  class. 


DEMOCRATIC   CONGRESS   ELECTED  833 

The  Republicans  had  sinned  grievously.  The  party  was  justly 
blamed  for  the  corruption  that  pervaded  the  administration,  for  the 
Credit  Mobilier  scandal,  and  for  the  "  Salary  Grab,"  by  which  the 
members  of  Congress  increased  their  own  compensation  by  50  per 
cent,  and  made  the  bill  retroactive  so  as  to  apply  to  the  Congress 
that  passed  it;1  but  it  was  unjustly  blamed  for  bringing  on  the 
panic  of  1873.  The  people  are  ever  ready  to  listen  when  their 
pockets  are  touched.  They  heeded  the  Democratic  call  for  reform. 
The  first  note  of  warning  came  from  Ohio,  where,  in  1873,  the  people 
elected  as  their  governor  William  Allen,  an  old-time  Democrat  who 
had  served  in  Congress  before  the  Mexican  War.  New  York 
sounded  the  next  note  in  the  election  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden  as  governor. 
The  political  reaction  swept  the  country  like  a  tidal  wave,  and  in  1874 
the  Democrats  carried  the  country.  The  Republican  majority  of 
near  a  hundred  in  the  Lower  House  was  replaced  by  a  Democratic 
majority  almost  as  great.  Mr.  Elaine,  who  had  been  Speaker  for 
the  past  six  years,  was  replaced  by  Michael  C.  Kerr  of  Indiana. 

The  Republican  party,  guilty  though  it  was  of  many  misde 
meanors,  now  did  a  noble  act.  After  a  short  session  the  House  would 
pass  into  other  hands,  after  which  no  party  measure 
could  be  enacted.  Before  the  close  of  the  session,  there-  ^sumption 
fore,  the  Republicans  passed  a  law  providing  for  the  grad 
ual  resumption  of  specie  payments.  The  act  was  passed  at  this  time 
for  the  purpose  of  placing  the  matter  beyond  the  control  of  the 
Democrats,  as  they  were  known  to  oppose  it.  Resumption  of  specie 
payments,  —  that  is,  a  redeeming  of  all  paper  money,  or  a  readiness  to 
redeem  it  in  coin,  was  necessary  to  the  credit  of  the  nation  and  to 
the  bringing  about  of  perfectly  normal  business  conditions.  The  Re 
sumption  Act  had  been  recommended  in  the  President's  message,  and 
by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  B.  H.  Bristow.  It  was  passed  in  Jan 
uary,  1875,  and  was  to  go  into  operation  just  four  years  later.  John 
Sherman  of  Ohio,  secretary  of  the  treasury  during  the  succeeding  ad 
ministration,  became  the  chief  agent  in  bringing  it  about,  and  in  doing 
so  he  placed  himself  as  a  financier  in  the  class  with  Hamilton,  Gallatin, 
and  Chase. 

1  So  fierce  was  the  cry  of  the  people  against  this  act  that  the  same  Congress 
repealed  it. 


SH 


834  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 


THE   CENTENNIAL 

A  pleasing  episode  in  the  midst  of  political  turmoil  was  the  great 
industrial  fair  that  was  held  at  Philadelphia  in  commemoration  of 
the  nation's  birth.  The  old  city  from  which  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  had  emanated  was  the  most  fitting  place  for  this  Cen 
tennial  Exhibition,  and  the  expansive  Fairmount  Park,  lying  on 
both  sides  of  the  winding  Schuylkill,  furnished  an  admirable  site. 
In  1872  Congress  passed  an  act  creating  a  Centennial  Board  of 
Finance  with  full  power  to  transact  the  financial  business.  It  also 
created  a  commission  to  consist  of  one  delegate  from  each  state  and 
territory,  requested  the  President  to  proclaim  the  exposition  to  the 
world  and  invite  other  nations  to  participate.  Thirty-three  countries 
responded  —  all  the  civilized  nations,  except  Greece. 

The  necessary  money  was  raised  by  a  loan  of  $1,500,000  by 
Congress,  an  appropriation  of  an  equal  sum  by  Philadelphia, 
$1,000,000  by  Pennsylvania,  smaller  amounts  by  other  states,  and 
the  remainder  by  the  sale  of  stock.  Several  hundred  buildings,  large 
and  small,  were  erected  on  the  grounds.  The  main  building,  a  great 
structure  covering  twenty  acres,  was  devoted  chiefly  to  manufactures 
and  mining  products  of  all  nations.  Next  in  size  came  Machinery 
Hall,  which  covered  thirteen  acres.  The  chief  attraction  of  this 
building  was  the  great  Corliss  engine  which  furnished  the  motive 
power  for  thousands  of  connecting  machines.  Agricultural  Hall, 
covering  ten  acres,  was  built  in  the  form  of  a  nave  with  three  tran 
septs.  The  products  here  displayed,  especially  from  the  great  middle 
West,  constituted  one  of  the  most  attractive  features  of  -the  fair. 
These  aforementioned  buildings  were  temporary;  but  Memorial 
Hall,  a  substantial  granite  structure  devoted  to  art,  and  Horti 
cultural  Hall,  made  of  iron  and  glass  in  the  Moorish  style  of  the 
twelfth  century,  were  intended  to  be  permanent,  and  are  still 
standing. 

A  vast  throng  of  people  attended  the  opening,  President  Grant 
and  Dom  Pedro  II,  Emperor  of  Brazil,  being  the  chief  figures.  The 
people  who  entered  the  gates  during  the  six  months  of  the  exhibition, 
from  May  10  to  November  10,  numbered  9,900,000,  a  larger  attend 
ance  than  had  any  previous  international  exhibition,  except  that  at 
Paris  in  1867,  which  was  open  eight  months  instead  of  six.  The 
Centennial  Exhibition  was  not  successful  financially,  as  its  stock- 


REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION  835 

holders  were  never  repaid  in  full.  But  in  the  more  important  objects 
—  the  advancing  of  science  and  knowledge,  the  awakening  of  a 
fraternal  interest  between  our  country  and  foreign  nations  and 
between  the  various  sections  of  our  own  country  —  the  exhibi 
tion  was  eminently  successful.  It  proved  a  stimulus  to  art, 
science,  and  commerce,  to  agriculture  and  manufacturing  in  every 
branch. 

The  lesson  learned  by  America  was  a  long-needed  lesson  in  art 
and  grace.  The  American  people,  in  preparing  a  great  continent  for 
modern  civilized  life  had  been  painfully  practical,  and  in  the  great 
rush  of  building  cities  and  railroads  and  inventing  machinery  had 
aimed  at  utility  while  neglecting  the  refinements  that  characterize 
the  older  countries.  Many  of  the  foreign  exhibits  at  the  great 
fair  were  of  such  a  character  as  to  awaken  in  the  overpractical  Ameri 
can  a  desire  to  cultivate  the  higher  graces  and  refinements  of  art  and 
beauty  that  mean  so  much  in  modern  civilization.  The  European, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  benefited  by  his  contact  with  the  sleepless 
activity,  the  ingenious,  ever  advancing  life  that  characterize  America. 

THE   DISPUTED   PRESIDENTIAL   ELECTION 

Never  but  once  in  our  history  has  there  been  a  disputed  presi 
dential  election.  Twice  before  the  electoral  college  had  failed  to 
choose  a  President  and  the  election  was  thrown  into  the  House ; l 
but  in  neither  case  was  there  any  dispute  as  to  the  number  of  votes 
cast  for  each  candidate.  In  1876,  however,  there  was  a  dispute  con 
cerning  the  number  of  electoral  votes  cast  for  each  candidate,  and 
the  peace  of  the  country  was  most  seriously  threatened. 

For  sixteen  years  the  Republican  party  had  held  the  reins  of 
government.  Its  achievements  were  great  and  of  permanent  value  ; 
but  its  many  false  steps,  especially  those  of  Grant's  second  term, 
had  greatly  weakened  the  party.  The  great  wave  of  Democracy 
that  swept  over  the  country  in  1874  had  in  some  measure  subsided ; 
but  the  sentiment  for  reform  was  still  strong,  and  the  Democrats 
eagerly  entered  the  presidential  contest  of  the  centennial  year. 

The  Republicans  met  in  national  convention  at  Cincinnati  on  the 
14th  of  June.  For  the  first  time  since  1860  there  was  to  be  a  con 
test  for  the  nomination.  The  man  whose  following  was  largest  was 
James  G-.  Elaine  of  Maine,  and  his  name  was  put  before  the  conven 
tion  by  Colonel  Robert  Gr.  Ingersoll  in  a  brilliant  outburst  of  eloquence 

i  In  1800  and  1824. 


836  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

that  made  the  speaker  scarcely  less  famous  than  the  one  for  whom 
he  spoke.  Elaine  was  by  far  the  strongest  and  most  popular  leader 
in  the  party.  But  his  name  had  been  tainted  with  a  charge  of 
corruption,  and  a  certain  conservative  element  of  the  Republican 
party  regarded  him  with  distrust.  Furthermore,  he  had  powerful 
enemies  who  were  ready  to  go  to  any  lengths  to  compass  his  defeat.1 
On  the  first  ballot  Elaine  fell  but  little  short  of  the  nomination. 
Six  ballots  were  cast  without  result ;  but  on  the  seventh  there  was 
a  stampede  for  Governor  Hayes  of  Ohio,  who  received 
the  nomination.  William  A.  Wheeler  of  New  York  was 
nominated  for  the  vice  presidency.  The  platform 
sounded  the  great  deeds  of  the  party  in  the  past,  promised  to 
punish  all  public  offenders  with  unsparing  severity,  and  mercilessly 
arraigned  the  Democracy  as  in  league  with,  if  not  identical  with,  the 
late  foes  of  the  government. 

The  nomination  of  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  was  a  surprise  to  the 
country.  He  may  be  classed  among  the  "  dark  horse  "  candidates, 
as  no  important  element  of  his  party  had  intended  to  make  him  the 
nominee.  Hayes  had  not  been  looked  upon  as  a  leading  man  of  his 
party,  but  his  record  was  by  no*  means  to  be  despised.  A  native  of 
Ohio,  and  a  graduate  of  the  Harvard  law  school,  he  had  served  through 
the  war  and  had  attained  the  rank  of  brigadier  general.  While  still  in 
the  field  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  where  he  served  four  years. 
It  is  singular  how  often  the  number  four  recurs  in  the  career  of 
Hayes.  Four  years  he  spent  as  a  youth  in  college ;  four  years  he 
served  in  the  war,  being  wounded  four  times  ;  four  years  he  served 
in  Congress,  being  first  elected  in  1864  ;  four  years  and  a  little  over  he 
was  governor  of  Ohio,  and  four  years  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  Democratic  convention  was  held  in  St.  Louis  two  weeks  after 
the  nomination  of  Hayes.  For  the  first  time  since  the  passing  of 
Douglas  the  party  enjoyed  the  leadership  of  a  great  man.  For 
many  years  Samuel  J.  Tilden  of  New  York  had  served  his  party  in 
minor  capacities ;  but  only  recently  —  not  until  he  had  almost 
reached  his  three  score  years  —  had  he  risen  in  the  political  sky  as 
a  star  of  the  first  magnitude.  He  was  a  great  lawyer,  and  possessed 
vast  wealth.  He  had  come  into  national  prominence  by  unearthing 
the  corruptions  of  the  Tweed  Ring  in  New  York,  and  he  was  then 

1  A  feeble  effort  was  made  by  the  friends  of  President  Grant  to  have  him  nomi 
nated  for  a  third  term ;  but  the  plan  was  killed  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  against  it. 


CAMPAIGN  OF   1876  837 

made  governor  of  the  state.  In  a  short  time  he  was  recognized  as  the 
leader  of  the  Democracy  in  the  nation.  He  beheld  his  party,  as  it 
were,  a  flock  without  a  shepherd,  and  quietly  assumed  control. 

Tilden  was  nominated  on  the  second  ballot  by  a  very  large 
majority,  and  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  of  Indiana  was  given  second 
place  on  the  ticket.  The  platform  sounded,  with  the  ring  of  a 
bugle  blast,  the  one  note  of  reform  in  the  government  service. 
And  this  became  the  Democratic  cry  throughout  the  campaign.  It 
was  reiterated  and  reechoed  from  every  side ;  the  city  daily  and  the 
country  newspaper,  the  famous  orator  and  the  local  exhorter  in  the 
country  schoolhouse  —  all  joined  in  the  one  widespread  cry  of  reform. 
The  Democratic  orators  told  the  truth,  but  not  the  whole 
truth.  Unwearied  they  were  in  crying  out  against  the 
evils  of  the  Republican  administration,  but  its  good  deeds 
they  left  unmentioned ;  the  settlement  of  the  Alabama  claims,  the  pro 
vision  for  a  resumption  of  specie  payments,  the  improvement  of  the  nat 
uralization  laws  —  for  such  the  Democratic  orator  had  no  use  in  1876. 

The  Republicans  were  clearly  on  the  defensive.  They  could  not 
raise  a  counter  cry  of  corruption,  for  the  Democrats  had  been  out  of 
power  for  sixteen  years,  and  they  resorted  to  the  old  device  of 
"  waving  the  bloody  shirt."  They  denounced  the  Democrats,  North 
and  South,  as  public  enemies,  unregenerate  rebels,  and  called  on  the 
people  to  meet  them  at  the  polls  in  the  same  spirit  as  they  had  been 
met  on  the  battle  field.1  If  the  Democrats  succeeded  to  power,  the 
southern  war  debt  would  be  paid,  and  perhaps  the  black  man  reenslaved. 
But  the  cry  was  well  worn ;  only  the  least  intelligent  were  frightened 
by  it.  As  the  campaign  progressed  the  Republicans  assailed  the 
character  of  Mr.  Tilden,  and  drew  forth  from  him  an  explanatory 
letter  which  satisfied  his  followers,  but  did  not  silence  his  accusers. 

Besides  the  two  great  political  parties  two  smaller  ones  came  into 
the  field  in  this  campaign.  The  Independent,  or  Greenback  party, 
nominated  the  venerable  New  York  philanthropist,  Peter  Cooper, 
for  the  presidency,  while  the  newly  organized  Prohibition  party 
chose  Greene  Clay  Smith  for  the  same  office.  But  these  minor 
parties  cut  a  small  figure  in  the  great  contest. 

The  contest  was  a  close  one,  as  had  been  foreseen ;  but  no  one 
was  prepared  for  the  long,  exciting  struggle  that  was  to  continue 
throughout  the  winter.  On  the  morning  after  the  election,  the  news 
papers  of  the  country  announced  the  election  of  Tilden;  but  this 

i  The  Nation,  Vol.  XXIII,  p.  227. 


838  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

was  soon  disputed  by  the  Republicans,  and  the  struggle,  which  was 
supposed  to  end  with  election  day,  had  only  begun.  Tilden  had 
won  the  states  of  New  York,  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  and  Indiana 
in  the  North,  and  every  southern  state  except  three,  South  Carolina, 
Florida,  and  Louisiana,  which  were  still  under  carpetbag  govern 
ment.  He  had  also  received  a  popular  majority  of  a  quarter  of  a 
million  votes.  It  required  185  electoral  votes  to  elect,  and  Tilden 
had  secured  184  without  any  from  the  three  disputed  states.  Mr. 
Hayes,  therefore,  to  win  the  presidency  must  have  every  elector 
from  these  three  states.  All  these  states,  on  the  face  of  the*  returns, 
had  been  carried  by  Tilden,  the  majority  being  7876  in  Louisiana, 
and  somewhat  less  in  each  of  the  others.  How  then  could  the  He- 
publicans  go  behind  the  returns  and  claim  the  states  ?  Simply  by 
pronouncing  the  Democratic  majority  fraudulent  through  the  "  Re 
turning  Board,"  which  had  absolute  judicial  power  over  the  elections. 
The  Returning  Board  in  each  state  was  a  creation  of  the  carpet 
bag  government,  and  the  carpetbag  government  was  sustained  by 
national  troops.  If  these  forces  chose,  therefore,  to  pronounce  the 
three  states  Republican,  there  was  no  power  to  prevent  it  —  and  that 
is  exactly  what  they  chose.  The  matter  was  decided  in  high  Repub 
lican  circles  at  Washington.  The  prize  was  vast  —  the  control  of  a 
great  nation  —  and  the  temptation  proved  too  great  to  be  resisted. 
The  Democratic  party  has  been  a  dreadful  sinner  since  long  before 
the  war,  has  often  committed  fraud,  and  even  now  is  unreformed  and 
unfit  to  control  the  government.  If  such  a  misfortune  can  be  averted 
by  appropriating  a  few  electoral  votes,  it  is  quite  right  to  do  so.  It 
would  in  the  end  be  a  real  service  to  the  country.  Thus  reasoned 
the  Republicans,  and  their  conscience  in  the  matter  was  probably  up 
to  the  standard  of  the  average  political  conscience.  The  Democratic 
party  might  have  done  the  same  thing  under  the  same  conditions. 

The  returning  boards  were  wholly  Republican.1     Their  decision 
was  final ;  and  they  decided  to  throw  out  enough  Democratic  votes 

in  each  state  on  the  cry  of  fraud  to  give  its  electors  to 
boards m?  Hayes.  No  doubt  there  was  fraud  in  all  these  states, 

and  probably  in  many  others,  as  there  usually  is  in  such 
elections ;  but  one  party  is  seldom  more  guilty  than  the  other.  The 
Democrats  believed  that  though  they  lost  South  Carolina  and  Florida, 
they  could  certainly  hold  Louisiana,  where  the  returns  gave  them  a 

1  Except  that  there  was  one  Democrat  on  the  returning  board  of  Florida. 


THE   ELECTORAL   COMMISSION  839 

majority  of  nearly  eight  thousand.  Some  of  the  leading  members  of 
each  party  went  to  New  Orleans  to  see  fair  play  for  their  respective 
parties.  The  Democrats  who  went  thither  proposed  joint  meetings  that 
all  might  witness  the  final  count  by  the  returning  board,  but  the  Repub 
licans  refused  their  request  and  excluded  them  from  the  meetings. 

The  returning  board  in  this  state  was  properly  composed  of  five 
members  ;  but  at  this  moment  there  were  but  three,  and  two  of  them 
were  negroes.1  The  situation  was  not  only  grave  ;  it  was  ludicrous 
in  the  extreme.  A  great  nation  of  fifty  million  people  waited  with 
breathless  eagerness  for  two  black  men,  the  majority  of  the  board, 
both  lately  emerged  from  slavery,  to  name  its  Chief  Magistrate  for 
'the  ensuing  four  years.  These  colored  men  were  utterly  insignifi 
cant  and  unknown.  At  length  they  decided  that  Louisiana  had  cast 
her  electoral  vote  for  Hayes,  and  while  they  gave  certificates  to  the 
Hayes  electors,  the  Democratic  governor  gave  certificates  to  the 
Tilde  n  electors. 

The  Democrats  all  over  the  country  raised  the  cry  of  fraud.     The 
weeks  passed.    Neither  party  would  yield,  and  intense  excitement 
prevailed  everywhere.      The  Democrats  threatened  to 
raise  an  army  and  prevent  the  seating  of  Hayes  by     r      exci  e" 


force.  The  danger  of  internecine  war  was  tremendous. 
Such  a  war  might  have  been  the  most  appalling  in  history.  Only 
the  deep-seated  conservatism  of  the  people,  the  inborn  love  of  peace 
and  order,  saved  the  country.  The  people  at  this  crisis  looked 
instinctively  to  Congress  for  a  solution.  But  the  Senate  was  Repub 
lican  and  the  House  Democratic.  What  could  be  done  ?  Inaugura 
tion  day  drew  near.  One  proposal  for  settlement  after  another  was 
made  and  rejected.  At  length,  however,  it  was  agreed  by  a  vote  of 
both  houses  that  the  matter  be  settled  by  a  grand  tripartite  com 
mittee  of  fifteen  —  five  from  the  Senate,  five  from  the  House,  and 
five  from  the  Supreme  Court.  This  committee,  known  as  the 
Electoral  Commission,  was  to  decide  the  contest,  and  from  their 
decision  there  was  to  be  no  appeal.  When  fourteen  had  been 
chosen,  five  from  each  House  and  four  from  the  Supreme  Court, 
seven  of  them  were  from  each  political  party.  Justice  David  Davis 
was  about  to  be  selected  by  the  four  from  the  Supreme  Court,  as  the 
fifteenth,  as  he  was  considered  a  neutral  in  politics  ;  but  at  that 
moment  the  Illinois  legislature  elected  him  to  the  United  States 

i  The  Nation,  Vol.  XXIII,  p.  294. 


840  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

Senate  as  a  Democrat.  Justice  Bradley  was  then  chosen  in  his  stead.1 
Davis  had  supported  Tilden  in  the  campaign,  while  Bradley  had  sup 
ported  Hayes,  and  this  change  was  fatal  to  the  chances  of  Tilden. 

The  Electoral  Commission  was  thus  composed  of  eight  Republicans 
and  seven  Democrats.  It  was  hoped,  however,  that  they  would  rise 
above  the  trammels  of  party  and  render  a  judicial  verdict  on  the 
pure  merits  of  the  case.  But  this  they  could  not  do.  On  every 
question  that  came  before  them  they  voted  as  partisans  and  not  as 
judges.  Double  returns  had  been  sent  from  each  of  the 
three  disputed  states,  and  in  every  case,  including  a  dis 
puted  elector  from  Oregon,  the  commission  decided  for 
the  Hayes  electors  by  a  vote  of  eight  to  seven.  The  final  vote  was' 
taken  on  the  2d  of  March,  and  two  days  later  General  Hayes 
became  President  of  the  United  States.  The  Democrats  were 
greatly  disappointed  and  they  found  some  relief  in  renewing  the  cry 
of  fraud,  in  accusing  the  Republicans  of  having  stolen  the  presi 
dency —  and  this  cry  they  kept  up  for  many  years. 

General  Hayes  was  an  honest  man,  and  he  made  a  faithful  Presi 
dent;  but  he  never  ceased  to  feel  keenly  the  accusation  of  his 
opponents  that  he  had  accepted  an  office  to  which  he  had  not  been 
elected.  And  yet  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  he  could  have  done  other 
wise,  when  called  to  the  presidential  chair,  than  obey  the  mandate 
of  his  party,  without  bringing  greater  evils  upon  the  country. 

Scarcely  had  Mr.  Hayes  taken  his  seat  when  he  withdrew  the 
troops  from  the  three  Southern  states,  which  at  once  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  Democrats,  and  from  that  time  to  the  present  they  all 
have  been  steadily  Democratic.  Thus  ended  carpetbag  rule  in  the 
South.  The  Republican  rank  and  file  were  not  pleased  with  this  action 
of  President  Hayes.  By  thus  recognizing  the  governors  and  other 
state  officers  who  had  been  voted  for  on  the  same  tickets  that  had  con 
tained  the  Tilden  electors,  the  President  was  in  a  sense  acknowledging 
that  the  Tilden  electors  had  received  a  majority  of  votes  over  his  own. 
The  act  certainly  darkened  the  cloud  that  hung  over  his  title  to  the 
presidency.  This  was  explained  by  the  claim  that  as  the  electors  may 
be  chosen  "  in  such  manner  as  the  legislature  of  the  state  may  direct," 
the  legislature  had  the  power  to  commit  the  choice  of  electors  to  the 

1  The  Electoral  Commission  was  composed  of  the  following  persons :  Justices  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  Clifford,  Miller,  Field,  Strong,  and  Bradley ;  Senators,  Edmunds, 
Morton,  Frelinghuysen,  Bayard,  and  Thurman ;  Representatives,  Payne,  Hunton, 
Abbott,  Garfield,  and  Hoar. 


NOTES  841 


returning  boards,  though  not  the  choice  of  state  officers.  But  this  was 
an  admission  that  the  Hayes  electors  had  not  been  chosen  at  the  polls. 
It  developed,  however,  that  the  Republican  leaders  had  bargained  with 
the  Democrats  of  these  states  to  withdraw  the  troops  and  to  give  them 
(the  Democrats)  full  control,  if  they  would  agree  to  the  appropriation 
by  the  Republicans  of  the  electoral  votes.  If  this  is  true,  — and  it  is 
positively  stated  by  Colonel  A.  K.  McClure  in  his  recent  book,1  —  it 
was  one  of  the  most  unsavory  bargains  in  our  political  history,  and 
either  party  was  quite  as  guilty  as  the  other. 

NOTES 

The  Chicago  Fire.  —  One  of  the  most  destructive  fires  of  modern  times,  and 
the  greatest  city  fire  in  history,  was  that  of  Chicago,  October  8-9,  1871.  It  started 
in  a  small  barn  in  the  western  district  of  the  city,  and  burned  over  nearly  2200 
acres,  reducing  17,450  buildings  to  ashes,  and  destroying  250  human  lives. 
Some  of  the  finest  business  blocks  were  included  in  this  area,  as  were  also  many 
costly  private  residences,  extensive  factories,  vast  piles  of  lumber,  and  thousands 
of  tons  of  coal.  The  value  of  the  property  consumed  reached  nearly  $200,000,000, 
and  98,000  people  were  rendered  homeless.  The  rebuilding  of  Chicago  displayed, 
as  nothing  had  ever  done  before,  the  marvelous  energy  of  the  West,  and  espe 
cially  the  enterprise  of  the  people  of  this  great  mid-continental  metropolis.  On 
the  ruins  of  the  old  city  a  new  and  grander  city  was  built,  and  with  such  rapidity 
that  within  a  very  few  years  scarcely  a  trace  of  the  disastrous  conflagration 
remained. 

The  Tweed  Ring.  —  One  of  the  notable  events  of  1871  was  the  unearthing 
of  the  notorious  Tweed  Ring  in  New  York.  For  some  years  the  city  had  been 
held  by  the  throat  by  a  gang  of  politicians,  who  proved  to  be  thieves  plundering 
the  people  under  the  guise  of  law.  The  leader  of  these  was  W.  W.  Tweed, 
formerly  a  mechanic,  then  the  political  "  boss  "  ;  and  with  him  were  associated 
K.  B.  Connolly,  city  comptroller ;  P.  B.  Sweeny,  head  of  the  public  parks  de 
partment  ;  A.  Oakley  Hall,  the  mayor,  and  others  of  lesser  note.  The  thieves 
secured  control  of  all  the  machinery  of  the  city,  and  then  by  forged  accounts,  by 
furnishing  supplies,  giving  out  contracts,  and  the  like,  they  looted  the  treasury  of 
vast  sums  of  money.  They  charged  the  city  $12,000,000  for  the  new  city  treasury 
building,  which  probably  cost  less  than  $2,000.000.  The  robberies  doubtless 
exceeded  $100,000,000,  much  of  which  was  used  for  bribing  lower  officials.  The 
corruption  was  exposed  largely  through  the  tireless  efforts  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden. 
Hall  was  tried  and  the  jury  disagreed.  Connolly  and  Sweeny  fled  the  country. 
Tweed  was  sentenced  to  pay  a  heavy  fine,  and  to  serve  twelve  years  in  prison, 
when  he  made  his  escape.  He  was  afterwards  caught  in  Spain  and  brought 
back.  He  died  in  prison  in  1878. 

The  Burlingame  Treaty. — An  important  event  of  the  year  1868  was  the 
making  of  the  Burlingame  Treaty  with  China.  Anson  Burlingame,  a  man  with 
a  varied  career  as  a  member  of  the  Free-soil  and  Know-nothing  parties,  as  one  of 

1  See  "  Our  Presidents,"  p.  266. 


842  NOTES 


the  founders  of  the  Republican  party,  and  as  member  of  Congress  from  Massachu 
setts,  was  sent  as  minister  to  China  in  1861.  After  six  years'  service,  when  about 
to  return  to  the  United  States,  the  Chinese  government  offered  to  make  him 
envoy  of  that  country  to  the  United  States,  and  to  the  nations  of  Europe.  He 
accepted,  and  arrived  in  the  United  States  with  a  Chinese  embassy  in  the  spring 
of  1868.  They  were  received  with  high  honor,  and  a  treaty  of  commerce  and 
amity  was  soon  framed,  and  was  ratified  by  our  Senate  in  July.  Burlingame 
then  proceeded  to  Europe  in  the  employ  of  China,  and  soon  had  treaties  with 
that  country  and  most  of  the  European  countries.  Early  in  1870,  while  negoti 
ating  at  St.  Petersburg,  he  died  of  pneumonia.  The  later  influx  of  Chinese  to  the 
United  States  had  its  origin  in  the  Burlingame  Treaty,  as  it  permitted  a  free 
migration  from  one  country  to  the  other. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII 

INDUSTRIAL    PROGRESS 

THE  retirement  of  President  Grant  was  pathetic.  As  a  com 
mander  of  armies  he  had  won  enduring  honors,  but  his  eight  years' 
service  in  the  great  office  of  the  presidency  had  added  no  luster  to 
his  name.  For  the  intrigues  and  corruptions  of  his  administration 
he  was  responsible  only  in  so  far  as  he  was  incapable  of  perceiving 
and  checking  them.  That  he  was  personally  honest  cannot  be 
doubted.  He  received  no  share  of  the  plunder  of  his  dishonest 
officials,  and  it  must  have  grieved  his  soul  when  he  realized,  as  he 
certainly  did,  that  his  administration  would  be  remembered  more 
by  the  corrupt  practices  of  the  officials  whom  he  trusted  than  for 
anything  else.  But  the  American  people  have  affectionately  over 
looked  his  weaknesses,  and  they  remember  him  as  the  heroic  figure 
that  forced  the  surrender  of  Yicksburg  and  of  the  Confederate  army 
at  Appomattox;  while  his  generous  terms  at  the  surrender  of  Lee 
and  his  mild  partisanship  in  the  years  following  endeared  him  to  the 
people  of  the  South. 

NEW   CONDITIONS 

President  Hayes  was  a  sincere  man  and  not  without  ability;  but 
he  was  not  popular  with  his  party.  He  never  gained,  nor  attempted 
to  gain,  a  place  in  its  inner  counsels.  His  withdrawal  of  the  troops 
from  the  South  displeased  many ;  his  vetoing  the  Bland  Silver  Bill 
won  him  few  friends.  All  corruptionists  were  arrayed  against  the 
President  when  they  found  that  he  was  beyond  their  reach.  Then 
it  must  be  added  that  Mr.  Hayes  had  no  power  to  win  and  manage 
Congress,  as  many  of  his  predecessors  had  done.  The  Democrats 
had  control  of  the  House,  and  during  the  whole  four  years  no  dis 
tinctive  party  measure  could  be  passed.  In  fact,  the  Democrats  on 
several  occasions  held  up  the  necessary  legislation,  such  as  the  appro 
priation  bills,  by  putting  on  riders  for  the  repeal  of  some  obnoxious 
Republican  law,  notably  the  General  Elections  Law  of  1872.  Every 

843 


844  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES 

effort  to  coerce  the  President  was  resorted  to,  such  as  refusing 
appropriations  necessary  to  carry  out  the  laws,  but  the  President 
refused  to  yield ;  he  vetoed  one  measure  after  another  and  triumphed 
in  the  end.  But  these  were  only  ripples  compared  with  the  turbu 
lent  breakers  of  the  past,  and  the  Hayes  administration  was  of  great 
benefit  to  the  country  as  a  season  of  political  restfulness.  From  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  fifteen  years  before,  the  violence  of  partisan  or 
military  contest,  or  both,  had  been  incessant.  Now  for  the  first  time 
since  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  the  South  was  left  to  take  care  of 
itself,  the  great  parties  were  well  balanced,  and  the  people  were  free 
to  turn  their  attention  to  the  industrial  development  of  the  country. 
They  felt  too,  as  never  before,  the  oneness  of  the  nation.  The  bitter 
ness  engendered  by  the  great  civil  strife  was  beginning 
Political  rest.  .  ..  -,  ,  ,  Jf  ,-,  £  •  , 

to  sotten,  and,  but  tor  the  occasional  rumors  of  violence 

at  the  South,  the  negro  question  and  the  secession  question  passed 
out  of  the  public  mind.  For  half  a  century  such  political  quiet  had 
been  unknown ;  and  for  the  first  time  in  American  history  the  national 
pride  was  rightfully  enthroned  in  the  public  heart,  and  state  pride 
forever  relegated  to  the  second  place. 

Mr.  Hayes  was  fortunate  in  securing  William  M.  Evarts  as  secre 
tary  of  state  and  John  Sherman  as  secretary  of  the  treasury.  The 
great  task  before  Sherman  was  to  bring  about  resumption  of  specie 
payments  without  disturbing  the  business  of  the  country.  This  he  did 
with  admirable  skill,  and  when  the  day  of  resuming  came  (January 
1,  1879),  not  a  ripple  did  it  make  on  the  business  world.  The  secre 
tary  had  $130,000,000  in  gold  with  which  to  redeem  outstanding 
notes ;  but  few  were  offered,  so  great  was  the  confidence  of  the  people 
in  the  government. 

During  the  last  half  of  the  Hayes  administration  the  Democrats 
were  in  full  control  of  both  houses  of  Congress  —  for  the  first  time 
since  1858.  But  owing  to  the  veto  power  of  the  Republican  Presi 
dent  the  Democrats  could  carry  out  no  party  measure.  The  dead 
lock  continued  for  ten  years  longer.1  Meantime  the  people  turned 
their  attention  to  business.  For  the  first  time  the  resources  of  the 
South  were  added  to  the  economic  forces  of  the  nation.  The  system 
of  labor  in  the  South  before  the  war  was  such  that  only  the  agricul 
tural  interests  could  be  developed.  The  vast  coal  beds,  covering 
some  forty  thousand  square  miles,  the  extensive  iron  deposits,  the 

1  Except  for  two  years,  1881-1883,  when  the  Republicans,  who  controlled  the  House 
by  one  vote,  also  controlled  the  Senate  by  the  single  deciding  vote  of  the  Vice  President. 


LABOR   AGITATION  845 


illimitable  timber  regions  —  all  had  remained  unused.  But  now  the 
old  system  was  swept  away,  the  whole  South  was  thrown  open  to 
the  labor  of  the  world,  mines  were  opened  and  manufactories  built, 
and  this  without  any  decrease,  but  indeed  with  a  steady  increase, 
of  the  production  of  cotton. 

One  effect  of  the  newly  awakened  industrial  life  was  that  the 
great  business  interests  of  the  country  became  centralized  in  the 
hands  of  a  comparatively  few  men.  Great  corporations  were  organ 
ized,  and  as  a  partial  result  the  labor  world  became  restless.  In  1877 
the  great  railroad  strike  occurred.  The  employees  of  (jreat  raii_ 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  went  on  a  strike  on  the  road  strike, 
14th  of  July,  and  they  were  soon  followed  by  the  em-  1877. 
ployees  of  all  the  other  great  lines  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  for 
two  weeks  all  traffic  in  that  great  section  was  at  a  standstill.  The 
strikers  took  possession  of  the  railroad  property,  —  tracks,  yards, 
roundhouses,  and  rolling  stock,  —  and  in  Pittsburg,  the  center  of  the 
disturbance,  there  were  serious  riots,  resulting  in  many  deaths,  and  in 
the  destruction  of  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  property.  In  Martins- 
burg,  West  Virginia,  in  Baltimore  and  other  places  there  was  much 
rioting  and  frequent  conflicts  between  the  rioters  and  the  troops  sent 
to  keep  the  peace.  The  governors  of  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and 
West  Virginia  were  forced  to  call  for  national  troops  to  aid  them  in 
enforcing  the  laws.  By  the  end  of  July  the  fire  of  mob  violence  had 
burned  out  and  the  strikers  resumed  work.  In  some  instances  the 
strikers  had  won  some  advantage  by  the  strike ;  but  in  many  cases 
they  went  back  to  work  without  any  substantial  gain. 

The  railway  strike  was  contagious.  It  was  followed  by  sympa 
thetic  strikes  in  many  callings — coal-mining,  manufacturing,  and 
many  branches  of  industry  in  which  the  wages  of  the  laborer  were 
low —  and  the  disturbance  spread  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  The  most 
serious  of  these  was  the  strike  of  the  anthracite  miners  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  which  spread  to  the  bituminous  regions  of  West  Virginia  and 
westward  to  Illinois.  The  twofold  grievance  of  the  miners  was 
too  low  wages,  and  the  obligation  to  purchase  all  their  supplies  at 
the  company  stores  at  exorbitant  prices.  The  miners,  who  had  the 
general  sympathy  of  the  public,  won  in  the  contest  and  gained  an 
advance  of  10  per  cent  in  wages.1 

1  Just  before  this  strike  the  notorious  Mollie  Maguires,  a  murderous  band  that 
had  spread  terror  through  the  coal  regions  of  Pennsylvania  for  several  years,  were 
run  down  and  captured,  several  of  the  leaders  being  hanged. 


846  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

Close  upon  these  events  followed  a  labor  agitation  of  a  different 
kind  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  known  as  the  anti-Chinese  movement. 
The  Chinese  began  migrating  to  California  in  large  numbers  soon 
after  the  concluding  of  the  Burlingame  Treaty.  Their  willingness 
to  work  for  very  low  wages  rendered  them,  as  their  numbers  in 
creased,  undesirable  competitors  with  white  laborers.  After  earning 
a  few  hundred  dollars  they  would  betake  themselves  back  to  their 
native  land,  whence  hordes  of  their  brethren  would  come  to  America 
to  repeat  the  process.  In  no  case  did  the  Mongolian  pretend  to  be 
come  an  element  in  American  society ;  he  remained  apart  from  the 
body  politic,  retaining  his  peculiar  customs  and  superstitions.  The 
Chinese  threatened  to  deluge  the  whole  western  coast  with  their 
undesirable  presence.  After  various  sporadic  efforts  that  came  to 
nothing,  a  movement  against  Chinese  immigration  was  set  on  foot 
in  1877.  The  laborers  of  San  Francisco,  led  by  Dennis 
Kearney,  one  of  their  number,  held  many  open  meet 
ings  to  denounce  Chinese  labor  and  immigration.  The 
meetings  were  disorderly,  and  the  leaders,  including  Kearney,  were 
imprisoned.  But  the  movement  would  not  subside.  Congress  was 
petitioned  to  take  up  the  matter,  to  the  end  that  the  Burlingame 
Treaty  be  modified  in  the  interest  of  the  people  of  the  Pacific  Coast. 
In  1878  Congress  passed  a  Chinese  Exclusion  measure,  which, 
however,  was  vetoed  by  President  Hayes.  Years  passed  and  the 
Chinese  continued  to  come  in  increasing  numbers.  The  agitation 
was  renewed,  and  in  1888  a  Chinese  Exclusion  law  was  enacted. 
This  was  followed  in  May,  1892,  by  the  Geary  Chinese  Exclusion 
Law,  introduced  by  representative  Geary  of  California, 
^is  ^aw  was  tne  most  sweeping  of  its  kind  ever  enacted 
by  any  country,  and  it  awakened  a  vigorous  protest  from 
the  Chinese  government.  While  to  some  extent  evaded,  the  law  has 
greatly  relieved  the  western  coast  of  a  most  undesirable  class. 

About  the  time  of  Hayes's  accession  to  the  presidency  an  indus 
trial  movement  of  the  farmers  reached  its  height.    The  Patrons  of 
Husbandry,  commonly  called  Grangers,  was  a  secret  or- 
angers.   ganjza^on  for  ^e  promotion  of  agricultural  interests. 
It  was  organized  in  Washington  in  1867,  admitted  both  men  and 
women  to  membership,  and  professed  to  be  non-political,  though  it 
had  much  political  influence  in  forcing  a  reduction  of  the  exorbitant 
freight  rates  of  the  railroad  corporations.     In  1876  the  membership 
reached  at  least  a  million  and  a  half. 


THE    FISHERIES   DISPUTE  847 

Another  agricultural  society,  the  Farmer's  Alliance,  was  organ 
ized  in  1873.  It  spread  rapidly  until  it  became  national  in  scope.1 
It  is  not  a  secret  order,  as  is  the  order  of  Grangers,  but  it  gives  more 
attention  to  questions  of  politics.  The  Alliance  opposes  the  alien 
ownership  of  land,  national  banks,  and  federal  election  laws. 

THE   FISHERIES   DISPUTE 

The  most  important  matter  in  our  foreign  relations  during  the 
Hayes  administration  was  the  settlement  of  the  Canadian  fisheries 
question,  as  provided  for  in  the  Treaty  of  Washington  of  1871.  For 
more  than  half  a  century  the  Atlantic  coast  fisheries  had  been  the 
subject  of  controversy  between  the  United  States  and  England. 
The  treaty  made  at  the  close  of  the  Eevolution  continued  to  the 
citizens  of  the  new  republic  the  right  to  fish  in  Canadian  waters, 
which  they  had  enjoyed  as  colonists.  But  at  the  making  of  the 
Treaty  of  Ghent,  at  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812,  the  British 
claimed  that  all  existing  treaties  were  abrogated  and  that  our  fish 
ing  rights  had  expired.  The  treaty,  however,  left  the  matter  un- 
mentioned  and  the  Americans  continued  to  exercise  the  rights 
granted  in  the  former  treaty. 

But  in  1818  another  treaty  was  concluded,  by  which  the  Americans, 
for  the  privilege  of  taking  and  curing  fish  on  the  coasts  of  Newfound 
land  and  Labrador,  renounced  forever  the  right  to  take,  dry,  or  cure 
fish  within  three  marine  miles  of  any  of  the  coasts  of  his  Majesty's 
other  possessions  in  America.  From  this  moment  the  trouble  began. 
The  difficulty  of  determining  the  three-mile  limit,  the  presence  of 
armed  vessels  to  prevent  violations  of  the  treaty,  and 
the  rulings  of  the  local  courts  by  which  alleged  vio- 
lators  were  tried,  each  played  its  part  in  disturbing 
the  peace  between  the  two  countries.  This  disturbance  continued  un 
til  1854,  when  a  new  treaty  was  made.  This  is  known  as  the  Reci 
procity  Treaty.  It  restored  the  rights  of  the  Americans 
substantially  as  granted  by  the  Treaty  of  1783,  but  at  a 
great  price.  The  price  was  reciprocity  or  free  trade 
between  the  United  States  and  Canada  in  a  great  many  kinds  of 
goods,  nearly  all  of  which  favored  Canadian  interests.  The  markets 
of  the  United  States  were  thrown  open  to  Canada  for  nearly  every 
article  she  could  produce.  The  treaty  provided  that  either  party 

1  The  national  organization  was  not  completed  till  1889. 


848  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

could  cancel  it  after  ten  years  by  giving  a  year's  notice.  This  notice 
was  given  by  the  United  States  in  1865;  and  the  next  year  the 
treaty  terminated,  reciprocity  was  discontinued,  and  in  the  matter 
of  the  fisheries  the  provisions  of  the  old  Treaty  of  1818  were  again 
in  force. 

This  brings  us  to  the  Treaty  of  Washington  of  1871.  It  was 
hoped  that  the  Joint  High  Commission  would  reach  a  permanent 
settlement  of  this  vexed  question ;  but  the  hope  was  not  fully  real 
ized.  The  British  commissioners  desired  to  restore  the  Reciprocity 
Treaty  of  1854,  but  the  Americans  would  not  consent  to  it.  They 
intimated,  however,  that  the  United  States  might  be  willing  to  pay 
$1,000,000  for  the  permanent  use  of  the  inshore  fisheries,  —  that  is, 
within  the  three-mile  limit.  The  English  commissioners  thought 
this  sum  entirely  too  small.  When  the  treaty  was  at  length  ar 
ranged,  it  provided  that  the  privilege  of  the  inshore  fisheries  along 
the  coast  of  Canada  be  granted  to  the  Americans,  and  for  this  privi 
lege  the  Canadians  received  a  free  market  in  the  United  States  for 
salt-water  fish  and  fish-oil.  But  as  the  Canadians  were  supposed 
to  be  granting  more  than  they  received,  it  was  provided  that 
a  commission  of  three  be  appointed  to  determine  the  amount  of 
money  that  should  be  paid  by  the  United  States.  One  of  these  was 
to  be  appointed  by  the  President,  another  by  the  Queen  of  England, 
while  the  third  was  to  be  chosen  by  the  President  and  Queen 
conjointly. 

The  commissioners  met  at  Halifax  in  the  summer  of  1877.  The 
case  was  ably  argued  on  both  sides,  and  as  the  American  and  English 
commissioner  could  not  agree,  the  Belgian  minister, 
w^°  was  ^e  third  commissioner,  was  left  to  name  the 
compensation.  He  named  $5,500,000.  The  British  were 
greatly  gratified  and  the  Americans  astonished  at  the  amount  of  the 
award.  It  was  not  the  payment  of  the  money  that  created  excite 
ment,  for  the  United  States  is  very  rich  and  such  a  sum  is  but  a 
trifle ;  it  was  the  sense  of  being  the  victim  of  extortion  that  caused 
ill  feeling.  Secretary  of  State  Evarts  gave  statistics  to  show  that  all 
the  fish  taken  by  American  fishermen  during  the  time  in  question 
could  not  possibly  leave  a  balance  in  England's  favor  of  more  than 
$1,500,000,  to  say  nothing  of  the  privileges  granted  to  Canada.  But 
the  British,  who  had  lost  in  the  other  two  items  of  the  Treaty  of 
Washington,  the  Alabama  claims  and  the  boundary  controversy,  in 
sisted  that  the  report  of  the  commission  be  accepted ;  and  Congress 


THE   BLAINE-CONKLING   FEUD  849 

voted  the  money  and  it  was  paid  to  the  last  dollar.  But  the  matter 
left  a  sting  in  the  minds  of  the  American  people,  and  a  few  years 
later  the  President,  instructed  by  Congress,  annulled  the  treaty,  and 
the  fisheries  question  became  more  troublesome  than  ever,  as  we 
shall  notice  later. 

THE  GARFIELD  TRAGEDY 

Three  times  in  our  history  has  our  President  suffered  death  at 
the  hands  of  an  assassin.  The  first  of  these  tragedies  occurred  at 
the  close  of  the  great  war  while  the  blood  of  the  combatants  still 
boiled.  The  second,  in  time  of  peace,  had  its  origin  in  a  deadly 
feud  between  two  great  Eepublican  leaders,  and  was  the  work  of  a 
half-witted  fanatic  who  believed  that  he  would  be  made  a  hero  for 
his  deed  by  the  faction  of  the  party  that  opposed  the  President. 
The  feud  was  between  James  G.  Blaine  and  Roscoe  Conkling,  and  it 
began  many  years  before.  Blaine,  a  young  editor  from  Maine,  first 
entered  the  House  in  1863.  Though  he  found  there  many  strong 
leaders,  he  soon  proved  himself  one  of  the  strongest ;  and  he  began 
a  course  of  party  leadership  unrivaled  since  the  passing  of  Henry  Clay. 
When  Blaine  entered  Congress  he  found,  among  other  leaders,  the 
brilliant  young  lawyer  from  New  York,  E-oscoe  Conkling.  Blaine 
and  Conkling  were  wholly  unlike  in  mental  endowments.  Blaine 
was  hale  and  genial ;  Conkling  was  dignified  and  self-contained. 
Blaine  delighted  to  win  new  friends  and  to  grapple  them  to  his  soul 
with  hooks  of  steel;  Conkling  delighted  in  winning  admiration,  in 
wounding  his  enemies  with  his  wit  and  sarcasm,  and  in  dazzling  his 
hearers  with  rounded  periods  of  eloquence.  As  a  party  leader,  a 
winner  of  popular  applause,  Blaine  far  surpassed  Conkling;  as  an 
orator  of  brilliant  diction  and  rhetorical  power,  Conkling  greatly 
excelled  Blaine. 

Scarcely  had  these  two  men  met  in  Congress  when  a  rivalry 
sprung  up  between  them,  and  it  was  soon  seen  that  there  would  be 

a  clash.     The  occasion  arose  in  April,  1866,  when  the 

TT  •  -i     •  -I  -I -i    ,  ji  Blaine-Conk- 

House  was  considering  a  bill  to  reorganize  the  army.   j.      feud 

The  New  York  and  Maine  statesmen  had  a  fierce  war 
of  words  on  the  floor  of  the  House.  Each  lost  his  temper  and 
denounced  the  other  unsparingly.  At  length,  after  the  conflict  had 
continued  for  two  or  three  days,  Blaine  poured  forth  one  of  the 
most  extravagant  tirades  of  sarcastic  scorn  and  vituperation  ever 
heard  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  "  The  contempt  of  that  large- 
3i 


850  HISTORY    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

minded  gentleman,"  said  he,  "is  so  wilting,  his  haughty  disdain, 
his  grandiloquent  swell,  his  majestic,  supereminent,  overpowering, 
turkey-gobbler  strut,  has  been  so  crushing  to  myself  and  to  all  the 
members  of  the  House,  that  I  know  it  was  an  act  of  the  greatest 
temerity  for  me  to  enter  upon  a  controversy  with  him." 

Conkling  was  mortally  offended,  and  from  that  day  to  the  end  of 
his  life  he  never  spoke  to  Elaine.  Soon  after  this  Conkling  was 
transferred  to  the  Senate  and  Elaine  became  Speaker  of  the  House. 
In  later  years  friends  of  the  two  attempted  to  bring  about  a  recon 
ciliation  between  them.  Elaine  expressed  his  willingness,  but  Conk 
ling  met  every  overture  with  a  scornful  refusal. 

The  Blaine-Conkling  feud  had  its  results.  Not  only  did  Conkling 
prevent  the  nomination  of  Elaine  for  the  presidency  in  1880  ;  he 
caused  the  defeat  of  Elaine  when  the  latter  was  nominated  four 
years  later.  A  few  years  after  this  quarrel  in  the  House,  Elaine  had 
come  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  leading  Republican  of  his  time.  He 
received  a  heavy  vote  in  the  convention  of  1876.  Mr.  Hayes,  who 
was  nominated  and  elected,  was  pledged  to  a  single  term,  and  Elaine 
was  hailed  as  the  coming  man  for  1880.  Eut  a  change  came  o'er 
the  spirit  of  his  dream. 

General  Grant,  on  ceasing  to  be  President,  had  made  a  tour  round 
the  world.  He  received  high  honor  from  foreign  peoples  and  poteii- 
Grant's  tour  tales,  not  only  as  an  American  and  a  former  President, 
around  the  but  chiefly  as  a  soldier,  for  the  chivalry  in  men's  minds 
world.  still  places  the  warrior  above  the  statesman,  the  orator, 

and  the  poet.  The  reception  of  Grant  in  foreign  lands  became  a 
matter  of  national  pride  to  all  Americans  ;  and  when,  after  an  absence 
of  three  years,  the  vessel  that  bore  the  illustrious  traveler  was 
moored  in  the  haven  at  the  Golden  Gate,  a  wild  shout  of  welcome 
arose  from  the  people.  The  progress  of  Grant  from  San  Francisco 
to  Philadelphia,  whence  he  had  started,  was  one  continuous  ovation. 
Men  forgot  the  scandals  of  his  administration  ;  their  minds  went 
back  to  remoter  days.  They  saw  now  in  his  silent  dignity  the  hero 
of  Donelson,  of  Vicksburg,  of  Appomattox. 

It  happened  that  at  this  moment  there  was  a  large  faction  in  the 
Republican  party  searching  for  a  man.  This  faction  opposed  Elaine 
for  President,  and  looked  with  dismay  upon  his  growing  favor  with 
the  people.  They  wanted  a  man  who  could  be  successfully  pitted 
against  Elaine.  Grant  had  already  been  spoken  of  for  a  third  term. 
His  great  reception  from  abroad  proved  his  popularity.  Why  let 


ELECTION  OF   GARFIELD  851 

all  this  enthusiasm  go  to  waste  ?  So  thought  the  leaders  of  the 
anti-Elaine  faction  of  the  Republican  party  in  1880,  and  they  decided 
on  Grant  as  their  choice  for  President.  The  leader  of  this  faction, 
a  man  of  vast  resources  and  power,  was  Roscoe  Conkling  of  New 
York. 

The  convention  met  in  Chicago  the  first  week  in  June.  Conk- 
ling  had  a  solid  phalanx  of  a  little  over  three  hundred  delegates  for 
Grant.  Blaine,  however,  was  the  popular  choice,  and  his  nomination 
would  never  have  been  doubtful  had  his  forces  been  managed  by  a 
leader  equal  to  Conkling.  The  speech  of  Conkling  in  nominating 
Grant  has  been  pronounced  second  only  to  that  of  Ingersoll  in  pre 
senting  the  name  of  Blaine  at  Cincinnati  four  years  before.  A  third 
candidate,  John  Sherman  of  Ohio,  was  nominated  by  General  James 
A.  Garfield  in  a  speech  scarcely  less  eloquent  than  that  of  Conkling. 
Thirty-five  ballots  were  taken  without  success,  and  it  was  evident  that 
neither  Blaine  nor  Grant  could  be  nominated.  A  dark  horse  must  be 
found,  and  the  choice  fell  upon  Garfield.  On  the  thirty-sixth  ballot 
there  was  a  sudden  breaking  up  of  the  convention  —  the  Blaine  men, 
the  Sherman  men,  the  scattering  votes,  all  except  the 
Grant  phalanx  of  306,  made  a  dash  for  Garfield,  and  he 
was  nominated  by  a  large  majority.  The  scene  was  inde 
scribable.  The  boom  of  cannon  from  without,  the  bands  of  music 
and  the  shouts  of  the  multitude  within  the  great  hall,  made  an  up 
roar  that  no  pen  can  picture.  The  newly  made  hero  sat  amid  the 
waving  flags  and  banners,  dazed  and  speechless,  as  one  awakened 
from  a  dream. 

Garfield  was  not  the  choice  of  the  convention.  His  nomination 
was  almost  an  accident.  He  happened  to  be  on  the  uppermost  crest 
of  the  popular  wave  when  the  inevitable  break  came ;  and  the  gate 
was  opened  to  him  for  great  honor  and  position,  such  as  many  strive 
for  and  do  not  attain,  and  for  the  mournful  tragedy  that  was  to 
follow  —  all  within  a  year.  Garfield  was  one  of  the  many  public 
men  in  America  who  rose  from  the  commonest  walks  of  life.  His 
father,  a  plodding  farmer  in  the  wilderness  of  northern  Ohio,  died 
in  early  manhood.  James  was  still  a  child  ;  as  he  grew  toward 
manhood  he  yearned  for  an  education,  and  between  his  working 
hours,  —  on  the  farm,  in  the  carpenter  shop,  or  driving  the  mules  of 
a  canal  boat,  —  he  succeeded  in  preparing  himself  for  college.  After 
being  graduated  he  became  a  professor,  then  president  of  a  small 
college  in  Ohio.  Next  we  find  him  in  the  Ohio  legislature,  then  an 


852  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

officer  in  the  Civil  War,  and  later  a  member  of  the  Lower  House  of 
Congress,  where  he  served  without  a  break  for  eighteen  years.  He 
was  then  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  but  had  not  entered 
that  body  when  nominated  at  Chicago.  Garfield  was  not  great  nor 
brilliant  as  a  statesman,  though  he  had  much  power  as  an  orator; 
he  was  sturdy,  honest,  reliable,  and  his  selection  proved  a  healing 
balm  to  the  warring  factions  of  his  party.  To  appease  the  Conkling 
faction  the  convention  chose  one  of  that  faction,  Chester  A.  Arthur, 
for  the  second  place  on  the  ticket. 

The  Democrats  nominated  General  Winfield  Scott  Hancock,  the 
ideal  soldier,  one  of  the  heroes  of  Gettysburg  and  of  Spottsylvania, 
for  the  presidency,  and  W.  H.  English  for  the  vice  presidency.  The 
Greenback  party,  which  had  cast  but  eighty  thousand  votes  for 
Peter  Cooper  in  1876  and  had  rolled  up  a  million  two  years  later 
in  the  state  elections,  put  forward  General  James  B.  Weaver  of 
Iowa,  and  the  Prohibitionists  presented  General  Neal  Dow  of  Maine. 
It  is  notable  that  all  four  of  the  presidential  candidates  bore  the 
military  title  of  general. 

The  campaign  was  singularly  free  from  bitterness,  vituperation, 
and  personal  attacks.  Garfield  was  elected  by  an  electoral  vote  of 
214  to  155  for  Hancock ;  but  his  popular  plurality  in  a  vote  exceed 
ing  9,000,000  was  less  than  10,000.  The  Greenback  party  polled 
308,000  and  carried  no  state,  while  the  Prohibition  vote  was 
but  10,000. 

The  Republican  factions  had  worked  together  during  the  cam 
paign,  but  the  trouble  broke  out  afresh  when  Garfield  chose  Elaine 
for  his  secretary  of  state.  This  was  galling  to  Conkling,  and  Elaine 
doubtless  felt  a  sense  of  triumph  over  his  great  enemy.  He  had 
often  expressed  a  willingness  to  be  reconciled  to  his  antagonist,  but 
at  heart  he  thoroughly  disliked  Conkling  and  had  no  desire  to  be  his 
friend.  Conkling  was  bold  and  open  in  his  antagonism ;  Elaine  was 
wily  and  cunning,  nor  did  he  lose  an  opportunity  to  give  the  enraged 
lion  a  stealthy  prod,  and  then  turn  to  an  inquiring  public  with,  "What 
is  he  howling  about  ?  " 

The  times  were  ominous  at  the  opening  of  the  new  term.  Never 
had  the  office  seeker  been  more  clamorous  for  place.  The  two  factions 
of  the  dominant  party  were  ready  again  to  break  into  open  war  for 
spoils.  Soon  came  the  occasion  ;  Garfield  appointed  Judge  Robertson 
collector  of  the  port  of  New  York.  Robertson  was  a  friend  of  Elaine 
and  an  enemy  of  Conkling,  and  Conkling,  joined  by  his  colleague, 


DEATH   OF   GAKFIELD  853 

Thomas  C.  Platt,  requested,  almost  demanded,  that  the  appoint 
ment  be  withdrawn.  But  the  President  refused,  no  doubt  through 
the  influence  of  Elaine,  for  Gar  field  had  no  personal  object  in  offend 
ing  Conkling  or  promoting  Robertson.  Various  writers  have  asserted 
that  Elaine  was  a  neutral  observer,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  this 
appointment  or  with  the  refusal  to  withdraw  it.  But  this  contradicts 
the  logic  of  the  whole  situation.  Garfield  was  not  a  powerful  leader, 
as  was  Elaine.  He  had  reached  the  limit  of  his  capacity  in  Congress, 
while  that  of  Elaine  was  yet  unmeasured.  Nor  had  Garfield  the  will 
power,  the  moral  fiber,  to  stand  out  for  a  principle,  and  it  was  only 
natural  that  he  leaned  heavily  upon  his  great  secretary  of  state. 
The  course  of  the  President  in  this  affair  can  be  explained  only  by 
attributing  it  to  the  influence  of  Elaine.  When  Conkling  and  Platt 
discovered  that  they  could  not  secure  the  withdrawal  of 
the  name  of  Robertson,  nor  prevent  its  confirmation  by 
the  Senate,  they  resigned  petulantly  from  that  body, 
expecting  to  be  vindicated  by  a  reelection  by  the  New  York  legis 
lature.  But  both  were  defeated.  This  closed  the  public  career  of 
Roscoe  Conkling  —  but  we  shall  meet  him  once  more  in  this  history. 

This  episode  opened  wide  the  breach  in  the  Republican  party. 
The  Conkling  wring  was  known  as  "  Stalwarts,"  the  Blaine-Garfield 
wing  as  "  Half-breeds."  Alarming  was  the  condition  of  Assassination 
the  party,  when  suddenly  the  country  was  thrown  into  of  Garfield, 
consternation  at  the  assassination  of  the  President.  The  Jul?  2>  1881- 
assassin  was  Charles  J.  Guiteau,  a  disappointed  office  seeker,  a 
rattle-brained  egotist  from  New  York  who  claimed  to  be  a  "  Stalwart 
of  the  Stalwarts,"  a  "lawyer,  theologian,  and  politician."  He  de 
clared  that  the  President's  "  removal "  was  a  political  necessity,  as 
it  would  reunite  the  Republican  party.  He  was  plainly  a  man  of 
disordered  brain,  nor  was  the  country  warranted  in  crying  out 
frantically  for  his  blood.  After  a  long  trial  the  following  winter 
he  was  convicted  and  put  to  death.  He  should  have  been  shut  up 
for  the  rest  of  his  natural  life  in  an  insane  asylum.  The  jury  simply 
reflected  public  opinion,  which  clamored  for  the  prisoner's  life.1 

President  Garfield  was  shot  through  the  body.  It  was  at  first 
thought  that  he  would  die  within  the  hour  ;  but  he  rallied,  and  lin- 

1  One  of  the  experts  employed  to  pronounce  on  the  sanity  of  Guiteau  acknowl 
edged,  twenty  years  later,  "that  they  all  agreed  that  he  was  insane,  but  feared  to  say 
so  because  of  the  excited  state  of  the  public.  For  a  fuller  account  of  the  Garfield 
tragedy  see  "  Side  Lights,"  Series  II,  Chap.  XII. 


854  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

gered  for  many  weeks  through  the  hot  summer  months.  The  nation 
waited  and  hoped  and  prayed.  The  illustrious  patient  bore  up 
bravely ;  he  never  groaned  nor  complained ;  he  signed  a  few  official 
papers,  but  was  never  able  to  raise  his  head  from  the  pillow.  In 
August  the  President  was  removed  to  a  cottage  by  the  sea;  but 
the  benefit  was  slight,  and  on  the  night  of  September  19  he  died. 
A  few  hours  later  —  some  hours  before  day  the  next  morning  — 
Chester  A.  Arthur  was  sworn  into  the  great  office  in  his  own  house 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  the  government  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  Stalwarts.  The  dead  President  was  borne  to  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
the  beautiful  lake  city  near  which  he  had  been  born  and  had  always 
lived,  and  here,  on  a  grassy  mound,  amid  a  countless  throng  of  weep 
ing  admirers,  the  body  was  laid  to  rest. 

CIVIL  SERVICE   REFORM 

Chester  Allan  Arthur  had  been  an  obscure  politician  in  New 
York,  and  was  known  as  a  leader  in  polite  society  circles  rather 
than  as  a  statesman.  No  man  had  ever  become  President  of  the 
United  States  who  was  so  little  known  to  the  great  public  as  was 
Arthur,  and  many  were  alarmed  because  his  ability  and  character 
were  unknown,  and  especially  because  they  feared  that  he  would 
represent,  not  the  country  as  a  whole,  nor  even  the  great  party  that 
had  elected  him,  but  the  faction  of  that  party  to  which  he  belonged. 
But  Arthur  was  not  long  in  the  presidential  chair  before  he  put  all 
such  fears  at  rest.  He  rose  above  all  subserviency  to  faction  and 
even  to  his  party ;  he  became  the  people's  President  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  term ;  and  so  wise  and  able  was  his  administration  that 
nothing  except  Elaine's  powerful  hold  on  the  party  prevented  his 
nomination  for  another  term.1  The  Cabinet  was  gradually  changed 
until  none  of  the  Garfield  Cabinet  remained  except  Robert  T. 
Lincoln,  son  of  the  great  war  President. 

This  administration  was  not  marked  by  any  great  and  stirring 
events.  The  interest  of  the  people  was  enlisted  in  the  centennial 
celebration  of  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown  in  1781,  in 
the  great  industrial  exposition  of  1881  at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  in  another 
greater  one  at  New  Orleans  three  years  later,  and  in  two  American 
exploring  expeditions  into  the  Arctic  seas. 

1  So  impartial  and  independent  was  Arthur's  course,  and  so  decidedly  did  he 
refuse  to  cater  to  the  Stalwart  faction,  that  even  Conkling  soon  became  estranged 
from  him. 


REFORM   IN   THE    CIVIL    SERVICE  855 

The  attention  of  the  public  was  also  attracted  in  1881  by  the 
"  Star-route  "  frauds.      These  routes  were  mail  lines  in  the  interior 
of  the  country  where  the  mail  could  not  be  carried  by  railroad  or  by 
steamboat.1     Thomas  J.  Brady,  second  assistant  postmaster-general, 
S.  W.  Dorsey,  a  Republican  senator  from  Arkansas,  and 
others,  were  accused  of  conspiring  with  certain  mail-  Star-route 
carrying  contractors  to  defraud  tn"e  government.     For 
several  years  the  combination  stole  from  the  government  about  half 
a  million  dollars  a  year.     The  business  was  broken  up  by  publicity 
and  the  dismissal  of  severalprominent  officials.    Some  of  the  alleged 
conspirators  were  put  on  trial,  but  no  punishments  followed. 

We  now  come  to  the  chief  legislative  movement  of  the  Arthur 
administration  —  the  reform  in  the  civil  service.  When  the  federal 
government  was  organized,  the  civil  service  officials  were  appointed 
without  any  limit  as  to  time,  but  their  tenure  of  office  was  wholly 
subject  to  the  appointing  power,  the  President. 

For  half  a  century  the  spoils  system  had  held  full  sway.2  Public 
officials  had  come  to  feel  that  they  were  serving  their  party  rather 
than  their  country,  or  were  simply  receiving  their  just  reward  for 
mere  party  zeal.  The  system  was  pernicious  and  destructive  of  all 
good  government ;  but.  against  the  protests  of  many  honest  men,  it 
continued  unbroken  till  Grant  became  President.  A  fruitless  effort 
was  then  made  to  reform  the  civil  service.  In  1871  Congress,  forced 
by  public  opinion  and  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  professional 
politicians,  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  President 
to  make  certain  changes  in  the  methods  of  appointing 
subordinate  officers.  Grant  thereupon  appointed  a  civil 
service  commission  of  eminent  men,  who  established  a  system  of  com 
petitive  examinations  for  appointments  to  office.  This  system  con 
tinued  for  three  years  when  Congress,  again  under  the  sway  of  the 
politicians,  refused  longer  to  vote  money  to  carry  it  on,  and  it  had  to 
fall  to  the  ground.  President  Hayes  throughout  his  term  of  office  made 
strenuous  but  futile  efforts  to  reestablish  the  reform  in  the  service. 
The  evil  system  might  have  continued  indefinitely  but  for  the  tragic 
taking  off  of  Garfield.  His  death  was  an  indirect  result  of  the  per 
nicious  system,  for  it  was  a  New  York  appointment  that  tore  open 
the  half-healed  wound  in  the  Republican  party  and  rent  it  in  twain, 

1  The  name  "star"  route  arose  from  the  use  of  a  star  on  the  map  to  indicate 
these  routes. 

2  For  the  Crawford  Act  and  the  origin  of  the  spoils  system,  see  ante  p.  466 


856  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

and  it  was  a  disappointed  office  seeker  that  took  his  life.  Public 
opinion  now  called  with  overmastering  power  for  a  reform  in  the  civil 
service,  and  Congress  heeded  the  call  of  its  master. 

In  1882  Mr.  Pendleton,  a  Democratic  senator  from  Ohio,  intro 
duced  a  bill  to  reestablish  the  civil  service  on  the  merit  system. 
Both  houses  were  Eepublican,  but  the  autumn  elections  swept 
that  party  from  power  in  the  House.  The  leaders  of  the  party  saw 
in  this  a  warning  from  an  impatient  public  that  trifling  with  civil 
service  reform  would  be  tolerated  no  longer,  and,  by  an  almost 
unanimous  vote,  the  Pendleton  measure  became  law  in  January,  1883. 
At  first  but  few  classes  came  under  the  new  law,  but  successive 
Presidents  have  enlarged  the  list  until  it  includes  nearly  every 
branch  of  the  government  service.  President  Arthur  with  sincerity 
and  courage  set  about  putting  the  new  law  into  operation,  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  great  gratification  to  the  country  that  all  our  recent  Presi 
dents  have  in  this  way  limited  and  restricted  their  own  power,  and 
that  of  their  chief  supporters,  for  the  good  of  the  public  service. 
Other  legislation  of  importance*  that  marked  the  official  term  of 
President  Arthur  included  the  "  Edmunds  law  "  against  polygamy  in 
the  territories,  aimed  chiefly  at  the  habits  of  the  Mormons  of  Utah, 
and  a  tariff  act.  The  tariff  was  at  this  time  rapidly  becoming  a  promi 
nent  issue.  The  high  duties  of  war  times  had  been  for  the  most  part 
retained,  and  a  cry  from  the  West  for  a  reduction  of  duties  was  too 
strong  to  be  resisted.  As  early  as  1872  a  general  outcry  from  the 
West  against  the  high  tariff  resulted  in  the  reduction  of  many  duties  ; 
but  three  years  later,  when  the  clamor  had  subsided,  the  duties  were 
quietly  restored.  Again,  in  the  early  eighties,  the  subject  came  to 
the  front.  In  1882  a  tariff  commission,  recommended  by  President 
Arthur,  was  appointed.  This  commission  made  a  report  to  Congress 
in  December,  1882,  and  out  of  this  grew  the  tariff  of  1883,  a  measure 
that  pleased  no  one.  It  was  an  abortive  attempt  to  reduce  the 
duties,  but  while  it  reduced  them  on  many  articles,  it  actually  raised 
them  on  such  articles  as  woolen  dress  goods,  where  a  reduction  would 
have  brought  relief.1  Thus  far  the  tariff  was  not  strictly  a  partisan 
question,  nor  had  it  been  so  for  nearly  forty  years  ;  but  it  was  soon  to 
become  the  chief  issue  between  the  two  great  parties. 

l  Taussig's  "  Tariff  History,"  p.  234. 


GROVER   CLEVELAND  857 


A  POLITICAL   REVOLUTION 

For  four  and  twenty  years  the  Republican  party  had  held 
supremacy  in  the  government.  In  that  time  its  achievements  had 
been  great.  But  the  party  had  made  many  serious  blunders,  and  on 
these  its  powerful  rival  had  fattened  until  it  now  seemed  ready  to 
seize  the  reins  of  government. 

The  Republican  convention  met  in  Chicago  the  first  week  in  June, 
1884.  There  were  many  candidates,  but  the  idol  of  the  party  was 
"  the  magnetic  man  from  Maine,"  and  his  nomination  was  assured 
from  the  beginning.  Elaine  led  all  others  on  the  first  three  ballots 
and  was  nominated  on  the  fourth.  The  convention  then  wisely 
chose  for  second  place  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Stalwarts,  General  John  A.  Logan  of  Illinois.  In  the  platform 
the  party  fulsomely  praised  itself  for  its  past  good  deeds,  pronounced 
for  a  protective  tariff,  and  heartily  indorsed  civil  service  reform. 

The  Democrats  met  in  the  same  city  a  few  weeks  later  and  nomi 
nated  Grover  Cleveland,  governor  of  New  York,  for  President,  and 
Thomas  A.  Hendricks  of  Indiana  for  Vice  President.  In  their 
platform  they  pointed  out  the  moral  decay  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  mercilessly  arraigned  that  party  for  not  keeping  faith  with  the 
people,  making,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  glowing  promises  to 
correct  every  abuse  if  the  people  would  intrust  them  with  power. 
They  also  called  for  a  reduction  of  the  tariff  without  injuring  "any 
domestic  industries." 

The  Prohibitionists  nominated  Governor  John  P.  St.  John  of 
Kansas  for  President.  The  Greenback,  now  called  the  National 
party,  chose  Benjamin  F.  Butler  as  its  standard  bearer,  and  Butler 
was  also  nominated  by  the  new-born  Anti-Monopoly  party.  The 
great  interest  of  the  people,  however,  centered  in  the  candidates  of 
the  two  great  political  parties.  Of  these  two  men  one  had  been  in 
the  public  gaze  as  a  party  leader  for  many  years,  and  frequent  have 
been  our  references  to  his  career ;  the  other  was  a  new  star  in  the 
political  sky. 

Grover  Cleveland,  the  son  of  a  clergyman,  was  born  in  New 
Jersey  in  the  same  year  and  the  same  month  that  witnessed  the 
inauguration  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  the  only  President  yet  elected 
from  New  York.  A  few  years  later  the  family  moved  to  a  village 
near  Syracuse,  New  York,  where  most  of  Grover's  boyhood  was  spent. 


858  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Denied  a  college  education  by  the  early  death  of  his  father,  the 
boy  at  length  determined  to  go  westward  and  seek  his  fortune.  He 
started  for  Cleveland,  Ohio,  being  attracted  by  the  name,  but  he 
stopped  on  the  way  at  Buffalo,  and  made  that  city  his  home.  He 
had  determined  to  become  a  lawyer,  and  he  soon  found  a  place  with 
one  of  the  largest  law  firms  of  the  city. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  was  a  lawyer  of  good  stand 
ing  and  a  fair  income.  When  President  Lincoln  made  his  first  call 
for  volunteers,  he  and  his  two  brothers  held  a  conference  about  their 
duty  to  the  country,  and  it  was  decided  that  two  of  them  answer  the 
President's  call,  while  the  third  should  remain  at  home  to  care  for 
their  mother  ;  and  as  Grover's  income  exceeded  that  of  the  others, 
he  was  chosen  to  remain,  while  the  others  entered  the  army.1 

In  the  late  seventies  he  was  elected  reform  mayor  of  Buffalo. 
His  record  as  mayor  attracted  wide  attention.  Against  a  most 
corrupt  city  council  he  strove  unceasingly  and  he  won  in  every 
contest.  His  scathing  veto  messages  awakened  the  people  as  nothing 
had  done  before  to  the  fact  that  they  were  being  robbed  by  their 
officials.  He  saved  the  city  over  $800,000  on  a  sewer  contract,  and 
$109,000  annually  in  the  street-cleaning  department. 

In  1882,  when  his  party  wanted  a  reform  candidate  for  governor 
of  the  state,  they  naturally  turned  to  the  mayor  of  Buffalo.  The 
Republicans  had  nominated  Judge  Folger  of  President  Arthur's 
Cabinet,  against  the  will  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party,  who 
desired  the  renomination  of  Governor  Cornell.  Thousands  of  them 
now  turned  to  Cleveland,  and  he  was  elected  by  a  plurality  of  almost 
two  hundred  thousand.  It  happened  that  the  legislature  of  New 
York,  like  the  city  council  of  Buffalo,  was  controlled  by  a  "  ma 
chine  "  which  had  many  political  debts  to  pay  and  many  politi 
cal  fences  to  repair  —  at  public  expense.  But  here  sat  the  reform 
governor,  quiet,  unostentatious,  businesslike,  watching  the  interests 
of  the  people,  and  every  bill  sent  him  that  savored  of  corruption 
was  sent  back  with  a  positive  veto.  The  people  applauded.  The 
politicians  grew  angry  and  raised  the  cry  that  Cleveland  was 
bidding  for  the  presidency  by  appealing  over  their  heads  to  the 
people ;  but  when  he  vetoed  a  bill  to  compel  the  Elevated  Railway 
Company  of  New  York  City  to  reduce  its  fare  to  five  cents,  because 
it  would  impair  the  obligation  of  a  contract  and  be  "  a  breach  of 

1  Stoddard's  "  Life  of  Cleveland,"  p.  40.  The  two  brothers  returned  safe  from 
the  war,  but  both  were  lost  at  sea  in  1872. 


DEFEAT   OF   ELAINE  859 


faith  on  the  part  of  the  state,"  and  when  he  vetoed  another  appro 
priating  money  to  the  Catholic  Protectorate  because  it  was  purely  a 
sectarian  institution,  his  enemies  were  at  a  loss  to  explain.  He  ve 
toed  the  one  bill  against  the  wishes  of  ninety -nine  out  of  every  hun 
dred  people  of  the  metropolis,  and  the  other  at  the  risk  of  offending 
great  numbers  of  Catholic  voters.  Such  actions  exhibited  a  moral 
courage  that  was  astonishing,  or  an  indifference  to  public  opinion 
that  was  equally  so.  Cleveland  thus  proved  himself  entirely  beyond 
the  control  of  the  political  bosses  of  New  York,  and  against  their 
fierce  opposition  he  was  nominated  for  President  at  Chicago. 

The  chief  issue  of  the  campaign  was,  nominally,  the  tariff,  the 
Republicans  having  pronounced  for  protection  and  the  Democrats, 
in  a  halting  way,  for  tariff  reform  ;  but  in  fact  the  campaign  became 
a  personal  one  between  the  two  leading  candidates.  Both  parties 
stooped  to  defamation  of  character  and  indecent  personalities.  Mr. 
Elaine  was  a  strong  and  fearless  leader,  and  he  took  personal  charge 
of  his  canvass;  but  he  was  unfortunate  from  the  beginning.  A 
strong  element  of  his  party,  who  came  to  be  known  as  "Mug 
wumps,"  l  opposed  him  bitterly  and  supported  Cleveland.  Among 
these  were  Henry  Ward  Beecher  and  George  William  Curtis.  These 
men,  whose  motives  were  beyond  question,  had  many  followers. 
They  not  only  distrusted  Blaine ;  they  believed  that  with  the  dawn 
of  the  new  industrial  era  the  old  leaders  of  war  and  reconstruction 
should  be  set  aside,  and  the  government  placed  into  new  hands.  The 
Prohibitionists,  who  held  the  balance  of  power  in  New  York,  and 
whose  vote  would  be  drawn  chiefly  from  the  Republicans,  were 
entreated  by  the  Blaine  followers  to  withdraw  their  candidate,  Mr. 
St.  John,  from  the  field  in  Elaine's  favor,  but  they  refused  to  do  so. 
Again,  Blaine  made  serious  blunders  during  the  canvass.  He  made 
a  tour  through  several  states  and,  with  his  magnetic  power  over 
great  crowds,  he  left  a  good  impression.  But  on  his  return  he 
made  a  stop  in  New  York  City,  and  this  was  fatal  to  his  cause. 
Here  he  dined  with  a  company  of  millionaires,  and  the  Democrats 
paraded  the  fact  before  the  public.  A  company  of  ministers  called 
on  him,  and  their  spokesman,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Burchard,  referred  to  the 
Democratic  party  as  the  party  of  "  rum,  Romanism,  and  rebellion." 
and  the  candidate  offered  no  rebuke  in  his  reply.  This  was  eagerly 
seized  on  by  the  Democrats,  as  a  denunciation  of  the  Catholic 

1  Mugwump  is  an  Algonkin  word  and  means  chief.  It  was  long  in  use  in  parts  of 
New  England,  but  before  this  campaign  its  use  was  not  general. 


860 


HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 


Church,  and  in  vain  did  Elaine  deny  all  sympathy  with  the  senti 
ment;  and  the  Irish  Catholic  vote,  which  seemed  to  be  gravitating 
toward  him,  was  now  turned  to  Cleveland. 

New  York  was  the  pivotal  state,  and  its  vote  was  cast  for  Cleve 
land  by  a  plurality  of  less  than  twelve  hundred  —  and  the  long  season 
of  Republican  supremacy  was  broken.  Elaine's  defeat  was  pathetic. 
For  years  he  had  hoped  and  labored  for  the  great  prize,  and  it 
seemed  so  near.  Had  he  been  elected,  he  would  have  made  a  strong 
President  and,  no  doubt,  an  honest  one.  Eut  he  had  a  premonition 


ELECTION  CHART,  1884 

I    :.  .     I  REPUBLICAN 
I,     .1  DEMOCRATIC 


Clay  and 
Elaine. 


that,  like  Henry  Clay,  he  would  never  be  President.  And  how 
strangely  similar  seemed  the  defeat  of  Clay  just  forty  years  before. 
Clay  had  failed  to  obtain  the  nomination  when  his  party  was  suc 
cessful  at  the  polls ;  and  when  he  was  chosen  by  the 
convention,  he  was  defeated  at  the  polls  —  and  the 
same  was  true  of  Elaine.  New  York  was  the  pivotal 
state  in  1844  and  also  in  1884.  Clay  had  lost  that  state  and  the 
nation  through  a  little  third  party  which  held  the  balance  of  power, 
and  so  with  Elaine.  And  yet  there  is  one  more  item  in  this  strange 
parallel :  Clay  and  Elaine  each  seriously  injured  his  own  cause  by 
writing  ill-advised  letters  during  the  campaign. 

Another  element  that  entered  into  the  defeat  of  Elaine  was  the 
attitude  of  his  old  enemy,  Roscoe  Conkling.    Twice  had  Conkling  pre- 


PRESIDENT   CLEVELAND   AND   NEW   CONDITIONS  861 

vented  the  nomination  of  Elaine  in  convention,  and  now  when  Elaine 
received  it,  Conkling  could  have  secured  his  election  ;  but  the  mighty 
Achilles  sulked  in  his  tent.  His  friends  understood ;  they  refused 
to  support  the  lifelong  enemy  of  their  idol  and  cast  their  votes  for 
Cleveland.  Had  Conkling  made  a  single  speech,  had  he 
raised  a  finger  in  support  of  Elaine,  in  spite  of  the  St. 
John  vote,  in  spite  of  the  Mugwump  defection,  in  spite 
of  the  Eurchard  alliteration,  the  Empire  State  would  have  cast  its 
vote  for  the  magnetic  statesman  and  he  would  have  been  elected.1 
But  Coukling  remembered  the  insult  of  eighteen  years  before,  the 
bitter  denunciation  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  the  "  grandiloquent 
swell/'  the  "  turkey-gobbler  strut,''  and  his  high-poised  soul  could 
not  forgive.  He  took  his  revenge,  and  Elaine  never  became 
President. 

THE  NEW  CONDITIONS  2 

This  campaign  was  one  of  unusual  significance ;  it  marked  the 
restoration  to  power  of  the  old  party  that  Jefferson  had  founded, 
that  had  ruled  the  country  for  forty  years  without  a  break,  that  had 
sinned  grievously  and  had  suffered  deeply.  Xow  again  the  people 
had  restored  the  old  party  to  power  —  but  only  in  part,  for  the 
Senate  was  still  Republican,  and  from  this  cause  party  legislation 
was^  impossible  and  the  first  term  of  Cleveland,  like  the  term  of 
Hayes,  was  a  season  of  quiet  in  the  political  world. 

Viewed  in  another  light,  the  party  of  Cleveland  was  not  the  old 
party  of  Jefferson,  or  of  Jackson,  or  even  of  James  Buchanan.  A  new 
era  had  dawned  and  had  brought  with  it  new  ideals  and  new  duties. 
Thousands  who  aided  in  the  election  of  Cleveland  had  been  born 
since  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter.  The  great  body  of  American 
voters  had  grown  to  manhood  since  then.  Old  conditions  had 
passed  away  with  the  old  generation  ;  the  new  conditions  called  for 
a  new  type  of  statesmanship,  and  in  none  was  this  embodied  more 
than  in  the  newly  elected  President,  In  his  inaugural  address  he 
advised  that  the  heat  of  the  partisan  be  merged  into  the  patriotism 

1  The  Republican  defection  in  Conkling' s  home  county  alone  was  greater  than 
Cleveland's  majority  in  the  state  of  New  York. 

2  The  remainder  of  this  history  will  be  given  in  a  more  condensed  form,  nor  will 
a  critical  discussion  of  current  public  questions  be  attempted.     Only  the  historian  of 
the  future  will  view  the  great  issues  of  to-day  in  all  their  bearings,  and  be  able  to 
discuss  them  without  partisan  bias. 


862  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

of  the  citizen.  The  Republicans  took  their  defeat  gracefully,  and 
the  people  bravely  turned  their  faces  to  the  future. 

Nothing  so  emphasized  the  friendly  reunion  of  the  states  as  the 
fact  that  two  members  of  the  new  Cabinet,  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar  and  A. 
H.  Garland,  had  been  commanders  in  the  Confederate  armies.  The 
fitness  of  these  appointments  was  soon  recognized  by  all.  They 
did  not  signify,  as  a  few  radicals  at  first  cried  out,  that  "  the  South 
was  again  in  the  saddle,"  but  rather  that  the  old  war  spirit  was 
dying  and  that  the  Southern  states  were  again  in  spirit,  as  well  as 
in  fact,  members  of  the  happy  sisterhood.  Thomas  F.  Bayard  of 
Delaware  became  secretary  of  state,  and  W.  C.  Whitney  of  New 
York,  secretary  of  the  navy. 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  fitting  than  that  the  first  bill  to 
which  this  new  Democratic  President  placed  his  signature  was  an  act 
Last  days  of  restoring  General  Grant  to  the  retired  list  of  the  army. 
General  The  aged  ex-President,  in  the  hope  of  gaining  a  for- 

Grant.  tune,  had  engaged  in  business  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

The  firm  with  which  he  was  connected  proved  to  be  disreputable ; 
the  business  came  to  an  unhappy  end,  and,  though  the  honor  of  the 
general  was  untouched,  his  modest  savings  were  swept  away  in  the 
crash.  Moreover,  Grant  was  suffering  from  an  incurable  disease, 
a  cancer  in  the  mouth,  which  baffled  the  skill  of  the  physicians. 
The  heart  of  the  nation  went  out  in  sympathy  with  the  dying  hero. 
He  had  been  laboring  faithfully  on  his  "  Memoirs,"  the  story  of  his 
life,  that  his  family  might  reap  the  benefit  when  he  was  gone.  In 
the  spring  and  early  summer  of  1885,  the  malady  from  which  he  suf 
fered  became  alarming,  but  the  general  continued  his  writing  with 
the  same  unwearied  courage  that  he  had  displayed  on  the  battle 
field.  The  end  came  on  July  23,  1885,  at  Mt.  McGregor,  near 
Saratoga.  The  funeral  pageant  in  New  York  City  was  the  most 
imposing  ever  seen  in  America ;  and  the  body  was  laid  to  rest  at 
Riverside  Park,  overlooking  the  Hudson.1 

Cleveland  proved  himself  a  firm  adherent  of  the  principle  of 
civil  service  reform.  It  is  true  that  in  a  few  years  he  had  appointed 
many  of  his  fellow  partisans  to  office,  as  the  statutory  terms  of  the 
Republican  incumbents  expired.  He  also  dismissed  some  for 

1  Grant's  "  Memoirs,"  in  two  volumes,  is,  from  a  literary  point  of  view,  the  best 
of  its  kind  in  our  American  literature.  The  straightforward,  unadorned  narrative 
has  a  charm  of  simplicity  and  clearness  that  is  very  unusual.  Mrs.  Grant  realized  a 
large  sum  of  money  from  the  sale  of  the  work,  the  first  payment  reaching  $200,000. 


PRESIDENTIAL   SUCCESSION  863 

"  offensive  partisanship  " ;  but  he  made  no  clean  sweep,  much  to  the 
dismay  of  the  professional  politicians  of  his  party.  The  adminis 
tration  was  not  marked  by  any  great  question  of  public  policy,  but 
rather  for  its  unbroken  smoothness,  and  for  the  extraordinary 
strength  in  the  personality  of  the  President.  The  country  soon 
learned  that  Cleveland  was  fully  equal  to  the  new  duties  before  him, 
and  that  hie  conscience  in  dealing  with  national  affairs  was  the  same 
as  that  which  characterized  him  at  Buffalo  and  Albany. 

For  many  years  Congress  had  been  in  the  habit  of  granting  pen 
sions  to  the  old  soldiers  with  little  regard  to  merit.  Mr.  Cleveland 
took  the  ground  that  unless  a  soldier  was  disabled  by  the  war  he 
had  no  just  claim  to  the  support  of  the  government.  He  vetoed 
scores  of  private  pension  bills,  many  of  which  were  shown  to  be 
fraudulent.  He  also  vetoed  the  Dependent  Pension  bill,  which  pro 
vided  pensions  for  all  who  had  served  in  the  war  ninety  days  or 
more  and  were  now  unable  to  do  manual  work;  but  a  similar  bill 
became  a  law  in  the  next  administration. 

The  most  important  measure,  aside  from  the  necessary  legislation, 
to  become  a  law  in  the  first  four  years  of  Cleveland's  incumbency 
was  the  Presidential  Succession  bill.  As  the  law  stood  presidential 
before,  the  president  of  the  Senate,  and  after  him  the  Succession 
Speaker  of  the  House,  would  succeed  to  the  presidency  law- 
in  case  of  the  death  or  disability  of  both  the  President  and  the  Vice 
President.  But  such  a  succession  might  throw  the  government  into 
the  hands  of  a  party  that  had  been  defeated  at  the  polls  by  the  people  ; 
or  in  case  there  was  no  Vice  President  and  neither  the  Senate  nor  the 
House  had  chosen  a  presiding  officer,  there  would  be  no  one  between 
the  President  and  a  legal  lapse  of  the  functions  of  the  office.  Such 
had  been  the  condition  for  a  time  while  Arthur  was  President,  and 
the  death  of  Vice  President  Hendricks  in  the  autumn  of  1885  again 
brought  about  the  same  condition.  The  death  of  Hendricks  awakened 
Congress  to  a  sense  of  the  necessity  of  providing  against  the  danger  of 
a  lapse  and  also  of  securing  the  presidency  to  the  party  that  had  carried 
the  election.  The  Presidential  Succession  bill  became  a  law  on  Jan 
uary  18,  1886.  It  provides  that  the  line  of  succession  run  through 
the  Cabinet  in  the  following  order  :  The  secretaries  of  state,  treasury, 
war,  the  attorney-general,  the  postmaster-general,  the  secretary  of  the 
navy,  and  the  secretary  of  the  interior.  Any  member  of  the  Cabinet 
to  be  in  the  line  must  be  eligible  to  the  presidency.  This  law  settled 
a  matter  that  had  for  a  long  period  caused  much  anxiety. 


864  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

In  the  following  year  (February,  1887)  the  Electoral  Count  law  was 
enacted.  This  grew  out  of  the  disputed  election  of  1876.  It  provides 
that  each  state  shall  be  its  own  judge  concerning  its  electoral  votes. 
But  if  through  opposing  tribunals  a  state  is  unable  to  decide,  the  matter 
must  be  settled  by  a  joint  resolution  of  the  two  houses  of  Congress. 

Next  came  the  Interstate  Commerce  Act,  which  became  a  law 
in  February,  1887.  For  years  the  great  railroads  had  discriminated 
against  the  small  shippers  by  giving  cheaper  freight  rates  to  the 
manufacturers  and  producers  whose  shipments  were  large.  The  most 
flagrant  case  in  point  was  that  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  which, 
in  1872,  merged  with  the  Southern  Improvement  Company  and  bar- 
Interstate  gained  with  the  great  railroads  to  have  its  products 
Commerce  carried  at  from  25  per  cent  to  50  per  cent  less  than  that 
Act-  which  was  charged  the  small  refiners.  The  result  was 

that  the  small  concerns  could  earn  no  dividends,  and  they  were  forced 
to  sell  out  to  the  Standard  at  a  great  loss,  and  the  Standard  soon 
had  a  monopoly  of  the  oil  business.1  The  farmers  of  the  West  and 
small  manufacturers  in  every  part  of  the  country  suffered  greatly 
from  this  unfair  discrimination  by  the  railroad  companies.  The 
public  demanded  that  Congress  come  to  the  rescue  and  stop  the 
practice,  and  the  result  was  the  Interstate  Commerce  Act.  By  this 
act  the  railway  companies  were  forbidden  to  make  discriminations 
in  freight  rates  or  to  enter  into  combinations  for  "pooling"  and 
dividing  their  receipts. 

Two  other  laws  of  considerable  importance  complete  the  series 
of  this  presidential  term.  One  of  these  was  an  amendment  to  the 
Edmunds  Anti-Polygamy  law  of  1882,  by  which  the  Mormon  Church 
was  dissolved  as  a  corporate  body  and  much  of  its  property  was 
confiscated.  The  other  was  the  Anti-Chinese  law,  which  has  been 
mentioned  on  a  preceding  page. 

The  only  foreign  subject  that  seriously  engaged  the  attention  of 

this  administration  was  that  of  the  Canadian  fisheries.     This  matter 

had  been  temporarily  adjusted,  as  we  have  noticed,  but  as  the  United 

States  deemed  the  settlement  a  disadvantageous  one,  it  was  canceled 

by  President  Cleveland.     This  left  the  old  Treaty  oi 

1818  again  in  operation,  and  the  Canadians  promptly  put 

its  worst  features  in  force.     They  seized  American  vessels  for  landing 

at  Canadian  ports  to  purchase  bait,  to  transship  fish,  or  for  any  pur- 

1  The  chief  movers  in  this  conspiracy  were  John  D.  Rockefeller  of  Cleveland, 
W.  G.  Warden  of  Philadelphia,  and  O.  T.  Waring  of  Pittsburg. 


LABOR  AGITATION   AND   ANARCHY  865 

pose  except  for  shelter,  for  repairs,  or  to  obtain  wood,  water,  and  food. 
The  old  treaty  had  never  before  been  literally  interpreted,  and  now 
the  complaints  came  thick  and  fast  to  Washington.  A  bill  in  Con 
gress  to  close  American  ports  to  Canadian  vessels  was  considered 
and  lost.  A  new  treaty  was  made  with  England,  but  the  Senate 
killed  it.  Discretionary  power  was  given  the  President  to  deal  with 
the  matter  as  he  deemed  best,  and  within  a  few  years  the  affair  was 
patched  up  so  as  to  be  fairly  agreeable  to  both  sides. 

During  the  time  we  are  treating  the  labor  world  again  became 
agitated.  An  order  known  as  the  Knights  of  Labor,  founded  some 
fifteen  years  before,  now  made  a  sudden  bound  and  its  membership 
soon  exceeded  half  a  million  men.  It  represented  nearly  all  trades, 
and  was  governed  by  a  national  executive  board  which  had  power  to 
order  strikes  and  boycotts.  The  Knights  of  Labor  was  touched  with 
anarchy,  and  ere  long  its  disintegration  began.  The  order,  however, 
was  not  responsible  for  the  fearful  outbreak  of  anarchy  in  Chicago 
in  May,  1886.  For  years  a  few  immigrant  anarchists  had  preached 
their  detestable  doctrines  in  American  cities,  and  at  last 
they  seemed  to  have  a  following  in  Chicago.  On  the  night 
of  May  3,  some  fourteen  hundred  of  the  discontented 
gathered  in  Hay  market  Square  to  hear  the  harangues  of  their  leaders. 
A  body  of  policemen  was  sent  to  disperse  the  crowd  when  suddenly  a 
bomb,  thrown  into  their  midst,  exploded  with  terrific  force,  causing 
the  death  of  six  policemen  and  wounding  many  more.  The  whole 
country  was  shocked  at  the  outrage.  Chicago  did  its  duty.  It  sent 
four  of  the  leaders  of  the  mob  to  the  gallows  and  others  to  the  peni 
tentiary.  This  summary  dealing,  which  was  applauded  by  the  great 
body  of  the  people,  gave  a  setback  to  the  anarchists  from  which 
they  have  not  recovered  to  this  day. 

THE   TARIFF  ISSUE 

President  Cleveland  believed  that  much  of  the  unrest  in  the 
labor  world  had  its  roots  in  the  high  protective  tariff.  From  far 
back  in  Jackson's  days  the  Democratic  party  had  been  a  party  of 
low  tariff.  The  Civil  War  brought  high  impost  duties ;  but  the  war 
was  now  long  past,  and  yet  the  high  duties  were  retained.  In  the 
early  part  of  the  century  a  protective  tariff  was  demanded  for  the 
benefit  of  infant  industries  ;  but  now,  as  such  industries  were  beyond 
the  need  of  government  aid,  protection  was  demanded  on  an  entirely 
SK 


HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 


different  ground  —  on  the  ground  of  maintaining  the  wages  of  the 
laboring  man.  But  it  was  evident  that  the  laborer  was  not  receiving 
his  share  of  the  benefit,  that  the  manufacturer  received  more  than 
the  lion's  share.  So  thought  Grover  Cleveland.  And  besides,  there 
was  another  "  condition "  rather  than  a  "  theory  "  confronting  the 
nation.  The  high  tariff  had  caused  a  great  surplus  of  money  to  be 
drawn  from  the  channels  of  trade,  only  to  be  heaped  up  in  the  treas 
ury  at  Washington.  But  the  country  was  so  wedded  to  a  high 
tariff  that  not  even  the  Democratic  Hquse  had  the  courage  to  attack 
it.  At  last  the  party  had  a  man  at  the  helm  whose  courage  seemed 
unlimited,  and  whose  concern  for  his  own  political  fortunes  seemed 
to  stand  at  zero. 

In  December,  1887,  President  Cleveland,  without  advice  from 
his  fellow  party  leaders,  devoted  his  entire  annual  message  to  a 
Cleveland's  denunciation  of  the  high  tariff  laws  and  a  call  for  their 
tariff  mes-  modification.  As  the  writer  doubtless  foresaw,  the 
sage,  1887.  message  brought  confusion  to  the  ranks  of  his  party, 
which  was  not  prepared  for  such  a  positive  declaration ;  and,  as  he 
probably  expected,  it  cost  him  a  reelection  to  the  presidency.  But 
the  message  did  exactly  what  it  was  intended  to  do  —  it  made  the 
issue  for  the  coming  election ;  it  committed  a  great  party,  compris 
ing  half  the  nation,  to  the  principle  of  moderate  impost  duties.  The 
party  haltingly  followed  its  leader,  but  enough  stragglers  fell  by 
the  wayside  to  bring  defeat  instead  of  victory. 

The  Republicans  took  up  the  gage  of  battle  that  Cleveland 
had  thrown  down,  and  rejoiced  at  the  opportunity.  It  is  true  that 
the  famous  message  made  all  men  think  on  the  great  subject  of  the 
tariff,  and  it  won  some  Republicans.  But  the  people  were  too 
devoted  to  a  high  tariff  to  consent  on  such  short  notice  to  abandon 
it.  Mr.  Blaine  was  still  the  Republican  idol,  and  could  have  had 
the  nomination  of  the  party.  But  in  the  belief  that  he  was  fated 
never  to  be  President,  and  in  a  moment  of  despondency,  to  which  he 
was  subject  late  in  life,  he  positively  refused  to  have  his  name  con 
sidered.  The  convention  chose  Benjamin  Harrison  of  Indiana, 
grandson  of  William  Henry  Harrison,  who  had  been  elected  by  the 
Whigs  in  1840.  For  second  place  Levi  P.  Morton  was  chosen,  while 
the  Democrats  selected  Allen  G.  Thurman,  the  sturdy  "  Old  Roman  " 
of  Ohio,  as  Cleveland's  running  mate. 

Harrison  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  in  his  party,  but  he  was 
utterly  wanting  in  the  power  to  rouse  popular  enthusiasm.  Cleve- 


CAMPAIGN   OF   1888.  867 

land  in  some  measure  also  lacked  this  power.  The  campaign  was 
clean,  intellectual,  and  dignified.  The  chief  issue  was  of  course  the 
tariff,  and  to  emphasize  this  each  party  put  forth  a  congressional 
tariff  bill.  The  Mills  bill,  framed  by  Roger  Q.  Mills  of  Texas, 
passed  the  Democratic  House  in  the  summer  of  1888. 
It  was  framed  on  the  lines  of  the  tariff  message  of  Mr.  e 
Cleveland,  who  was  now  the  undisputed  master  of  his  party.  This 
bill  was  not  only  rejected  by  the  Republican  Senate;  it  was  answered 
by  a  Senate  bill  proposing  even  higher  duties  than  those  then  in 
force.  Neither  of  these  bills  became  law,  nor  was  such  a  result 
looked  for  by  their  respective  supporters.  They  were  merely  expres 
sions  of  party  policy. 

Other  political  parties  —  the  Prohibitionist,  the  Union  Labor,  the 
United  Labor,  and  others  —  had  candidates  in  the  field ;  but  these 
organizations  had  little  influence  on  the  battle  of  the  giants.  Mr. 
Harrison  was  elected,  receiving  233  electoral  votes  to  168  for  Cleve 
land,  though  his  popular  vote  fell  below  that  of  Cleveland  by  about 
110,000.  Cleveland  would  have  been  elected  but  for  the  loss  of  the 
pivotal  state  of  New  York  through  the  defection  of  Tammany  Hall.1 
The  Republicans  also  gained  control  of  the  House,  and  were  now  in 
position  to  carry  out  any  party  measure. 

The  success  of  the  Republican  party  was  now  interpreted  by  its 
leaders  a?  a  mandate  from  the  people  to  raise  the  duties  on  imports 
to  a  still  higher  point,  and  they  proceeded  forthwith 
to  do  so.  The  result  was  the  McKinley  Tariff  Act,  of 
1890.  named  from  its  framer,  Representative  William 
McKinley  of  Ohio.  By  this  law  duties  were  raised  to  a  point  be 
yond  any  before  known  in  our  history,  —  to  an  average  of  above  50 
per  cent,  —  but  its  framers  made  one  concession  to  the  free  traders 
by  putting  sugar  on  the  free  list.2  This  act  did  not  by  any  means 
settle  the  great  question. 

1  David  B.  Hill,  New  York's  Democratic  candidate  for  governor  and  the  favorite 
of  Tammany,  was  elected  by  nearly  twenty-nine  thousand  majority,  while  Cleveland 
fell  fourteen  thousand  short  of  carrying  the  state. 

2  Even  the  Democrats  did  not  propose  free  trade  by  any  means.      The  Mills  bill 
was  called  a  free  trade  measure  by  its  enemies ;    but  its  average  of  duties,  about 
42  per  cent,  was  higher  than  any  tariff  before  the  war. 


HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 


IMPORTANT  ACTS   OF   1890 

Mr.  Harrison  had  made  James  G.  Elaine  secretary  of  state,  and 
in  no  capacity  in  his  long  political  career  did  the  Maine  statesman 
display  his  powers  to  greater  advantage.  The  Eepublican  House 
elected  another  Maine  statesman  as  its  Speaker,  Thomas  B.  Eeed,  in 
some  respects  a  stronger  and  more  admirable  character  than  Elaine. 
A  practice  of  the  minority  in  the  House,  almost  from  the  beginning 
of  the  government,  was  to  delay  legislation  which  they  did  not  favor, 

by  making  dilatory  motions ;  but  Speaker  Reed  put  a 
Spea  er  ee  .  ^^  ^Q  ^  practice  by  steadfastly  refusing  to  recognize 
any  member  whose  purpose  was  to  obstruct  business,  however  loud 
he  might  shout.  Another  long-standing  custom  in  the  House  was 
that  a  member  was  considered  absent  if  he  refused  to  answer  to  his 
name  when  the  roll  was  called  to  ascertain  whether  there  was  a 
quorum  present.  Mr.  Eeed  broke  this  custom  by  counting  as  pres 
ent  those  who  sat  silent  at  the  roll  call.  The  protest  that  arose  was 
fierce  and  threatening,  but  Eeed,  with  quiet,  inflexible  courage,  pro 
ceeded  with  the  business  of  the  House.  The  minority  appealed  to 
the  Supreme  Court,  but  Eeed  was  sustained,  and  within  a  few  years 
his  innovation  was  adopted  by  both  parties  as  the  rule  of  the  House. 
One  of  the  first  efforts  of  the  Eepublicans  was  to  amend  the  elec 
tion  laws  for  the  better  protection  of  colored  voters  of  the  South. 
This  bill,  which  the  Democrats  called  the  "  Force  Bill,"  and  which 
they  opposed  with  great  bitterness,  succeeded  in  passing  the  House ; 
but  it  was  defeated  in  the  Senate,  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of 
Senator  Arthur  P.  Gorman  of  Maryland. 

This  session  of  Congress,  however,  enacted,  in  addition  to  the 
McKinley  Tariff  bill,  no  less  than  five  or  six  important  laws.  The 
Eepublicans  were  less  troubled  about  the  surplus  in  the  treasury 
than  Cleveland  had  been.  Instead  of  attempting  to  check  the  flow 
of  money  into  the  treasury,  they  devised  plans  to  spend  it.  One  of 
their  first  acts  was  to  pass  the  Dependent  Pension  bill,  very  similar 
to  the  one  Mr.  Cleveland  had  vetoed.  By  this  act  Union  soldiers 
and  sailors  who  had  served  ninety  days  in  the  war  were  entitled  to 

a  pension,  if  they  were  from  any  cause  unable  to  earn  a 
Penaion^aw  living  5  an^  the  benefits  were  extended  to  their  widows, 

children,  and  dependent  parents.  There  was  at  once  a 
rush  to  secure  pensions,  and  the  lobbyists  and  pension  "  sharks  "  who 
infested  the  halls  of  Congress  were  no  doubt  enriched  more  rapidly 


LAWS   OF   1890  869 


than  the  old  veterans.  In  1889  the  annual  pension  outlay  was 
$89,000,000,  and  four  years  later  it  reached  the  enormous  sum  of 
$158,000,000. 

The  pension  law  was  passed  in  June ;  and  the  same  month  wit 
nessed  the  passage  of  the  Anti-Trust  law  under  the  title  of  "An 
act  to  protect  trade  and  commerce  against  unlawful  restraints  and 
monopolies."  For  a  decade  there  had  been  much  popular  prptest 
against  great  combinations  of  capital  for  the  purpose  of  preventing 
competition  and  of  crushing  out  smaller  concerns,  and  all  the  party 
platforms  of  1888  called  for  legislation  against  such  combinations. 
This  law  gave  the  courts  the  power  to  pronounce  void  any  contract 
injurious  to  the  public  in  cases  brought  to  trial.1 

The  following  month,  July,  brought  the  famous  Sherman  Silver 
law.  The  Bland-Allison  Act  of  1878  had  been  a  concession  to  the 
silver  interests  of  the  West.  This  desire  for  more 
money  in  circulation  had  found  expression  through  the 
Greenback  party,  the  Farmers'  Alliance,  and  such  or 
ganizations,  and  now  it  took  the  form  of  further  demands  on  Congress 
for  additional  legislation  favorable  to  a  larger  use  of  silver.  Both  the 
great  political  parties  had  stood  for  a  sound  and  stable  currency ;  but 
both  were  now  willing  to  yield  something  to  the  popular  demand,  and 
the  result  was  the  enactment  of  the  Sherman  law,  so  named  because 
Senator  John  Sherman  of  Ohio,  the  greatest  financier  in  the  country, 
was  a  member  of  the  joint  committee  that  framed  it.  The  Senate, 
augmented  by  members  from  several  newly  admitted  silver  states  in 
the  West,  was  in  favor  of  the  free  coinage  of  silver ;  but  the  House 
would  not  agree  to  this,  and  they  compromised  with  the  Sherman 
law.  By  this  law  the  Bland-Allison  Act,  which  provided  that  not 
less  than  $2,000,000  or  more  than  $4,000,000  per  month  was  to 
be  coined,  was  repealed,  and  the  purchase  of  four  and  a  half  million 
ounces  of  silver  per  month  was  ordered.  The  notes  issued  in  pay 
ment  for  this  bullion  were  to  be  redeemable  in  gold  or  silver ;  after 
July  1, 1891,  the  bullion  should  no  longer  be  coined,  except  as  it  was 
needed  to  redeem  treasury  notes,  and  a  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one  in  the 
coinage  of  silver  and  gold  was  fixed  by  law.  The  law  provided  also 
that  for  every  gold  dollar's  worth  of  silver  purchased  an  equivalent 

1  This  law  lay  almost  dormant  for  nearly  fourteen  years  when  it  was  given  great 
significance  by  a  decision  of  the  Federal  Supreme  Court  (March  14, 1004)  dissolving  the 
Northern  Securities  Company,  by  which  the  two  great  railroads  of  the  Northwest, 
the  Great  Northern  and  the  Northern  Pacific,  had  been  brought  under  one  manage 
ment. 


870  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

amount  of  legal  tender  treasury  notes  be  issued.  The  attempt  to 
keep  up  the  price  of  silver  by  law  resulted,  like  its  predecessor  of 
1878,  in  failure ;  and  a  few  years  later  the  question  rose  again  in  far 
greater  proportions,  and  became  the  leading  issue  in  a  presidential 
election. 

Three  other  laws  of  considerable  importance  were  enacted  within 
the  .year  1890.  One  of  these  was  known  as  the  Original  Package 
law.  Some  of  the  states  had  passed  stringent  anti-liquor  laws,  but 
these  laws  were  evaded  by  persons  who  purchased  liquor  in  the 
original  package  in  other  states,  and,  bringing  it  into  a  state 
having  anti-liquor  laws,  sold  it  under  the  protection  of  the  Inter 
state  Commerce  Act  of  1887.  The  Supreme  Court  sustained  this 
practice ;  whereupon  Congress  enacted  the  Original  Package  law, 
by  which  packages  thus  brought  within  a  state  were  subject  to 
the  local  laws  of  that  state.  Another  was  the  Anti-Lottery  law, 
which  excluded  lottery  tickets  and  circulars  from  the  mails  of  the 
United  States.  This  was  a  deathblow  to  the  Louisiana  Lottery, 
which,  in  spite  of  many  state  laws  to  the  contrary,  had  for  many 
years  done  a  large  business  in  all  the  states  through  the  mail.  A 
third  was  a  law  forfeiting  public  land  grants  made  to  various  rail 
road  corporations.  Many  of  these  companies  had  not  built  their 
proposed  roads  and  were  simply  holding  their  land  grants  as  invest 
ments;  but  an  act  of  September,  1890,  added  again  to  the  public 
domain  many  millions  of  acres  which  had  been  granted  to  the 
corporations. 

The  years  1889  and  1890  brought  into  the  Union  six  new  states 
in  the  West.  The  population  had  moved  westward  across  the  vast 
prairies  of  the  middle  West,  and  up  the  slopes  to  the  towering 
heights  of  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  people  on  the  Pacific  Coast  had 
been  moving  eastward.  There  was  no  longer  a  frontier ;  the  popula 
tion  had  embraced  the  continent.  It  is  true  that  these  western  settle 
ments,  composed  of  mining  towns  among  the  mountains,  of  cattle 
ranches  along  the  slopes,  with  here  and  there  an  agricultural  com 
munity,  were  sparse  as  compared  with  those  of  the  East ;  but  the 
extent  of  the  various  territories  was  so  vast  that  the  population  as  a 
whole  was  very  considerable.  Four  new  states  —  North 
Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Montana,  and  Washington  — 
were  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1889,  and  two  —  Idaho  and  Wyoming 
—  the  following  year.  The  admission  of  the  last-named  states  brought 
prominently  before  the  country  the  long-discussed  subject  of  woman's 


ELECTIONS   OF   1890  871 


suffrage,  as  in  both  of  them  the  right  to  vote  and  hold  office  was 
given  to  women.1 

The  territory  of  Oklahoma,  a  portion  of  the  Indian  Territory,  the 
title  of  which  had  been  secured  from  the  Indians  in  1866  —  on  the 
condition,  however,  that  only  freedmen  and  civilized 
Indians  occupy  the  land  —  was  now  opened  to  white  a  oma" 
settlers.  Owing  to  the  pressure  of  the  "boomers"  Congress  set 
apart  $4,000,000  to  remove  these  conditions,  and  by  a  proclamation 
of  the  President  the  land  was  thrown  open  to  white  settlers  at 
noon  on  April  22,  1889.  Fifty  thousand  people  waited  on  the 
boundary  line  for  the  bugle  call  to  proclaim  the  hour.  When 
the  call  was  heard,  there  was  a  wild  rush  to  possess  the 
land.  Many  were  successful  in  staking  off  choice  lots  or  farms, 
but  the  demand  was  greater  than  the  supply,  and  thousands  failed 
to  realize  their  golden  dreams.  Cities  were  staked  out  and  city 
governments  were  organized  before  the  evening  of  the  first  day. 
A  census  of  that  year  showed  that  the  population  of  Oklahoma 
exceeded  sixty  thousand. 

The  addition  of  new  states  in  the  West  had  much  to  do  with  the 
passage  of  the  Sherman  Silver  law,  and  these  states  played  some 
part  in  the  political  upheaval  of  the  same  year.  The  congressional 
elections  of  1890  resulted  in  a  great  victory  for  the  Democrats.  The 
Eepublican  majority  of  about  twenty  in  the  House  was  replaced  by 
a  Democratic  majority  of  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty.  The  chief 
issue  was  the  McKinley  Tariff.  This  tariff  had  been  in  force  but  a 
few  weeks  at  the  time  of  the  election,  and  the  test  was  not  a  fair  one ; 
but  the  prices  of  commodities  had  suddenly  risen,  and  the  people 
were  distrustful  of  the  future.  One  of  the  surprises  of  this  cam 
paign  was  the  strength  shown  by  the  People's  party,  or  "  Populists," 
the  legitimate  heirs  of  the  Greenback  party  and  the  Farmers'  Alli 
ance.  The  strength  of  this  third  party  came  almost  wholly  from 
the  South  and  West,  where  the  spirit  of  unrest  had  reigned  for  sev 
eral  years.  The  party  elected  eighteen  members  to  the  House,  con 
trolled  seven  senatorial  elections,  and  chose  the  governors  in  Georgia, 
South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  South  Dakota.  With  the  House 
thus  in  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  the  Ilepublicans  could  no  longer 
enact  party  measures,  and  the  administration  dragged  listlessly  along. 

1  In  four  western  states  —  Colorado,  Utah,  Idaho,  and  Wyoming  —  women  have 
the  right  to  vote  and  to  hold  office.  In  more  than  twenty  other  states  woman  suffrage 
is  recognized  in  some  form,  as  in  municipal  elections,  school  suffrage,  and  the  like. 


872  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES 

In  our  foreign  relations  the  Harrison  administration  was  marked 
by  several  items  of  interest.  One  arose  from  the  violent  killing  of 
eleven  Italians,  or  Sicilians,  by  a  mob  in  New  Orleans.  There  existed 
in  that  city  a  secret,  oath-bound,  murderous  society  known  as  the 
"  Maffia."  The  chief  of  police,  David  C.  Hennessy,  who  was  very 
active  in  running  down  these  criminals,  was  treacherously  assassi 
nated,  and  these  eleven  men  were  put  on  trial  for  the  crime.  There 

was  little  doubt  of  their  guilt ;  but  the  jury  failed  to 
New  Or  eans  convict  them.  At  this  miscarriage  of  justice  the  people 

of  the  city  rose  in  anger  and  excitement ;  a  great  crowd 
marched  to  the  jail,  battered  down  the  door,  seized  the  prisoners, 
and  put  them  to  death.  Eight  of  the  slain  men  were  naturalized 
Americans  ;  but  three  proved  to  be  subjects  of  the  King  of  Italy,  who 
promptly  demanded  redress  for  the  outrage.  After  a  long  diplomatic 
correspondence  the  king's  ultimatum,  that  indemnity  be  paid  the 
families  of  the  dead  Italians  and  that  their  slayers  be  punished,  was 
declined  by  Secretary  Elaine,  on  the  ground  that  the  state  of  Louisi 
ana,  and  not  the  United  States  government,  had  jurisdiction  in  the 
matter.  The  United  States,  however,  agreed  to  pay  $25,000  in 
demnity  ;  the  Italian  king  accepted  this  offer,  and  the  matter  was 
thus  amicably  settled. 

Early  in  1889  the  world's  attention  was  directed  to  the  far-away 
group  of  islands  in  the  south  Pacific  known  as  Samoa.  The  United 
States  had  made  a  treaty  of  friendship  with  the  Samoans  in  1878. 

For  a  long  period  civil  war  raged  in  the  islands  ;  and 

at  length,  in  1889,  the  United  States,  Great  Britain,  and 
Germany,  each  of  which  had  a  small  fleet  in  the  harbor,  agreed  to 
establish  a  protectorate,  and  decided  to  restore  the  deposed  king.  In 
March  of  the  same  year  a  terrific  hurricane  broke  upon  the  islands, 
and  most  of  the  American  and  German  war  ships,  together  with  all 
the  merchant  vessels  in  the  harbor,  fifteen  in  number,  were  destroyed. 
By  anticipation  this  subject  may  here  be  disposed  of  by  stating 
that  in  1899  this  agreement  of  the  three  powers  was  rescinded. 
Great  Britain  gave  up  all  claims  in  Samoa  for  some  other  islands 
in  the  Orient,  while  the  United  States  and  Germany  agreed 
to  a  division  of  Samoa.  Upolu  and  other  islands  west  of  171 
degrees  west  longitude  fell  to  Germany,  while  Tutuila  and  the 
other  islands  east  of  171  degrees  became  a  possession  of  the  United 
States. 

A  diplomatic  dispute  with  Chile,  South  America,  absorbed  public 


INTERNATIONAL   TRANSACTIONS  873 


attention  in  the  autumn  of  1891.  That  country,  as  is  common  in 
South  America,  was  in  the  throes  of  insurrection ;  and 
the  insurgents,  believing  that  our  minister,  Mr.  Egan,  e> 
sympathized  with  their  opponents,  conceived  a  dislike  for  him  and 
all  Americans.  The  United  States  cruiser  Baltimore  was  lying  in 
the  harbor  of  Valparaiso  in  October,  1891.  While  her  crew  were  on 
shore  leave,  they  were  attacked  by  the  populace  of  the  city  and  had 
to  run  for  their  lives.  Most  of  them  escaped  to  their  ship  ;  but  two 
were  killed  and  many  were  wounded  with  knives  and  clubs.  For  a 
time  it  seemed  that  war  with  the  little  republic  would  result,  for  the 
Chilean  government  treated  the  matter  lightly  ;  but  when  the  United 
States  made  a  demand  for  redress,  Chile  humbly  receded  from  her 
position  and  paid  $75,000  to  atone  for  the  outrage. 

A  long-standing  diplomatic  dispute  with  the  British  government 
over  the  seal  fisheries  in  the  Bering  Sea  reached  an  acute  stage  in 
1892.  Before  1867  Russia  had  owned  Alaska  and  had  exercised  ex 
clusive  rights  in  the  Bering  Sea.  When  we  came  into  possession 
of  Alaska,  our  government  laid  claim  to  the  full  control  of  the  sea, 
as  the  Russian  government  had  done  ;  our  motive  being  . 

to  protect  the  seals  from  extermination.  England  denied 
our  exclusive  right  beyond  the  three-mile  shore  line.  But  in  1892 
the  two  governments  agreed  to  a  treaty  which  provided  for  arbitra 
tion.  Meantime  a  tribunal  of  temporary  arbitration  met  in  Paris, 
the  United  States,  England,  France,  Italy,  and  Sweden  being  repre 
sented.  This  tribunal  decided  in  favor  of  Great  Britain ;  namely,  that 
our  possession  of  Alaska  did  not  warrant  our  closing  the  Bering  Sea 
to  the  world.  The  British  government,  however,  agreed  to  cooperate 
with  the  United  States  in  saving  the  seals  from  extermination,  and 
thus  the  matter  was  for  the  time  allowed  to  rest. 


THE  ELECTIOX   OF   1892 

President  Harrison  was  not  popular  with  his  party.  A  man  of 
unquestioned  integrity  and  ability,  he  was  wanting  in  the  powers  of 
leadership,  in  personal  magnetism,  and  the  leaders  of  his  party 
found  it  impossible  to  get  into  his  confidence.  And  yet,  as  the 
policies  of  the  party  were  the  same  as  four  years  before  and  as  Mr. 
Harrison  was  in  full  sympathy  with  those  policies,  he  was  the  logi 
cal  candidate  for  renomination.  His  secretary  of  state,  Mr.  Blaine, 
was  still  the  popular  choice  of  the  party,  but  there  had  long  been  a 


874  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED  STATES 

feeling  among  the  people  that  a  Cabinet  official  should  not  become  a 
candidate  for  the  presidency  in  opposition  to  his  chief.  But  all  was 
not  harmonious  between  the  President  and  Mr.  Elaine,  and  only 
three  days  before  the  meeting  of  the  Republican  convention  in 
Minneapolis,  Elaine  petulantly  resigned  from  the  Cabinet  and  per 
mitted  his  name  to  go  before  the  convention.  It  was  too  late,  how 
ever,  as  many  of  the  delegates  were  pledged  to  Harrison  and  he  was 
nominated  on  the  first  ballot.  As  it  was,  Elaine  received  132  votes, 
and  had  his  break  with  the  President  come  a  few  months  sooner, 
nothing  could  have  prevented  his  nomination.  Mr.  Whitelaw  Reid, 
editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  was  named  for  Vice  President. 
Elaine  soon  became  reconciled,  and  used  his  efforts  to  reelect  Har 
rison. 

The  Democrats  met  a  few  weeks  later  in  Chicago  and  nominated 
Grover  Cleveland  and  Adlai  E.  Stevenson.  Cleveland  was  opposed 
by  many  delegates  from  the  South  and  West  who  favored  free  silver, 
and  by  the  delegation  from  his  own  state  of  New  York.  But  the 
great  masses  of  the  party  favored  him,  and  in  spite  of  a  written 
protest  signed  by  every  delegate  from  New  York,  he  was  nominated 
on  the  first  ballot.  The  platform  denounced  the  McKinley  Tariff, 
the  Sherman  Act,  trusts  and  combinations,  and  advocated  both  gold 
and  silver ;  while  the  Republican  platform  upheld  the  McKinley 
Tariff,  pronounced  for  the  rural  free  delivery  of  mail,  and  for  a  Nica 
ragua  Canal,  and  on  the  coinage  question  took  a  position  similar  to 
that  of  the  Democrats.  Both  parties  favored  national  aid  to  the 
Columbian  Exposition  soon  to  be  held  at  Chicago. 

The  third  party  of  this  year  was  the  most  formidable  since  1860. 
It  was  known  as  the  People's  party,  and  was  composed  chiefly  of 
farmers  and  laborers  to  whom  the  free  coinage  of  silver  at  the  rate 
of  16  to  1  had  presented  itself  as  the  panacea  for  nearly  every 
national  ill.  Its  platform  pronounced  also  for  a  graduated  income 
tax,  and  for  national  ownership  of  railroads,  telegraphs,  and  tele 
phones,  and  for  the  creation  of  postal  savings  banks.  The  party 
met  in  convention  at  Omaha  in  July,  and  nominated  General  James 
B.  Weaver  and  James  G.  Field.  The  Prohibitionists  nominated 
John  Bidwell  and  J.  B.  Cranfill,  and  pronounced  against  trusts,  mob- 
law,  and  the  alien  ownership  of  land.  The  Socialistic  Labor  party 
nominated  Simon  Wing  of  Massachusetts  for  President. 

The  canvass  was  one  of  great  interest,  the  chief  issue  being  the 
McKinley  Tariff.  There  was  one  other  question,  that  of  the  free 


PARTIES   AND   PLATFORMS  875 

coinage  of  silver,  which  threatened  for  a  time  to  become  paramount 
in  this  campaign.  The  Sherman  law  of  1890  had  failed  to  arrest 
the  steady  decline  in  the  price  of  silver,  and  the  friends  of  the  white 
metal  now  clamored  for  free  coinage.  This  free-coinage  movement 
swept  rapidly  over  the  West  and  South,  and  had  many  adherents  in 
the  East.  It  carried  with  it  many  thousands  of  Republicans,  a 
greater  number  of  Democrats,  and  the  entire  body  of  Populists. 
The  Democrats  would  doubtless  have  headed  off  the  Populists  and 
made  free  silver  their  leading  issue,  but  for  one  insurmountable 
obstacle  —  the  attitude  of  Grover  Cleveland.  In  Feb 
ruary,  1891,  when  the  party  was  on  the  verge  of  commit-  *1  ver 


ting  itself  to  free  silver,  Cleveland  had  written  his 
"  Cooper  Union  letter,"  pronouncing  against  free  coinage.  His 
friends  had  urged  him  not  to  commit  himself  on  the  great  question 
at  that  time,  as  by  so  doing  he  would  endanger  his  nomination  ;  but 
with  the  reckless  courage  that  had  always  characterized  him,  he 
made  his  views  public.  The  millions  of  advocates  of  free  coinage 
were  stunned  and  angered  at  this  letter  of  Cleveland,  the  only  real 
leader  of  the  party  in  the  past  seven  years  ;  but  they  were  forced  to 
decide  between  the  issue  and  the  man.  So  great  was  the  popularity 
of  Cleveland  with  the  masses,  and  so  urgent  the  call  for  his  nomina 
tion  in  1892,  that  the  silver  leaders  accepted  him  sullenly  and  suffered 
their  pet  issue  to  remain  in  the  background.  Hence  the  tariff  became 
the  great  issue  in  the  campaign. 

The  Republicans  were  on  the  defensive  in  1892.  Mr.  Cleveland 
had  won  the  masses,  if  not  the  leaders,  in  his  party,  while  Mr.  Har 
rison  had  won  neither  in  his.  Moreover,  Harrison  had  quarreled 
with  Blaine  at  the  moment  of  his  nomination.  But  the  chief  cause 
of  his  defeat  was  the  McKinley  Tariff.  This  tariff  had  raised 
prices  of  commodities,  but  not  the  wages  of  labor,  and  the  Demo 
crats  were  diligent  in  attributing  to  it  greater  evils  than  it  brought. 
Its  advantage  to  the  manufacturer  could  not  be  questioned,  but 
there  was  a  widespread  belief  that  the  laborer  was  not  receiving  his 
share  of  the  benefits.  During  the  months  of  the  campaign  out 
breaks  between  capital  and  labor  occurred  in  various  states,  the 
most  serious  of  these  being  at  Homestead,  Pennsylvania,  a  town  near 
Pittsburg,  between  the  Carnegie  Steel  Company  and  its  workmen. 

All  these  labor  troubles  militated  against  the  Republican  party  in 
1892,  since  the  party  in  power,  guilty  or  not  guilty,  must  bear  the 
blame  for  public  disorders.  The  result  was  a  great  victory  for  Cleve- 


876  NOTES 


land,  who  thus  became  our  first  President  to  be  elected  to  a  second 
term  that  was  not  consecutive  with  the  first.  So  great  had  been 
the  silver  wave  in  the  West  that  the  Democrats  named  no  electoral 
tickets  in  Colorado,  Idaho,  Wyoming,  North  Dakota,  and  Kansas,  and 
most  of  these  states  were  carried  by  Weaver.  Cleveland  received 
277  electoral  votes,  to  145  for  Harrison,  and  22  for  Weaver.1 

NOTES 

The  Australian  Ballot.  —  For  many  years  public  opinion  had  been  awaken 
ing  to  the  fact  that  many  elections  were  fraudulently  carried  on  by  the  profes 
sional  politicians.  In  1888  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  adopted  a  method  of 
balloting,  borrowed  from  Australia,  which  is  known  as  the  Australian  system. 
Many  other  states  followed  the  example  of  Massachusetts,  until  most  if  not  all  the 
states  in  the  Union  had  adopted  the  new  system.  Its  chief  feature  is  that  each 
voter  receives  an  official  ballot  from  the  election  officers,  on  which  are  printed 
the  names  of  the  candidates  of  all  parties.  With  this  he  enters  alone  an  election 
booth,  and,  in  private,  marks  the  names  of  the  men  for  whom  he  wishes  to  vote, 
after  which  he  folds  the  ballot,  and  returns  it  to  the  officers.  The  system  has 
greatly  aided  in  securing  honest  elections,  but  it  has  by  no  means  removed  all 
the  evils.  The  most  serious  defect  remaining  is  probably  found  in  our  method  of 
choosing  party  candidates  for  local  and  state  offices.  By  this  method  the  party 
"boss"  is  usually  able  to  name  the  party  candidate  without  consulting  the 
party,  and  this  is  most  detrimental  to  the  securing  of  honest  men  to  fill  the 
offices. 

Inventions.  —  This  period  is  also  marked  by  the  coming  into  practical  opera 
tion  of  various  useful  inventions.  The  telephone,  invented  simultaneously  by 
Elisha  Gray  of  Chicago  and  Alexander  Bell  of  Boston,  both  of  whom  applied  for 
a  patent  on  the  same  day,  and  almost  the  same  hour,  came  into  practical  use  about 
1876.  Since  then  hundreds  of  thousands  of  miles  of  telephone  lines  have  been 
constructed,  and  conversation  can  easily  be  carried  on  between  New  York  and 
Chicago,  and  even  between  cities  still  further  apart.  Few  inventions  have  added 
more  to  the  comfort  and  the  business  facilities  of  modern  life  than  has  the  tele 
phone.  The  electric  light,  invented  by  Brush  and  Edison,  and  many  electrical 
appliances,  are  also  the  product  of  this  post-bellum  period. 

Among  the  engineering  achievements  of  the  time,  the  most  notable  are  the 
Brooklyn  Bridge,  the  great  suspension  bridge  that  spans  East  River  between 
New  York  and  Brooklyn  ;  the  New  York  elevated  railway,  and  the  "jetty  sys 
tem  "  for  deepening  the  channel  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River.  A  word 
farther  must  be  said  of  this  last-mentioned  work.  As  the  current  of  the  great 
river  becomes  more  sluggish  near  its  mouth,  great  quantities  of  mud  are  depos 
ited,  and  the  channel  becomes  so  shallow  as  to  impede  shipping.  Captain  James 
B.  Eads  proposed  the  jetty  system,  long  in  use  in  Europe,  by  which  the  river  is 

1  The  popular  vote  stood:  for  Cleveland,  5,556,533;  for  Harrison,  5,175,577;  for 
Weaver,  1,122,045;  for  Bidwell,  279,191;  and  for  Wing,  21,191.  The  House  and  the 
Senate  were  both  Democratic  by  large  majorities. 


NOTES  877 


made  narrower,  and  the  current  deeper  and  swifter.  In  1875  Congress  made  an 
appropriation,  and  Captain  Eads  began  the  work.  It  was  completed  in  four 
years  and  has  been  eminently  successful.  The  channel  was  made  deep  enough  to 
float  the  largest  ocean  steamers  to  New  Orleans,  and  the  advantage  to  that  city 
and  to  the  whole  country  is  very  great. 

In  1878  was  established  the  government  life-saving  service.  Such  establish 
ments  had,  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  been  maintained  by  individuals,  and  in 
the  United  States,  in  a  limited  and  local  way,  before  this  date.  But  by  this  act 
of  1878  the  service  was  made  general,  and  was  placed  as  a  subdivision  in  the 
treasury  department.  It  is  the  first  instance  in  the  world  of  a  life-saving  service 
established  and  carried  on  wholly  as  a  governmental  institution. 

Exploring  the  Arctic  Seas.  —  The  first  of  the  voyages  in  quest  of  the  North 
Pole  was  fitted  out  by  James  Gordon  Bennett,  proprietor  of  the  New  York 
Herald,  and  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  De  Long.  In  the  little  steamer 
Jeannette,  De  Long  with  a  company  of  thirty  men,  left  San  Francisco  in  July, 
1879.  For  two  years  the  party  battled  with  the  frigid  climate,  when  their  little 
vessel,  after  being  locked  in  the  ice  for  many  months,  became  a  total  wreck. 
After  a  dreadful  journey  of  six  hundred  miles  the  party  reached  the  coast  of 
Siberia  near  the  mouth  of  the  Lena  River.  But  relief  was  still  far  away,  and 
the  men  perished  from  hunger  and  cold  before  succor  could  reach  them.  The 
bodies  were  recovered,  and  the  diary  of  De  Long,  kept  to  the  day  of  his  death, 
told  of  the  awful  sufferings  of  himself  and  his  party.  In  1881  Lieutenant  A.  W. 
Greely  of  the  United  States  army  led  an  expedition  of  about  twenty-five  men  to 
the  far  North  at  government  expense.  He  established  a  post  at  a  point  81°  44' 
north,  farther  than  any  point  before  attained.  Nothing  was  heard  of  the 
party  until  July,  1884,  when  a  relief  party,  under  Commander  W.  S.  Schley, 
found  and  rescued  those  who  survived.  Greely  and  six  of  his  men  alone 
were  left  alive.  Since  then  Lieutenant  Peary  and  others  have  made  brave 
efforts  to  reach  the  pole,  but  without  success. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

WAR   AND   EXPANSION 

GROVER  CLEVELAND  was  inaugurated  President  for  the  second 
time  on  the  4th  of  March,  1893.  The  Cabinet  was  a  personal  rather 
than  a  political  one  ;  with  two  or  three  exceptions  its  members  were  in 
no  sense  party  leaders.  For  secretary  of  state  the  President  chose 
Walter  Q.  Gresham,  a  former  member  of  the  Cabinet  of  Arthur  and 
a  lifelong  Eepublican  until  the  campaign  of  1892.  John  G.  Carlisle 
of  Kentucky  became  secretary  of  the  treasury  ;  Daniel  S.  Lamont, 
secretary  of  war ;  Richard  Olney,  attorney -general ;  William  S.  Bis- 
sell,  postmaster-general ;  H.  A.  Herbert,  secretary  of  the  navy ; 
Hoke  Smith,  secretary  of  the  interior ;  and  J.  S.  Morton,  secretary  of 
agriculture. 

HAWAII,   SILVER,   AND   THE  WILSON  TARIFF 

The  first  important  act  after  his  inauguration  was  the  withdrawal 
by  Mr.  Cleveland  of  a  treaty  to  annex  the  Hawaiian  Islands  to  the 
United  States,  which  had  been  sent  to  the  Senate  by  Mr.  Harrison. 
Hawaii  was  a  tiny  independent  monarchy  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  some 
2100  miles  west  of  San  Francisco,  and  the  reigning  queen  was 
Liliuokalani.  But  the  monarchy  had  long  been  tottering,  and  at 
length,  in  January,  1893,  a  party  of  revolutionists,  chiefly  Americans 
or  the  descendants  of  Americans,  rose  against  the  government, 
deposed  the  queen,  and  set  up  a  provisional  government  with  San- 
ford  B.  Dole  as  president.  The  cause  of  the  uprising  was  an 
attempt  of  the  queen  to  set  aside  the  new  constitution,  adopted  in 
1887,  and  to  restore  the  old  one,  by  which  the  Americans  and  other 
foreigners  residing  on  the  islands  would  be  deprived  of  their  right 
to  participate  in  the  government.  The  revolution  was  approved  by 
the  minister  from  the  United  States,  John  L.  Stevens,  and  through 
him  Mr.  Dole  requested  the  United  States  to  assume  a  protectorate 
over  the  islands.  On  the  1st  of  February  the  American  flag  was 

878 


THE   PANIC   OF   1893  879 


raised  over  the  government  building  at  Honolulu.  A  treaty  of  an 
nexation  to  the  United  States  was  drafted  and  sent  by  special  mes 
sengers  to  Washington.  Almost  the  entire  American  public,  including 
President  Harrison,  favored  annexing  the  islands  in  spite  of  the 
protests  of  the  agents  of  the  deposed  queen,  who  had  also  reached 
Washington.  Accordingly,  on  February  15  the  President  submitted 
the  treaty  to  the  Senate,  but  before  that  body  could  act  he  went 
out  of  office.1 

Mr.  Cleveland,  who  now  became  President,  had  ideas  of  his  own. 
Without  the  slightest  regard  for  public  sentiment,  he  withdrew  the 
treaty  from  the  Senate  and  sent  a  commissioner  to  Honolulu  to  in 
vestigate,  and,  on  learning  the  facts,  he  sent  another  minister  to 
supersede  Stevens  and  to  haul  down  the  American  flag.  Cleveland 
acted  on  the  old  American  principle,  as  he  claimed,  that  we  have  no 
right  to  assume  the  government  over  a  people  without  their  consent, 
and  this  he  declared  had  not  been  obtained.  He  even  offered  to 
restore  Queen  Liliuokalani  to  her  throne  if  she  would  promise  am 
nesty  to  those  who  had  dethroned  her.  But  this  she  would  not  do ; 
and  the  government,  under  President  Dole,  continued  and  became 
stronger,  and  Mr.  Cleveland  recognized  the  islands  as  a  constitu 
tional  republic.  At  length,  however  (July  7,  1898),  when  the  Cleve 
land  administration  had  been  succeeded  by  another,  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  were  formally  annexed  to  the  United  States  by  a  joint  resolu 
tion  of  Congress,  as  in  the  case  of  Texas.2 

Scarcely  had  this  administration  come  in  when  the  finances  of 
the  country  became  greatly  disturbed.  The  conditions  of  panic  had 
been  accumulating  for  many  months,  and  a  panic  now  seemed  ready 
to  break  upon  the  country.  There  were  about  five  hundred  million 
dollars  in  currency  notes  outstanding  and  redeemable  in  gold ;  but 
when  once  redeemed,  they  were  not  canceled.  The  law  directed 
that  they  be  reissued,  and  thus  an  endless  chain  prevented  the  gov 
ernment  from  protecting  its  gold  reserve.  In  addition  to  this  the 
government  was  obliged  by  the  Sherman  Silver  law  to  purchase  four 
and  a  half  million  ounces  of  silver  per  month  and  to  pay  for  it  in  notes 
redeemable  in  gold.  The  gold  reserve  had  almost  reached  the  danger 

1  The  treaty  provided  among  other  things  that  the  United  States  should  assume 
the  Hawaiian  debt,  some  83,250,000,  should  pay  the  deposed  queen  $20,000  a  year,  and 
allow  the  heiress-presumptive,  Princess  Koiulani,  the  lump  sum  of  8150,000. 

2  The  Hawaiian  group  comprises  about  6640  square  miles.    The  population  in  181)6 
was  109,000.    As  a  naval  station  the  islands  are  of  great  importance  to  the  United 
States. 


880  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

limit  of  a  hundred  million  dollars.  President  Cleveland  believed 
with  the  majority  that  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  law  would  help  to 
relieve  the  situation,  and  for  this  purpose  he  called  an  extra  session 
of  Congress  to  meet  on  August  7,  1893. 

But  in  Congress,  especially  in  the  Senate,  there  was  great  opposi 
tion  to  repeal.  The  House  was  dominated  by  the  great  states  of  the 
East,  and  in  that  body  a  motion  to  repeal  the  act  was  soon  passed  by 
a  good  majority  composed  of  both  parties.  But  in  the  Senate,  where 
the  sparsely  settled  mining  states  of  the  West  had  the  same  voting 
power  as  the  populous  states,  the  House  bill  was  held  up  for  many 
weeks.  Meantime  great  commotion  reigned  throughout 
6  the  countlT>  and  for  once  President  Cleveland  played 
the  politician.  He  withheld  the  patronage  from  the 
opposing  senators ;  he  brought  all  the  force  of  the  presidential 
office  to  bear  upon  the  matter  in  his  determination  to  have  the  Sher 
man  law  repealed.  And  at  last,  on  November  1,  after  a  long  and 
exciting  session,  the  Senate  yielded  and  the  silver-purchasing  clause 
of  the  act  of  1890  was  repealed ;  but  further  legislation,  as  recom 
mended  by  the  President  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  the  gold 
reserve,  which  had  now  fallen  to  $80,000,000,  was  not  secured. 

But  it  was  too  late  to  avert  the  coming  panic.  The  business  of 
the  country  was  unsettled,  and  the  industrial  depression  that  fol 
lowed,  covering  several  years,  was  one  of  the  most  disastrous  in  our 
history.  Many  for  political  purposes,  and  others  through  sheer 
ignorance,  blamed  the  Democratic  party  entirely  for  the  "hard 
times,"  and  in  this  the  Democrats  suffered  only  what  they  had 
heaped  upon  the  Republicans  twenty  years  before.  The  panic  of 
1893,  which  had  been  gathering  for  many  months  before  Cleveland's 
term  began,  was  the  resultant  of  many  convergent  forces  —  the  finan 
cial  conditions,  the  hoarding  of  gold  by  the  people,  the  uncertainty 
about  silver,  overproduction,  and  of  others  which  elude  the  pen  of 
the  economist. 

At  such  a  moment  it  was  doubtless  unwise  for  the  Democrats  to 
attempt  a  revision  of  the  tariff;  but  on  the  tariff  issue  they  had 
carried  the  election,  and  they  were  prompt  to  carry  out  their 
pledges.  Mr.  William  L.  Wilson  of  West  Virginia,  chairman  of  the 
committee  of  ways  and  means,  brought  a  tariff  bill  into  the  House 
early  in  the  regular  session.  This  became  known  as  the  Wilson  bill. 
It  passed  the  House  in  February,  1894,  and  went  to  the  Senate. 
The  bill  placed  raw  materials  for  the  most  part  on  the  free  list,  as 


THE    WORLD'S  FAIR  AT   CHICAGO  881 

also  coal  and  sugar,  and  made  many  of  the  duties  ad  valorem  instead 
of  specific.  In  the  Senate  the  bill  was  subjected  to  drastic  treat 
ment.  A  few  Democrats,  led  by  Senator  Gorman,  de 
termined  to  change  the  bill,  and  so  great  were  the  altera- 
tions  made  that  it  could  scarcely  be  recognized  as  the 
same  that  had  passed  the  House.  Henceforth  it  was  called  the  Wil 
son-Gorman  Tariff.  The  Senate  took  coal  and  iron  from  the  free 
list,  placed  a  schedule  of  duties  on  sugar,  and  raised  them  on 
many  other  things ;  it  also  changed  ad  valorem  to  specific  duties. 
The  House  bill  had  reduced  the  average  duties  of  the  McKinley 
Tariff,  which  had  been  about  50  per  cent,  to  about  35  per  cent ;  but 
the  Senate  bill  raised  them  to  about  37  per  cent.  The  House  reluc 
tantly  accepted  the  Senate  bill  because  no  better  was  attainable,  and 
it  was  sent  to  the  President  on  August  13, 1894.  Mr.  Cleveland  was 
so  displeased  with  the  Senate  changes  that  he  refused  to  sign  the 
measure ;  but,  believing  it  an  improvement  over  the  McKinley  bill, 
he  could  not  veto  it,  and  it  became  a  law  without  his  signature. 

This  tariff  measure  carried  with  it  a  provision  for  an  income  tax, 
which,  however,  was  pronounced  unconstitutional  the  following  May 
by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.1 

THE  WORLD'S  COLUMBIAN  EXPOSITION 

Four  hundred  years  had  passed  since  the  discovery  of  the  New 
World  by  Columbus.  In  that  period  the  transformation  had  been  the 
most  remarkable  in  history,  and  it  was  fitting  now  that  the  one  great 
nation  of  the  Western  Hemisphere,  with  its  vast  wealth  and  its 
boundless  resources,  take  the  lead  in  celebrating  the  discovery  of 
Columbus.  It  was  decided  that  the  celebration  take  the  form  of  a 
gigantic  exposition,  and  the  prize  was  awarded  to  Chicago ;  but  as  it 
was  found  impossible  to  make  adequate  preparation  for  holding  the 
fair  on  the  anniversary  of  the  discovery  by  Columbus,  the  following 
year,  1893,  was  chosen  in  its  stead.  The  site  chosen  was  Jackson 
Park,  an  unimproved  pleasure  ground  on  the  lake  front  near  Chicago. 
The  ground  was  intersected  with  marshy  inlets  and  lagoons;  but 
these  were  transformed  by  the  hand  of  art  into  canals  and  lakelets 
bounded  by  walks  and  lawns,  until  the  park  presented  the  beauty  of 
a  fairy  land. 

The  expense  of  the  exposition  was  enormous.     The  cost  of  pre- 

1  This  was  a  reversal  of  a  former  decision  in  favor  of  the  income  tax. 

3L 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


paring  the  grounds  and  erecting  the  buildings  aggregated  nearly 
120,000,000,  raised  chiefly  by  the  citizens  of  Chicago,  by  a  five-mil 
lion  loan  by  the  city,  and  by  a  gift  of  the  government 
buildin  s  °^  near^y two  millions  in  the  form  of  half  dollars,  coined 
for  the  purpose  with  a  special  design.  The  govern 
ment  expended  also  $2,250,000  for  a  building  of  its  own,  foreign 
countries  expended  some  six  millions,  and  the  several  states  over 
seven  millions.  Thus  the  grand  total  reached  thirty-five  mil 
lions,  and  if  to  this  be  added  the  expense  of  private  exhibitors, 
the  cost  of  the  great  exposition  footed  up  the  enormous  total  of 
nearly  $40,000,000. 

No  attempt  can  be  made  to  describe  the  buildings  of  the  "  White 
City,"  as  the  exposition  came  to  be  called.  Most  of  them  were 
composed  of  an  iron  framework  covered  with  "  staff,"  a  composition 
that  resembles  white  marble.  The  principal  buildings,  grouped 
around  the  Court  of  Honor,  with  its  glittering  lake,  its  stately  col- 
onades,  and  its  luxuriant  foliage,  presented  a  scene  of  splendor  and 
magnificence  that  led  the  beholder  to  feel  that  he  was  in  dreamland. 

The  largest  of  the  buildings,  covering  forty-four  acres,  was 
devoted  to  manufactures  and  liberal  arts.  The  government  build 
ing,  with  its  octagonal  gilded  dome  was  probably  the  most  ornate 
and  impressive  of  them  all.  Around  these  were  grouped  the  agri 
cultural  building,  the  woman's  building,  machinery  hall,  buildings 
devoted  to  art,  fisheries,  mining,  transportation,  electricity,  and 
others.  The  art  building,  Ionic  in  style,  was  probably  the  most  per 
fect  in  grace  of  design  on  the  grounds,  and  the  treasures  within  it 
represented  the  choicest  of  public  and  private  collections  in  Europe 
and  America.  In  the  building  devoted  to  the  work  of  women  was 
exhibited,  as  never  before,  the  great  part  that  woman  has  played  in 
the  growth  of  modern  civilization. 

The  exhibits  of  the  great  fair  were  bewildering  in  their  attrac 
tiveness  and  their  numbers.  Never  before  in  the  world's  history 
had  such  a  collection  of  the  products  of  art,  science,  and  manu 
factures  been  made.  It  seemed  that  nothing  was  wanting  of 
the  best  that  the  world  could  give  from  every  nation  and  every 
clime.  The  Centennial  Exhibition  of  1876  had  appealed  chiefly  to 
the  artistic  and  the  sentimental ;  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition, 
while  equally  artistic  and  far  more  extensive,  aimed  chiefly  to  show 
the  progress  of  the  human  race  during  the  preceding  four  hundred 
years.  For  example,  in  the  transportation  building  were  exhibited 


THE    ATLANTA   EXPOSITION  883 

the  old  Conestoga  wagon  and  the  stagecoach  of  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  side  by  side  with  the  best-equipped  modern  locomotive. 
So  in  many  exhibits  the  old  and  the  new  were  contrasted  in  such 
a  way  as  to  present  most  strikingly  to  the  eye  the  wonderful  prog 
ress  of  modern  times. 

The  great  exposition  was  open  from  the  1st  of  May  to  the  31st  of 
October,  179  days,  during  which  the  paid  admissions  were  22,477,212. 
The  receipts  from  all  sources  reached  nearly  315,000,000,  while 
more  than  23,000  medals  were  awarded  to  exhibitors.  After  the 
close  of  the  exposition  the  problem  arose  as  to  what  should  be  the 
disposal  of  the  buildings,  but  the  problem  was  solved  when  fire 
broke  out  in  the  grounds  and  most  of  the  gorgeous  structures  of  the 
White  City  were  laid  in  ashes.  Thus  ended  the  American  dream  of 
1893,  and  the  people  awoke  to  the  endless  duties  of  practical  life. 

In  the  autumn  of  1895,  two  years  after  the  close  of  the  exposition 
at  Chicago,  another  one  of  a  similar  character,  but  on  a  much  smaller 
scale,  was  opened  at  Atlanta,  Georgia.  The  site  was  Piedmont 
Park,  where,  thirty-one  years  before,  Sherman  had  planted  his  guns 
to  shell  the  city  of  Atlanta.  The  main  object  of  this  exposition  was 
to  reveal  the  vast  industrial  possibilities  of  the  South.  Nothing  is 
more  striking  in  the  industrial  world  than  the  progress  made  by 
that  section  since  the  days  of  reconstruction.  In  the 
year  1899  the  South  produced  nearly  11,000,000  bales 
of  cotton,  10,000,000,000  feet  of  lumber,  and  750,000,000 
bushels  of  grain.  A  thousand  million  dollars  had  been  invested  in 
manufacturing.1  The  cotton  mills  now  run  more  than  5,000,000  spin 
dles,  and  great  iron  furnaces  equipped  with  the  latest  machinery  are 
springing  up  in  nearly  every  southern  state.  The  southern  mines 
of  zinc,  lead,  pyrites,  salt,  manganese,  and  valuable  clays  are  inex 
haustible,  and  in  recent  years  great  deposits  of  petroleum  have  been 
discovered  in  Texas.  Since  the  Civil  War  the  energies  of  the  South, 
after  long  slumbering  under  a  false  system  of  labor,  have  sprung 
into  life,  and  the  achievements  of  the  present  are  excelled  only  by 
the  promises  for  the  future. 

TWO   UNUSUAL  OCCURRENCES 

Twice  had  President  Cleveland  startled  the  country  with  his  great 
decision  of  character,  and  his  singlar  power  in  taking  the  initiative 

1  The  Manufacturer's  Record,  December,  1899.  Our  cotton  exports  for  1903 
reached  3,622,000,000  pounds. 


884  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

on  great  questions  without  taking  counsel  with  his  party  —  in  issuing 
his  tariff  message  in  1887,  and  in  withdrawing  the  Hawaiian  Treaty 
in  1893.  Twice  more  was  he  to  do  the  same  thing.  In  May,  1894, 
a  formidable  strike  of  the  employees  of  the  Pullman  Car  Company, 
of  Chicago,  took  place,  and  in  their  violent  efforts  to  prevent  the  cars 
from  being  used  on  the  railways  great  damage  was  threatened.  The 
governor  of  Illinois,  John  P.  Altgeld,  sympathized  with  the  strikers, 
and  made  no  effort  to  quell  the  disturbance.  Thereupon  President 
Cleveland,  of  his  own  motion,  sent  national  troops  to  put  down  the 
Cleveland  r^ot-  ^e  Constitution  makes  no  express  provision 
sends  troops  for  such  an  act  on  the  part  of  the  President,  except 
to  Chicago.  when  the  government  of  the  state  in  which  a  riot  occurs 
calls  for  national  assistance.  President  Cleveland  was  severely 
criticised  for  his  action,  and  an  acrimonious  controversy  ensued 
between  him  and  Governor  Altgeld.  The  Pres  "ent  justified  his 
action  on  the  ground  that  the  rioters  were  interfering  with  the  mails 
and  with  interstate  commerce,  both  of  which  it  was  his  duty  to 
protect. 

The  second  of  these  events  was  the  most  thrilling  the  country 
had  experienced  in  many  a  year.  The  British  government  had  for 
more  than  half  a  century  been  disputing  with  Venezuela  concerning 
the  boundary  between  that  country  and  British  Guiana.  Again  and 
again  had  Venezuela  offered  to  leave  the  matter  to  arbitration,  and 
the  United  States  had  urged  that  the  dispute  be  settled  in  that  way. 
But  the  British  refused,  nor  did  they  propose  any  method  by  which 
a  settlement  could  be  reached.  In  the  summer  of  1895  Mr.  Richard 
Olney,  the  secretary  of  state,  informed  Lord  Salisbury,  the  British 
Premier,  that  in  accordance  with  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  the  United 
States  must  insist  on  arbitration.  Lord  Salisbury  replied  by  a  flat 
refusal,  and  a  declaration  that  he  did  not  accept  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 
Then  it  was  that  President  Cleveland,  in  the  belief  that  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  was  about  to  be  violated,  startled  the  world  with  his  vigor 
ous,  message  to  Congress.  In  this  message  he  declared  that  the  time- 

honored  doctrine  "was  intended  to  apply  to  every 
Venezuelan  stage  of  our  national  life,"  that  as  Great  Britain 
message,  had  refused  for  many  years  to  submit  the  dispute  to 
17>  ^partial  arbitration,  nothing  remained  to  us  "  but  to 

accept  the  situation."  He  then  proposed  that  a  com 
mission  be  appointed  to  determine  the  rightful  boundary  between 
the  two  countries,  and  asked  that  Congress  vote  money  to  defray  its 


THE    VENEZUELAN   MESSAGE  885 

expenses.  The  message  further  declared  that  in  case  the  disputed 
territory  was  found  to  belong  to  Venezuela,  it  would  be  the  duty  of 
the  United  States  "  to  resist  by  every  means  in  its  power "  the 
aggressions  of  Great  Britain,  the  appropriation  of  lands  that  are 
determined  of  right  to  belong  to  Venezuela. 

The  country  and  the  world  were  thrilled  at  the  suddenness, 
the  positive  tone,  of  the  message.  Still  more  striking  was  the 
unanimity  of  the  support  given  it.  Congress  forgot  its  party  differ 
ences  and  voted  without  division  or  debate  $100,000  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  the  commission  to  be  appointed.  It  seemed  for  a  time 
that  the  war  cloud  was  lowering  over  the  two  great  kindred  nations ; 
but  Lord  Salisbury  receded  from  his  position,  the  boundary  dispute 
was  settled  by  arbitration,  and  the  people  on  both  sides  of  the  sea 
rejoiced,  for  they  had  escaped  a  calamity  the  extent  of  which  no  man 
could  have  measured.1 

THE  SILVER   ISSUE 

As  the  presidential  election  of  1896  drew  near,  it  became  evident 
that  the  free  coinage  of  silver  would  become  the  chief  issue.  The 
mining  interests  of  the  West  were  greatly  crippled  by  the  steady  fall 
in  the  price  of  silver,  and  the  blame  for  this  was  laid  chiefly  on  the 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  law.  But  there  were  other  causes.  In  1873  Ger 
many  had  demonetized  the  white  metal  and  had  made  gold  the  sole 
standard.  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark  immediately  followed  the 
example  of  Germany,  and  a  great  quantity  of  bullion  from  their  melted 
coin  was  thrown  upon  the  market.  In  1878  the  Latin  Union  closed  their 
mints  to  free  coinage,  and  Russia  suspended  silver  coinage  in  1879. 
In  addition  to  all  this,  the  world's  annual  production  of  silver  more 
than  doubled  in  the  twenty  years  preceding  the  repeal  of  the  Sher 
man  law. 

1  The  result  of  the  arbitration  was  decidedly  favorable  to  the  English  claim,  on 
the  ground  that  fifty  years'  actual  possession  of  a  district  constitutes  a  national  title. 
Oue  result  of  this  episode  was  the  establishing  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  more  firmly 
than  ever.  It  is  also  claimed  that  the  message  of  President  Cleveland,  whose 
authority  was  coordinate  with  that  of  Monroe,  extended  the  original  meaning  of  the 
doctrine,  pronouncing  it  at  the  same  time  a  permanent  policy  of  the  United  States. 

Other  notable  events  of  this  administration  were  an  order  in  May,  1895,  bringing 
thirty  thousand  more  places  within  the  Civil  Service  law,  making  eighty-five  thou 
sand  in  all,  and  the  framing  and  signing  of  a  general  arbitration  treaty  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  January,  1897 /•  This  most  desirable  treaty,  however, 
failed  to  receive  the  requisite  number  of  votes  in  the  Senate,  and  it  fell  to  the 
ground. 


886  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

As  we  have  noticed,  the  administration  was  launched  in  the  midst 
of  an  incipient  panic.  Failures  in  business  began  to  multiply,  and 
in  addition  to  the  financial  and  industrial  depression,  the  crops  of  the 
West  were  short  for  several  years.  Many  kinds  of  business  were 
suspended,  and  armies  of  unemployed  men  walked  the  streets  of  the 
cities.1  The  gold  reserve  in  the  treasury  ran  dangerously  low;  and 
to  replenish  it,  bonds  to  the  extent  of  $263,000,000  were  sold.  Vast 
numbers  of  men  believed  that  the  government's  treatment  of  silver 
was  the  chief  cause  of  the  distress,  and  that  free  coinage  would  be 
the  cure.  These  men  heartily  disliked  Cleveland  because  he  was  an 
enemy  of  free  coinage. 

During  this  whole  term  the  President  and  his  party  drifted 
steadily  apart.  But  the  silver  question  was  not  the  sole  cause  of 
this.  Cleveland  exercised  little  tact  in  holding  his  party  together. 
For  his  great  courage  and  ability,  for  his  independent  character,  his 
unswerving  rule  making  principle  the  standard  of  action,  for  his 
abhorrence  of  demagogy  in  every  form  —  for  all  these  President 
Cleveland  must  be  admired  by  all  honest  people.  But  in  a  country 
governed  by  parties,  party  leadership  and  unity  of  party  action  are 
necessary  in  carrying  out  great  measures.  Herein  lay 
wanfo?  tact  cleveland's  great  weakness.  He  seemed  to  believe  that 
a  President  should  be  non-partisan  in  serving  the  whole 
people  ;  he  took  little  counsel  with  his  party  leaders,  forgetting  appar 
ently  that  it  was  a  party,  and  not  the  whole  people,  that  made  him 
President,  and  that  for  future  usefulness  the  party  needed  guidance 
and  leadership.  Thus  one  of  the  most  able  and  honest  of  American 
Presidents  found  himself  almost  without  a  party  —  chiefly  through 
his  own  want  of  tact. 

At  the  beginning  of  1896  it  was  certain  that  one  of  the  great 
parties  would  pronounce  for  free  silver,  but  which  it  would  be 
was  uncertain,  for  both  were  swarming  with  the  friends  of  silver. 
At  length  the  Republicans  began  to  drift  toward  the  gold  standard, 
and  the  Democrats  took  the  opposite  course.  The  Republican  con 
vention  met  in  June  at  St.  Louis.  For  months  before  the  meeting, 
it  seemed  evident  that  Mr.  William  McKinley  of  Ohio  would  be  the 
choice  of  the  convention.  He  had  been  a  friend  of  free  coinage  in 

1  In  the  spring  of  1894,  one  Coxey  of  Ohio  marched  to  Washington  with  a  rabble 
of  several  hundred  men,  called  the  v  Army  of  the  Commonweal,"  to  demand  that 
Congress  issue  $500, 000 ,000  in  greenbacks  to  be  expended  in  public  works  for  the 
benefit  of  the  unemployed. 


CAMPAIGN   OF   1896  887 


former  years,  and  many  now  called  on  him  to  express  himself  on  the 
great  issue ;  but  he  refused  to  reveal  his  convictions,  if  he  had  any, 
stating  that  he  would  stand  on  the  platform  of  the 
party  if  nominated.  He  received  the  nomination  with 
little  opposition,  and  Garret  A.  Hobart  of  New  Jersey 
was  chosen  as  his  running  mate. 

William  McKinley,  like  many  of  our  public  men,  had  risen  by 
his  own  industry  and  strength  of  character  from  the  lower  walks  of 
life.  Valiantly  he  had  served  his  country  in  the  Civil  War.  Four 
teen  years  he  had  served  in  the  Lower  House  of  Congress,  had 
become  a  commanding  figure' in  that  body,  and  was  the  chief  framer 
of  the  tariff  bill  that  bore  his  name.  He  was  twice  elected  gov 
ernor  of  Ohio,  and  had  for  some  years  been  looked  upon  as  a  coming 
candidate  for  the  presidency.  No  Kepublican  in  the  country  had 
shown  greater  powers  as  a  party  leader  than  had  Mr.  McKinley.  The 
platform  on  which  he  now  stood  pronounced  for  the  gold  standard, 
unless  the  silver  standard  could  be  adopted  in  conjunction  with 
foreign  nations.  It  also  declared  for  protection  and  reciprocity, 
the  American  ownership  of  the  Nicaragua  canal,  the  control  of 
Hawaii,  and  the  purchase  of  the  Danish  West  Indies. 

The  Democrats  met  in  Chicago  a  few  weeks  later.  The  party 
was  swayed  by  the  spirit  of  revolt  against  old  standards.  Never 
had  a  great  party  met  to  nominate  a  presidential  candidate  with  less 
knowledge  of  what  it  would  do.  The  silver  issue  had  swept  the 
country  like  a  hurricane,  and  the  one  thing  the  convention  was  sure 
to  do  was  to  pronounce  for  free  coinage.  On  this  subject  the  party 
had  taken  fire,  and  nothing  could  stay  the  impetuous  demand  for 
unlimited  coinage  at  the  rate  of  sixteen  to  one;  and  this  became 
the  chief  plank  of  the  platform  and  the  chief  issue  in  the  campaign. 
But  who  would  be  the  candidate  ?  While  this  question  was  pend 
ing,  William  J.  Bryan,  a  member  of  the  Nebraska  delegation, 
addressed  the  convention  in  a  brilliant,  passionate  outburst  of 
eloquence  that  thrilled  his  hearers  with  admiration.  Bryan  was  a 
man  unknown  to  the  people  at  large,  and,  though  he  had  served  two 
years  in  Congress,  he  had  not  been  hitherto  thought  of  as  a  national 
party  leader.  He  was  a  man  of  pure  and  sincere  per 
sonal  life ;  his  espousal  of  the  cause  of  silver  was  born 
of  honest  motives  ;  in  his  eloquence  there  was  a  spark 
of  the  divine  fire  that  touches  men's  souls.  The  effect  of  his  speech 
on  the  convention  was  magical,  and  the  day  after  it  was  made  he  was 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


nominated  for  the  presidency  of  the  United  States.  For  second 
place  Arthur  Sewall  of  Maine  was  chosen.  The  Populist  party  held 
its  convention  a  little  later,  and,  being  also  devoted  to  free  silver, 
it  ratified  the  nomination  of  Bryan ;  but  instead  of  Sewall  it  chose 
Thomas  E.  Watson  of  Georgia.1 

The  campaign  of  1896  was  one  of  the  most  exciting  the  nation 
has  ever  seen.  At  first  it  seemed  that  the  country  would  be  en 
tranced  by  the  brilliant  young  Nebraskan,  as  the  Democratic  con 
vention  had  been.  Mr.  Bryan  made  a  most  heroic  effort.  He 
traveled  in  many  states  and  electrified  hundreds  of  thousands  with 
his  dramatic  eloquence.  But  ere  the  summer  had  passed  the  people 
caught  their  breath.  They  began  to  reflect  that  if  the  country  were 
thrown  on  a  silver  basis  business  would  be  greatly  disturbed ;  and 
that  it  would  not  be  dealing  honestly  with  the  creditor,  if  he  were 
forced  to  accept  cheaper  money  for  payment  than  that  intended 
when  the  debt  was  contracted. 

But  old  party  lines  were  not  strictly  drawn.  When  the  Repub 
lican  convention  adopted  the  gold  standard,  thirty-four  of  its  dele 
gates,  led  by  one  of  the  ablest  Republican  senators,  Mr.  Stewart  of 
Nevada,  seceded  from  the  hall,  and  afterward  indorsed  Bryan.  The 
Democrats  suffered  a  still  greater  defection.  Many  conservatives  of 
the  party  met  in  Indianapolis,  called  themselves  the  National 
Democratic  party,  and  nominated  John  M.  Palmer  of  Illinois  and 
Simon  B.  Buckner  of  Kentucky,  and  adopted  a  gold  standard 
platform.  In  addition  to  these  defections,  many  thousands  of 
Republicans  voted  for  Bryan,  and  a  far  greater  number  of  Demo 
crats  voted  for  McKinley. 

The  election  was  held  on  November  3,  and  resulted  in  a  signal 
victory  for  McKinley.  He  carried  all  the  states  east  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  and  north  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Potomac,  also  five  states  in 
the  West,  and  Kentucky  and  West  Virginia.  McKinley  received  271 
electoral  votes  while  Bryan  received  176. 2  The  campaign,  though 
vigorous,  was  clean  and  dignified,  both  McKinley  and  Bryan  being 
men  of  the  highest  personal  character.  Marvelously  soon  after  the 

1  The  Prohibitionists  had  met  in  Pittsburg  in  May,  and  had  nominated  Joshua 
Levering  of  Maryland  and  Hale  Johnson  of  Illinois.     The  National  party  met  in  the 
same  city,  and  chose  C.  E.  Bentley  and  T.  H.  South^ate.    The  Socialist  Labor  party 
nominated  Charles  H.  Matchett  and  Matthew  McGuire.    These  parties  were  scarcely 
heard  in  the  exciting  campaign  that  followed. 

2  The  popular  votes  were  as  follows:   McKinley,   7,111,607;   Bryan,  6,502,600; 
Palmer,  134,731 ;  Levering,  123,428 ;  Matchett,  35,306 ;  Bentley,  13,535. 


SPAIN  AND   CUBA  889 


election  the  country  was  quiet ;  the  defeated  party  accepted  the 
result  cheerfully  in  the  true  American  spirit ;  and  now  that  the 
financial  status  was  settled  for  the  time,  the  business  of  the  coun 
try  was  awakened  to  new  life  and  new  enterprises. 

Immediately  on  his  inauguration  Mr.  McKiuley  called  Congress 
to  meet  in  extraordinary  session  on  the  loth  of  March,  for  the 
purpose  of  providing  additional  revenue.  Though  the  silver  issue 
had  been  paramount  in  the  campaign,  it  was  understood  by  the 
Republicans  that,  if  they  won  the  election,  their  success  would  be 
considered  a  mandate  from  the  people  to  enact  a  new  tariff  law. 
They  now  controlled  the  Executive  and  both  houses,  and  they 
immediately  addressed  themselves  to  this  subject,  Thomas  B. 
Reed  of  Maine  having  been  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House.  A  tariff  bill  had  been  prepared  during  the 
winter  and  Mr.  Kelson  Dingley  of  Maine  brought 
it  before  the  House.  Before  the  end  of  March  it  had  passed  the 
House  and  had  been  sent  to  the  Senate,  where  it  remained  four 
months.  It  became  a  law  on  July  24,  1897.  This  tariff,  known  as 
the  Dingley  bill,  is  still  (1904)  in  force.  Its  duties  average  about  the 
same  as  those  of  the  McKinley  bill,  but  it  differs  from  that  measure 
in  many  particulars.  On  the  whole  it  is  a  highly  protective  tariff  — 
higher  in  its  rates  than  any  other  in  our  history  except  that  of  1890. 1 

THE    WAR   WITH   SPAIN 

For  eighty-four  years  America  had  known  no  foreign  war  —  save 
the  brush  with  Mexico  in  the  forties  —  and  never  had  we  engaged 
with  a  great  power,  except  with  England.  The  year  1898  brought 
war  with  Spain,  and  wrought  vast  changes  in  that  government  and 
in  our  own.  As  stated  in  an  early  chapter  of  this  history,  Spain  was 
long  ago  the  greatest  power  in  Europe  or  the  world.  The  do 
minion  of  Philip  II  was  vast.  He  ruled  Portugal,  the  Netherlands, 
Milan,  and  the  Sicilies ;  he  was  master  of  Cuba,  Porto  Rico, 
and  almost  all  of  Central  and  South  America.  His  revenue  was  ten 
times  that  of  Elizabeth  of  England,  says  Macaulay.  But  alas  for 

1  The  following  winter  some  important  financial  legislation  was  enacted.  The 
gold  dollar  was  made  the  unit  of  value,  and  the  gold  reserve  established  at  $150,000,000. 
Provision  was  made  for  refunding  the  national  debt  in  2  per  cent  thirty-year  bonds ; 
and  the  national  banking  law  was  so  amended  as  to  permit  a  bank  to  be  established 
on  a  capital  of  $25,000  and  to  issue  notes  to  the  par  value  of  its  bonds  deposited  in  the 
treasury. 


890  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Spain !  With  all  her  chivalry  and  pride,  she  has  fallen  from  among 
the  great.  Her  thirst  for  gold  and  conquest  was  the  thirst  of  the 
inebriate  for  drink,  and  the  political  corruption  it  brought  proved 
the  ruin  of  Spain. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  pos 
sessions  of  Spain  in  the  Western  Hemisphere  were  confined  to  the 
islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Bico,  with  a  few  small  adjacent  islands, 
and  her  government  of  these  was  one  of  unceasing  corruption  and 
plunder.  Often  had  the  people  of  Cuba  revolted  against  the  iron 
hand  of  Spain.  A  ten  years'  war  in  the  island,  begun  in  1868, 
ended  with  promises ;  but  scarcely  had  the  patriots  laid  down  their 
arms  when  every  promise  was  broken,  and  they  were  ruled  by 
the  same  tyrannical  hand  as  before.  For  seventeen  years  the  matter 
slumbered  when,  in  February,  1895,  the  Cubans  again  rose  in  rebellion 
against  their  oppressors.  Spain  sent  an  army  to  put  them  down, 
first  under  General  Campos ;  but  he  was  too  humane,  and  he  was 
replaced  by  the  cruel  Weyler. 

Many  of  the  Cuban  peasants  remained  quietly  on  their  farms 
and  took  no  part  in  the  war.  These  Weyler  drove,  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet,  from  their  homes  and  penned  them  up  in  the  towns, 
that  they  might  not  furnish  food  for  the  rebels.  Soon  they  were  in 
a  starving  condition  and  the  death  rate  was  frightful ;  but  Weyler 
gave  no  heed  ;  his  evident  intention  was  to  depopulate  the  island. 
Our  people  were  deeply  concerned.  Why  this  long-drawn-out, 
wholesale  murder  right  at  our  door,  when  we  could  easily  prevent  it  ? 
President  Cleveland  hesitated.  He  was  loath  to  offend  a  friendly 
nation ;  but  he  warned  Spain.  In  his  annual  message  of  1896  he 
said,  "  It  cannot  be  reasonably  assumed  that  the  hitherto  expectant 
attitude  of  the  United  States  will  be  indefinitely  maintained."  Then 
he  went  out  of  office,  and  Mr.  McKinley  followed  the  same  policy, 
warning  Spain  in  various  ways,  and  another  year  passed. 
Cuba  ^  ]  °m  Both  these  Presidents  felt  a  responsibility  in  dealing 
with  a  friendly  power  that  a  private  citizen  cannot  feel. 
But  Spain  refused  to  heed  the  warnings.  The  cry  of  distress  from 
the  unhappy  island  increased  more  and  more,  and  it  seemed  as  the 
voice  of  a  brother's  blood  crying  unto  us  from  the  ground  —  and  the 
American  public  could  endure  it  no  longer.1 

In  the  early  spring  of  1897  President  McKinley  demanded  the 

1  Weyler's  starvation  policy  is  said  to  have  cost  Cuba  250,000  lives, 


WAK   WITH   SPAIN  891 


release  of  American  prisoners  in  Cuba,  and  this  was  heeded.  In 
May  he  asked  Congress  for  $50,000  for  the  relief  of 
Americans  in  the  island,  and  this  was  administered.  In  e  1 
February,  1898,  he  sent  the  Maine,  a  fine  second-class  battleship  of 
seven  thousand  tons,  to  Cuban  waters  to  protect  our  interests.  On 
the  night  of  the  loth  of  February,  while  the  crew  were  sleeping 
in  fancied  security,  a  mighty  column  of  smoke  and  fire  arose  from 
the  water,  commingled  with  timbers  and  beams  and  the  bodies  of 
men.  The  Maine  had  been  blown  to  fragments  and  266  of  her 
gallant  crew  had  perished.  When  the  news  was  flashed  across  the 
country,  the  people  were  shocked ;  and  when,  after  waiting  forty 
days  for  a  board  of  naval  officers  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  ex 
plosion,  they  were  convinced  that  it  was  the  result  of  Spanish 
treachery,  their  wrath  broke  forth  into  fury. 

The  destruction  of  the  Maine  hastened,  but  did  not  cause,  the 
approaching  war.  After  proposing  to  Spain  an  armistice  to  continue 
till  October  1,  1898,  and  receiving  an  unsatisfactory  reply,  President 
McKinley,  on  April  11,  sent  a  message  to  Congress  saying  :  "  In  the 
name  of  humanity,  in  the  name  of  civilization,  in  behalf  of  endangered 
American  interests  .  .  .  the  war  in  Cuba  must  stop."  This  meant 
war,  for  Congress  has  no  diplomatic  relations;  its  only  power  in 
dealing  with  foreign  nations  is  the  war  power.  On  the  19th  of 
April  —  that  ominous  date  in  American  history,  the  anniversary  of 
the  battle  of  Lexington,  of  the  first  bloodshed  in  the  Civil  War,  and 
of  the  blockading  proclamation  of  President  Lincoln — on  that  day 
Congress  resolved  that  Cuba  must  be  free,  authorized  the  President 
to  use  his  war  power  in  carrying  out  the  resolution,  and 
declared  also  that  the  United  States  had  no  intention  to 
exercise  sovereignty  over  the  island.  War  was  formally 
declared  against  Spain  on  the  25th.  The  Spanish  minister  at  Wash 
ington  instantly  left  the  country,  and  our  minister  at  Madrid,  Mr. 
Woodford,  departed  from  Spain.  At  that  moment  no  idea  of  terri 
torial  acquisition  seemed  to  enter  the  American  mind.  The  war  was 
solely  for  the  rescue  of  Cuba,  and  no  war  was  ever  waged  for  a 
nobler  purpose.  And  yet,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  nearly  all  European 
countries,  except  England,  displayed  a  popular  feeling  against  the 
United  States. 

The  first  notable  battle  of  the  war  occurred  in  the  Orient.  Spain 
had  possession  in  the  East  of  the  populous  archipelago  known  as  the 
Philippine  Islands,  so  called  in  honor  of  Philip  II  of  Spain,  after  their 


892  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED    STATES 

discovery  by  the  dauntless  Magellan  in  his  famous  world  voyage. 
In  the  spring  of  1898  Commodore,  now  Admiral,  George  Dewey  was 
commanding  a  fleet  in  eastern  waters.  He  was  ordered  to  proceed 
to  Manila  Bay  and  there  to  attack  the  Spanish  fleet.  Manila  Bay  is 
one  of  the  finest  harbors  in  the  world.  At  its  mouth  stand  two 
small  islands  like  sentries,  rising  five  hundred  feet  above  the  water. 
These  were  bristling  with  Spanish  cannon ;  but,  on  the  night  of 
April  30,  Dewey  passed  them  in  safety,  and  at  dawn  of  the  next  day  he 
was  ready  to  grapple  with  the  Spanish  fleet  in  the  harbor.  Here 
under  the  guns  of  Cavite,  a  town  some  miles  from  Manila,  the 

capital  of  the  islands,  lay  the  enemy's  vessels — and 
Manila0'  one  °^  fc^e  most  remarkable  of  naval  battles  immediately 

followed.  The  Spanish  fleet,  commanded  by  Admiral 
Montojo,  consisted  of  ten  vessels,  while  Dewey  had  nine,  somewhat 
better  on  an  average  than  those  of  the  enemy.  The  apparent 
advantage  of  the  Spaniards,  owing  to  the  support  they  had  from  the 
•shore  batteries,  did  not  avail.  The  battle  began  in  the  early  morn 
ing  hours.  It  was  short  and  terrific,  and  wholly  one-sided  in  its 
results.  Five  times  the  American  fleet  swung  past  the  enemy  pour 
ing  in  its  deadly  broadsides.  By  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the 
enemy's  fleet  was  totally  destroyed  and  hundreds  of  the  Spaniards 
were  dead  or  wounded.  Not  an  American  was  killed,  nor  was  an 
American  vessel  disabled.  Some  months  later  the  city  of  Manila 
was  captured,  with  thirteen  thousand  Spanish  soldiers,  by  a  combined 
attack  of  the  navy  under  Dewey  and  a  land  force  sent  from  the 
United  States  under  the  command  of  General  Merritt,  and  the 
entire  archipelago  was  wrested  from  Spain. 

Meantime  matters  were  preparing  for  equally  great  events 
nearer  home.  The  President  had  called  for  125,000  volunteers 
and  the  rush  to  arms  was  most  gratifying.1  Admiral  Sampson 
had  been  sent  with  a  fleet  to  Cuban  waters.  Commodore  Schley 
was  also  sent  with  a  flying  squadron.  These  two  joined  at  the 
mouth  of  the  harbor  of  Santiago,  where  a  Spanish  fleet,  under 
Pascual  Cervera,  had  taken  refuge.  This  fleet  was  much  stronger 
than  that  destroyed  by  Dewey.  The  fleets  of  Sampson  and  Schley, 
joined  by  the  Oregon,  after  a  fourteen-thousand-mile  voyage  from  San 
Francisco  around  Cape  Horn,  watched  and  waited  at  the  mouth  of  the 

1  The  regular  army  was  only  28,000  strong  at  the  beginning  of  the  War.  It  was 
soon  increased  to  61,000  by  act  of  Congress.  By  the  end  of  August  216,000  men  had 
volunteered,  the  President  having  made  a  second  call  for  75,000  men. 


NAVAL   AND   MILITARY   EXPLOITS 


harbor  for  Cervera.  To  prevent  his  escape  at  an  unguarded  moment 
a  young  officer,  Kichrnond  P.  Hobson,  with  a  few  companions, 
steamed  into  the  harbor  under  cover  of  the  darkness  and  sunk 
an  old  collier,  the  Merrimac.  But  ere  they  had  succeeded  they 
were  discovered,  and  they  finished  the  work  in  the  face  of  a  tre 
mendous  fire  from  the  enemy,  after  which  they  were  picked  up 
and  made  prisoners. 

The  country  was  utterly  unprepared  for  war,  and  many  were  the 
blunders  and  mishaps  before  an  army  could  be  put  into  the  field. 
After  much  confusion,  15,000  men  were  embarked  from  the  coast  of 
Florida  on  June  14  for  the  vicinity  of  Santiago.  They  were  landed 
sixteen  miles  south  of  the  harbor  and  began  their  march  by  two 
mountain  trails  toward  Santiago.  There  was  an  army  of  regulars 
commanded  by  Generals  Wheeler  and  Young,  while  Colonels  Wood 
and  Eoosevelt  led  an  irregular  band  of  534  men  known  as  the 
Eough  Eiders.  These  two  bodies,  leaving  the  main  army  behind, 
pressed  forward  over  the  mountains,  and  encountered  the  enemy  first 
at  Las  Guasimas.  The  Spaniards  numbered  some  2000  and  the 
Americans  less  than  1000 ;  but  the  latter  won,  driving  the  enemy 
before  them  and  capturing  their  position.  The  rest  of  the  army 
came  up  a  few  days  later,  led  by  Generals  Lawton  and  Chaffee,  and 
it  was  decided  to  make  an  attack  on  El  Caney,  a  fortified  town  near 
Santiago.  After  a  siege  of  nearly  a  whole  day  the  works  were  taken 
by  storm,  most  of  the  surviving  Spaniards  being  made  prisoners. 

San  Juan  was  captured  on  the  same  day  in  a  brilliant  assault  led 
by  Colonel  Eoosevelt.  Other  charges  were  also  made  on  July  2  (some 
being  continued  into  the  next  day)  at  various  points 
near  Santiago,  and  the  combined  engagements  are  known 
as  the  battle  of  San  Juan.  It  was  the  most  important 
land  battle  of  the  war.  Some  16,000  Americans  were  engaged  under 
the  general  command  of  General  William  E.  Shafter.  Of  our  army 
241  were  killed  and  about  1400  wounded. 

While  this  was  going  on,  Sampson  and  Schley  were  waiting  at 
the  mouth  of  the  harbor  for  the  egress  of  Cervera.  On  the  morning 
of  the  3d  of  July,  a  thin  column  of  smoke  was  descried  far  up  the 
bay,  and  the  Americans  saw  that  their  long-looked-for  enemy  was 
approaching.  Cervera,  seeing  that  Santiago  was  about  to  fall,  had 
determined  to  make  a  dash  for  liberty  —  and  a  wild,  fatal  dash  it 
was.  Admiral  Sampson  was  absent  on  his  flagship,  and  Commodore 
Schley  had  general  charge;  but,  more  strictly  speaking,  it  was  a 


894  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

captain's  fight,  as  each  commander  was  prepared  and  did  what 
seemed  best  in  his  eyes. 

As  the  Spanish  fleet  emerged  from  the  harbor,  the  American 
ships  opened  upon  it,  and  in  a  wild  running  fight  of  a  few  hours  the 
Battle  of  entire  Spanish  fleet  was  destroyed.  The  battle  was 
Santiago,  a  repetition  of  that  at  Manila.  But  one  American 
July  3,  1898.  was  killed  and  one  wounded,  while  nearly  600  Spaniards 
were  killed  or  drowned,  nearly  1400,  including  the  brave  Cervera,  were 
taken  prisoners,  and  every  one  of  their  vessels  was  sunk  or  captured. 

Two  weeks  after  this  battle  General  Toral  surrendered  the  city 
of  Santiago  to  General  Shafter,  and  practically  the  entire  island  of 
Cuba  passed  into  the  hands  erf  the  United  States. 

The  fertile  island  of  Porto  Kico,  the  smallest  of  the  four  Greater 
Antilles,  lying  some  five  hundred  miles  southeast  from  Cuba,  was 
the  next  object  of  attack.  On  July  20  General  Nelson  A.  Miles, 
the  chief  commander  of  the  armies,  embarked  with  an  army  for 
Porto  Rico.  The  army  landed  at  Ponce,  soon  had  possession  of  the 
city,  and  began  a  march  toward  San  Juan,  the  capital  of  the  island. 
After  several  skirmishes,  and  the  capture  of  several  towns,  not  only 
by  the  army  under  Miles,  but  by  two  or  three  others  operating  in 
different  parts  of  the  island,  all  operations  were  suddenly  brought  to  a 
standstill,  on  August  13,  by  news  that  a  peace  protocol  had  been  signed 
the  day  before  by  the  United  States  and  Spain. 

The  war  was  over ;  it  had  been  in  progress  but  little  over  three 
months.  The  Americans  had  won  in  every  engagement.  It  was 
the  fall  of  mediaevalism  before  the  onrush  of  modern  progress. 
The  naval  power  of  Spain  had  been  swept  from  the  seas ;  and  now 
the  proud  old  nation  sued  for  peace.  The  conditions,  as  arranged 
in  the  protocol,  were  that  Spain  forever  relinquish  her  sovereignty 
over  Cuba,  that  she  cede  to  the  United  States  Porto  Rico  and  her 
other  islands  in  the  West  Indies,  also  an  island  in  the  Ladrones, 
and  that  the  control  of  the  Philippines  be  determined  in  a  treaty 
of  peace  yet  to  be  arranged. 

The  war  with  Spain  was  not  a  great  one,  but  measured  by  results 
it  was  one  of  the  most  important  of  modern  times.1  It  marked  the 
end  of  Spanish  rule  in  the  Western  Hemisphere,  and  of  the  Spanish 
Empire  as  a  world  power.  But,  after  all,  this  war  may  prove  a 
great  blessing  to  Spain.  Being  no  longer  a  first-class  power,  she 

1  The  cost  to  the  United  States  was  about  $275,000,000 ;  the  number  of  Americans 
engaged  was  274,717. 


TREATY   OF   PEACE  895 


will  have  little  temptation  to  boast  or  to  wage  war,  and  if  her  peo 
ple,  now  hemmed  within  their  own  peninsula,  will  turn  their  atten 
tion  to  the  arts  of  civilization,  and  to  the  education  of  the  masses, 
they  may  yet  become  a  great  and  happy  people. 

Still  greater  was  the  change  wrought  on  the  United  States. 
During  the  century  and  a  quarter  of  our  national  history,  we  have 
been  content  to  remain  in  comparative  isolation  from  the  rest  of  the 
world;  we  have  taken  pride  in  the  fact  that  we  had  not  and  did  not 
wish  to  have  colonial  possessions.  But  suddenly,  unexpectedly,  our 
policy  has  been  changed,  and  we  have  expanded  into  a  world  power. 
No  man  planned  or  foresaw  the  change.  It  came  probably  because 
it  was  time  for  it  to  come. 

The  treaty  of  peace  was  negotiated  at  Paris  during  the  autumn  of 
1898  by  commissions  from  both  countries,  the  American  commission 
being  headed  by  Judge  William  R.  Day,  who  had  resigned  the  sec 
retaryship  of  state.  Aside  from  the  provisions  of  the  protocol,  the 
one  great  question  to  be  settled  by  the  treaty  was  the  disposition  of 
the  Philippine  Islands.  There  was  probably  little  thought  on  the 
part  of  the  administration,  when  the  protocol  was  signed,  of  forcing 
the  cession  of  the  islands  by  Spain.  But  the  capture  of  Manila  by 
the  Americans  on  the  day  after  the  signing  of  the  protocol  (of  which 
they  had  not  heard,  owing  to  the  severance  of  telegraphic  com 
munication)  placed  the  Philippine  question  in  a  different  light.  The 
American  public  now  began  to  view  the  matter  from  the  standpoint 
of  national  responsibility.  It  would  be  cowardly,  it  was  argued,  to 
turn  the  half-civilized  Filipinos  out  upon  the  world  to  become  a  prey 
to  foreign  powers,  or  to  hand  them  back  to  the  misrule  of  Spain ; 
and  the  only  other  alternative  was  to  accept  them  as  a  possession  of 
the  United  States.  This  view  was  strengthened  by  a  missionary 
spirit  among  the  people,  and  President  McKinley  came  to  adopt  it. 
Late  in  October  he  cabled  our  commissioners  that  the  acceptance  of 
the  archipelago  was  the  only  "  plain  path  of  duty."  Our  commis 
sioners  thereupon  demanded  the  cession  to  the  United  States  of  the 
entire  group.  The  Spanish  commissioners  objected  to  this  with 
great  vigor  and  with  many  arguments ;  but  at  length 
they  were  obliged  to  yield,  and  the  entire  archipelago  phiHppines  * 
was  ceded  to  the  United  States  in  consideration  of 
$20,000,000  to  be  paid  to  Spain  by  the  United  States.  The 
treaty  also  provided  that  for  a  term  of  years  Spanish  ships  and  mer 
chandise  be  admitted  to  the  ports  of  the  islands  on  the  same  terms  as 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


those  of  the  United  States.  The  treaty  was  signed  on  December  12 ; 
but  when  it  came  before  the  United  States  Senate  for  ratification, 
considerable  opposition  was  developed.  For  a  month  the  fate  of  the 
treaty  was  in  doubt ;  but  when  the  vote  was  taken,  on  February  6, 
1899,  the  treaty  was  ratified  with  a  single  vote  to  spare.  The  queen 
regent  of  Spain  signed  the  treaty  on  the  17th  of  March. 

OUR  ISLAND  POSSESSIONS 

The  archipelago  extends  over  sixteen  degrees  of  latitude,  almost 
from  Borneo  to  Formosa.  It  comprises  probably  2000  islands,  hun 
dreds  of  which  are  barren  volcanic  rocks.  Many  of  the  islands  are 
inhabited,  but  not  more  than  eleven  are  of  much  importance.  The 
largest  of  the  Philippines  is  Mindanao,  about  the  size  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  the  second  being  Luzon,  which  is  at  least  as  large  as  the  state 
of  Ohio.  The  population  of  the  group  has  been  estimated  at  from 
7,000,000,  to  10,000,000.  The  soil  is  fertile,  and  the  chief  products  are 
sugar,  Manila  hemp,  tobacco,  coffee,  and  indigo.  There  are  more  than 
twenty  races,  nearly  all  of  Malay  stock,  the  most  nearly  civilized  of 
which  are  the  Tagalogs,  who  number  probably  1,600,000.  All  these 
races  are  supposed  to  have  occupied  the  island  in  com 
paratively  modern  times  only.  The  supposed  aborigines 
are  the  Negritos,  of  whom  some  30,000  still  exist  in  the  islands. 
They  are  a  timid,  shy,  dwarfish  people,  scarcely  three  feet  in  height ; 
they  wander  in  small  tribes  among  the  mountains,  living  on  roots 
and  small  game. 

At  the  time  of  the  American  occupation  probably  30,000  Euro 
peans  and  100,000  Chinese  lived  in  the  islands,  and  these  were  in 
control  of  nearly  all  the  industries. 

Scarcely  had  the  treaty  of  peace  been  signed  when  the  Filipinos 
rose  against  the  Americans,  declaring  that  they  had  been  fighting 
for  independence,  and  not  for  a  change  of  masters.  The  insurrec 
tion  was  headed  by  a  strong  young  native  leader  named  Emilio 
Aguinaldo,  who  proclaimed  himself  dictator,  then  president  of  the 
Philippine  republic.  In  a  few  weeks  he  had  30,000  men  under 
arms ;  but,  after  a  few  pitched  battles,  it  was  discovered  that  the 
Filipinos  could  not  stand  against  American  troops.  It  was  then  de 
cided  to  disband  the  Filipino  army,  discard  the  uniform, 
Filipinos*  ^  an(^  carrv  on  a  guerrilla  warfare  against  the  Americans. 
This  method,  which  soon  degenerated  into  pure  brigand 
age,  proved  very  distressing  to  the  Americans.  President  McKinley 


(The  different  Scales  used  si 


TERRITORIAL 
GROAVTH 

OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES 

Disputed '  "• 


A  Disputed  by  Great  Uriliau 

aud  the  United  States  ( 1783-1S42J 

B  Disputed  by  Spain  and  the 

I  nil. '.I  States,    ( 1S08-1S19); 

seized  by  the  United  States 

1812. 


5  HAWAIIAN  , 
i     ISLANDS    L 


ftoSTo^nwlh     |        CARIBBEAXSEA-    ^<omG, 


noted  with  particular  care.) 


THE   PHILIPPINES  AND   THE   ANTI-IMPERIALISTS 


897 


found  it  necessary  to  augment  the  army  in  the  Philippines  until  it 
reached  65,000.  These  were  scattered ;  they  occupied  many  posts, 
and  their  petty  engagements  with  the  natives  numbered  hundreds. 
Meanwhile  the  presidential  campaign  of  1900  had  an  important 
bearing  on  the  Philippine  War.  This  campaign  was  strikingly  similar 
to  that  of  1896.  The  presidential  candidates  were  the  same,  McKin- 
ley  and  Bryan,  and  the  platforms  were  very  similar  to  those  of  four 
years  before.  The  Democrats,  at  the  behest  of  Mr.  Bryan,  embodied 


ELKCXTON  CHART,  19OO 

i       :  "\  REPUBLICAN 
I     :  .    / j DEMOCRAT 


the   Chicago   platform,  including  its  free-silver  feature ;    but  they 
added  one  important  declaration,  that  against  imperial-  presidential 
ism,  and  pronounced  this  the  paramount  issue  of  the  election  of 
campaign.      The  Democrats  declared  against  the  con-   190°- 
tinned  possession  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  in  favor  of  their 
ultimate  independence,  with  a  promise  on  our  part  to  protect  them 
against  foreign  powers  by  means  of  an  extension  of  the  Monroe  Doc 
trine.    The  Filipino  insurgents,  learning  that  a  great  political  party  in 
the  United  States  had  pronounced  in  favor  of  their  independence, 
exhibited  great  activity  during  the  campaign.     But  the  November 
election  brought  a  signal  victory  for  McKinley,  who  received  292  elec 
toral  votes  to  155  for  Bryan,  and  a  marked  subsidence  in  Filipino 
opposition  was  soon  noted. 
SM 


HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


To  aid  the  army  in  governing  the  islands  the  President  appointed 
on  February  6,  1900,  a  board  of  civil  commissioners  with  Judge 
William  H.  Taft  of  Ohio  at  its  head.  This  board 
commission  reached  the  Philippines  in  June,  and  began  its  duties 
in  September.  It  had  sole  legislative  and  appointive 
power,  while  the  military  governor  continued  to  be  the  executive 
head.  The  board  soon  issued  codes  of  law  for  municipal  govern 
ment,  for  an  electoral  system,  for  the  government  of  the  provinces, 
and  the  like.  A  system  of  secular  schools  was  established,  and  a 
thousand  American  school  teachers  went  to  the  islands  as  volunteers 
to  teach  the  natives. 

The  insurrection  was  visibly  waning.  In  March,  1901,  Agui- 
naldo  was  captured  by  a  clever  though  undignified  strategy,  and 
soon  after  this  he  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States 
and  issued  a  manifesto  urging  his  fellow-countrymen  to  do  the 
same.  From  this  cause  and  other  causes  thousands  of  them  did 
so,  and  by  the  close  of  the  year  1901,  765  towns  had  peacefully 
accepted  civil  government,  and  the  insurrection  was  practically 
at  an  end.  It  had  cost  the  United  States  $170,000,000  to  pacify 
the  islands.  Judge  Taft  became  governor  of  the  archipelago  on 
July  4, 1901,  when  a  new  system  was  inaugurated.  The  civil  govern 
ment  in  part  superseded  the  military.1  A  commission  to  aid  the 
governor  was  appointed,  to  consist  of  eight  persons,  three  of 
whom  were  natives,  and  a  supreme  court  was  organized  with  four 
Americans  and  three  native  Filipinos.  The  natives  had  rebelled 
against  Spain  because  of  the  friars,  who  had  come  to  own  a  large 
part  of  the  best  land;  and  they  rebelled  against  the  Americans  in 
part,  as  they  claimed,  because  of  a  provision  in  the  treaty  by  which 
the  United  States  promised  to  respect  the  rights  of  the  friars.  The 
question  of  the  friars'  lands  was  at  length  amicably  settled  between 
the  United  States  government  and  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
without  doing  injustice  to  the  Filipinos;  and  when  the  latter  saw 
that  the  Americans  were  disposed  to  deal  justly  and  kindly  with 
them,  giving  them  a  large  share  in  their  own  government,  they  laid 
down  their  arms,  and  the  islands  are  now  comparatively  quiet  and 
peaceful.  Governor  Taft  proved  himself  a  man  of  great  tact  and 

1  It  was  riot,  however,  till  July  4,  1902,  that  the  President  proclaimed  the  insur 
rection  at  an  end,  and  that  the  civil  government  fully  superseded  the  military. 
The  successive  military  governors  were  Generals  Wesley  Merritt,  E.  S.  Otis,  Arthur 
Mac  Arthur,  and  Adna  R.  Chaffee. 


GOVERNMENT   OF   PORTO   RICO 


ability,  and,  after  serving  as  governor  for  two  and  a  half  years,  he 
resigned,  and  in  February,  1904,  accepted  the  position  of  secretary  of 
war  in  the  Cabinet  of  the  President.  Mr.  Luke  E.  Wright,  who  had 
been  a  member  of  the  Philippine  Commission,  then  became  governor 
of  the  islands. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  with  Spain  the  country's  atten 
tion  was  turned  also  to  Porto  Kico,  our  new  possession  in  the  West 
Indies.  The  island  had  been  under  military  government  since  the 
war,  but  in  his  annual  message  of  December,  1899,  President 
McKinley  recommended  civil  government  for  Porto  Rico  and  stated 
further  that  since  the  island  had  lost  its  preferential  tariff  with  Cuba 
and  Spain,  "  Our  plain  duty  is  to  abolish  all  customs  tariffs  between 
the  United  States  and  Porto  Rico."  Accordingly  on 
January  3,  1900,  Senator  J.  B.  Foraker  of  Ohio  intro-  I 
duced  a  bill  in  the  Senate  providing  for  free  trade  with  the  island, 
and  making  the  inhabitants  citizens  of  the  United  States  with  a 
representative  in  Congress.  This  bill  encountered  great  opposition 
in  the  House,  supposed  to  have  originated  with  the  sugar  refiners, 
who  feared  competition  with  Porto  Rican  sugar.  The  debate  that 
followed  hinged  upon  a  constitutional  question.  The  Constitution  pro 
vides  that  all  duties  shall  be  uniform  throughout  the  United  States, 
and  the  Democrats,  with  some  Republicans,  took  the  ground  that  the 
Constitution  follows  the  flag,  that  it  extends  of  its  own  force  to 
Porto  Rico.  The  majority  of  the  Republicans  took  the  ground  that 
Porto  Rico  is  neither  a  state  nor  a  territory,  but  a  dependency,  and 
that  Congress  has  the  right  to  legislate  as  it  will  concerning  the  island. 
The  Republicans  won  by  sheer  numbers.  A  duty  of  25  per  cent  of 
the  Dingley  tariff  on  goods  going  both  ways  between  the  United 
States  and  Porto  Rico  was  proposed;  but  a  compromise  on  15  per  cent 
for  two  years  was  agreed  to,  and  the  law  was  passed.  A  law  was 
also  passed  that  all  duties  collected  in  the  United  States  on  Porto 
Rican  goods  be  appropriated  to  the  expenses  of  the  island.  This 
15  per  cent  tariff  was  to  continue  for  two  years,  only  on  condition, 
however,  that  the  people  of  the  island  did  not  in  the  meantime 
establish  a  system  of  taxation  for  their  own  benefit.1  But  they  did 

1  In  May,  1901,  the  Supreme  Ccmrt  rendered  the  first  of  its  "  insular  decisions," 
DeLima  vs.  Bidwell,  by  which  Porto  Rico  was  pronounced  a  domestic  territory  of  the 
United  States.  By  this  decision  the  duties  levied  on  exports  from  Porto  Rico  to  the 
United  States  were  pronounced  illegal  and  must  be  refunded.  In  a  later  decision, 
Dooley  vs.  the  United  States,  it  was  decided  that  duties  levied  on  goods  from  the 


900  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 

this,  and  on  July  25,  1901,  the  President  proclaimed  absolute  free 
trade  between  the  United  States  and  Porto  Eico. 

Civil  government  was  established  in  Porto  Rico  on  December  3, 
1900,  and  Charles  H.  Allen  of  Massachusetts  became  the  first  gov 
ernor.  Mr.  Allen  was  soon  succeeded  by  W.  H.  Hunt  of  Montana. 
The  governing  power  of  the  island  consists  of  an  American  governor 
appointed  by  the  President,  an  executive  council,  half  of  which  shall 
be  Porto  Eicans,  also  appointed  by  the  President,  and  a  house  of 
delegates,  elected  by  the  people.  The  Porto  Eicans  had  welcomed 
the  change  of  masters  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Since  then  they 
have  made  great  progress  in  popular  education,  in  domestic  prod 
ucts  and  commerce,  and,  with  some  necessary  economic  readjust 
ments,  such  as  the  securing  of  the  American  market  for  Porto  Eican 
coffee,  the  prosperity  of  the  island  will  be  assured. 

Hawaii  meantime  had  fared  even  better  than  Porto  Eico.  In 
April,  1900,  a  law  was  passed  to  extend  the  Constitution  to  the 
Hawaiian  Islands,  including  the  internal  revenue,  customs,  and  mari 
time  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  to  make  the  islands  a  territory 
and  the  people  citizens,  with  a  representative  in  Congress. 

CUBA 

Scarcely  less  interesting  than  Porto  Eico  and  the  Philippines  was 
Cuba,  on  account  of  which  the  war  with  Spain  had  come  about.  Con 
gress  in  declaring  war  had  resolved  that  the  purpose  was  to  rescue 
the  Cubans  from  the  misrule  of  Spain,  after  which  they  should  have 
their  independence.  Many  Americans,  who  would  gladly  have  seen 
Cuba  annexed  to  the  United  States,  regretted  this  action  of  Con 
gress  ;  but  there  stood  the  resolution ;  the  national  faith  was  pledged, 
and,  as  the  Cuban  people  displayed  no  disposition  to  enter  the 
Union,  there  was  nothing  left  but  to  fulfill  our  pledge.  But  the 
Cubans  were  not  prepared  for  immediate  self-government ;  they  must 
first  be  taught  some  important  lessons  under  the  tutelage  of  the  great 
benefactor  that  had  rescued  them  from  the  grinding  heel  of  Spain. 
Accordingly  our  War  Department  took  temporary  possession  of  the 
island.  General  John  E.  Brooke  became  the  first  American  governor, 
and  he  was  followed,  in  December,  1899,  by  General  Leonard  Wood. 

United  States  to  Porto  Rico  were  illegal  and  must  be  refunded.  The  court  decided 
also  that  Porto  Rico  is  not  an  integral  part,  but  a  possession,  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  the  treaty-making  power,  while  it  may  acquire  new  territory,  cannot  incor 
porate  it  into  the  United  States.  This  may  be  done  only  by  act  of  Congress. 


OUR   RELATIONS    WITH   CUBA  901 

A  number  of  commissions,  composed  of  Americans  and  leading 
Cubans,  were  appointed  to  raise  the  legal  and  judicial  systems  to 
a  higher  standard,  to  organize  city  governments,  to  reform  the 
methods  of  taxation,  and  to  investigate  the  prisons.  The  educa 
tional  system  of  the  island  and  the  sanitary  condition  of  Havana  and 
other  cities  were  improved  in  a  remarkable  degree,  and,  on  the  whole, 
the  transformation  of  the  island  in  two  or  three  years  was  little  short 
of  marvelous. 

Meanwhile  a  constitutional  convention  met  at  Havana  on  Novem 
ber  5,  1900,  and  after  three  and  a  half  months  it  brought  forth 
(February  21,  1901)  a  constitution  modeled  closely  after  our  Federal 
Constitution.  But  a  certain  distrust  of  the  United  States  was  ex 
hibited  in  the  convention  and  in  various  ways  throughout  the  island. 
This  feeling  was  increased  by  certain  demands  made  upon  Cuba 
by  the  American  Congress  in  the  form  of  the  "  Platt  Amendment," 
an  amendment  to  the  army  appropriation  bill  offered  by  Senator  Platt 
of  Connecticut.  These  demands  were  as  follows  :  That 
no  foreign  power  acquire  or  control  any  territory  in 
Cuba;  that  naval  stations  be  granted  the  United 
States ;  that  no  debt  be  incurred  that  could  not  be  met  by  the 
revenues  of  the  island  ;  that  the  United  States  be  authorized  to  main 
tain  the  independence  of  the  island  by  force  if  necessary,  and  that 
the  Isle  of  Pines,  a  small,  fertile  island  south  of  western  Cuba,  be 
ceded  to  the  United  States. 

These  requirements  were  moderate  indeed  in  the  light  of  the 
great  sum  of  money  spent  and  the  many  American  lives  sacrificed  in 
the  rescue  of  Cuba.  The  Cuban  convention  demurred  at  the  Platt 
Amendment,  but  after  a  long  debate  embodied  it  in  the  Constitution, 
June  12,  1901.  The  United  States,  however,  decided  later  that  the 
Isle  of  Pines  be  retained  by  Cuba.1 

In  December,  1901,  the  people  of  Cuba  held  their  first  general 
election,  and  Estrada  Palma  was  elected  the  first  president  of  the 
new  republic  that  was  soon  to  come  into  existence.  On  May  20, 1902, 
the  Cuban  republic  became  a  reality,  General  Wood  was  replaced 
by  President  Palma,  and  the  occupation  of  the  island  by  the  United 
States  came  to  an  end.  Cuba,  however,  is  not  an  absolutely  inde 
pendent  nation.  The  conditions  of  the  Platt  Amendment  reserve 
to  the  United  States  certain  protective  powers  by  means  of  which 
the  Cubans,  while  enjoying  all  the  benefits  of  self-government,  are 
1  Or  rather,  a  treaty  with  that  end  in  view  is  now  pending. 


902  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 

restrained  from  certain  excesses,  among  which  are  rebellions  and 
revolutions,  so  common  to  the  Latin-American  countries. 

Our  dealing  with  Cuba  on  the  whole  has  been  remarkable  for  its 
generosity.  At  the  close  of  the  war  with  Spain  Cuba  was  utterly 
powerless  in  our  hands.  Our  expense  in  delivering  the  island  from 
Spain  was  enormous,  and  had  we  chosen  to  evade  the  terms  of  our 
congressional  resolution  and  to  make  Cuba  our  prize  of  war,  no  hand 
could  have  prevented  our  doing  so.  But  instead  of  this  we  have 
incurred  great  additional  expense  in  placing  the  Cubans  on  their 
feet,  —  in  cleansing  their  cities,  in  organizing  their  school  system, 
in  renovating  their  judicial  and  administrative  systems,  in  voting 
$3,000,000  to  pay  the  Cuban  soldiers,  —  and  after  all  this  we  have 
handed  the  island  over  to  its  inhabitants,  with  scarcely  a  word  of 
gratitude  for  our  services.  The  student  of  history  must  search  long 
to  find  a  parallel  case,  —  such  extraordinary  treatment  of  a  weak 
and  helpless  people  by  a  great  and  powerful  nation ;  and  we  venture 
to  hope  that  the  time  will  come  when  the  people  of  Cuba  will  place 
the  true  value  upon  the  services  of  their  great  benefactor. 

During  the  years  following  the  war  with  Spain  a  large  part  of  the 
energy  of  the  administration,  as  also  of  public  attention,  was  directed, 
as  we  have  noticed,  to  our  new  possessions  in  the  Orient,  to  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico.  But  there  were  also  other  public  affairs  of  importance. 
President  McKinley,  in  his  annual  message  of  December,  1898, 
recommended  that  the  regular  army  be  increased  to  100,000  men 
and  that  fifteen  new  vessels  be  built  for  the  navy.  Congress 
soon  afterward  passed  a  bill  to  increase  the  regular  army  to 
65,000,  to  which  should  be  added  35,000  volunteers,  most  of 
whom  were  to  be  sent  to  the  Philippines.  It  also  authorized  the 
building  of  three  new  battleships  and  nine  smaller  vessels,  and  it 
restored  the  rank  of  admiral,  Rear  Admiral  Dewey  being  commis 
sioned  to  fill  it.1 

The  Fifty-sixth  Congress  met  on  December  4,  1899.  The  Senate 
elected  as  its  chairman  W.  P.  Frye  of  Maine,  Vice  President  Hobart 
having  died  on  November  11,  while  D.  B.  Henderson  of  Iowa  was 
elected  Speaker  of  the  House.  Brigham  H.  Roberts  of  Utah  was 
excluded  from  the  House  by  a  vote  of  302  to  31,  because  he  was  an 
avowed  polygamist. 

1  Hitherto  but  two  persons,  Farragut  and  Porter,  had  held  this  rank  in  the  United 
States  navy.  On  the  death  of  Porter  in  1891  the  grade  of  admiral  was  allowed  to 
lapse. 


ALLIED   FORCES   IN   CHINA 


903 


During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1900  public  attention  was 
absorbed,  not  only  by  a  presidential  campaign  and  the  affairs  of  the 
various  islands,  as  noticed,  but  by  an  uprising  in  China. 
An  anti-foreigner  society,  known  as  the  Boxers,  began  a 
crusade  against  foreigners  in  China.  The  foreign  dip 
lomatic  corps  at  Peking,  including  the  American  minister,  Mr.  E.  H. 
Conger,  demanded  that  the  Boxers  be  suppressed,  but  they  received  no 
satisfactory  answer.  They  then  called  on  their  respective  countries 
for  military  aid,  and  the  United  States,  with  most  of  the  European 
countries  and  Japan,  responded.  Marines  were  landed  at  Taku, 


CENTER  OF  POPULATION 

AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  EACH  DECADE  FROM 
1790  TO  1900 


whereupon  the  rioters  became  more  active  than  before.  They  killed 
the  German  minister,  and  for  five  weeks  held  the  foreign  legations  in 
Peking  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  allies  seized  the 
forts  at  Taku,  upon  which  the  Chinese  government  ordered  retalia 
tion.  A  fierce  battle  occurred  on  July  14  at  Tientsin ;  the  city  was 
captured  by  the  allies,  to  whom  Peking  also  surrendered  in  August, 
and  the  foreign  ministers  were  rescued.  At  length  the  trouble  was 
settled  through  an  arrangement  by  which  the  Chinese  government 
agreed  to  pay  a  large  indemnity  to  the  powers  and  to  punish  the 
leaders  of  the  uprising. 

Another  matter  of  great  interest  to  Americans,  and  to  the  people 
of  other  countries  as  well,  was  the  establishing  of  the 
international  tribunal  at  The  Hague.    Suggested  by  the 
Czar  of  Russia,  it  soon  found  favor  with  most  civilized 
nations.     The  first  conference  was  held  in  May,  1899.     This  tri- 


904  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 

bunal  is  an  international  arbitration  court,  to  which  certain  kinds  of 
matters  in  dispute  between  civilized  nations  are  to  be  brought  for 
settlement  without  war.  If  it  proves  to  be  permanent  and  success 
ful,  as  now  seems  probable,  it  must  be  pronounced  one  of  the  most 
important  steps  ever  taken  in  the  advance  of  modern  civilization. 

Congress,  during  the  winter  following  the  presidential  election, 
increased  the  House  membership  to  386,  in  accordance  with  the  new 
census,1  reorganized  the  army,  and,  in  deference  to  the  temperance 
sentiment  of  the  country,  abolished  the  canteen.  It  also  reduced  war 
revenues  by  $40,000,000  a  year,  by  lowering  the  stamp  duties  affect 
ing  the  sale  of  beer  and  cigars,  and  removing  those  affecting  various 
legal  documents.  The  session  ended  with  the  4th  of  March,  the  day 
that  witnessed  the  second  inauguration  of  McKinley.2 

Every  index  seemed  to  point  to  a  prosperous  adminis- 
tration-  But  a  few  months  later  the  country  was  called, 
for  the  third  time,  to  mourn  the  death  of  the  chief 
magistrate  at  the  hand  of  an  assassin.  On  the  6th  of  September, 
while  holding  a  public  reception  at  the  Pan-American  Exposition 
at  Buffalo,  the  President  was  shot  twice  by  an  anarchist  named 
Czolgosz,  who  had  concealed  a  revolver  under  a  handkerchief, 
which  appeared  to  cover  an  injured  hand.  One  shot  penetrated 
the  stomach,  but  it  was  believed  for  some  days  that  the  President 
would  recover.  At  length,  however,  he  began  to  sink,  and  on  the 
14th  he  died. 

No  President  since  Andrew  Jackson  had,  after  a  four  years' 
service,  been  so  popular  with  all  classes  as  was  McKinley. 
It  is  hardly  probable  that  history  will  pronounce  him  a  states 
man  of  the  first  rank.  His  great  popularity  doubtless  rested 
on  a  twofold  basis :  first,  he  possessed  surpassing  ability  as  a  politi 
cian  and  party  manager,  and  he  had  the  skill  to  conceal  this  fact 
from  the  public ;  second,  he  was  personally  a  man  of  sincere,  pure  life, 
of  a  great,  generous  heart,  and  of  upright  motives.  It  may  be  added 

1  The  population  by  the  census  of  1900  was,   including  Hawaii  and  Alaska, 
76,303,387.    Of  these  the  native  born  numbered  65,843,302 ;  the  foreign  born,  10,460,085. 
The  white  population  numbered  66,990,788 ;  negro,  8,840,789;  Chinese,  119,050;  Japan 
ese,  86,000;  Indian,  266,760.     See  Census  Report,  Vol.  I,  Part  I,  pp.  482,  483. 

2  The  old  Cabinet  was  retained.   The  members  were  John  Hay,  secretary  of  state ; 
Lyman  J.  Gage,  secretary  of  the  treasury ;  Elihu  Root,  secretary  of  war ;  John  D. 
Long,  secretary  of  the  navy ;  Ethan  A.  Hitchcock,  secretary  of  the  interior ;  James 
Wilson,  secretary  of  agriculture ;  John  W.  Griggs,  attorney -general ;    and  Charles 
Emory  Smith,  postmaster-general.    Mr.  Griggs  soon  resigned  and  was  succeeded  by 
P.  C.  Knox. 


COAL   MINERS'    STRIKE  905 

further  that  his  tact  in  winning  friends,  and  his  power  to  grapple 
them  to  his  soul  with  hooks  of  steel,  would  be  difficult  to  parallel. 

On  the  day  of  McKinley's  death  Theodore  Roosevelt,  who  had  been 
elected  Vice  President,  took  the  oath  of  office  at  Buffalo  as  President 
of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  attracted  public  attention  as 
a  fearless  public  official  in  his  native  state  of  New  York  and  in  Wash 
ington,  and  as  a  dashing  soldier  in  Cuba.  He  now  declared  his 
intention  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  the  late  President  on  the  great 
questions  of  the  day,  and  he  requested  the  members  of  the  Cabinet 
to  retain  their  respective  places.  They  all  agreed  to  do  so;  but 
various  changes  were  made  within  the  following  two  or  three  years. 

The  summer  of  1902  will  be  long  remembered  on  account  of  the 
great  miners'  strike  in  the  anthracite  regions  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  strike,  which  involved  147,000  workmen,  was  made 
to  secure  an  advance  in  wages,  a  reduction  of  the  hours 
of  labor,  and  the  recognition  of  the  Miners'  Union. 
The  mines  of  the  entire  anthracite  region  were  practically  closed 
for  more  than  five  months,  and  the  coal  famine  brought  distress  to 
every  class  of  society.  Manufactories  were  closed,  prices  rose,  and 
yet  as  the  summer  passed  no  sign  of  a  settlement  seemed  in  sight. 
At  length  President  Roosevelt  interposed,  and  appealed  to  both 
parties  to  submit  their  differences  to  arbitration.  To  this  they 
agreed,  and  a  commission  of  seven  men  was  appointed  by  the  Presi 
dent  to  adjust  the  differences  after  making  a  thorough  investiga 
tion.  Pending  the  investigation  the  strike  was  declared  off,  and  the 
miners  returned  to  work  on  the  24th  of  October. 

Few  events  of  national  interest  occurred  in  1903,  aside  from 
those  pertaining  to  the  proposed  isthmian  canal.  On  the  14th  of 
February  a  bill  became  a  law  creating  a  ninth  Cabinet  position,  the 
Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  and  George  B.  Cortelyou  be 
came  the  first  to  fill  the  new  office.  A  treaty  of  reciprocity  with  Cuba 
was  before  the  United  States  Senate  in  March ;  and  a  coterie  of  sena 
tors  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  sugar,  fearing  that  the  impor 
tation  of  Cuban  sugar  would  cheapen  sugar  in  this  country,  opposed 
the  treaty.  But  the  American  public,  out  of  a  kindly  feeling  toward 
Cuba,  whose  trade  was  in  a  deplorable  condition,  were  clamorous  for 
the  ratification  of  the  treaty.  The  Senate  therefore  made  a  pretense 
of  complying  with  the  public  demand.  It  ratified  (March  19),  but  did 
so  on  such  conditions  that  the  treaty  would  be  inoperative  until  an  act 
to  put  it  into  operation  should  be  passed,  which,  it  was  well  known, 


906  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

could  not  be  done  at  that  session.  Thus  the  matter  was  left  over,  and 
the  President  in  consequence  called  Congress  to  meet  in  extra  session 
on  November  9  to  complete  the  ratification  of  the  treaty.  This  was 
done,  but  not  until  after  the  opening  of  the  regular  session  in  Decem 
ber.  The  buildings  of  the  World's  Fair,  to  be  held  at  St.  Louis  in  1904, 
were  dedicated  on  April  30,  the  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  signing 
of  the  treaty  of  sale  in  Paris.  The  Alaskan  boundary  commission, 
sitting  in  London,  decided  (October  17)  the  dispute  between  the 
United  States  and  Canada  concerning  the  western  boundary  of 
British  Columbia,  in  favor  of  the  United  States,  except  two  small 
islands  in  the  Portland  Channel,  which  went  to  Canada. 

THE  ISTHMIAN  CANAL 

One  of  the  great  public  questions  of  recent  years  is  that  concern 
ing  the  construction  of  a  ship  canal  across  the  isthmus  at  some  point 
between  North  and  South  America.  For  more  than  fifty  years  this 
subject  has  engaged  the  attention  of  the  United  States  and,  to  some 
extent,  of  all  civilized  nations.  The  Clay  ton-Bui  wer  Treaty  was 
framed  with  reference  to  this  great  project.1  But  in  the  early  fifties 
the  slavery  question  came  to  absorb  public  attention  in  the  United 
States,  and  this,  followed  by  the  Civil  War  and  reconstruction, 
caused  the  canal  project  to  lie  dormant  for  many  years.  In  1870 
the  United  States  government  again  turned  its  attention  to  the  canal 
project.  Two  exploring  expeditions,  one  to  Darien  and  the  other  to 
Tehuantepec,  were  sent  out  that  year;  but  their  reports  were  not 
acted  on,  and  the  subject  was  left  for  ten  years  longer. 

In  1881  Mr.  Blaine,  while  secretary  of  state  under  Garfield,  had 
a  sharp  controversy  with  Lord  Granville  concerning  the  Clayton- 
Bulwer  Treaty.  Blaine  contended  that  the  interoceanic  canal 
should  be  under  the  political  control  of  the  United  States,  that  the 
United  States  would  view  with  grave  concern  the  interference  of 
any  European  power,  and  that  the  treaty  of  1850  should  be  so  modi 
fied  as  to  conform  with  the  changed  conditions.  Secretary  of  State 
Frelinghuysen,  under  President  Arthur,  went  still  farther,  and 
claimed  that  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  was  obsolete  and  not  bind 
ing  on  either  power.  Great  Britain  denied  this,  and  refused  to  yield 
her  rights  under  the  treaty.  After  this  correspondence  little  was 
done  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  for  a  number  of  years,  and 

1  See  supra,  p.  560. 


THE   ISTHMIAN   CANAL  907 

meantime  a  French  company  made  strenuous  but  fruitless  efforts  to 
join  the  two  oceans  at  Panama. 

The  French  company  was  organized  by  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps. 
Terms  were  made  with  the  government  of  Colombia,  and  the  work 
was  begun  in  1881.  But  the  company,  after  expending  more  than 
770,000,000  francs  and  failing  to  obtain  a  loan  of  600,000,000  more, 
went  into  liquidation  in  1889.  A  new  company  was  formed,  how 
ever,  and  in  1894,  the  Colombia  government  extended  its  concessions 
for  ten  years  longer  on  the  condition  that  the  work  be  immediately 
prosecuted.  Some  3000  men  were  then  employed  to  continue  the 
work,  mainly  in  reducing  the  Culebra  hill.  But  this  company  which, 
with  its  predecessor,  had  expended  a  vast  sum  of  money,  found  the 
work  of  constructing  the  canal  too  onerous,  and  suspended  operations. 

While  the  French  were  operating  at  Panama,  the  United  States 
had  focused  its  attention  on  Nicaragua.  A  private  Nicaragua  com 
pany  was  organized  in  1887.  The  government  seemed  inclined  to 
aid  this  company,  and  two  bills  passed  the  Senate  to  that  end ;  but 
at  length  the  attention  of  Congress  was  again  turned  toward  govern 
ment  ownership.  For  some  years  the  subject  had  been  before  Con 
gress  and  various  commissions  had  been  appointed.  In  June,  1897, 
President  McKinley  appointed  the  Walker-Haupt  commission,  with 
Admiral  John  G-.  Walker  at  its  head,  and  Professor  Lewis  M.  Haupt 
as  one  of  its  members,  to  examine  the  Nicaragua  route.  While  this 
commission  was  making  a  survey  in  Nicaragua,  attention  was 
directed  to  Panama,  by  the  collapse  of  the  French  company,  and  by 
an  offer  of  that  company  to  sell  its  interests  to  the  United  States  for 
$109,000,000.  In  March,  1899,  those  favoring  the  Panama  route 
secured  the  passage  of  a  bill  in  Congress  appropriating  $  1,000,000 
for  a  new  survey.  Thereupon  a  new  commission  was  appointed,  or 
rather,  the  old  one  was  enlarged,  to  examine  every  available  point, 
and  to  determine  the  most  feasible  one  for  a  canal.  This  included 
Panama.  But  the  commission,  in  a  preliminary  report  (November 
28,  1900),  recommended  the  Nicaragua  route ;  and  three  days  later 
protocols  of  agreement  with  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  were  signed. 
The  commission  reported  again  (December,  1901)  for  the  Nicaragua 
route ;  and  a  bill,  known  as  the  Hepburn  bill,  passed  the  House  in 
1901,  and  again  in  January,  1902,  authorizing  the  government  to 
construct  the  canal  by  this  route.  But  the  Senate  failed  to  act  on  it. 

In  reporting  as  it  did,  however,  the  commission  made  it  clear 
that  the  Panama  route  would  be  preferable,  but  for  the  excessive 


908  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

price  at  which  the  French  held  their  interests,  the  real  value  of  which 
the  commission  estimated  at  $40,000,000.*  The  French  company 
then,  fearing,  that  it  might  lose  all,  reduced  its  price  to  this  figure. 
Thereupon  the  commission  made  a  report  in  favor  of  the  Panama  route. 

This  important  turn  in  the  affair  led  the  United  States  to  give 
serious  attention  to  Panama.  The  Panama  route  was,  for  various 
reasons,  considered  preferable.  Though  over  300  miles 
P^namaT  **  fartner  from  the  United  States,  the  canal  at  Panama 
would  be  but  49  miles  in  length,  while  at  Nicaragua 
it  would  be  184  miles  —  more  than  100  of  which,  however,  would  be 
through  Lake  Nicaragua  and  the  channel  of  the  San  Juan  River.  The 
cost  of  a  canal  at  Panama  was  estimated  at  $144,000,000  plus  the 
$40,000,000  to  be  paid  the  French  company;  while  the  cost  of  a 
canal  at  Nicaragua  was  estimated  at  about  $190,000,000,  with  an 
additional  expense  for  its  operation  of  more  than  $1,000,000  a  year 
in  excess  of  the  same  at  Panama.  It  was  claimed,  also,  that 
Nicaragua  lies  more  nearly  in  the  volcanic  belt  than  Panama,  and 
that  it  would  be  less  desirable  on  that  account. 

But  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  stood  in  the  way.  With  that 
treaty  in  force,  the  United  States  could  not  act  with  a  free  hand  at 
any  point.  Accordingly,  Secretary  of  State  Hay  arranged  with  Lord 
Pauncefote  (February,  1900)  a  treaty  by  which  Great  Britain  re 
nounced  all  right  to  joint  construction  and  ownership,  and  the  United 
States  agreed  to  unite  with  England  in  guaranteeing  the  neutral 
ity  of  the  proposed  canal.  But  the  United  States  Senate,  in  ratify 
ing  the  treaty  in  December  of  the  same  year,  added  to  it  such 
amendments  as  to  render  it  unacceptable  to  England,  and  that  coun 
try  rejected  it  in  March,  1901.  But  Mr.  Hay  and  Lord  Pauncefote 
proceeded  to  frame  a  second  treaty,  which  was  signed  in  November, 
1901.  This  proved  acceptable  to  both  countries,  was  duly  ratified, 
and  went  into  operation  in  February,  1902. 

By  this  Hay -Pauncefote  Treaty  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  of 
1850  is  superseded,  and  the  neutrality  of  the  canal  is  secured,  while 
The  Hay-  the  United  States  becomes  the  sole  builder,  owner,  and 
Pauncefote  protector.  The  treaty  further  provides  that  the  canal 
Treaty.  s]iau  never  be  blockaded,  and  that  no  act  of  war  shall 

be  committed  within  it.  Though  the  vessels  of  a  belligerent  may 
use  the  canal,  they  shall  not  take  on  stores  or  provisions,  except  what 

1  Less  than  $90,000,000  of  the  vast  sum  spent  by  the  French  had  been  actually 
spent  on  construction ;  the  remainder  went  to  promoters,  politicians,  and  newspapers. 


THE    PANAMA   PROPOSAL  909 

may  be  necessary,  while  passing  through  it,  nor  remain  more  than 
twenty-four  hours  within  three  miles  of  either  terminus. 

The  report,  made  by  the  commission  in  favor  of  Panama,  was 
sent  to  Congress  by  President  Roosevelt  on  January  20,  1902.  At 
length,  late  in  June,  a  bill  was  passed  authorizing  the  President  to 
purchase  the  French  interests  for  $40,000,000,  and  to  construct  the 
canal  at  Panama  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  $130,000,000  additional ;  or, 
in  case  the  French  company  could  not  give  a  clear  title,  or  in  case 
the  necessary  territory  and  jurisdiction  could  not  be  secured  from 
Colombia,  the  President  was  directed  to  construct  the  canal  at 
Nicaragua,  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  $180,000,000. 

After  a  careful  examination,  Attorney-General  Knox  reported 
that  the  Panama  Company  could  convey  a  good  title,  and  it  was 
decided  to  accept  its  offer,  subject  to  the  mutual  rati-  The  Hay- 
fication  of  a  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Herran 
Colombia.  Secretary  Hay  and  Dr.  Herran,  the  Colom-  Treaty- 
bian  commissioner,  after  some  months  of  negotiation,  signed  the 
Hay-Herran  Treaty  on  January  28, 1903,  and  it  went  before  the  Senate 
on  the  3d  of  February.  But  owing  to  opposition,  led  by  Senator 
Morgan  of  Alabama,  who  preferred  the  Nicaragua  route,  the  treaty 
had  not  been  ratified  on  the  4th  of  March,  when  the  Fifty-seventh 
Congress  expired.  The  President,  therefore,  called  an  extra  session 
of  the  Senate  for  March  5,  and  on  the  17th  the  treaty  was  ratified  by 
a  large  majority.  This  treaty  proposed  to  authorize  the  Panama 
Company  to  sell  its  franchise  and  all  its  interests  to  the  United  States, 
and  to  provide  for  the  lease  to  the  United  States  by  Colombia,  for  the 
term  of  one  hundred  years,  with  the  privilege  of  perpetual  renewal, 
of  a  zone  across  the  isthmus  six  miles  in  width.  The  United  States 
was  to  pay  Colombia  the  sum  of  $10,000,000  on  the  ratification  of 
the  treaty  by  both  countries,  and,  beginning  nine  years  later,  an 
annual  rental  of  $250,000.  The  work  was  to  begin  within  two 
years,  and  the  canal  was  to  be  opened  within  fourteen  years,  unless  the 
work  should  be  delayed  by  certain  specified  obstacles.  The  sover 
eignty  of  the  canal  zone  was  to  remain  with  Colombia. 

The  arrangements  on  the  whole  were  very  favorable  to  Colombia, 
for  the  canal  would  become  a  wonderful  stimulus  to  Colombian  pros 
perity,  and   that  country  could  well  have  afforded  to  Colombia 
grant  the  privileges  free,  rather  than  miss  the  opportu-  rejects 
nity.     But  a  strong  opposition  to  the  treaty  soon  devel-  treaty, 
oped  in  the  Colombian  Senate,  the  motive  of  which,  as    generally 


910  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

believed,  was  purely  mercenary.  On  August  17  the  treaty  was 
rejected  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  Colombian  Senate  sitting  at 
Bogota.  The  cause  of  this  action  was  quite  plain  when,  in  October, 
Colombia  practically  offered  to  make  a  new  treaty  if  the  ten  million 
bonus  be  raised  to  twenty-five  millions.  It  was  also  discovered  that 
the  Bogota  politicians  were  planning  to  extort  a  portion  of  the  forty 
millions  from  the  French  company ;  or  to  take  over  the  entire  French 
works  on  the  expiration  of  the  ten  years'  grant,  made  in  1894. 

But  scarcely  had  the  Colombian  Congress  adjourned  when  the 
people  of  Panama,  who  greatly  favored  the  canal  project  and  who 
Revolt  of  kad  been  restive  under  Colombian  rule  for  many  years, 
Panama,  rose  against  their  government  and  set  up  a  provisional 

November  3,  government,  proclaiming  Panama  an  independent  repub 
lic.  The  United  States  had  expected  the  movement; 
and  but  three  days  after  the  revolt  our  government  recognized  the 
new  republic.  Colombia  saw  her  blunder  when  too  late ;  her  wail  of 
despair  was  unavailingo  She  offered  to  grant  all  canal  concessions 
free  if  the  United  States  would  permit  her  to  send  troops  to  subju 
gate  Panama ;  but  the  United  States  had  taken  the  infant  republic 
under  its  protection,  and  the  offer  was  declined.  The  administration 
was  severely  criticised  by  many  for  such  precipitate  action ;  but  the 
people  generally  approved,  not  only  because  of  an  intense  desire  to 
secure  the  canal,  but  also  because  of  the  contempt  felt  for  the  tri 
fling,  mercenary  methods  employed  by  Colombia.  Why  should  this 
insignificant  government,  in  which  half  a  hundred  revolutions  had 
occurred  in  as  many  years,  now  in  the  hands  of  a  clique  of  venial 
politicians,  be  permitted  to  hold  up  for  an  indefinite  time  this  vast 
work  in  the  line  of  progress  and  modern  civilization  ?  The  criti 
cisms  of  the  administration  were  greatly  softened  by  the  fact  that 
France,  England,  and  other  powers  were  also  prompt  in  recognizing 
the  new  republic  of  Panama, 

The  next  move  in  the  rapid  progress  of  events  was  the  framing  of  a 
treaty  with  Panama.  This  was  soon  done  by  Secretary  Hay  and  M. 
Bunau-Varilla,  who  represented  Panama.  The  treaty  was  signed  on 
The  Hay-  November  18,  and  was  ratified  by  Panama  on  December  2. 
Bunau-Varilla  It  is  very  similar  to  the  Hay-Herran  Treaty ;  the 
Treaty.  same  bonus  of  $  10,000,000  is  to  be  paid  to  Panama 

that  was  offered  Colombia,  while  the  French  company  will  receive 
its  $40,000,000.  The  independence  of  Panama  is  guaranteed  by  the 
treaty. 


THE    HAY-BUNAU-VARILLA   TREATY  911 

The  treaty  is  in  one  respect  far  more  satisfactory  to  the  United 
States  than  was  the  Hay-Herran  Treaty  :  it  grants  to  the  United 
States  practical  sovereignty  over  the  canal  belt  (ten  miles  wide  in 
stead  of  six-)  across  the  isthmus.  This  fact  is  highly  important  in 
view  of  the  frequent  revolutions  in  the  Latin- American  states. 

President  Roosevelt  discussed  the  subject  at  length  in  his  annual 
message  in  December ;  and  again  in  a  special  message  on  the  reas 
sembling  of  Congress  on  January  4,  1904  (the  Hay-Bunau-Varilla 
Treaty  being  then  before  the  Senate),  he  defended  the  course  of 
the  administration  with  great  force.  He  declared  that  the  United 
States  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  bringing  about  the  revolt  in 
Panama,  that  it  simply  recognized  the  new  nation,  as  it  had  a  right 
to  do,  that  "  he  would  not  for  one  moment  discuss  the  possibility  of 
the  United  States  committing  an  act  of  such  baseness  as  to  abandon 
the  new  republic,"  and  that  the  only  question  now  to  be  considered 
was  whether  to  build  the  canal  or  not  to  build  it.  After  some  weeks' 
debate  the  United  States  Senate  ratified  the  treaty  on  February  23, 
1904,  fourteen  votes  being  cast  against  it. 

The  Panama  Canal  when  finished  will  be  a  work  of  incalculable 
benefit  to  the  commercial  world.  The  distance  by  sea  from  New 
York  to  San  Francisco,  now  13,714  miles,  will  be  reduced  to  5299,  a 
saving  of  8415  ;  the  gain  from  Liverpool  to  San  Francisco  will  be  6046 
miles,  and  from  New  York  to  Sydney,  Australia,  about  4000  miles. 
Every  indication  now  points  to  an  early  beginning  of  work,  and  the 
American  people  are  intensely  gratified  that  the  great  project  of 
joining  the  two  oceans  by  a  ship  canal  is  to  be  deferred  no  longer. 


INDEX 


Abercrombie,  General,  184;  defeated  by  Mont- 
cairn,  187. 

Abraham,  Plains  of,  scaled  by  "Wolfe,  191. 

Acadia,  Nova  Scotia,  first  settlements  in,  160 
note ;  incorporated  with  Massachusetts,  126 ; 
ceded  to  France,  164;  bounds  of,  in  dispute, 
171 ;  English  expedition  to,  181. 

Acadians,  remain  true  to  France,  1S1 ;  dispersed 
by  the  English,  1S2  ;  later  history  of,  183 ; 
comments  on  dispersion  of,  1S3. 

Adams,  Charles  Francis,  minister  to  England, 
663;  protests  against  English-built  cruisers, 
819 ;  before  Liberal  convention,  824  ;  on  Geneva 
Commission,  821. 

Adams,  John,  in  First  Continental  Congress,  235  ; 
names  Washington  commander  of  army,  243  ; 
offers  resolutions,  252  ;  258  ;  signs  Treat}'  of 
Paris.  312  ;  at  London,  322  ;  elected  first  Vice 
President,  338  ;  inaugurated,  339 ;  on  Ames's 
speech,  359;  elected  President,  363 ;  sends  X. 
Y.  Z.  correspondence  to  Congress,  365;  ap 
points  new  minister  to  France,  367 ;  defeat, 
retirement,  character  of,  373. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  in  Monroe's  Cabinet,  454; 
signs  treaty  purchasing  Florida,  456;  elected 
President,  468  ;  notice  of,  469  ;  unpopularity  of, 
470 ;  retires,  481 ;  champions  right  of  petition, 
512. 

Adams,  Samuel,  revolutionary  leader,  230 ;  in 
First  Continental  Congress,  235;  escapes  the 
British,  238 ;  leads  for  independence,  252 ;  op 
poses  the  Constitution,  335 ;  is  converted  to 
new  Union,  336. 

Adet,  French  minister,  360. 

Aguinaldo,  Emilio,  leader  of  the  Filipinos,  896 ; 
capture  of,  898. 

Airy,  Mount,  fighting  at,  282. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  Treaty  of,  169. 

Alabama,  becomes  a  state,  456 ;  secedes,  629 ; 
under  carpetbag  government,  800. 

Alabama,  the,  building  and  career  of,  777  ;  de 
stroyed  by  the  Kearsarge,  777,  778. 

Alabama  claims,  the,  settlement,  819-821. 

Alamo,  massacre  of  the,  517. 

Alaska,  purchase  of,  812;  boundary  of,  settled, 
906. 

Albany  (Fort  Nassau,  Fort  Orange),  settled  by 
the  Dutch,  133. 


Albemarle  colony,  founded,  83  ;  declines,  85. 

Albemarle  Sound,  settlements  about,  83,  85. 

Albert,  Prince  Consort,  666. 

Alert,  the,  defeated  by  the  Essex,  421. 

Alexandria,  Virginia,  troops  collected  at,  654; 
death  of  Ellsworth  at,  654  note. 

Algiers,  preys  on  American  shipping,  355. 

Algonquin  Indians,  33  ;  side  with  French,  177. 

Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  368. 

Allen,  Charles  H.,  governor  of  Porto  Rico,  900. 

Allen,  Ethan,  leads  "Green  Mountain  Boys" 
against  Xew  York,  119  ;  captures  Ticonderoga, 
240 ;  captured  by  British,  249  ;  note  on,  267 ; 
316. 

Allen,  "William  H.,  surrenders  the  Argus,  424. 

Allen,  "William,  governor  of  Ohio,  833. 

Allouez,  Father,  explores  lake  region,  160. 

Alston,  Mrs.,  see  Burr,  Theodosia. 

Altgeld,  John  P.,  governor  of  Illinois,  SS4. 

Amendments,  constitutional,  340 ;  Thirteenth 
Amendment,  793;  Fourteenth,  796,  798;  Fif 
teenth,  798,  799 ;  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth 
inoperative  at  the  South,  804;  Fourteenth 
limited  by  Supreme  Court,  818. 

American  party,  see  Know-nothing  party. 

Ames,  Fisher,  in  First  Congress,  343 ;  great 
speech  of,  in  the  House,  359 ;  389. 

Amherst,  Jeffrey,  commands  troops  against 
Louisburg,  186;  British  commander  in  chief, 
takes  Ticonderoga,  189 ;  receives  surrender  of 
Montreal,  193. 

Anderson,  Robert,  abandons  Fort  Moultrie,  638; 
surrenders  Fort  Sumter,  642,  643  ;  in  command 
at  Louisville,  669;  relieved  by  Sherman,  679 
note  ;  hoists  flag  again  at  Sumter,  773. 

Andre,  Major  John,  plots  with  Arnold,  299 ;  is 
caught,  300  ;  executed,  301. 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  governor  of  Virginia,  73 ; 
sent  to  govern  Xew  England,  125 ;  downfall  of, 
126. 

Annapolis,  convention  at,  824. 

Anne,  queen  of  England,  sustains  Dissenters  in 
South  Carolina,  90 ;  succeeds  William  and 
Mary,  165. 

Antietam,  battle  of,  70S  sq. ;  effect  of,  on  the 
administration,  712. 

Anti-federalist  party,  opposes  the  Constitution, 
335  •  dissolution  of,  348. 


INDEX 


Anti-Masonic  party,  492. 

Appomattox,  Lee's  surrender  at,  conditions  of 
surrender,  772. 

Archdale,  John,  governor  of  the  Carolinas,  86,  89. 

Arctic  explorations,  877. 

Argall,  Samuel,  governor  of  Virginia,  67. 

Argus,  the,  captured  by  the  Pelican,  424. 

Arista,  Mexican  general,  defeated  by  Taylor,  527. 

Arkansas,  admission  of,  534;  secedes,  645;  lost 
to  Confederates  at  Pea  Ridge,  704;  accepts 
Lincoln's  plan  of  reconstruction,  788 ;  conten 
tion  for  governorship  of,  829. 

Arlington,  army  collected  at,  654. 

Armada,  the  Spanish,  sent  out  by  Philip  II,  57 ; 
defeated  by  the  English,  58 ;  effect  of  defeat  on 
American  history,  59. 

Armstrong,  John,  captures  Kittanning,  184 ;  in 
expedition  against  Fort  Duquesne,  188  ;  issues 
Newburg  addresses,  321 ;  secretary  of  war, 
plans  invasion  of  Canada,  427. 

Arnold,  Benedict,  joins  continental  army,  240  ; 
wounded  at  Quebec,  249 ;  sent  to  Hudson 
Valley,  270  ;  at  Saratoga,  273,  274 ;  strategy  of, 
288 ;  in  command  at  Philadelphia,  accused  by 
enemies,  298  ;  plans  to  betray  West  Point,  299  ; 
escapes,  301 ;  in  Virginia  as  British  commander, 
309  ;  harasses  Connecticut,  310. 

Arthur,  Chester  A.,  nominated  for  vice  presi 
dency,  852  ;  becomes  President,  notice  of,  854. 

Ashe,  General,  defeated  at  Briar  Creek,  302. 

Assembly,  the  colonial,  211,  212. 

Assumption  of  state  debts,  345,  346. 

Atchison,  David  R.,  on  importance  of  Kansas  to 
slavery,  586 ;  leads  Missourians  into  Kansas, 
587. 

Atlanta,  campaign  against,  758  sq. ;  taken  by 
Sherman,  760;  exposition  at,  854,  883. 

Australian  ballot,  the,  876. 

Ayllon,  De,  explores  Atlantic  coast,  54. 

Babcock,  Thomas  S.,  speaker  of  Confederate  Con 
gress,  705. 

Bacon,  Nathaniel,  character  of,  leads  rebellion 
against  Berkeley,  71;  72;  effect  of  rebellion 
of,  72. 

Bahama  Islands,  first  discovered  by  Columbus,  16. 

Bainbridge,  "William,  commands  the  Constitu 
tion,  422. 

Baker,  Edward  D.,  659;  killed  at  Ball's  Bluff, 
692. 

Balboa,  discovers  Pacific  Ocean,  26 ;  387. 

Ball's  Bluff,  battle  of,  692. 

Baltimore,  Lord,  see  Calvert. 

Baltimore,  Maryland,  saved  from  capture  by 
British,  437  ;  national  conventions  at,  518,  519, 
610,  762  ;  troops  fired  on  at,  650. 

Bancroft,  George,  in  Folk's  Cabinet,  minister  to 
England,  524  and  note  1 ;  writes  History  of  the 
United  States,  619. 


Bank,  the   United   States,   first  chaptered,  346  ; 

recharter  defeated,  443  ;  second  chartered,  452  ; 

third  charter  vetoed  by  Jackson,  493  ;  removal 

of  deposits  of,  494. 
Bank  Act,  the  National,  731,  732 ;  importance  of, 

*7QO 

To». 

Banks,  Nathaniel  P.,  elected  speaker  of  the 
House,  581  ;  appointed  to  command  of  an  army, 
656 ;  694  note  2 ;  defeated  by  Jackson,  696  ;  at 
Cedar  Mountain,  707  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  739. 

Baptists,  in  Pennsylvania,  204  ;  growth  and  mis 
sion  work  of,  620. 

Barclay,  Commodore,  commands  British  fleet  on 
Lake  Erie,  427 ;  defeated  by  Perry,  428. 

Barclay,  Robert,  governor  of  New  Jersey,  148. 

Barlow,  Joel,  author,  378. 

Barnburners  of  New  York,  523 ;  support  Van 
Buren,  538. 

Barney,  Joshua,  at  Bladensburg,  435,  436. 

Barre,  Isaac,  opinion  of,  on  American  resistance, 
226. 

Barren,  James,  in  command  of  the  Chesapeake, 
397 ;  is  suspended,  398. 

Barry,  William  T.,  in  Jackson's  Cabinet,  482. 

Bates,  Edward,  611 ;  in  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  641. 

Baum,  Friedrich,  in  command  at  Bennington, 
271,  272. 

Bayard,  Thomas  F.,  in  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  862. 

Beauregard,  P.  G.  T.,  commands  Confederates 
at  Charleston,  643  ;  at  Bull  Run,  655,  656 ;  takes 
command  at  Shiloh,  686. 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  defends  Abolitionists, 
510 ;  opposes  coercing  the  South,  638 ;  sup 
ports  Cleveland,  859. 

Belknap,  W.  W.,  impeached  by  the  House,  827. 

Bell,  Alexander,  inventor  of  the  telephone,  876. 

Bell,  John,  nominated  for  President,  612  ;  decides 
for  secession,  644,  645. 

Bellomont,  Earl  of,  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
sends  Kidd  against  the  pirates,  97  ;  governor 
of  New  York,  145. 

Belmont,  battle  at,  679. 

Benjamin,  Judah  P.,  in  Davis's  Cabinet,  632. 

Bennington,  battle  of,  271,  272. 

Benton,  Jessie,  Mrs.  Fremont,  530,  584. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  449;  defends  Jackson  in 
Senate,  495 ;  narrowly  escapes  death,  518 ; 
quarrel  of,  with  Foote,  545. 

Berkeley,  Lord,  purchases  portion  of  New  Jersey, 
146 ;  sells  to  Quakers,  147. 

Berkeley,  Sir  William,  becomes  governor  of  Vir 
ginia,  character  of,  69  ;  tyranny  of,  rebellion 
against,  71  ;  flees  before  Bacon,  is  restored, 
executes  his  enemies,  is  degraded,  dies,  72  ; 
report  of,  to  commissioners  in  England,  74. 

Bernard,  governor  of  Massachusetts,  dissolves 
the  assembly,  230. 

Biddle,  Nicholas,  493. 

Bidwell,  John,  nominated  for  President,  874. 


INDEX 


iii 


Bienville,  founds  New  Orleans,  16T. 

Big  Black  River,  battle  of,  737. 

Birney,  James  G.,  Free  Soil  candidate,  521. 

Bissell,  William  S.,  in  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  878. 

Black  Friday,  830. 

Black,  Jeremiah  S.,  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet,  633; 
change  of  attitude,  634 ;  6C3. 

Black  Warrior,  the,  615. 

Bladensburg,  battle  of,  436. 

Elaine,  James  G.,  elected  Speaker  of  the  House, 
816;  before  Cincinnati  convention,  835;  power 
of,  as  a  leader,  849 ;  quarrels  with  Conkling, 
849,  850  ;  defeated  in  convention,  851 ;  in  Gar- 
field's  Cabinet,  852  ;  nominated  for  the  presi 
dency,  857 ;  compared  with  Clay,  860 ;  in 
Harrison's  Cabinet,  86S ;  resigns,  874;  corre 
spondence  of,  concerning  the  proposed  isth 
mian  canal,  906. 

Blair,  Francis  P.,  483 ;  saves  Missouri  from  se 
ceding,  652 ;  nominated  for  vice  presidency, 
815. 

Blair,  Montgomery,  in  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  641  ; 
665. 

Blake,  Joseph,  governor  of  the  Carolinas,  89. 

Bland-Allison  law,  the,  833  ;  repealed,  869. 

Blennerhassett,  Harman,  in  Burr's  conspiracy, 
392. 

Block,  Adrian,  discovers  Connecticut  River,  111. 

Blockade,  proclaimed  by  Lincoln,  650,  651 ;  ef 
fect  of,  651 ;  76S. 

Blockhouse,  the  Xew  England,  202. 

Bloomfield,  Joseph,  416. 

Blue  Licks,  battle  of,  292. 

Blue-light  Federalists,  424. 

Bobadilla,  sends  Columbus  to  Spain  in  irons,  21. 

Bonaparte,  #ee  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 

Bonhomme  Richard,  commanded  by  Jones,  295. 

Boone,  Daniel,  plants  first  settlement  in  Ken 
tucky,  291 ;  at  battle  of  Blue  Licks,  292. 

Booth,  John  Wilkes,  assassinates  Lincoln,  773  ; 
escape,  capture,  and  death  of,  785. 

Boscawen,  commands  fleet  against  Louisburg, 
186. 

Boston,  founded  by  John  Winthrop,  106 ;  one  of 
four  largest  cities,  198 ;  tea  landed  at,  233 ; 
evacuated  by  Howe,  250. 

Boston  Massacre,  230. 

Boston  Port  Bill,  234. 

Boston  Tea  Party,  233. 

Bouquet,  Colonel,  in  expedition  against  Fort 
Duquesne,  188. 

Boutwell,  George  S.,  in  Peace  Congress,  635; 
659  ;  in  Grant's  Cabinet,  816. 

Boxer,  the,  captured  by  the  Enterprise,  424. 

Boyd,  General,  succeeds  Pike,  427. 

Braddock,  Edward,  arrives  in  Virginia,  178 ; 
leads  an  army  toward  Duquesne,  179  ;  is  sur 
prised  and  defeated,  180 ;  death  and  burial  of, 
181. 


Braddock's  Field,  defeat  of  English  on,  180. 

Bradford,  William,  governor  of  Plymouth,  101  ; 
sends  gunpowder  to  Canonicus,  101. 

Bradstreet,  John,  captures  Fort  Frontenac,  187. 

Bragg,  Braxton,  at  Shiloh,  684;  is  driven  across 
Kentucky  by  Buell,  fights  at  Perryville,  716, 
717 ;  at  Chickamauga,  748,  749 ;  defeated  at 
Chattanooga,  750,  751 ;  settles  at  Dalton,  751. 

Brandy  wine,  battle  of,  2S1. 

Brant,  Joseph,  Mohawk  chief,  293,  294. 

Breckenridge,  John  C.,  nominated  for  Vice  Presi 
dent,  583  ;  for  President,  610 ;  652,  659  ;  at 
Stone  River,  720. 

Brewster,  William,  leads  the  Pilgrims  of  the 
Mayflower,  99. 

Briar  Creek,  battle  at,  302. 

Bright,  John,  M.P.,  quoted,  663. 

Bristow,  Benjamin,  exposes  whiskey  ring,  827 ; 
recommends  Resumption  Act,  833. 

British  Empire,  beginning  of  its  greatness,  59. 
See  England. 

Brock,  Sir  Isaac,  forces  surrender  of  Michigan, 
417 ;  death  of,  418. 

Broke,  Captain,  captures  the  Chesapeake,  423, 
424. 

Brooke,  John  R.,  governor  of  Cuba,  900. 

Brookfield,  attacked  by  Indians,  122. 

Brooklyn  Heights,  battle  of,  256. 

Brooks,  Preston,  assaults  Sumner,  590. 

Brown,  B.  Gratz,  nominated  for  Vice  President, 
825. 

Brown,  Brockden,  author,  378. 

Brown,  Jacob,  at  Ogdensburg,  420 ;  in  command 
at  Lundy's  Lane,  432. 

Brown,  John,  leads  massacre  in  Kansas,  590, 
591 ;  seizes  Harpers  Ferry,  604  sq. ;  capture 
and  execution  of,  606  ;  estimate  of,  607. 

Brownlow,  William  A.,  in  the  Senate,  817. 

Bryan,  William  J.,  nominated  for  President,  no 
tice  of,  887,  888 ;  defeated  a  second  time  by 
McKinley,  897. 

Bryant,  William  Cullen,  476,  619. 

Buchanan,  Captain,  in  command  of  the  Jferri- 
mac,  674. 

Buchanan,  James,  515 ;  in  Folk's  Cabinet,  523  ; 
563  ;  issues  Ostend  Manifesto,  572  ;  nominated 
for  President,  583 ;  elected,  585 ;  appoints 
Walker  governor  of  Kansas.  592 ;  refuses  to 
sustain  him,  593 ;  urges  Lecompton  Constitu 
tion  for  Kansas.  593,  594  ;  attitude  of,  toward 
secession,  633,  634  ;  character  of,  634  ;  comes 
out  for  the  Union,  643. 

Buckner,  Simon  B.,  652  ;  surrenders  Fort  Donel- 
son,  682 ;  joins  Bragg  at  Chickamauga,  748, 
749  ;  nominated  for  the  vice  presidency,  888. 

Buell,  Don  Carlos,  in  command  at  Louisville, 
679  ;  occupies  Nashville,  683  ;  arrives  at  Pitts- 
burg  Landing,  686 ;  marches  to  Louisville,  at 
Perryville,  717  ;  is  dismissed,  notice  of,  718. 


iv 


INDEX 


Buffalo,  New  York,  burned  by  the  British,  427. 

Buford,  John,  opens  battle  at  Gettysburg,  740, 
742. 

Bullock,  J.  D.,  secures  the  building  of  the  Ala 
bama  and  other  vessels,  776. 

Bull  Run,  battle  of,  656,  657 ;  effect  of,  on  the 
North,  658,  669  ;  on  the  South,  669 ;  second 
battle  of,  708. 

Bunker  Hill,  battle  of,  245  sq. 

Burgesses,  House  of,  first  meeting  of,  in  Virginia, 
66,  67. 

Burgoyne,  John,  arrives  in  Boston,  245;  suc 
ceeds  Carleton,  268 ;  notice  of,  269  ;  captures 
Ticonderoga,  269 ;  at  Saratoga,  273,  274 ;  sur 
render  of,  275 ;  288,  289  ;  estimate  of,  315,  316. 

Burke,  Edmund,  on  tea  tax,  241 ;  543. 

Burlingarne  Treaty,  the,  841. 

Burns,  Anthony,  552  and  note. 

Burnside,  Ambrose  E.,  makes  expedition  to 
Eoanoake  Island,  captures  New  Berne,  671  ; 
joins  McClellan,  672 ;  at  Antietam,  710 ;  ap 
pointed  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac,  712  ;  defeated  at  Fredericksburg,  721,  722  ; 
resigns,  722 ;  arrests  Vallandigham,  729 ;  at 
Knoxville,  751. 

Burr,  Aaron,  in  expedition  to  Canada,  249 ;  be 
comes  Vice  President,  371,  372 ;  Fedejglist 
candidate  for  governor  of  New  York,  defeated, 
389  ;  kills  Hamilton,  390  ;  flees,  391 ;  conspiracy 
of,  392 ;  arrest  and  trial  of,  393 ;  later  life  and 
death  of,  394,  406. 

Burr,  Theodosia,  392,  406. 

Butler,  Benjamin  F.,  occupies  Baltimore,  650; 
at  Fortress  Monroe,  655 ;  leads  expedition  to 
Pamlico  Sound,  671 ;  at  New  Orleans,  688,  690, 
702  ;  refuses  to  send  negroes  back  to  masters, 
712 ;  nominated  for  President,  857. 

Butler,  John,  at  Wyoming,  293. 

Butler,  Walter,  in  Cherry  Valley  massacre,  294. 

Butler,  William  O.,  candidate  for  vice  presidency, 
538. 

Butler,  Zebulon,  at  Wyoming,  293. 

Cabinet,  the,  created  by  Congress,  343 ;  present 
composition  of,  344  note  1 ;  department  of 
commerce  created,  906.  See  under  the  various 
presidents. 

Cabot,  George,  389. 

Cabot,  John,  birthplace  of,  removes  to  England, 
receives  grant  from  king  to  seek  western 
lands,  23 ;  discovers  North  America,  explores 
coast,  24. 

Cabot,  Sebastian,  plays  false  to  the  memory  of 
his  father,  24. 

Cabral,  discovers  Brazil,  26. 

Calhoun,  John  Caldwell,  enters  Congress,  413  ; 
in  Monroe's  Cabinet,  454 ;  favors  internal  im 
provements,  462  ;  candidate  for  the  presidency, 
466  ;  elected  Vice  President,  467  ;  parallel  of, 


with  Jackson,  485 ;  quarrels  with  Jackson, 
486, 487  ;  disappointment  of,  becomes  champion 
of  slavery,  487  ;  opposes  Jackson's  bank  policy, 
495  ;  pronounces  slavery  a  positive  good,  511 
and  note  ;  last  speech,  death,  character  of,  541, 
542. 

California,  offer  to  purchase  from  Mexico,  526 ; 
conquest  of,  529 ;  ceded  to  the  United  States, 
534 ;  frames  free  state  constitution,  539  ;  ad 
mitted  to  the  Union,  546,  624. 

Calvert,  Benedict,  fourth  Lord  Baltimore,  82. 

Calvert,  Cecilius,  second  Lord  Baltimore,  receives 
charter  for  and  founds  colony  of  Maryland,  77 ; 
establishes  religious  liberty,  78 ;  appoints  Prot 
estant  governor,  80  ;  death  of,  81. 

Calvert,  Charles,  becomes  governor  of  Maryland, 
then  third  Lord  Baltimore,  81. 

Calvert,  Charles,  fifth  Lord  Baltimore,  83. 

Calvert,  George,  Lord  Baltimore,  founds  colony 
in  Newfoundland,  76 ;  receives  promise  of 
charter  for  Maryland,  dies,  77. 

Calvert,  Leonard,  first  governor  of  Maryland,  79. 

Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  seat  of  Harvard  Col 
lege,  Washington  meets  army  at,  247 ;  flag  first 
used  at,  254. 

Cameron,  Simon,  611 ;  in  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  641. 

Campbell,  William,  at  King's  Mountain,  306. 

Campos,  General,  Spanish  commandant  in  Cuba, 
890. 

Canada,  first  settlements  in,  160  and  note ;  con 
quest  of,  by  the  English,  192 ;  ceded  to  Eng 
land,  193;  insurrection  in,  340,  508;  fisheries 
dispute  with,  847  ftq.  ;  reciprocity  with,  847. 

Canal,  the  Erie,  473 ;  other  canals,  474 ;  the 
isthmian,  560,  906  sq.  See  Panama. 

Canby,  Edward  11.  S.,  receives  the  surrender  of 
Mobile,  761  ;  killed  by  Captain  Jack,  828. 

Canonicus,  chief  of  Narragansetts,  sends  snake- 
skin  of  arrows  to  Plymouth,  101 ;  befriends 
Eoger  Williams,  115. 

Cape  Breton  Island,  seat  of  fortress  of  Louisburg, 
167. 

Capital,  national,  locating  of,  345,  346 ;  removal 
to,  375  ;  captured  and  burned  by  British,  436. 
See  Washington,  city  of. 

Capitol,  the,  corner  stone  of,  laid,  375  ;  burned  by 
the  British,  436. 

Carleton,  Sir  Guy,  defends  Quebec,  249  note ; 
256. 

Carlisle,  John  G.,  in  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  878. 

Caroline  Affair,  the,  340,  508. 

Carpetbaggers,  the,  799. 

Carpetbag  governments,  the,  799  sq.,  838. 

Carroll,  Charles,  in  First  Congressj  342  ;  death 
of,  508. 

Carteret,  Sir  George,  purchases  New  Jersey, 
sends  colonists,  146. 

Carteret,  Philip,  governor  of  New  Jersey,  146 ; 
arrested  by  Andros,  148. 


INDEX 


Cartier,  Jacques,  explores  St.  Lawrence,  54. 

Carver,  John,  first  governor  of  Plymouth,  100. 

Cass,  Lewis,  stationed  at  Detroit,  431  ;  in  Jack 
son's  Cabinet,  483 ;  nominated  for  the  presi 
dency,  53T  ;  defeated,  538  ;  anecdote  of,  562  ; 
563;  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet,  586;  resigns, 
633. 

Caswell,  Richard,  commands  at  Moore's  Creek, 
255. 

Catharine  II,  empress  of  Eussia,  refuses  troops 
to  George  III,  251  note. 

Cathay,  see  China. 

Catholics,  Eoman,  settle  in  Maryland,  78;  de 
nied  religious  liberty  in  Man-land,  81 ;  de 
barred  from  Georgia,  94 ;  in  Canada,  174,  175  ; 
in  Pennsylvania,  204 ;  growth  and  mission 
work  of,  620. 

Cavaliers,  the,  in  England,  defeated  by  Cromwell, 
69  ;  exodus  of,  to  Virginia,  70. 

Cedar  Creek,  battle  of,  758. 

Cedar  Mountain,  battle  of,  707. 

Centennial,  the,  833  sq. 

Cerro  Gordo,  battle  of,  531 . 

Cervera,  Pascual,  in  Santiago  Harbor,  893 ; 
captured  in  battle  of  Santiago,  894. 

Chadd's  Ford,  battle  at,  281. 

Chaffee,  Adna  R.,  in  Cuba,  893  ;  military  gov 
ernor  of  the  Philippines,  898  note. 

Chambersburg,  Pennsylvania,  burned  by  Mc- 
Causland,  757. 

Champion  Hill,  battle  of,  737. 

Cham  plain,  Samuel  de,  explores  St.  Lawrence, 
founds  Quebec,  160  and  note. 

Chancellorsville,  battle  of,  723,  724. 

Channing,  William  Ellery,  defends  abolitionists, 
510. 

Chantilly,  battle  of,  708. 

Charles  I,  king  of  England,  defeated  and  be 
headed,  70  ;  grants  Massachusetts  charter,  104 ; 
hostility  to  Massachusetts,  107. 

Charles  II,  king  of  England,  character  of,  at 
titude  toward  Virginia,  70  ;  degrades  Berkeley, 
72  ;  grants  Carolina  charter,  83  ;  cancels  Massa 
chusetts  charter,  111;  grants  Connecticut 
charter,  115 ;  offended  at  declaration  of  rights, 
123  ;  and  other  acts,  124 ;  gives  New  York  and 
New  Jersey  to  his  brother,  138 ;  his  right  to 
New  Amsterdam,  139 ;  death  of,  142 ;  grants 
charter  to  William  Penn,  152. 

Charleston,  South  Carolina,  founded,  88 ;  attacked 
by  French  and  Spanish  fleet,  90 ;  burned  and 
rebuilt,  92  ;  early  importance  of,  as  a  seaport, 
93 ;  one  of  the  four  largest  cities,  198 ;  is  de 
fended  against  Clinton,  255;  surrenders  to 
British,  302  ;  landing  of  Genet  at,  352  ;  anti- 
abolition  riots  at.  512  ;  meeting  of  Democratic 
convention  at,  609  sq.  ;  burning  of,  769  ;  cele 
bration  at,  773. 

Charter   granted :    to  Gilbert,   to    Raleigh,   59  ; 


to  London  and  Plymouth  companies,  61 ; 
second  to  Virginia,  64  ;  third,  66 ;  to  Calvert, 
77 ;  to  Carolina,  83 ;  for  Georgia,  94 ;  to  Council 
for  New  England,  104 ;  to  Connecticut,  115 ; 
to  Williams,  116;  to  Gorges,  119;  second  to 
Massachusetts,  126;  to  Dutch  West  India 
Company,  132  ;  to  William  Penn,  152. 

Charter  oak,  126. 

Chase,  Justice,  Samuel,  impeached,  382. 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  writes  appeal  of  independent 
Democrats,  575 ;  leads  opposition  to  Douglas, 
576 ;  577  ;  governor  of  Ohio,  584  ;  611 ;  in  Peace 
Congress,  636;  in  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  641; 
originates  national  banking  s}-stem,  731,  732; 
aspirant  for  the  presidency,  762  ;  presides  at 
Johnson's  trial,  808  sq. ;  chief  justice,  aspires 
to  Democratic  nomination  for  the  presidency, 
814,  815. 

Chatham,  earl  of,  see  Pitt. 

Chauncey,  Commodore,  418. 

Cheeves,  Langdon,  414. 

Cherbourg,  France,  fight  of  Alabama  and  Kear- 
sarge  at,  777. 

Cherry  Valley  massacre,  294. 

Cherubusco,  battle  of,  533. 

Chesapeake,  the,  fired  on  by  the  Leopard,  397. 

Chestnut  Hill,  fighting  near,  282. 

Chicago,  478 ;  national  conventions  at,  610,  764, 
851,  857,  874,  887 ;  great  fire  at,  841  ;  world's 
fair  at,  881  sq. ;  railroad  strike  in,  884. 

Chickahominy  River,  the,  operations  on,  696. 

Chickamauga,  battle  of,  749. 

Chickasaw  Bayou,  Sherman's  defeat  at,  735. 

Chile,  dispute  with,  873. 

China,  European  trade  with,  2 ;  employs  Bur- 
lingame,  makes  treaty,  842 ;  Boxer  uprising 
in,  903. 

Chinese  immigration,  origin  of,  842 ;  great  in 
crease  of,  846  ;  laws  to  check,  846. 

Chippewa,  battle  of,  431. 

Choate,  Rufus,  568. 

Chrystler's  Field,  battle  of,  427. 

Church,  Ben,  in  King  Philip's  War,  123. 

Cincinnati,  named  by  St.  Clair,  379 ;  "  Queen 
City,"  478  ;  national  conventions  at,  823,  835. 

Cincinnati,  society  of,  326. 

Civil  Rights  Bill  of  1866,  796 ;  of  1875,  803 ;  pro 
nounced  unconstitutional,  804. 

Civil  service  reform,  855,  856,  862,  885  note. 

Civil  War,  the,  647  sq. ;  causes  of,  624  sq. ;  first 
shots  of,  638,  643;  first  bloodshed  of,  650; 
magnitude  of,  780 ;  cost  of,  781 ;  great  leaders 
of,  782';  results  of,  782,  783. 

Clarendon  colony,  founded  by  Teamans,  83 ;  de 
clines,  85. 

Clark,  George  Rogers,  devastates  Indian  country, 
conquers  Illinois  country,  292  ;  319. 

Clark,  William,  in  expedition  to  Northwest,  387, 
388. 


vi 


INDEX 


Clay,  Cassius  M.,  opposes  Grant's  renomination, 
823. 

Clay,  Henry,  413 ;  early  life  of,  elected  speaker 
of  the  House,  414;  connection  of,  with  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  460,  461  and  note  1 ; 
favors  "  American  system  "  of  protection,  465  ; 
candidate  for  presidency  in  1824,  466;  duel  of, 
with  Randolph,  468  ;  becomes  secretary  of  state, 
468  ;  promotes  Panama  Congress,  470  ;  arranges 
tariff  compromise,  491  ;  defeated  by  Jackson  ; 
493,  494;  opposes  Jackson's  bank  policy,  495; 
founds  the  Whig  party,  502  ;  defeated  by  Harri 
son  in  convention,  506  ;  opposes  Tyler,  515  ; 
nominated  for  presidency  by  Whigs,  518 ; 
campaign  blunders  of,  520,  521 ;  defeat  of,  by 
Polk,  521 ;  refuses  to  support  Taylor,  537 ; 
introduces  compromise  measures,  541 ;  anec 
dotes  of,  561  ;  last  illness  and  death  of,  566 ; 
character  of,  compared  with  Webster,  567 ; 
compared  with  Elaine,  860. 

Clayborne,  William,  settles  on  Kent  Island,  re 
sists  the  Maryland  people,  79. 

Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty,  560,  906,  907  ;  superseded 
by  Hay-Pauncefote  Treaty,  561,  909. 

Clayton,  John  M.,  560. 

Cleveland,  Grover,  515 ;  nominated  for  President, 
857  ;  early  life  of,  858  ;  election  of,  800  ;  vetoes 
Dependent  Pension  bill,  863 ;  issues  tariff 
message,  866 ;  defeated  by  Harrison,  867  ;  re- 
nominated,  874;  reflected,  875;  Cooper  Union 
letter  of,  875 ;  second  inauguration  of,  with 
draws  Hawaiian  Treaty,  878,  879  ;  urges  repeal 
of  Sherman  law,  880;  sends  troops  to  quell 
Chicago  riot,  884 ;  sends  Venezuelan  message 
to  Congress,  884,  885  ;  becomes  estranged  from 
his  party,  want  of  tact  of,  886  ;  warns  Spain,  890. 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  Fremont  nominated  at,  762. 

Clinton,  De  Witt,  defeated  for  the  presidency, 
453  ;  projector  of  Erie  Canal,  473. 

Clinton,  George,  opposes  the  Constitution,  335  ; 
elected  Vice  President,  394 ;  408,  409. 

Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  arrives  in  Boston,  245 ;  is 
sent  South,  254;  returns,  256;  moves  up  the 
Hudson,  274 ;  supersedes  Howe,  285 ;  leaves 
Philadelphia,  285 ;  arrives  at  Savannah,  302 ; 
captures  Charleston,  303 ;  returns  to  New 
York,  304  ;  estimate  of,  315,  316. 

Cobb,  Howell,  elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  540 ; 
in  Buchanan's  Cabinet,  587. 

Cochrane,  Admiral,  blockades  Baltimore,  437 ; 
commands  fleet  at  New  Orleans,  439. 

Cockburn,  Admiral,  blockades  American  coast, 
425  ;  in  Washington  campaign,  435.  * 

Cockburn,  Sir  Alexander,  on  Geneva  tribunal, 
821. 

Coddington,  William,  settles  in  Rhode  Island, 
founds  Newport,  115;  obtains  a  charter,  116. 

Coffee,  John,  aids  Jackson  against  the  Creeks, 
439  ;  at  New  Orleans,  440. 


Coffin,  Levi,  president  Underground  Railroad, 
554,  555. 

Colden,  lieutenant  governor  of  New  York,  227. 

Cold  Harbor,  battle  of,  755. 

Colfax,  Schuyler,  nominated  for  vice  presidency, 
813. 

Collamer,  Jacob,  659. 

Colombia,  issues  grant  to  French  company,  907  ; 
rejects  Hay-Herran  Canal  Treaty,  910. 

Colorado,  organized  as  a  territory,  637. 

Columbia,  South  Carolina,  burning  of,  769. 

Columbian  Exposition,  at  Chicago,  881  sq. 

Columbia  River,  explored  by  Captain  Grey,  by 
Lewis  and  Clark,  387. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  early  life,  education  of, 
voyages  on  the  Mediterranean,  7 ;  removes  to 
Lisbon,  personal  appearance  of,  conceives  idea 
of  sailing  westward  to  find  Indies,  8 ;  denied 
aid  in  Portugal,  goes  to  Spain,  9  ;  obtains  hear 
ing  at  Spanish  court,  10  ;  begins  great  voyage, 
11 ;  discovers  land,  15  ;  names  natives  Indians, 
17 ;  embarks  for  Spain,  18 ;  reception  of,  in 
Spain,  19 ;  makes  second  voyage,  20 ;  sent  to 
Spain  in  irons,  21 ;  dies  at  Valladolid,  22 ;  im 
portance  of  work  of,  23  ;  fatalities  in  life  of,  25 ; 
burial  places  of,  22  note. 

Committees  of  Correspondence,  234. 

"Common  Sense,"  written  by  Paine,  252. 

Commonwealth,  of  England,  relations  to  Vir 
ginia,  69. 

Compromises  :  of  the  Constitution,  330,  331 ;  the 
Missouri,  456  sq. ;  on  the  tariff,  491 ;  of  1850, 
or  Omnibus  Bill,  541,  passing  of,  546,  character 
of,  547 ;  567. 

"  Concessions,"  the,  granted  for  New  Jersey  by 
Carteret,  146. 

Concord,  fight  with  British  at,  239. 

Confederacy,  the  Southern,  formed,  adopts  Con 
stitution,  630 ;  moves  seat  to  Richmond,  645, 
704  ;  notice  of,  704-706. 

Confederate  Congress,  authorizes  raising  troops, 
670 ;  doings  of,  705,  706 ;  methods  of  raising 
money,  706. 

Confederate  Constitution,  adopted,  compared 
with  the  Federal  Constitution,  630  ;  provisions 
of,  630,  631. 

Confederation,  Articles  of,  framed  and  adopted, 
318;  defects  in,  320,  321. 

Confederation,  New  England,  formed,  object  of, 
120  ;  provisions  of,  121. 

Confederation,  the  national,  formed,  318  sq. ; 
merges  into  national  Union,  338. 

Confiscation  acts,  661,  713. 

Conger,  E.  H.,  minister  to  China,  903. 

Congregational  Church,  state  church  in  New 
England,  206;  growth  and  mission  work  of, 
620. 

Congress,  the,  captured  by  the  Merrimac,  and 
sunk,  674. 


INDEX 


Congress  :  first  colonial,  144 ;  Stamp  Act,  227  ; 
First  Continental,  235;  provincial,  in  Massachu 
setts,  237  ;  Second  Continental,  243  ;  doings  of, 
243,  244 ;  assumes  sovereign  powers,  252  ;  de 
generation  of,  318. 

Congress,  of  Confederation,  want  of  power  of, 
320,  323  ;  attempts  to  tax  the  states,  321,  322  ; 
flees  before  soldiers,  322  ;  passes  ordinance  of 
17S7,  324  ;  approves  Constitutional  Convention, 
325 ;  sends  Constitution  to  the  states,  334 ; 
ceases  to  exist,  338. 

Congress,  the  national,  ratifies  Ordinance  of 
1787,  324;  first  session  of,  339;  composition 
and  responsibility  of,  342;  passes  tariff  and 
creates  Cabinet,  343  ;  sends  fleet  to  Mediterra 
nean,  354 ;  prepares  for  war  with  France,  365  ; 
lays  embargo,  400 ;  declares  war,  414.  See 
various  acts. 

Conkling,  Roscoe,  quarrel  of,  with  Blaine,  849  sq.  ; 
attempts  to  nominate  Grant  for  third  term, 
851 ;  resigns  from  the  Senate,  853 ;  refuses  to 
support  Blaine,  860. 

Connecticut,  colony  of,  founded  by  Thomas 
Hooker,  112;  produces  first  written  constitu 
tion,  government  of,  113  ;  secures  charter,  115  ; 
joins  in  confederation,  120;  saves  charter  from 
Andros,  125 ;  claims  and  settles  Wyoming 
Valley,  292,  293. 

Connecticut,  state  of.  claims  western  lands,  319 ; 
claims  Wyoming  Valley,  quarrels  with  Penn 
sylvania,  321  ;  refuses  militia  for  War  of  1812, 
416;  emancipates  slaves,  458. 

Constantinople,  trade  of,  with  East,  1 ;  captured 
by  Turks,  2. 

Constitution,  the,  defeats  the  Guerriere,  420, 
421;  captures  the  Java,  422. 

Constitution,  the  Federal,  framed  at  Philadel 
phia,  327  $q.  ;  compromises  of,  330,  331  ; 
sources  of.  333;  points  of  difference  with 
Articles  of  Confederation,  334 ;  sent  to  the 
states,  335  ;  amendments  to,  340  ;  defects  in, 
340  ;  first  test  of,  347  ;  two  constructions  of, 
348.  See  Amendments. 

Constitutional  Convention,  meets  in  Philadelphia, 
327 ;  doings  of,  debates  in,  composition  of, 
327  sq. 

Constitutional  Union  party,  612. 

Continental  Congress,  First,  235  ;  character  and 
acts  of,  236 ;  Second,  243  ;  assumes  sovereign 
power.  252  ;  declares  independence,  253  ;  inter 
feres  with  the  army,  259  ;  makes  Washington 
dictator,  261 ;  flees  to  Baltimore,  262  ;  degen 
eracy  of,  283. 

Continental  money',  314. 

Contreras,  battle  of,  532. 

Conway  Cabal,  284. 

Conway,  Thomas,  intrigues  against  Washington, 
284. 

Conyngham,  Gustavus,  sea  captain,  295. 


Cooper,  James  Fenimore,  476,  619. 

Cooper,  Peter,  nominated  for  President,  837. 

Copley,  John  S.,  artist,  378. 

Corbin,  A.  R.,  corners  gold  market,  830. 

Corinth,  battle  of,  719. 

Cornbury,  Lord,  governor  of  New  York,  145. 

Cornstalk,  Indian  chief,  290. 

Cornwallis,  Lord  Charles,  joins  Clinton  in  the 
South,  255  ;  at  Long  Island.  257  :  at  Trenton, 
264 ;  at  Brandy  wine,  281  ;  at  Monmouth,  2S6  ; 
in  command  at  the  South,  304 :  at  Guilford 
Courthouse,  retreats  to  coast,  308 ;  surrenders 
at  Yorktown,  311  ;  estimate  of,  315. 

Coronado,  explores  southwest,  54. 

Cortelyou.  George  B.,  in  Roosevelt's  Cabinet, 
905. 

Cortereal,  explorations  of,  26. 

Cotton  gin,  458. 

Cotton,  great  staple  of  the  South,  Confederate 
loans  of,  706 ;  production  and  exports  of,  883 
and  note. 

Cotton,  John,  pastor  at  Boston,  rivalry  with 
Hooker,  112. 

Council  for  New  England,  secures  charter.  104. 

Council,  the,  in  colonial  government,  211,  212. 

Court,  Federal  Supreme,  unique  powers  of,  334 ; 
first  organized,  344;  important  decisions  of: 
Dred  Scott  case,  595  sq. ;  the  Milligan  case, 
730  note  1  ;  Texas  r*.  White,  786  note,  817  ; 
Williams  rs.  Mississippi,  804;  Legal  Tender, 
817  ;  Slaughter  House,  SIS  ;  Northern  Securi 
ties  case,  869  note  ;  the  insular  decisions,  900 
note. 

Court,  General,  of  Massachusetts,  107  ;  banishes 
Roger  Williams,  108;  and  Anne  Hutchinson, 
109  ;  issues  declaration  of  rights,  123 ;  estab 
lishes  schools,  207. 

Courts,  the  colonial,  213. 

Cox,  Jacob  D.,  in  Grant's  Cabinet,  816. 

Crandall,  Prudence,  imprisoned  for  teaching 
colored  children,  510. 

Cranfill,  J.  B.,  nominated  for  Vice  President,  874. 

Craven.  Charles,  governor  of  South  Carolina,  91. 

Crawford  Act,  466. 

Crawford,  William  H.,  in  Monroe's  Cabinet,  354  ; 
candidate  for  the  presidency,  466. 

Credit  Mobilier,  818,  827. 

Creek  Indians,  438 ;  defeated  by  Jackson,  439 ; 
removed  from  their  lands,  471,  472. 

Creole  Affair,  the,  522. 

Cresswell,  J.  A.  J.,  in  Grant's  Cabinet,  816. 

Crittenden,  George  B.,  678. 

Crittenden,  John  J.,  offers  "  Crittenden  Com 
promise,"  635  ;  offers  resolution  in  Congress, 
660. 

Crittenden,  Thomas,  at  Mill  Spring,  678. 

Crittenden  Compromise.  635,  636. 

Crockett,  Davy,  killed  at  the  Alamo,  517. 

Croghan,  George,  defends  Fort  Stephenson,  42?. 


viii 


INDEX 


Cromwell,  Oliver,  triumphs  over  the  Cavaliers, 
69  ;  decides  against  Puritans  in  Maryland,  81. 

Crosby,  governor  of  New  York,  enters  suit 
against  Peter  Zenger,  145. 

Crown  Point,  founded  by  the  French,  168 ;  ex 
pedition  against,  183 ;  captured  by  Seth 
Warner,  241. 

Crusades,  the,  effect  of,  on  Europe,  2. 

Cuba,  discovered  by  Columbus,  IT  ;  invaded  by 
Lopez,  562 ;  annexation  of,  desired,  572 ; 
Spanish  misrule  in,  rises  against  Spain,  890 ; 
American  army  in,  893  ;  wrested  from  Spain, 
894  ;  American  occupation  of,  900,  901 ;  Consti 
tutional  convention  in,  901  ;  first  general  elec 
tion  in,  .902 ;  becomes  a  republic,  902 ;  reci 
procity  treaty  with,  906. 

Culpepper,  John,  leads  rebellion  in  North  Caro 
lina,  85. 

Culpepper,  Lord,  governor  of  Virginia,  73. 

Cumberland,  the,  sunk  by  the  Merrimac,  674. 

Cumberland  Road,  the,  451,  465. 

Curtin,  Andrew,  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  613  ; 
726. 

Curtis,  Benjamin  R.,  opinion  of,  in  Dred  Scott 
case,  596 ;  726 ;  at  Johnson's  trial,  808. 

Curtis,  Samuel  R.,  Union  commander  at  Pea 
Ridge,  687. 

Cushing,  Caleb,  in  Pierce's  Cabinet,  571 ;  572 
note  1. 

Custer,  George  A.,  killed  in  Indian  war,  828. 

Czar  of  Russia,  offers  mediation  in  War  of  1812, 
434 ;  proposes  The  Hague  Tribunal,  903,  904. 

Dade,  Major,  ambushed  by  Indians,  497. 

Dakota,  organized  as  a  territory,  637. 

Dale,  Richard,  punishes  Tripoli,  382. 

Dale,  Sir  Thomas,  governor  of  Virginia,  65. 

Dallas,  Alexander  J.,  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
recommends  a  bank  bill,  445;  secures  second 
bank  charter,  452. 

Dallas,  George  M.,  Vice  President,  519,  521. 

Dana,  Charles  A.,  opposes  Grant's  renomination, 
822. 

Dare,  Virginia,  first  English  child  born  in  Amer- 
"ica,  59. 

Davenport,  John,  founds  New  Haven,  113,  114. 

Davis,  David,  opposes  Grant's  renomination,  822 ; 
elected  to  the  Senate,  839. 

Davis,  Henry  Winter,  issues  paper  against  Lin 
coln,  789. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  in  Pierce's  Cabinet,  571 ;  con 
sults  concerning  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  575 ; 
608  ;  notice  of,  elected  President  of  the  Confed 
eracy,  631,  705;  636;  withdraws  from  the  Sen 
ate,  637 ;  sends  agents  to  Washington,  641 ; 
calls  for  troops  and  calls  Congress,  653 ;  mili 
tary  strategy  of,  696 ;  at  battle  of  Frazier's 
Farm,  699  ;  dominates  Confederate  Congress, 
705 ;  refuses  overtures  of  peace,  763  ;  flees  from 


Richmond,  771;  compared  with  Lincoln,  783; 
flight,  capture,  imprisonment,  release  of,  784. 

Day,  William  R,,  aids  in  framing  treaty  with 
Spain,  895. 

Dayton,  Jonathan,  in  Burr's  conspiracy,  392. 

Dayton,  William  L.,  nominated  for  Vice  Presi 
dent,  584. 

Deane,  Silas,  sent  to  Paris,  276. 

Dearborn,  Fort,  415 ;  destroyed  by  Indians,  418. 

Dearborn,  Henry,  415  ;  fails  to  aid  Hull,  417,  418 ; 
426;  is  relieved  of  command,  427. 

Debt,  the  public,  in  1790,  344;  in  1837,  504;  in 
1861,  731  ;  in  1865,  781. 

Decatur,  Stephen,  in  command  of  the  United 
States,  422. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  events  leading  to, 
251 ;  passed,  253 ;  reception  of,  by  the  people, 
254. 

Declaration  of  rights,  issued  by  Massachusetts, 
123  ;  Doyle's  opinion  of,  124. 

Declaratory  act,  229. 

Deerfield,  attacked  by  Indians,  122,  1C5. 

Delaware,  colony  of,  first  settled  by  the  Dutch, 
colony  destroyed  by  Indians,  149 ;  included  in 
English  conquest  of  New  Netherlands,  is  sold 
to  William  Penn,  is  annexed  to  Pennsylvania, 
151,  154,  156. 

Delaware  Indians,  make  treaty  with  Penn,  155. 

Delaware,  Lord,  governor  of  Virginia,  rescues 
colony,  65. 

Delaware,  state  of,  first  to  ratify  the  Constitution, 
835 ;  382. 

De  Long,  George  W.,  explorer  of  Arctic  seas,  877. 

Demarcation,  line  of,  20. 

Democracy,  evolution  of,  in  Virginia,  66 ;  in  Mary 
land,  78;  complete  triumph  of,  479  et  passim. 

Democratic  party,  founded  by  Jefferson,  348  sq.  ; 
gains  control  of  the  government,  372 ;  impor 
tance  of  its  victory,  376  ;  increase  under  Jeffer 
son,  382,  388;  reasons  for  surviving  the  Whig 
party,  570 ;  split  at  Charleston,  609 ;  gains  of, 
in  1S62,  715 ;  opposes  administration,  725  sq. ; 
pronounces  the  war  a  failure,  764 ;  opposes 
Republican  reconstruction,  814;  joins  the  Lib 
eral  Republicans,  825;  regains  supremacy,  8fi(). 

Demonetization  of  silver,  by  the  United  States, 
831 ;  by  Germany,  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Den 
mark,  885. 

De  Soto,  see  Soto. 

Detroit,  founded  by  the  French,  168;  besieged 
by  Pontiac,  195;  415. 

Dewey,  George,  at  battle  of  Manila,  892 ;  made 
an  admiral,  908. 

Dexter,  Samuel,  is  appointed  secretary  of  war, 
371. 

Diaz,  Bartholomew,  great  voyage  of,  4. 

Dickinson,  John,  writes  "Letters  of  a  Farmer," 
230;  in  First  Continental  Congress,  235;  op 
poses  independence,  252,  253  ;  reports  Articles 


INDEX 


IX 


of  Confederation,  318 ;  in  Constitutional  Con 
vention,  328. 

Dieskau,  French  commander,  defeated  and  slain, 
183,  184. 

Dingley,  Nelson,  frames  Dingley  Tariff,  889. 

Dingley  Tariff,  the,  8S9. 

Dinwiddie,  Robert,  governor  of  Virginia,  sends 
Washington  on  mission,  172,  173 ;  attempts  to 
awaken  the  colonists  to  action,  176;  receives 
General  Braddock,  178;  proposes  a  stamp  tax 
for  America,  225. 

Dissenters,  in  North  Carolina,  86 ;  excluded  from 
assembly  in  South  Carolina,  appeal  to  House 
of  Lords,  90. 

Dix,  John  A.,  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet,  634. 

Dixon,  Senator,  amends  Kansas-Nebraska  bill, 
571. 

Dole,  Sanford  B.,  president  of  Hawaii,  878. 

Donelson,  Fort,  invested  by  Union  army,  680 ; 
surrendered,  682. 

Dongan,  Thomas,  governor  of  New  York,  142, 
163. 

Donop,  Count,  at  Bordentown,  262. 

Dorr,  Thomas  W.,  leads  Dorr  rebellion  in  Rhode 
Island,  522. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  563;  introduces  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  573 ;  motives  for  doing  so,  573, 
575 ;  counsel  of,  with  Pierce  and  Davis,  575 ; 
great  speech  of,  576;  great  blunder  of,  577; 
opposes  Lecompton  constitution,  594,  595 ;  de 
fends  Dred  Scott  decision,  597  ;  early  life  and 
characteristics  of,  599  ;  compared  with  Lincoln, 
601  ;  power  of.  as  an  orator,  602 ;  utters  "  Free- 
port  doctrine,"  wins  senatorship,  603 ;  nomi 
nated  for  presidency,  610 ;  defeated,  613,  614 ; 
great  influence  of,  decides  for  the  Union,  643  ; 
death  of,  644 ;  at  Columbus,  646. 

Dover,  New  Hampshire,  destroyed  by  Indians, 
163. 

Dow,  Neal,  Prohibition  candidate  for  President, 
852. 

Downie,  George,  killed  on  Lake  Champlain,  434. 

Draft,  the,  727  ;  exemptions  from,  727  note  2 ; 
opposed  in  New  York,  728. 

Drake,  Francis,  great  voyage  of,  attacks  Spain, 
57  ;  rescues  Raleigh's  colony,  59. 

Drayton,  Percival,  in  fleet  against  Port  Royal, 
672. 

Drayton,  T.  F.,  in  command  at  Port  Royal, 
672. 

Dred  Scott  decision,  595  sq.,  625. 

Drummond,  Gordon,  in  command  of  British  at 
Lundy's  Lane,  432  ;  attacks  Fort  Erie,  433. 

Drummond,  William,  governor  of  North  Carolina, 
85 ;  executed  by  Berkeley,  72. 

Dudley,  Joseph,  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
166. 

Dudley,  Thomas,  deputy  governor  of  Massa 
chusetts,  105;  governor,  108. 


Duncan,  Johnson  K.,  commands  forts  Jackson 
and  St.  Philips,  689. 

Dunkards,  in  Pennsylvania,  204. 

Dunmore,  governor  of  Virginia,  flees  from  the 
people,  240 ;  burns  Norfolk,  254. 

Dupont,  S.  F.,  makes  expedition  to  Port  Royal, 
672. 

Duquesne,  Fort,  built  by  the  French,  179  ;  Eng 
lish  defeat  near,  180 ;  captured  by  the  English, 
becomes  Pittsburg,  188. 

Duquesne,  governor  of  Canada,  181. 

Dustin,  Hannah,  captured  by  Indians,  164  note. 

Dutch,  the,  settle  in  Maryland,  81  ;  on  Long 
Island,  at  Manhattan,  at  Albany,  on  the  Dela 
ware,  etc.,  133 ;  found  New  Amsterdam,  133 
sq. ,'  demand  share  in  government,  136  ;  trade 
with  the  English  colonies,  138 ;  related  to  the 
English,  142 ;  build  Fort  Casimir  on  the  Dela 
ware,  conquer  New  Sweden,  137,  151 ;  life  of, 
in  New  York,  203,  204. 

Dutch  navigators,  achievements  of,  131. 

Dwight,  Timothy,  author,  378. 

Eads,  James  B.,  introduces  the  jetty  system,  876. 

Early,  Jubal  A.,  724;  at  Gettysburg,  744; 
threatens  Washington,  756 ;  defeated  at  Ope- 
quan,  757  ;  at  Cedar  Creek,  758. 

East  India  Company,  61 ;  sends  out  Henry  Hud 
son,  131. 

Eaton,  John  H.,  in  Jackson's  Cabinet,  481  ;  min 
ister  to  Spain,  483  note  2. 

Eaton  Scandal,  the,  482. 

Eaton,  Theophilus,  founds  New  Haven,  113 ; 
governor  for  many  years,  114;  aids  in  forming 
confederation,  120. 

Eden,  Charles,  governor  of  North  Carolina,  87. 

Edmunds,  George  F.,  in  the  Senate,  816. 

Edmunds  law,  against  polygamy,  856. 

Education  among  the  Puritans,  127;  in  New 
England,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Penn 
sylvania,  207  ;  before  the  Civil  War,  619. 

Edward,  Fort,  Schuyler's  army  at,  270. 

Edward  VII,  king  of  England,  coronation  of, 
617 ;  visits  the  United  States  as  Prince  of 
Wales,  661. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  leads  revival,  129 ;  writes 
"  Freedom  of  the  Will,"  207. 

El  Caney,  captured  by  the  Americans,  893. 

Electoral  colleges,  created  by  constitution,  332; 
choose  first  President,  338. 

Electoral  Commission,  created  by  Congress,  839  ; 
decides  for  Hayes,  840. 

Electoral  Count  bill,  864. 

Eliot,  John,  apostle  to  the  Indians,  121. 

Elizabeth,  queen  of  England,  56 ;  grants  Gilbert 
a  charter,  59 ;  names  Virginia,  59 ;  her  postu 
late  concerning  ownership  of  territory,  139. 

Elkton,  Maryland,  Howe  lands  near,  280. 

Ellsworth,  E.  E.,  killed  at  Alexandria,  654  note. 


INDEX 


Ellsworth,  Oliver,  in  First  Congress,  342;  chief 
justice  of  Supreme  Court,  344. 

Emancipation  of  slaves,  in  the  Northern  states, 
458 ;  in  Mexico,  496  ;  in  England,  45T,  59T ;  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  713. 

Emancipation  Proclamation,  issued  by  Lincoln, 
714 ;  grounds  and  right  to  issue  it,  715. 

Embargo,  on  American  shipping,  400  sq.  ;  444. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  476 ;  defends  Abolition 
ists,  476,  619,  620. 

Emigrant  Aid  Company,  587. 

Endicott,  John,  leads  settlement  in  Massachu 
setts,  104;  wars  against  the  Pequots,  114. 

England,  Church  of,  established  in  South  Caro 
lina,  90 ;  in  Georgia,  96 ;  state  church  in  the 
Carolinas,  Virginia,  and  Maryland,  206.  See 
Episcopalians. 

England,  Reformation  in,  becomes  a  first-class 
power,  56  ;  ground  for  claiming  North  America, 
25,  57  ;  great  progress  of,  57 ;  defeats  Spanish 
Armada,  58 ;  civil  war  in,  69 ;  seizes  New 
Netherland,  139;  war  of,  with  Holland,  140; 
with  France,  162,  165,  168,  171  ;  captures  Cuba 
and  Philippine  Islands,  193 ;  colonial  policy  of, 
216  sq. ;  misunderstands  America,  221  ;  de 
clares  war  on  France,  279  ;  oppresses  America, 
355;  revives  Rule  of  1756,  355  ;  395 ;  disadvan 
tage  of,  in  War  of  1812,  416 ;  losses  of,  in  the 
war,  447 ;  opens  West  India  trade,  496  ;  our 
cordial  relations  with,  661  ;  sympathy  of,  with 
the  South,  662  ;  enraged  over  Trent  Affair,  666  ; 
sends  fleet  to  Mexico,  778 ;  settles  Alabama 
claims,  821 ;  agrees  to  cooperate  in  seal  fisheries, 
873 ;  boundary  dispute  of,  with  Venezuela, 
884,  885. 

English,  the,  motives  of,  for  colony  building,  57, 
61  note  2,  175 ;  relation  of,  to  the  Dutch,  142, 
143 ;  claims  of,  in  North  America,  171  sq. ; 
characteristics  of,  compared  with  the  French, 
174,  175 ;  attitude  of,  toward  the  Indians,  177, 
193  ;  in  New  England  and  the  South,  198. 

English,  W.  H.,  595 ;  nominated  for  Vice  Presi 
dent,  852. 

English  bill,  the,  595. 

Enterprise,  the,  captures  the  Boxer,  424. 

Episcopalians,  in  South  Carolina,  90  ;  in  Georgia, 
96;  in  Pennsylvania,  204;  in  the  Carolinas, 
Maryland,  and  Virginia,  206 ;  growth  and  mis 
sion  work  of,  620. 

Ericson,  Leif,  discovers  America,  26. 

Ericsson,  John,  builder  of  the  Monitor,  673. 

Erie,  Fort,  attacked  by  British,  433. 

Erskine,  British  minister,  397 ;  exceeds  instruc 
tions,  is  recalled,  409. 

Essex,  the,  defeats  the  Alert,  421 ;  destroyed  at 
Valparaiso,  425. 

Estaing,  Count  de,  297 ;  arrives  at  Savannah,  302. 

Ether,  first  used  as  an  anaesthetic,  617. 

Eustis,  William,  secretary  of  war,  418. 


Eutaw  Springs,  battle  of,  308  note  2. 

Evans,  Oliver,  inventor  of  steam  engine,  378. 

Evarts,  William  M.,  at  Johnson's  trial,  809 ;  in 

Hayes's  Cabinet,  844. 
Everett,  Edward,  nominated  for  Vice  President, 

612. 
Ewell,  Richard  S.,  at  Gettysburg,  740  sq. ;  at  the 

Wilderness,  753. 
Ewing,  Thomas,  chosen  secretary  of  war,  807 ; 

opposes  Grant's  renomination,  822. 

Fair  Oaks,  or  Seven  Pines,  battle  of,  696. 

Fallen  Timbers,  battle  of,  380. 

Faneuil  Hall,  Cradle  of  Liberty,  227. 

Farmers'  Alliance,  the,  847. 

Farragut,  David  G.,  425  ;  captures  New  Orleans, 
688  sq. ;  ascends  the  Mississippi,  733  ;  victory 
of,  in  Mobile  Bay,  760,  761. 

"Federalist,"  the,  written  by  Hamilton,  Madi 
son,  and  Jay,  335. 

Federalist  or  Federal  party,  the,  favors  the  Con 
stitution,  335 ;  becomes  liberal  construction 
party,  348 ;  reaches  its  acme  of  power,  367 ; 
enacts  obnoxious  laws,  368 ;  torn  by  factions, 
371 ;  fall  of,  372  ;  estimate  of,  373,  374 ;  opposes 
War  of  1812,  416. 

Fen  wick,  John,  purchases  part  of  New  Jersey, 
147. 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  at  war  with  the  Moors, 
9  ;  receive  Columbus  after  voyage,  21. 

Ferdinand,  king  of  Spain,  ignores  Columbus,  21. 

Ferguson,  Major,  commands  British  at  King's 
Mountain,  306  ;  is  killed,  307. 

Fessenden,  William  P.,  in  Peace  Congress,  635; 
659  ;  at  Johnson's  trial,  810  ;  in  the  Senate,  817. 

Field,  Cyrus  W.,  lays  Atlantic  cable,  616. 

Field,  James  G.,  nominated  for  Vice  President, 
874. 

Filibusters,  Nicaragua,  615. 

Filipinos,  character  of,  896  ;  rebel  against  Ameri 
can  rule,  897 ;  pacification  of,  898 ;  partial 
granting  of  self-government  to,  898,  899. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  nominated  for  vice  presidency, 
537  ;  becomes  President,  career  of,  546  ;  signs 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  548 ;  565 ;  571. 

Financial  legislation,  346 ;  during  War  of  1812, 
443  sq. ;  during  Civil  War,  660,  731,  732,  785 ; 
829  sq.,  869,  879,  880;  889  note  2. 

Fire  Lands,  379. 

Fish,  Hamilton,  in  Grant's  Cabinet,  816. 

Fisher,  Fort,  captured,  758. 

Fisheries  dispute,  the,  history  of,  847 ;  settled  by 
Joint  High  Commission,  848  ;  reopened,  865. 

Fisher's  Hill,  battle  at,  757. 

Fisk,  James,  corners  gold  market,  830. 

Fitch,  John,  an  inventor  of  the  steamboat,  378. 

Flag,  American,  first  used  at  Cambridge,  254. 

Fletcher,  governor  of  New  York,  controls  Penn 
sylvania,  157  and  note. 


INDEX 


xi 


Florida,  explored  by  De  Leon,  by  Narvaez,  by  De 
Soto,  42  ;  ceded  by  Spain  to  England,  193  ;  pur 
chased  by  the  United  States,  456  ;  boundary 
and  government  of,  476 ;  secedes,  629  ;  disputed 
election  in,  833. 

Florida,  West,  Jefferson  seeks  to  purchase,  384. 

Floyd,  John  B.,  commands  at  Fort  Donelson, 
680  ;  escapes  to  Nashville,  682. 

Foote,.  Andrew  H.,  commands  fleet  at  Donelson, 
680,  681 ;  at  Island  No.  10,  687. 

Foote,  Henry  S.,  quarrel  of,  with  Benton  in 
Senate,  545. 

Foraker,  J.  B.,  introduces  Porto  Rican  bill  in  the 
Senate,  899. 

Forbes,  General  John,  commands  expedition 
against  Duquesne,  188;  anecdote  of,  195. 

Force  bill,  of  1S33,  492;  of  1871-1872,  803  ;  ren 
dered  null  by  Supreme  Court,  804;  repealed, 
804  note  1 ;  of  1890,  defeated,  868. 

Forrest,  Nathan,  cavalry  leader,  735. 

Foster,  Augustus  John,  minister  from  England, 
412. 

Fox,  George,  founds  the  Quaker  sect,  conceives 
the  idea  of  founding  a  Quaker  colony,  151. 

France,  development  of,  56;  at  war  with  England, 
162,  165,  168;  extravagant  claims  of,  in  North 
America,  168,  171 ;  first  to  aid  America  in 
Revolution,  275  sq.  ;  makes  treaty  with  Amer 
ica,  277  ;  revolution  in,  352  ;  is  offended  at  Jay 
Treaty,  360  ;  "  quasi "  war  with,  364  sq.  ;  opens 
colonial  trade  to  neutrals,  355,  395 ;  pays  spolia 
tion  claims,  496 ;  sends  fleet  to  Mexico,  778 : 
conquers  Mexico  and  puts  Maximilian  on  the 
throne,  withdraws  army,  779. 

Franklin,  battle  of,  767. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  arrives  in  Pennsylvania,  159  ; 
plans  union  at  Albany  Congress,  176;  in  Lon 
don,  225 ;  arraigned  for  Hutchinson  letters,  241, 
member  of  Second  Continental  Congress,  243  ; 
meets  Howe  on  Staten  Island,  258  ;  reception  of, 
in  Paris,  276 :  signs  Treaty  of  Paris,  312 ;  in 
Constitutional  Convention,  327;  prophetic 
words  of,  412. 

Franklin,  William  B.,  at  Frazier's  Farm,  699;  at 
Fredericksburg,  721  ;  relieved  of  command, 
722. 

Fraser,  Simon,  269  ;  dies  at  Saratoga,  274. 

Frazier's  Farm,  battle  of,  699. 

Frederick  the  Great,  in  Seven  Years'  War,  178 ; 
gives  opinion  of  Washington.  265,  278. 

Fredericksburg,  battle  of,  721,  722. 

Freedman's  Bureau  Act,  795,  796. 

Freeport  doctrine,  603. 

Free  silver,  advocated,  875;  becomes  issue  in 
campaign,  885  sq.  ;  espoused  by  the  Democrats, 
887. 

Free  Soil  party,  511  ;  supports  Birney,  521. 

Frelinghuysen,  Frederick  T.,  on  isthmian  canal, 
907. 


Frelinghuysen,  Theodore,  candidate  for  vice 
presidency,  518. 

Fremont,  John  C.,  conquers  California,  529 ; 
marriage  with  Jessie  Benton,  530 ;  is  court- 
martialed,  530  note ;  nominated  for  the  presi 
dency,  584 ;  character  of,  defeat,  585 ;  in  com 
mand  in  Missouri,  669;  charges  against, 
removal  of,  677 ;  refuses  to  serve  under  Pope, 
706  note  2  ;  issues  confiscation  order,  677,  713  ; 
nominated  for  President,  762  ;  withdraws,  764. 

French,  the,  colonize  Acadia  and  St.  Lawrence 
Valley,  56,  160 ;  attempt  to  colonize  lower 
Mississippi  Valley,  162  ;  claims  of,  in  North 
America,  168,  171,172;  characteristics  of,  com 
pared  with  the  English,  174,  175  ;  attitude  of, 
towards  the  Indians,  175, 177  ;  rise  against  their 
government,  351,  352. 

French  explorers,  160  sq. 

Freneau,  Philip,  poet,  378. 

Fries  Rebellion,  368  note. 

Frobisher,  Martin,  57,  58. 

Frolic,  the,  defeated  by  the  Wasp,  422. 

Frontenac,  governor  of  Canada,  instigates  Indian 
massacres,  163,  177. 

Frontenac,  Fort,  captured  by  the  English,  187. 

Frye,  W.  P.,  elected  president  of  the  Senate,  903. 

Fugitive  Slave  law,  proposed,  541 ;  enacted,  546  ; 
in  operation,  548  sq. ;  indorsed  by  Democratic 
and  Whig  conventions,  564  ;  624. 

Fulton,  Robert,  experience  of  with  steam  navi 
gation,  407. 

Gadsden,  Christopher,  in  Stamp  Act  Congress, 
227. 

Gadsden  purchase,  534  note. 

Gag  rule,  adopted  by  Congress,  512 ;  repealed, 
512. 

Gage,  Thomas,  governor  of  Massachusetts  and 
commander  of  British  army,  237 ;  sends 
troops  to  Lexington,  238 ;  sends  Howe  to 
storm  Bunker  Hill,  246 ;  incompetency  of,  315. 

Gaines,  Edmund  P.,  453,  497. 

Gaines  Mills,  battle  of,  698. 

Gallatin,  Albert,  in  whiskey  insurrection,  347 
note  2 ;  becomes  follower  of  Jefferson,  351  ; 
becomes  secretary  of  the  treasury,  notice  of, 
380,  381,  409. 

Gama,  Vasco  da,  26. 

Garfield,  James  A.,  678;  nominated  for  Pres 
ident,  851 ;  is  elected,  852 ;  offends  Conkling, 
852  ;  shot  by  an  assassin,  853  ;  dies,  854. 

Garland,  A.  H.,  in  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  862. 

Garrison,  William  Lloyd,  meets  Lund}-,  estab 
lishes  The  Liberator,  509. 

Gaspee,  the,  burning  of,  231. 

Gates,  Horatio,  intrigues  with  Congress,  263; 
succeeds  Schuyler,  272  ;  refuses  aid  to  Arnold, 
273;  in  command  at  the  South,  304;  defeated 
at  Camden,  305. 


xii 


INDEX 


Geary,  John  W.,  governor  of  Kansas,  591 ;  re 
signs,  592. 

Geary  law,  the,  846. 

Genet,  Edmond  Charles,  "Citizen,"  French 
minister  to  America,  352 ;  cold  reception 
of,  by  Washington,  353  ;  354 ;  later  career  of, 
374. 

Geneva  award,  the,  821. 

Genoa,  rival  of  Venice  in  eastern  trade,  2  ;  birth 
place  of  Columbus,  7. 

George,  Fort,  418. 

George  II,  king  of  England,  grants  land  to 
Ohio  company,  172. 

George  III,  king  of  England,  gains  control  of 
the  realm,  retains  tea  tax,  231 ;  character  of, 
chooses  North  premier,  232  ;  resolves  to  hum 
ble  the  colonies,  234 ;  reception  of  petition  by, 
hires  Hessians,  251. 

Georgia,  colony  of,  founded  by  Oglethorpe,  first 
settlements  of,  94 ;  receives  aid  from  Parlia 
ment,  slow  growth,  dissatisfaction  of  the  set 
tlers,  95;  becomes  a  royal  colony,  products, 
growth,  population,  government,  96 ;  overrun 
by  British,  203. 

Georgia,  state  of,  cedes  western  land,  324  notel ; 
objects  to  closing  slave  trade,  331 ;  ratifies  the 
Constitution,  335;  sells  Yazoo  lands,  407;  in 
sists  on  removal  of  the  Creeks,  471  ;  secedes, 
630  ;  under  carpetbag  rule,  800. 

Germain,  Lord  George,  268 ;  costly  blunder  of, 
269  ;  instigates  Indian  massacres,  290 ;  302. 

Germans,  Pennsylvania,  see  Pennsylvania 
Germans. 

Germans,  settle  in  Virginia,  73 ;  in  Maryland, 
81  ;  in  North  Carolina,  86,  87  ;  in  Pennsylvania, 
158;  198. 

Germantown,  battle  of,  282. 

Germany,  attitude  of,  during  Civil  War,  779; 
Emperor  of,  decides  boundary  dispute,  821 ; 
agrees  to  divide  Samoa,  872. 

Gerry,  Elbridge,  in  Constitutional  Convention, 
328  ;  on  mission  to  France,  366. 

Gettysburg,  battle  of,  739  sq. 

Ghent,  Treaty  of,  440,  445. 

Gibbs,  General,  with  Pakenham  at  New  Orleans, 
439  ;  death  of,  442. 

Giddings,  Joshua  R.,  on  Creole  affair,  522. 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  57  ;  obtains  charter  from 
Elizabeth,  attempts  to  colonize  Newfoundland, 
dies,  59. 

Giles,  William  B.,  409. 

Gist,  Christopher,  guide  to  Washington,  173. 

Gladstone,  William  E.,  quoted,  325,  662  and 
note  2. 

Glover  rescue,  the,  552. 

Goffe,  the  regicide,  saves  Hadley,  122. 

Gold,  discovery  of,  in  California,  535;  aids  in 
settling  the  slavery  question,  539  ;  in  Alaska, 
812 ;  discovery  of,  in  Colorado,  818. 


Goldsborough,  L.  M.,  in  Burnside  expedition  to 
Koanoke,  671. 

Gordon,  John  B.,  at  Fort  Stedman,  770. 

Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinando,  heads  Council  for  New 
England,  104;  108;  receives  grant  for  New 
Hampshire,  117  ;  receives  charter  for  Maine, 
119. 

Gorman,  Arthur  P.,  prevents  passing  of  Force 
bill,  868 ;  changes  Wilson  Tariff,  881. 

Gorsuch,  Dr.,  shot  by  fugitive  slaves,  550. 

Gould,  Jay,  corners  gold  market,  830. 

Government,  colonial,  210  sq. 

Governor,  the  colonial,  211,  212. 

Grand  Gulf,  occupied  by  Grant,  736. 

Grand  Model,  or  Fundamental  Constitutions, 
drawn  up  for  Carolina,  character  of,  84 ;  failure 
of  plan,  85 ;  attempt  to  introduce  it  in  South 
Carolina,  89. 

Grand  Pre,  Acadia,  scene  of  dispersion  of  the 
Acadians,  182. 

Granger,  Gordon,  at  Mobile  Bay,  760,  761. 

Grangers,  the,  846. 

Grant,  Ulysses  Simpson,  at  Cairo,  at  Belmont, 
seizes  Paducah,  679  ;  captures  forts  Henry  and 
Hieman,  invests  Donelson,  680 ;  forces  its  sur 
render,  682  ;  notice  of,  683 ;  centers  army  at 
Pittsburg  Landing,  683  ;  in  command  at  Shiloh, 
684  sq.;  attempts  flanking  Vicksburg,  734; 
runs  the  batteries,  736 ;  at  Raymond,  Champion, 
Jackson,  Big  Black  River,  737  ;  forces  surrender 
of  Vicksburg,  739  ;  at  Chattanooga,  750  ;  made 
lieutenant  general,  goes  east,  personal  appear 
ance  of,  752 ;  enters  the  Wilderness,  753 ;  de 
feated  at  Cold  Harbor,  crosses  the  James,  755  ; 
fails  in  campaign,  756;  sends  Sheridan  to 
Shenandoah  Valley,  757;  at  Petersburg,  768; 
receives  Lee's  surrender  at  Appomattox,  772 ; 
estimate  of,  as  a  soldier,  781,  782  ;  as  a  states 
man,  827 ;  secretary  of  war,  806 ;  nominated 
for  the  presidency,  813 ;  elected,  815 ;  urges 
annexation  of  San  Domingo,  818 ;  on  Alabama 
claims,  820  ;  opposition  to  renomination  of,  822 
sq. ;  urges  resumption,  833 ;  retirement  of, 
843  ;  tour  of,  850 ;  urged  for  third  term,  850, 
851 ;  last  days  and  death  of,  862. 

Grasse,  Count  de,  arrives  in  Chesapeake,  309, 
810;  defeats  British  fleet,.  310;  defeated  by 
Rodney,  314. 

Gray,  Elisha,  inventor  of  the  telephone,  876. 

Greeley,  Horace,  founds  The  Log  Cabin,  507 ; 
537,  587 ;  opposes  coercing  the  South,  638 ; 
writes  the  Prayer  of  Twenty  Millions,  714;  op 
poses  Grant's  renomination,  822;  nominated 
for  President  by  the  Liberals,  early  life  and 
career  of,  824,  825  ;  defeat  and  death  of,  826. 

Greely,  Adolphus  W.,  explorer  of  Arctic  seas, 
878. 

Greenback  party,  837,  852;  becomes  National 
party,  857. 


INDEX 


xiii 


Greene,  Nathanael,  joins  Continental  army,  240  ; 
notice  of,  247  ;  loses  Fort  Washington,  259  ;  at 
Trenton,  263;  at  Germantown,  282;  succeeds 
Gates  at  the  South,  307;  at  Guilford  Court 
house,  308  ;  estimate  of,  316. 

Green  Mountain  Boys,  capture  Ticonderoga,  240 ; 
at  Bennington,  272. 

Grenville,  George,  English  premier,  decides  to 
tax  the  colonies,  222 ;  proposes  stamp  duties, 
225  ;  defends  them,  229. 

Gresham,  Walter  Q.,  in  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  878. 

Gridley,  Richard,  engineer,  169. 

Griswold,  Roger,  fights  with  Lyon  in  the  House, 
369  ;  conspires  to  disrupt  the  Union,  388,  389. 

Groveton,  battle  of,  707. 

Grow,  Galusha  A.,  Speaker  of  the  House,  659. 

Grundy,  Felix,  413. 

Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  treaty  of,  534. 

Guerriere,  the,  412 ;  defeated  by  the  Constitu 
tion,  421. 

Guilford  Courthouse,  battle  of,  308. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden,  plans  to 
colonize  Delaware,  149,  150;  incorporates  a 
company,  is  killed  at  Lutzen,  150. 

Habeas  Corpus,  suspension  of  writ  of,  660,  667 ; 
same  in  the  South,  705 ;  715,  725  and  note,  726, 
817. 

Hadley,  attacked  by  Indians,  122. 

Hague,  The,  international  tribunal  of,  903,  904. 

"  Hail  Columbia,"  written  by  Hopkinson,  365. 

Ilakluyt,  Richard,  writes  "Western  Planting," 
60. 

Hale,  John  P.,  Free  Soil  candidate  for  the  presi 
dency,  566  ;  659. 

Hale,  Nathan,  266. 

Halleck,  Fitz-Greene,  476. 

Halleck,  W.  H..  commander  in  chief,  676  and  note, 
707;  in  the  West,  678,  716;  sends  Buell  to 
Chattanooga,  716. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  300;  at  Yorktown,  311; 
issues  call  for  Constitutional  Convention,  324  ; 
in  Constitutional  Convention,  328 ;  writes  most 
of  "The  Federalist,"  335;  leads  New  York  to 
ratify  the  Constitution,  337;  at  Washington's 
inauguration,  339  ;  in  first  Cabinet,  343  ;  makes 
treasury  report,  344 ;  bargain  of,  with  Jefferson, 
346;  against  whiskey  insurrection,  347;  com 
pared  with  Jefferson,  349 ;  appointed  major 
general,  366;  attempts  to  defeat  Adams,  363, 
371 ;  thwarts  Burr  in  New  York,  389  ;  is  killed 
by  Burr,  390 ;  character  of,  390,  391. 

Hamilton,  Andrew,  defends  Peter  Zenger,  145. 

Hamlin,  Hannibal,  elected  Vice  President,  611 ; 
in  the  Senate,  816. 

Hampton,  Wade,  Jr.,  at  Orangeburg  and  Colum 
bia,  769. 

Hampton,  Wade,  Sr.,  416,  427. 

Hancock,  John,  237;  escapes  the  British,  238; 


president  Second  Continental  Congress,  243 ; 
opposes  the  Constitution,  335. 

Hancock,  Winfield  S.,  at  Fredericksburg,  721 ; 
arrives  at  Gettysburg,  742,  743 ;  at  Spottsyl- 
vania,  744 ;  815 ;  nominated  for  President,  852. 

Hardee,  William  J.,  at  Stone  River,  719,  720; 
evacuates  Savannah,  766. 

Hardy,  Commodore,  blockades  New  England 
coast,  425. 

Harmar,  Josiah,  defeated  by  Indians,  379 

Harpers  Ferry,  seized  by  John  Brown,  604  sq. ; 
seized  by  Confederacy,  645 ;  surrendered,  709. 

Harrison,  Benjamin,  411. 

Harrison,  Benjamin,  elected  President,  867 ;  im 
portant  acts  of  administration  of,  868  sq. ;  want 
of  popularity  and  powers  of  leadership,  renomi- 
nation  of,  874 ;  defeat  of,  875 ;  favors  annexation 
of  Hawaii,  879. 

Harrison,  William  Henry,  early  life  of,  at  battle 
of  Tippecanoe,  411 ;  commands  in  the  North 
west,  429  ;  defeats  British  at  the  Thames,  431 ; 
resigns  from  the  army,  438  ;  defeats  Clay  in  con 
vention,  506 ;  is  elected  President,  507  ;  inaugu 
ration  and  death  of,  513. 

Hartford,  Connecticut,  founded  by  Thomas 
Hooker,  112 ;  produces  first  written  constitu 
tion,  113 ;  seat  of  New  England  Confederacy, 
120. 

Hartford  Convention,  the,  446,  447. 

Harvard  College,  founding  of,  127,  207. 

Harvey,  John,  governor  of  Virginia,  69. 

Haupt,  Lewis  M.,  on  Nicaragua  Canal  Commis 
sion,  907. 

Havana,  constitutional  convention  at,  901. 

Hawaii,  treaty  with,  withdrawn  by  Cleveland, 
878,  879 ;  annexation  of,  879  and  note  2 ;  made 
a  territory,  Constitution  extended  to,  900. 

Hawkins,  John,  57,  58. 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  619,  620. 

Hay,  John,  secretary  of  state,  909  sq. 

Ilay-Bunau-Varilla  Treaty,  911. 

Hay-Herran  Treaty,  909. 

Hay-Pauncefote  Treaty,  909. 

Hayes,  Rutherford  B.,  at  South  Mountain,  709  ; 
nominated  for  President,  notice  of,  836 ;  in 
augurated,  withdraws  troops  from  the  Southern 
states,  840  ;  administration  of,  843  sq. 

Haymarket  massacre,  Chicago,  865. 

Hayne,  Robert  Y.,  debate  of,  with  Webster,  488, 
489. 

Haynes,  John,  first  governor  of  Connecticut,  113 ; 
aids  in  forming  confederation,  120. 

Hayti  (Hispaniola),  discovered  by  Columbus,  18. 

Heath.  William,  fortifies  West  Point,  259  ;  guards 
the  Hudson,  310. 

Heintzelman,  Samuel  P.,  at  Bull  Run,  656;  at 
Fair  Oaks,  696. 

Heister,  General  von,  attacks  Americans  at 
Brooklyn,  257. 


XIV 


INDEX 


Henderson,  D.  B.,  elected  Speaker  of  the  House, 
903. 

Heudricks,  Thomas  A.,  at  Democratic  conven 
tion,  815;  nominated  for  Vice  President,  837, 
85T. 

Henry  IV,  king  of  France,  "  Henry  of  Navarre," 
issues  Edict  of  Nantes,  89. 

Henry  VII,  king  of  England,  issues  grant  to 
John  Cabot  to  seek  western  lands,  23. 

Henry  VIII,  king  of  England,  begins  English 
Reformation,  98. 

Henry,  Fort,  captured  by  Grant,  680. 

Henry,  Patrick,  early  life  of,  223;  in  Parson's 
Cause,  224  ;  makes  speech  to  Virginia  assem 
bly,  226 ;  in  First  Continental  Congress,  235 ; 
governor  of  Virginia,  283  ;  opposes  Constitu 
tion,  335,  336. 

Henry,  Prince  of  Portugal,  the  navigator,  6. 

Henson,  Josiah,  founds  negro  colony  in  Canada, 
555. 

Herbert,  H.'A.,  in  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  878. 

Herkimer,  Nicholas,  commands  at  Oriskany,  270, 
271. 

Hessians,  the,  hired  by  King  George,  251 ;  cap 
tured  at  Trenton,  263 ;  desert  British  army, 
287. 

Higginson,  Thomas  Wentworth,  aids  in  rescue 
of  Anthony  Burns,  552. 

Hildreth,  Richard,  historian,  619. 

Hill,  A.  P.,  at  Gaines  Mills,  698;  at  Frazier's 
Farm,  699  ;  at  Gettysburg,  740 ;  at  the  Wilder 
ness,  753. 

Hill,  D.  H.,  at  Fair  Oaks,  696. 

Histories  of  the  United  States,  619,  and  bibliog 
raphy. 

Hoar,  E.  R.,  in  Grant's  cabinet,  816. 

Hobart,  Garret  A.,  nominated  for  Vice  President, 
887  ;  death  of,  903. 

Hobson,  Richmond  P.,  sinks  the  Merrimac,  893. 

Holland,  see  Netherlands. 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  476,  619. 

Holt,  Joseph,  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet,  634. 

Homestead  Act,  the,  730. 

Hood,  John  B.,  succeeds  Johnston,  defeated, 
759  ;  abandons  Atlanta,  760  ;  moves  into  Ten 
nessee,  765  ;  at  battle  of  Franklin,  767 ;  defeated 
at  Nashville,  768. 

Hooker,  Joseph,  at  Frederick sburg,  721 ;  suc 
ceeds  Burnside,  722 ;  defeated  at  Chancellors- 
ville,  723,  724 ;  resigns,  740 ;  at  Lookout  Moun 
tain,  750. 

Hooker,  Thomas,  father  of  Connecticut,  pastor 
at  Newtown,  controversy  of,  with  Winthrop, 
founds  Hartford,  112. 

Hopkinson,  Joseph,  writes  "  Hail  Columbia,"  365. 

Hornet,  the,  captures  the  Peacock,  423. 

House,  the,  of  Representatives,  composition  of, 
in  First  Congress,  342 ;  opposes,  then  passes, 
Jay  Treaty,  358,  359.  See  passim. 


House  tax,  the,  368. 

Houston,  Samuel,  leads  Texan  revolt,  496,  497  ; 
defeats  Mexicans  at  San  Jacinto,  517. 

Howard,  Lord,  of  Effingham,  58  ;  another  of  same 
name,  73. 

Howard,  Oliver  Otis,  at  Chancellorsville,  723 ;  at 
Gettysburg,  742;  in  Sherman's  march  to  the 
sea,  765. 

Howard,  William  A.,  on  committee  to  Kansas, 
590. 

Howe,  Elias,  invents  sewing  machine,  617. 

Howe,  George  A.,  killed  at  Ticonderoga,  187. 

Howe,  Richard,  arrives  at  New  York,  offers 
olive  branch,  256,  258. 

Howe,  Robert,  Ajnerican  commander  in  the 
South,  302. 

Howe,  Sir  William,  arrives  in  Boston,  245  ;  leads 
charge  at  Bunker  Hill,  246 ;  succeeds  Gage  as 
commander,  248 ;  sails  to  Halifax,  250 ;  cap 
tures  Fort  Washington,  259  ;  sails  to  the  Chesa 
peake,  269,  280 ;  at  Brandywine,  281 ;  enters 
Philadelphia,  282;  is  superseded  by  Clinton, 
285  ;  estimate  of,  315  and  note. 

Hudson,  Henry,  sent  out  by  East  India  Com 
pany,  131  ;  sails  to  the  Hudson  River,  to  Dela 
ware  Bay,  communicates  with  John  Smith, 
seeks  passage  to  the  Orient,  132. 

Hudson  Valley,  English  struggle  for,  268  sq. 

Huguenots,  settle  in  Virginia,  73 ;  in  Maryland, 
81  ;  in  North  Carolina,  86 ;  in  South  Carolina, 
character  of,  89,  90. 

Hull,  Isaac,  in  command  of  the  Constitution, 
420. 

Hull,  William,  416;  surrenders  Michigan,  417; 
condemned  and  pardoned,  418. 

Hunkers,  of  New  York,  523  note  ;  538. 

Hunt,  W.  H.,  governor  of  Porto  Rico,  900. 

Hunter,  David,  at  Bull  Run,  656  ;  issues  emanci 
pation  order,  713. 

Hurlburt,  Stephen  A.,  at  Shiloh,  683. 

Hutchinson,  Anne,  banished  from  Massachusetts, 
killed  by  Indians,  109,  135. 

Hutchinson,  chief  justice  of  Massachusetts,  227. 

Hutchinson  letters,  the,  241. 

Iberville,  plants  French  colony  on  lower  Missis 
sippi,  167. 

Idaho,  admitted  to  the  Union,  870. 

Ildefonso,  Treaty  of,  884,  385. 

Illinois,  becomes  a  state,  456. 

Illinois  country,  conquered  by  Clark,  292. 

Immigration,  378  and  note  2;  622,  623. 

Impressment  of  seamen,  355,  394  sq. ;  407; 
omitted  from  Treaty  of  Ghent,  445. 

Income  tax,  in  war  times,  785 ;  in  1893,  pro 
nounced  unconstitutional,  881  and  note. 

Indented  servants,  redemptioners,  199 ;  most 
numerous  at  the  South,  200  and  note. 

Independence,  Declaration  of,  250  sq. 


INDEX 


Independence  Hall,  meeting  of  Second  Conti 
nental  Congress  in,  243. 

Indiana,  becomes  a  state,  456. 

Indian  affairs,  mismanaged,  823. 

Indians,  the,  so  named  by  Columbus,  17 ;  race 
characteristics  of,  religion  of,  28;  home  life, 
29;  legends  and  superstition,  30;  occupations, 
skill  in  wood  craft,  32;  as  warriors,  33-35; 
capacity  for  civilization  of,  36,  37  ;  numbers  of, 
in  1900,  37  note  2  ;  future  of,  38 ;  distribution 
of  nations  and  tribes,  38,  39 ;  attack  De  Soto, 
43,  46 ;  in  French  and  Indian  War,  174  sq.  ;  in 
Revolution,  290  sq.  ;  removed  from  their  lands, 
471,  472  ;  at  Pea  Eidge,  687  ;  in  the  Civil  War, 
701.  See  Indian  wars. 

Indian  wars,  in  Virginia,  6S,  71 ;  in  North  Caro 
lina,  86  ;  in  South  Carolina,  91 ;  in  Connecticut, 
114 ;  in  New  England,  121  sq.  ;  in  New  Nether- 
land,  135 ;  in  Ohio,  379,  380  ;  in  the  South, 
439,  453,  454 ;  Black  Hawk  War,  497 ;  Semi- 
nole,  453,  497;  828. 

Indies,  East,  European  trade  with,  2. 

Indigo,  introduced  in  South  Carolina  by  Eliza 
Lucas,  92. 

Ingersoll,  R.  G.,  nominates  Elaine  at  Cincinnati, 
835. 

Ingham,  Samuel  D.,  in  Jackson's  Cabinet,  481. 

Institutions,  American,  sources  of,  142,  143. 

Internal  improvements,  464  sq. ;  recommended 
by  President  J.  Q.  Adams,  470. 

Interstate  Commerce  Act,  the,  864. 

Inventions,  378,  45S,  475. 

Irish,  settle  in  South  Carolina,  93  ;  in  New  York, 
146. 

Iroquois,  joined  by  Tuscaroras,  become  British 
subjects,  166:  territorial  claims  of,  171,  172; 
side  with  the  English,  177 ;  deed  lands  to  New 
York,  320. 

Irving,  Washington,  476  and  note  1,  619,  620. 

Isabella,  queen  of  Spain,  grants  Columbus  a 
hearing,  10 ;  releases  him  from  his  enemies,  21. 

Island  No.  10,  surrender  of,  687. 

Italy,  school  of  navigation  for  the  world,  6  note  2. 

I  uka,  battle  of,  718. 

Izard,  George,  commands  at  Sacketts  Harbor, 
433. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  receives  Aaron  Burr,  392 ; 
birth,  early  life  of,  goes  West,  enters  Congress, 
is  made  major  general,  438  ;  defeats  the  In 
dians,  439  ;  at  battle  of  New  Orleans,  440,  441  ; 
stories  of,  449;  in  Seminole  War,  453,  454; 
candidate  for  the  presidency,  466  ;  governor  of 
Florida,  476 ;  becomes  President,  480,  481  ; 
introduces  spoils  system,  484 ;  parallel  of,  with 
Calhoun,  485 ;  quarrels  with  Calhoun,  486 ; 
speech  of,  at  Jefferson  banquet,  490,  491 ; 
vetoes  bank  charter,  493  ;  reflected  President, 
removes  bank  deposits,  494;  censured  by  the 


Senate,  495  ;  character  and  influence  of,  498*-^.  ; 
personal  traits  of,  500,  501 ;  attempted  assassi 
nation  of,  508. 

Jackson,  Fort,  689. 

Jackson,  Francis  James,  English  minister,  410. 

Jackson,  Governor,  of  Missouri,  attempts  to 
lead  the  state  to  secede,  652,  658. 

Jackson,  Mississippi,  captured  by  Grant,  787. 

Jackson,  Thomas  J.,  "Stonewall,"  at  Bull  Run, 
656;  threatens  Washington,  joins  Lee,  696;  at 
Cedar  Mountain  and  Groveton,  707  ;  captures 
Harpers  Ferry,  709  ;  at  Chancellorsville,  723 ; 
death  of,  notice  of.  724. 

James  I,  king  of  England,  imprisons  and  exe 
cutes  Raleigh,  60 ;  grants  Virginia  charter, 
61 ;  68 ;  despises  Presbyterianism,  persecutes 
Puritans,  99. 

James  II,  king  of  England,  sends  Andros  to  New 
England,  125,  163. 

James  River,  McClellan  operates  on,  694,  699  ; 
Grant  crosses,  755. 

James  the  Pretender,  165. 

Jamestown,  founding  of,  62  ;  character  of  colo 
nists,  62. 

Jasper,  William,  255. 

Java,  the,  defeated  by  the  Constitution,  422. 

Jay,  John,  signs  treaty  of  Paris,  312  ;  at  Madrid, 
322  ;  first  chief  justice,  844 ;  frames  treaty 
with  England,  356,  357,  358. 

Jay  Treaty,  the,  356;  provisions  of,  357;  recep 
tion  of,  358,  359  ;  offends  France,  360. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  member  of  Second  Conti 
nental  Congress,  243 ;  writes  Declaration  of 
Independence,  253  ;  governor  of  Virginia,  807  ; 
escapes  Tarleton,  309  ;  seeks  trade  relations  in 
Europe,  322 ;  favors  the  Constitution,  83T  ; 
in  first  Cabinet,  343;  bargains  with  Hamilton. 
346;  compared  with  Hamilton,  349;  wins 
Madison  and  Gallatin.  351 ;  on  French  Revolu 
tion,  352  ;  defeated  by  John  Adams,  363 ;  writes 
Kentucky  resolutions,  370;  elected  President 
by  the  House,  372  ;  personal  appearance,  inau 
guration  of,  380  ;  attitude  of,  toward  civil  ser 
vice,  381 ;  skill  of,  as  a  manager,  371,  3S2 ; 
advises  constitutional  amendment,  386  ;  sends 
Lewis  and  Clark  on  expedition,  387  ;  issues  proc 
lamation  against  Burr,  393 ;  reflected  Presi 
dent,  394 ;  anxiety  of,  for  West  Florida.  396 ; 
rejects  treaty,  397  ;  popularity  of,  wanes,  402  ; 
character  and  estimate  of,  403  sq.  ;  religion  and 
learning  of,  405,  406 ;  retirement  and  death  of, 
408  and  note;  gradual  change  in  party  policy 
of,  451 ;  opinion  of,  on  Missouri  Compromise, 
462  note  1. 

Jerry  rescue,  the,  551. 

Jessup.  Thomas  S.,  captures  Osceola,  498. 

John  II,  king  of  Portugal,  deals  treacherously 
with  Columbus,  9. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  remains  true  to  the  Union, 


xvi 


INDEX 


659 ;  nominated  for  Vice  President,  763 ;  be 
comes  President,  early  life  and  character  of, 
790  ;  change  in  his  attitude  toward  the  South, 
issues  amnesty-  proclamation,  frames  and  puts 
in  operation  plan  of  reconstruction,  792  ;  undig 
nified  conduct  of,  795-797 ;  suspends  Stanton, 
806 ;  removes  him,  is  impeached  by  the  House, 
807  ;  trial  of,  by  the  Senate,  808  sg. ;  acquitted, 
810. 

Johnson,  Herschel  V.,  nominated  for  Vice  Presi 
dent,  610. 

Johnson,  Sir  John,  294. 

Johnson,  Sir  Nathaniel,  governor  of  South  Caro 
lina,  90. 

Johnson,  Reverdy,  in  Peace  Congress,  635. 

Johnson,  Kichard  M.,  in  War  of  1812,  430;  kills 
Tecumseh  at  the  Thames,  431  ;  elected  Vice 
President,  502. 

Johnson,  Sir  William,  defeats  Dieskau,  183  ;  cap 
tures  Fort  Niagara,  189. 

Johnston,  Albert  Sidney,  at  Bowling  Green,  679  ; 
divides  his  army,  680 ;  leaves  Bowling  Green, 
683  ;  gives  battle  at  Shiloh,  684 ;  is  killed,  685 ; 
estimate  of,  782. 

Johnston,  Joseph  E.,  at  Bull  Run,  655,  656 ;  has 
army  at  Manassas,  693  ;  at  Fair  Oaks,  696 ; 
wounded,  succeeded  by  Lee,  697 ;  defeated  near 
Vicksburg,  737  ;  fights  Sherman  before  Atlanta, 
758,  759  ;  succeeded  by  Hood,  759  ;  surrenders 
to  Sherman,  772. 

Joint  High  Commission,  the,  820. 

Joliet,  Louis,  French  explorer,  161. 

Jones,  Jacob,  in  command  of  the  Wasp,  422. 

Jones,  John  Paul,  in  sea  fight,  295  and  note  2. 

Juarez,  Benita,  president  of  Mexico,  778 ;  over 
powers  Maximilian,  779. 

Kalb,  Baron  de,  arrives  in  America,  278 ;  is  sent 

South,  304  ;  mortally  wounded  at  Camden,  305. 
Kansas,  fierce  contest  over,  586  sq.  ;  is  admitted 

to  the  Union,  595  ;  625. 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  the,  571  sq.  ;  results  of, 

578;  624. 
Kaskaskia,  founded  by  the  French,  168 ;  captured 

by  Clark,  292. 
Kearny,    Stephen  W.,   conquers    New  Mexico, 

enters  California,  529  ;  killed  at  Chantilly,  708. 
Kearsarge,  the,  destroys  the  Alabama,  777. 
Keene,  General,  at  battle  of  New  Orleans,  439, 

442. 
Keith,  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  first  to  propose 

stamp  duties  for  America,  225. 
Kellogg,  W.  P.,  governor  of  Louisiana,  829. 
Kendall,  Amos,  484 ;  ruling  of,  concerning  aboli 
tion  literature  in  the  mails,  512. 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  battle  of,  759. 
Kentucky,  first  settled  by  Boone,  291  ;  becomes 

a  state,  378 ;  sends  men  to  War  of  1812,  430 ; 

refuses  to  secede,  652. 


Kentucky  and  Virginia  Resolutions,  369,  370. 

Key,  Francis  Scott,  writes  "  Star-Spangled  Ban 
ner,"  437. 

Keyes,  Erasmus  D.,  commands  corps  of  McClel- 
lan's  army,  694  note  1 ;  at  Fair  Oaks,  696. 

Kidd,  William,  executed  for  piracy,  97. 

Kieft,  William,  governor  of  New  Netherland,  134  ; 
character  of,  135 ;  recall,  136 ;  protests  against 
Swedes  on  the  Delaware,  150. 

Kilpatrick,  Judson,  in  Sherman's  march  to  the 
sea,  765. 

King,  Rufus,  in  constitutional  convention,  328 ; 
in  First  Congress,  342  ;  defeated  for  the  presi 
dency,  453 ;  460. 

King's  Mountain,  battle  of,  306. 

King,  William  R.,  elected  Vice  President,  566; 
death  of,  571  note. 

Kittanning,  Indian  town,  captured  by  Armstrong, 
184. 

Knights  of  Labor,  the,  865. 

Know-nothing  party,  origin  and  career  of,  579 
sq. ,'  nominates  Fillmore  for  President,  582. 

Knox,  Henry,  248,  317  ;  suggests  Society  of  Cin 
cinnati,  326;  at  Washington's  inauguration, 
339  ;  in  first  Cabinet,  343. 

Knox,  P.  C.,  in  Roosevelt's  Cabinet,  909. 

Knyphausen,  General,  at  Brandy  wine,  281. 

Kosciusko,  Thaddeus,  278  and  note ;  309. 

Kossuth,  Louis,  visits  America,  561. 

Ku  Klux  Klan,  800 ;  laws  against,  803,  817. 

Laconia  Company,  makes  settlement  in  New 
Hampshire,  117. 

Lafayette,  Marquis  de,  arrives  in  America,  joins 
the  army,  277 ;  at  Monmouth,  286 ;  in  Vir 
ginia,  309 ;  revisits  the  United  States,  467 ; 
receives  bonus  from  Congress,  departs,  468 ; 
death  of,  508. 

Lake  Erie,  battle  of,  428. 

Lamar,  L.  Q.  C.,  in  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  862. 

Lambert,  General,  at  battle  of  New  Orleans,  439, 
442. 

Lamont,  Daniel  S.,  in  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  878. 

Land,  claims  and  cessions  of,  by  the  states, 
319  sq. 

Lane,  Joseph,  nominated  for  Vice  President,  610. 

Lane,  Ralph,  leads  Raleigh's  colony,  59. 

La  Salle,  Robert  Cavalier  de,  explores  the  Missis 
sippi,  161 ;  attempts  to  colonize  Gulf  coast, 
death  of,  162. 

Las  Guasimas,  captured  by  the  Americans,  893. 

Laud,  William,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  perse 
cutes  Puritans,  103. 

Lawrence,  James,  captures  the  Peacock,  423  ; 
is  killed  on  the  Chesapeake,  423,  424. 

Lawrence,  Kansas,  founded,  587  ;  sacked  by  a 
mob,  590. 

Lawrence,  the,  Perry's  flagship,  428. 

Leavenworth,  Kansas,  founded,  587. 


INDEX 


xvii 


Lecompton  constitution,  framed,  593 ;  urged  by 
President  Buchanan,  594  ;  defeated,  595. 

Lecompton,  Kansas,  founded,  587. 

Lee,  Arthur,  276. 

Lee,  Charles,  259,  notice  of,  260 ;  disobeys  orders, 
is  captured,  261 ;  conduct  at  Monmouth,  2S6, 
287  ;  death  of,  288. 

Lee,  Fort,  25S  ;  abandoned,  259. 

Lee,  Henry,  Light  Horse  Harry,  captures  Paulus 
Hook,  298  ;  309  ;  leads  against  whiskey  insur 
rection,  347. 

Lee,  Richard  Henry,  proposes  Declaration  of 
Independence,  253  ;  opposes  Constitution,  335, 
336  ;  in  First  Congress,  342. 

Lee,  Robert  E.,  captures  John  Brown,  604  ;  put 
in  command  of  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
notice  of,  697  ;  reenforces  army,  698 ;  attacks 
McClellan  at  Malvern  Hill,  700  ;  withdraws  to 
Richmond,  700,  701  ;  invades  Maryland,  708  sq.  ; 
at  An  tie  tarn,  710  ;  recrosses  the  Potomac,  710; 
defeats  Burnside  at  Fredericksburg,  721 ;  and 
Hooker  at  Chancellorsville,  723,  724 ;  moves 
into  Pennsylvania,  740  ;  at  Gettysburg,  742  aq.  ; 
offers  battle  in  the  Wilderness,  753  ;  defeats 
Grant  at  Cold  Harbor,  755  ;  made  commander 
in  chief  by  Congress,  769  note  2  :  makes  over 
tures  for  peace,  770 ;  surrenders  at  Appomat- 
tox,  772. 

Legal  Tender  Act,  passed,  731. 

Leisler,  Jacob,  takes  possession  of  New  York, 
143  ;  calls  first  colonial  Congress,  executed,  144  ; 
163,  1G4. 

Leon,  Ponce  de,  accompanies  Columbus  on 
second  voyage,  20 ;  explores  and  names  Florida, 
42. 

Leopard,  the,  fires  on  the  Chesapeake,  397. 

Lesseps,  Ferdinand  de,  attempts  to  build  Panama 
Canal,  907. 

Letcher,  John,  governor  of  Virginia,  calls  for 
troops,  654. 

Lewis,  Merriwether,  leads  expedition  to  the 
Northwest,  387,  388. 

Lewiston,  New  York,  418,  419. 

Lexington,  Massachusetts,  Adams  and  Hancock 
at,  238  ;  battle  of,  239. 

Leyden,  Holland,  temporary  home  of  the  Pil 
grims,  99. 

Liberty,  Sons  of,  227 ;  call  first  Continental 
Congress,  235. 

Lieb,  Michael,  senator  from  Pennsylvania,  409. 

Liliuokalani,  queen  of  Hawaii,  S79. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  584 ;  early  life  and  charac 
teristics  of,  599,  600  ;  compared  with  Douglas, 
601  ;  challenges  Douglas  to  debating  duel,  602  ; 
asks  fatal  question  of  Douglas,  603 ;  Cooper 
Union  speech  of,  nominated  for  President,  611 ; 
reaches  Washington,  pronounces  inaugural, 
639:  640 ;  issues  call  to  arms,  643 ;  journey  of, 
to  Washington,  646 ;  proclaims  blockade,  650, 


651 ;  calls  for  recruits  in  army  and  navy,  653  ; 
message  of,  to  Congress,  659;  releases  Mason  and 
Slidell,  667  ;  removes  Fremont,  677  ;  denounced 
by  the  radicals,  677  ;  opposed  to  McClellau's 
plans,  693;  relations  of,  with  McClellan,  702, 
703 ;  recalls  McClellan,  70S ;  dismisses  him, 
711 ;  overrules  emancipation  orders,  offers  to 
buy  border  state  slaves,  713  ;  issues  Emancipa 
tion  Proclamation,  714 ;  right  to  and  object  in 
issuing  it,  715,  716;  dismisses  Buell,  appoints 
Rosecrans,  718 ;  banishes  Vallandigham,  729  ; 
opposed  for  renomination,  761 ;  grounds  of  op 
position,  762;  nominated,  762;  reC4ected  Presi 
dent,  765  ;  shot  by  Booth,  773 ;  dies,  774 ;  fame 
and  character  of,  774-776;  compared  with 
Jefferson  Davis,  783 ;  mild  attitude  of,  toward 
the  South,  786 ;  at  variance  with  Congress, 
786  sq.  ;  frames  Louisiana  plan  of  reconstruc 
tion,  787  ;  vetoes  congressional  bill,  788  ;  makes 
last  speech,  789 ;  urges  Thirteenth  Amendment, 
793. 

Lincoln,  Benjamin,  sent  to  Hudson  Valley,  270; 
commands  in  the  South,  302  ;  surrenders  army 
to  Clinton,  302  ;  receives  the  sword  of  Corn- 
wallis,  811. 

Lincoln-Douglas  debates,  598  sq. 

Lincoln,  Robert  T.,  in  the  Cabinet,  854. 

Lind,  Jenny,  562. 

Lisbon,  center  of  nautical  science,  8. 

Literature,  37S,  475,  619. 

Little  Belt,  the,  412,  413. 

Livingston,  Edward,  in  Jackson's  Cabinet,  483. 

Livingston,  Robert  R.,  pronounces  oath  to 
Washington,  339 ;  purchases  Louisiana,  384, 
385 ;  aids  Fulton  with  the  steamboat,  407. 

Locke,  John,  supposed  to  have  written  Grand 
Model,  84. 

Logan,  chief  of  the  Mingoes,  290  and  note  2. 

Logan,  John  A.,  nominated  for  Vice  President, 
857. 

Log  Cabin,  the,  founded  by  Greeley,  507. 

London  Company,  sends  colony  to  Virginia,  61  ; 
is  granted  second  charter,  64 ;  becomes  Vir 
ginia  Company,  67. 

Longfellow,  Henry  Wadsworth.  476;  619. 

Longstreet,  James,  at  Fair  Oaks,  696  ;  at  Get 
tysburg,  740  sq. ;  joins  Bragg  near  Chattanooga. 
74S  ;  at  Chickamauga,  749  ;  attacks  Knoxville, 
751  ;  in  the  Wilderness,  753. 

Lookout  Mountain,  location  of,  749 ;  battle  of, 
750. 

Lopez,  Narcisco,  invades  Cuba,  562. 

Lords  of  Trade,  authorize  dispersion  of  the 
Acadians,  1S2. 

London,  Lord,  commander  of  British,  plans  de 
struction  of  Louisburg,  1S4. 

Louis  XIV,  king  of  France,  revokes  Edict  of 
Nantes,  89  ;  permits  La  Salle  to  explore  the 
Mississippi,  161 ;  sends  colony  to  Gulf  coast,  162  ; 


xviii 


INDEX 


espouses  cause  of  James  II,  162 ;  and  the  Pre 
tender,  165;  founds  Louisburg,  death  of,  167. 

Louis  XVI,  king  of  France,  beheaded,  352. 

Louisburg,  fortress  of,  founding  of,  167  ;  great 
strength  of,  168 ;  captured  by  colonists,  ceded 
back  to  France,  169 ;  recaptured  by  the  Eng 
lish,  186. 

Louisiana,  territory  of,  explored  by  La  Salle, 
161  ;  383 ;  ceded  to  Spain,  383 ;  ceded  to  Na 
poleon,  384;  sold  to  the  United  States,  885; 
government  of,  387  ;  shape  of,  534. 

Louisiana,  becomes  a  state,  456 ;  secedes,  630  ; 
accepts  Lincoln's  plan  of  reconstruction,  788 ; 
under  carpetbag  rule,  800 ;  disfranchises  the 
blacks  in  constitution,  804;  political  strife  in, 
829  ;  becomes  Democratic,  829  ;  disputed  elec 
tion  in,  828. 

Lovejoy,  E.  P.,  killed  by  a  mob,  510. 

Lovell,  Mansfield,  in  command  at  New  Orleans, 
690. 

Lowell,  James  Eussell,  527  note  3 ;  619. 

Lowndes,  William,  414;  secures  tariff  of  1816, 
453,  460. 

Loyalists,  the,  persecution  of,  236,  266 ;  probable 
numbers  of,  252 ;  note  on,  266 ;  aid  in  Indian 
massacres,  293,  294;  the  loyalists  and  the 
treaty,  317. 

Lucas,  Eliza,  introduces  indigo  in  South  Caro 
lina,  92. 

Lundy,  Benjamin,  509. 

Lundy's  Lane,  battle  of,  432. 

Lutherans,  the,  80 ;  in  Pennsylvania,  204 ;  growth 
and  mission  work  of,  620. 

Lyman,  General,  defeats  Dieskau,  184. 

Lyon,  Matthew,  imprisoned  under  Sedition  Law, 
369. 

Lyon,  Nathaniel,  652 ;  killed  at  Wilson's  Creek, 
658. 

Lytton,  Sir  Edward  Bulwer,  quoted,  662. 

MacArthur,  Arthur,  military  governor  of  the 
Philippines,  898  note. 

McCaurland,  General,  burns  Chambersburg,  757. 

McClellan,  George  Brinton,  in  West  Virginia, 
655;  takes  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac,  669  ;  commander  in  chief,  676,  692 ;  re 
lieved,  685,  693;  popularity  of,  691;  moves 
army  to  the  James,  693;  at  Williamsburg,  694  ; 
moves  up  the  York  River,  695  ;  moves  base  to 
the  James,  699  ;  at  Malvern  Hill,  700  ;  recalled 
from  the  peninsula,  701 ;  restored  to  command, 
708 ;  follows  Lee  into  Maryland,  708,  709  ;  at 
Antietam,  710 ;  dismissed  from  the  army, 
Grant's  estimate  of,  711 ;  compared  with 
Buell,  718  ;  nominated  for  the  presidency,  764. 

McClernand,  John  A.,  at  Fort  Donelson,  680; 
at  Shiloh,  683,  685  ;  at  Arkansas  Post,  735. 

McClure,  A.  K.,  opposes  Grant's  renomination, 


MacComb,  Alexander,  at  battle  of  Plattsburg, 
433,434. 

McCook,  Alexander  D.,  at  Perry ville,  717 ;  at 
Stone  River,  719. 

McCormick,  Cyrus,  invents  mower  and  reaper, 
617. 

McCulloch,  Benjamin,  at  Wilson's  Creek,  658 ; 
killed  at  Pea  Ridge,  687. 

McCulloch,  Hugh,  secretary  of  the  treasury,  830. 

Macdonald,  Allan,  255  note  1 . 

Macdonald,  Donald,  at  Moore's  Creek,  255. 

Macdonald,  Flora,  255  note  1. 

Macdonough,  Thomas,  433 ;  defeats  English  on 
Lake  Champlain,  434. 

McDowell,  Irwin,  at  Bull  Run,  655-657 ;  guards 
Washington,  694. 

Macedonian,  the,  defeated  by  the  United  States, 
422. 

McIIenry,  Fort,  bombarded,  437. 

McKinley,  William,  frames  tariff  bill,  867;  nomi 
nated  for  President,  notice  of,  power  as  a  party 
leader,  887 ;  elected,  888,  889 ;  calls  extra  ses 
sion  of  Congress,  889 ;  demands  release  of 
prisoners  in  Cuba,  sends  the  Maine,  calls  for 
declaration  of  war,  891 ;  calls  for  volunteers, 
892 ;  urges  cession  of  the  Philippines,  896 ; 
second  election  of,  897  ;  recommends  free  trade 
and  civil  government  in  Porto  Rico,  899  ;  rec 
ommends  increase  of  the  army,  902 ;  second 
inauguration  of,  shot  by  an  assassin,  904 ;  death 
and  character  of,  905. 

McKinley  Tariff,  the,  867 ;  brings  Republican 
defeat,  871 ;  and  the  defeat  of  Harrison,  875. 

McLean,  John,  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
584 ;  opinion  of,  in  Dred  Scott  case,  596. 

McPherson,  J.  B.,  at  Vicksburg,  735;  at  Chatta 
nooga,  758 ;  killed,  760. 

Madison,  James,  calls  Annapolis  convention, 
324 ;  in  Constitutional  Convention,  325,  327  ; 
draws  up  plan  of  Union,  329  ;  in  first  Congress, 
342 ;  joins  party  of  Jefferson,  351 ;  becomes 
secretary  of  state,  appearance  of,  880,  381; 
inaugurated  President,  qualifications  of,  408 ; 
chooses  Cabinet,  suspends  non-intercourse, 
409  ;  revives  the  same,  dismisses  Jackson,  410 ; 
agrees  to  declare  war,  414  ;  recommends  an 
embargo,  444  ;  retirement  of,  453  ;  death  of,  508. 

Madison,  Mrs.  "  Dolly,"  saves  Washington's 
picture,  436  ;  453 ;  517. 

Magaw,  Colonel,  surrenders  Fort  Washington, 
259. 

Magellan,  makes  first  voyage  round  the  earth, 
26 ;  387,  892. 

Magoffin,  Beriah,  attempts  of,  to  lead  Kentucky 
to  secede,  652. 

Magruder,  J.  B.,  655 ;  opposes  McClellan  on  the 
peninsula,  694;  at  Malvern  Hill,  700. 

Mails,  in  colonial  times,  210 ;  use  of,  for  abolition 
literature  resisted,  512. 


INDEX 


xix 


Maine,  the,  blown  up  at  Havana,  891. 

Maine,  colony  of,  charter  granted  to  Gorges,  is 
joined  to  Massachusetts,  119 ;  invaded  by 
British,  433  ;  becomes  a  state,  456,  460. 

Maiden,  Fort,  417,  429. 

Malvern  Hill,  battle  of,  TOO. 

Manassas,  Virginia,  armies  gather  at,  655,  656 ; 
captured  by  Jackson,  707. 

Mangum,  "William  P.,  candidate  for  presidency, 
502, 

Manhattan,  settled  by  the  Dutch,  133;  see  New 
Amsterdam  and  New  York. 

Manila,  battle  of,  captured  by  Dewey  and  Merritt, 
892. 

Mann,  Horace,  denounces  Webster,  544,  565 
note  3. 

Mansfield,  Lord,  on  Stamp  Act,  228;  decides 
against  slavery  in  England,  457,  597,  662. 

Manufacturing,  forbidden  in  colonies,  217 ;  es 
tablished  in  the  United  States,  452. 

Marcy,  William  L.,  in  Folk's  Cabinet,  523 ;  563 ; 
in  Pierce' s  Cabinet,  571. 

Marietta,  Ohio,  founded,  879. 

Marion,  Francis,  the  "Swamp  Fox,"  304,  305, 
307. 

Markham,  "William,  first  governor  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  155;  grants  new  government  to  Penn 
sylvania,  156. 

Marquette,  Father  James,  floats  down  the 
Mississippi,  161. 

Marshall,  James,  discovers  gold  in  California,  535. 

Marshall,  John,  favors  the  Constitution,  336; 
becomes  secretary  of  state,  371 ;  is  appointed 
chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  373 ;  de 
cision  of,  concerning  territories,  3S7 ;  presides 
at  Burr's  trial,  393 ;  great  service  of,  as  inter 
preter  of  the  Constitution,  4S9,  490  and  note  1 ; 
death  of,  508. 

Martin,  Luther,  defends  Aaron  Burr,  393. 

Maryland,  colony  of,  founded,  first  proprietary 
government  in  America,  75 ;  character  of 
charter,  76,  78 ;  early  bounds  of,  77 ;  religious 
freedom  in,  78;  first  settlers  of,  free  from 
Indian  wars  and  bad  government,  quarrels 
with  Virginia,  79 ;  passes  Toleration  Act,  80 ; 
prospers,  81 ;  becomes  royal  province,  is  re 
stored  to  the  Calverts,  establishes  Church  of 
England,  82  ;  rural  life  in,  205. 

Maryland,  state  of,  makes  stand  on  land  ces 
sions,  320;  ratifies  Constitution,  336;  refuses 
to  secede,  651. 

Mason  and  Dixon  Line,  153  and  note  2 :  198. 

Mason,  James  M.,  issues  Ostend  Manifesto,  572  ; 
writer  of  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  664 ;  seized  on 
the  Trent,  665 ;  released,  667. 

Mason,  John,  receives  grant  for  New  Hampshire, 
117. 

Massachusetts  Bay,  colony  of,  see  Massachusetts, 
colony  of. 


Massachusetts,  colony  of,  charter  for  granted, 
104 ;  charter  carried  to  New  England,  great 
migration  to,  105 ;  local  and  general  govern 
ment  of,  106,  107,  210  sq. :  rapid  growth  of, 
107 ;  prepares  to  resist  the  king,  108 ;  ban 
ishes  Roger  "Williams,  108  ;  and  Anne  Hutchin- 
son,  109 ;  executes  Quakers,  110 ;  witchcraft 
delusion  in,  110;  loses  charter,  111,  125;  joins 
confederation,  120 ;  declaration  of  rights  in, 
123;  receives  second  charter,  126;  second  in 
population,  198  ;  education  in,  207  ;  calls  for  aid, 
234,  235 ;  forms  provisional  government,  236 ; 
moves  for  independence,  252. 

Massachusetts,  state  of,  claims  western  lands, 
319 ;  refuses  to  issue  paper  money,  323 ;  rati 
fies  Constitution,  336 ;  refuses  militia  for  War 
of  1812,  416;  emancipates  slaves.  458. 

Massasoit,  chief  of  "Warnpanoags,  makes  treaty 
with  the  Pilgrims,  101 ;  befriends  Koger 
"Williams,  115. 

Mavila,  battle  of,  46. 

Maximilian,  emperor  of  Mexico,  overpowered  and 
executed,  779. 

May,  Cornelius,  first  director  of  Dutch  colonies, 
133. 

May,  Samuel,  aids  in  Jerry  rescue,  551. 

Mayflmcer,  bears  Pilgrim  Fathers  to  America, 
99  ;  compact  on,  100  ;  last  survivors  of,  127  and 
note ;  605. 

Meade,  George  Gordon,  at  Chancellorsville,  723 ; 
in  command  of  Army  of  the  Potomac,  740 ; 
decides  on  battle  at  Gettysburg,  743. 

Mechanicsville,  battle  of,  698. 

Mecklenburg  Declaration,  the,  242. 

Medicine,  practice  of,  in  the  colonies,  208. 

Medina  Celi,  entertains  Columbus,  10. 

Medina  Sidonia,  duke  of,  commands  Spanish 
Armada,  58. 

Mela,  theory  of  the  earth  of,  4. 

Memphis,  Tennessee,  captured  by  Union  troops, 
733. 

Mercer,  Hugh,  mortally  wounded,  265. 

Merrimac,  the,  burned  at  Norfolk,  raised  and 
converted  into  an  ironclad,  673  ;  destroys 
United  States  vessels,  674 ;  in  fight  with  the 
Monitor,  burned,  675. 

Merritt,  "Wesley,  at  Manila,  892;  military  gov 
ernor  of  the  Philippines,  S9S  note. 

Methodists,  growth  and  mission  work  of,  620. 

Mexico,  city  of,  surrenders  to  Scott,  533. 

Mexico,  emancipates  slaves,  strained  relations 
with,  496 ;  at  war  with  the  United  States,  527 
sq.  ;  conquered  by  France,  778. 

Michigan,  territory  of,  surrendered  by  Hull,  416, 
417 ;  recovered,  430. 

Michilimackinac,  capture  of,  by  Indians,  196. 

Middle  Colonies,  the,  131  sq. ;  mixed  population 
of,  198 ;  social  rank  in,  200. 

Midnight  Judiciary,  373  ;  act  repealed,  383. 


INDEX 


Mifflin,  Thomas,  intrigues  with  Congress,  284. 
Miles,  Nelson  A.,  at  Bull  Kun,  656  note ;  con 
quers  Porto  Rico,  894. 
Miller,  James,  at  Lundy's  Lane,  432. 
Mill  Spring,  battle  of,  678. 
Mills,  Roger  Q.,  frames  the  Mills  bill,  86T. 
Mims,  Fort,  Indian  massacre  of,  438. 
Minnesota,  the,  in  fight  with  the  Merrimac, 

6T4. 
Minuit,  Peter,  purchases  Manhattan  and  founds 

New  Amsterdam,  133;    recalled,  134;    leads 

Swedish  colony  to  Delaware,  150. 
Missionary  Ridge,  location  of,  749  ;  battle  of,  750, 

751. 
Mississippi,  becomes  a  state,  456  ;  secedes,  629  ; 

new  method  of,  in  disfranchising  the  blacks, 

804. 
Mississippi  River,  discovered  by  De  Soto,  52 ; 

explored  by  Marquette,  by  La  Salle,  161  ;  left 

open   to    British   and    American    shipping    in 

Treaty  of  Paris,  313  ;  becomes  boundary  of  the 

United  States,  313  ;  the  jetty  system  in,  876. 

For  military  operations  along,  see  battles,  etc., 

of  the  Civil  War. 
Mississippi  Valley,  explored  by  the  French,  161  ; 

French  colonies  in,  167  ;  chain  of  French  forts 

in,  168  ;  migration  to,  456. 
Missouri,  becomes  a  state,  463  ;  refuses  to  secede, 

651,  652  ;  Liberal  Republican  movement  in,  823. 
Missouri  Compromise,  456  sq.  ;  509  ;  proposal  to 

extend  it  to  the  Pacific,  539  ;  repealed,  573  sq.  ; 

violated,  575  note  2 ;  pronounced  void  in  Dred 

Scott  case,  596 ;  624. 
Missouri  River,  explored  by  Lewis  and  Clark, 

387. 
Mitchell,  John  K.,  confederate  naval  commander 

at  New  Orleans,  689. 
Mobile  Bay,  battle  of,  760,  761. 
Mobile,  surrender  of,  761. 
Modoc  Indians,  829. 
Mohammedans,  the,  cut  off  Christian  Europe  from 

Asia,  1. 

Molasses  Act,  the,  217,  218. 
Monitor,  the,  built  by  Ericsson,  673 ;   in  fight 

with  the  Merrimac,  675 ;  wrecked,  675  note  2. 
Monkton,    Colonel,    commander    expedition    to 

Acadia,  181. 

Monmouth,  battle  of,  286. 
Monro,  Colonel,  surrenders  Fort  William  Henry, 

185. 

Monroe  Doctrine,  first  promulgated,  463. 
Monroe,  Fortress,  McClellan's  base,  694. 
Monroe,  James,  in  first  Congress,  342  ;  minister 

to  France,  360 ;   sent  to   Paris,  384 ;   becomes 

secretary  of  state,  409  ;  elected  President,  453  ; 

character  of,  453,  454  ;  second  election  of,  462  ; 

promulgates  Monroe  Doctrine,  463  ;  death  of, 

508. 
Montana,  admitted  to  the  Union,  869. 


Montcalrn,  Marquis  de,  French  commander,  cap 
tures  Oswego,  184;  captures  Fort  William 
Henry,  185  ;  endeavors  to  prevent  Indian  mas 
sacre,  186;  surrenders  Quebec,  dies,  192. 

Montgomery,  Alabama,  Confederate  government 
formed  at,  630. 

Montgomery,  Richard,  makes  expedition  to  Can 
ada,  249. 

Monticello,  Jefferson's  country  home,  309. 

Montreal,  surrenders  to  Amherst,  193. 

Moore's  Creek,  North  Carolina,  battle  of,  255. 

Morales,  Juan,  surrenders  Vera  Cruz,  530,  531. 

Moravians,  the,  in  Pennsylvania,  204. 

Morgan,  Daniel,  248 ;  sent  to  Hudson  Valley, 
270 ;  defeats  Tarleton  at  Cowpens,  307. 

Morgan,  Henry,  the  pirate,  97. 

Morgan,  John  H.,  cavalry  leader,  747. 

Morgan's  Raid,  746,  747. 

Morgan,  William,  discloses  secrets  of  Free 
masonry,  492. 

Mormons,  the,  origin  of,  620 ;  movement  west 
ward,  621 ;  856  ;  864. 

Morris,  Gouverneur,  in  Constitutional  Conven 
tion,  328. 

Morris,  Robert,  aids  the  army,  264 ;  in  Constitu 
tional  Convention,  328 ;  in  first  Congress,  342. 

Morristown,  Washington  encamps  at,  265. 

Morse,  Samuel  F.  B.,  522;  invented  the  tele 
graph,  616. 

Morton,  J.  S.,  in  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  878. 

Morton,  Levi  P.,  elected  Vice  President,  867. 

Motley,  John  Lothrop,  historian,  619. 

Moultrie,  Fort,  255 ;  abandoned  by  Anderson,  638. 

Moultrie,  William,  defends  Charleston,  255 ; 
defends  Port  Royal,  302. 

Mower  and  reaper,  invented  by  McCormick,  617. 

Mugwumps,  the,  859. 

Muhlenburg,  Frederick,  speaker  of  first  Con 
gress,  342. 

Muhlenburg,  Henry  M.,  Lutheran  patriarch, 
quoted,  264;  342. 

Murfreesborough,  battle  of,  719,  720. 

Nantes,  Edict  of,  issued  by  Henry  of  Navarre, 

revoked  by  Louis  XIV,  89. 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  cedes  Louisiana,  384,  385 ; 

boasts  that  his  will  would  be  the  law  of  the 

world,  398;  issues  Berlin  decree,  398;  Milan 

decree,  399 ;  Bayonne  decree,  402 ;  Rambouil- 

let  decree,  410  ;  415 ;  462. 
Narragansetts,  aid  King  Philip  in  war,  122. 
Narvaez,  Panfilo  de,  leads  expedition  to  Florida, 

42,  54  ;  cruelty  of,  43. 
Nashville,  founded,  291 ;   slaveholders'   meeting 

at,  540  ;  battle  of,  768. 
Nassau,  Fort,  on  the  Hudson,  on  the  Delaware, 

133. 
National   Republican  party,  492 ;    absorbed  by 

Whig  party,  502. 


INDEX 


Native-American  party,  see  Know-nothing  party. 

Nat  Turner  insurrection,  510. 

Naturalization  law,  368,  383. 

Naval  expeditions  in  Civil  War,  670  sq. 

Navigation  laws,  70 ;  effect  on  Virginia,  71 ;  on 
North  Carolina,  85 ;  evaded  in  New  England, 
124 ;  ignored  by  the  Dutch,  138 ;  discussion  of, 
216  sq. 

Navy,  Congress  orders,  295;  at  the  opening  of 
War  of  1 812,  416;  achievements  of,  424. 

Nebraska,  territory  of,  573  ;  admitted  as  a  state, 
812. 

Negroes,  standing  of,  before  the  law,  597  ;  present 
condition  of,  in  the  South,  802,  803. 

Negro  plot  in  New  York,  145. 

Negro  soldiery,  746. 

Netherlands,  the,  rise  as  a  sea  power,  achieve 
ments  of,  131 ;  grants  charter  to  West  India 
Company,  132 ;  claim  all  territory  between 
Chesapeake  Bay  and  Cape  Cod,  133  ;  at  war 
with  England,  140,  296. 

Nevada,  discovery  of  silver  in,  618  ;  organized  as 
a  territory,  637. 

New  Amsterdam,  founded  by  Minuit,  133 ;  cos 
mopolitan  character  of,  135  ;  incorporated,  137  ; 
population  of,  137  ;  surrenders  to  English  fleet, 
becomes  New  York,  139. 

Newburg  addresses,  321. 

New  England,  earliest  attempts  to  colonize,  61 
note  4,  100  note  1 ;  explored  and  named  by 
John  Smith,  104  ;  confederation  of,  120  sq.  ;  ex 
pansion  and  general  progress  of,  129  ;  popula 
tion  at  opening  of  Revolution,  130  ;  slavery  in, 
198 ;  social  rank  in,  200 ;  occupations  in,  201 ; 
town  life  in,  202 ;  church  life  and  education  in, 
206,  207 ;  threatens  to  secede,  323,  626  and  note ; 
demands  that  Congress  control  commerce, 
331. 

New  Hampshire,  colony  of,  first  settlements  of. 
117 ;  towns  of,  unite  and  join  Massachusetts, 
becomes  royal  province,  government  of,  dis 
putes  with  Mason's  heirs,  118;  disputes  with 
New  York  about  Vermont,  118,  119. 

New  Hampshire  Grants,  see  Vermont. 

New  Hampshire,  state  of,  quarrels  with  New 
York,  321  ;  ratifies  the  Constitution,  335  ;  eman 
cipates  slaves,  458. 

New  Haven,  founded  by  Davenport  and  Eaton, 
113 ;  is  united  to  Connecticut,  115 ;  joins  con 
federation,  120  j  negro  school  at,  510;  seat  of 
Yale  College,  note  207. 

New  Jersey,  colony  of,  first  settled,  146 ;  first 
assembly  in,  settlers  of,  rebel,  divided  into 
East  and  West  Jersey,  147  ;  difference  between 
East  and  West  Jersey,  147,  148  ;  is  joined  to 
New  York,  becomes  royal  province,  148 ; 
growth,  population,  character  of  settlers,  148, 
149  ;  rural  life  in,  204  ;  education  in,  207. 

New  Jersey,  state  of,  emancipates  slaves,  458. 


New  Mexico,  conquest  of,  529  ;  Texan  claims  on, 
relinquished,  546. 

New  Netherland,  132 ;  government  of,  134,  135  ,• 
extent  of,  133  ;  boundary  of,  limited,  137  ;  ceded 
to  England,  139  ;  reconquered  by  the  Dutch  and 
re-ceded  to  England,  140 ;  three  settlements  in, 
141. 

New  Orleans,  founded,  becomes  capital  of  Louisi 
ana,  167 ;  port  of,  closed,  384 ;  artillery  duel 
near,  440  ;  battle  of,  441 ;  surrenders  to  Farra- 
gut,  690  ;  political  fight  in,  829  ;  exposition  at, 
854 ;  massacre  of  Italians  at,  872. 

Newport,  Captain,  commands  voyage  to  James 
town,  61  ;  explores  James  River,  62 ;  returns 
to  Virginia  with  supplies,  64. 

Newport,  Rhode  Island,  founded  by  Coddington, 
joins  Portsmouth,  115. 

Newspapers,  in  colonial  times,  210 ;  suppression 
of  during  the  Civil  War,  730  note  1,  732. 

New  Sweden,  founded,  growth  of,  150  ;  conquered 
by  the  Dutch,  137,  151. 

New  York,  city  of,  formerly  New  Amsterdam, 
one  of  the  four  largest  colonial  cities,  198  ; 
importance  of,  203;  Washington  enters,  256; 
draft  riots  in,  728. 

New  York,  colony  of,  formerly  New  Netherland, 
early  government  of,  141, 142  ;  demands  popular 
government,  first  assembly  of,  adopts  "  declara 
tion  of  rights,"  142  ;  joined  to  New  England 
and  New  Jersey,  142  ;  Leisler  controls,  143, 144  ; 
Zenger  case  in,  negro  plot  in,  145;  growth  and 
population,  146 ;  soil,  fur  trade,  society  of,  203  ; 
education  in,  207. 

New  York,  state  of,  claims  western  lands,  319 ; 
cedes  lands  to  the  Union,  320 ;  quarrels  with 
New  Hampshire,  with  Connecticut,  321  ; 
opposes,  then  ratifies,  the  Constitution,  337 ; 
Burr  defeated  in,  389  ;  invaded  by  British,  433  ; 
emancipates  slaves,  45S ;  pivotal  state  in  presi 
dential  elections,  521,  538,  860. 

Niagara,  Fort,  built  by  the  French,  168  ;  expedi 
tion  against,  183. 

Nicaragua,  offers  canal  franchise,  907  ;  canal  route 
across  surveyed,  908. 

Nicholson,  Sir  Francis,  governor  of  Virginia,  73  ; 
befriends  William  and  Mary  College,  love  affair 
of,  74  ;  commands  expedition  to  Canada,  166. 
Nicollet,  Jean,  discovers  Lake  Michigan,  160. 
Nicolls,  Richard,  conquers  New  Amsterdam,  139  ; 
first  governor   of  New   York,   character  and 
death  of,  140 ;  frames  the  "  Duke's  Laws,"  141. 
Nine  Men,  the,  chosen  by  Stuyvesant,  136. 
Norfolk,    Virginia,  burned   by  Governor   Dun- 
more,  254. 

North  Carolina,  colony  of,  first  attempts  to  colo 
nize,  first  permanent  settlements  in,  charter 
for,  83 ;  extent  of  charter,  origin  of  name, 
"  Grand  Model  "  for.  84  ;  first  assembly  in,  in 
surrection  in,  85 ;  separated  from  South  Caro- 


xxii 


INDEX 


Una,  and  becomes  royal  colony,  87  ;  products, 
character  of  settlers,  87 ;  first  to  move  for  in 
dependence,  252. 

North  Carolina,  state  of,  joins  the  Union,  337 ; 
secedes,  645 ;  provisional  governor  appointed 
for,  792  ;  disfranchises  negroes,  804. 

North  Castle,  Lee  holds  army  at,  260,  263. 

North  Dakota,  becomes  a  state,  870. 

Northfield,  attacked  by  Indians,  122. 

North,  Lord  Frederick,  premier  of  England,  232  ; 
proposes  yielding  to  the  colonists,  279. 

North  Point,  battle  of,  437. 

Nova  Scotia,  see  Acadia. 

Ogdensburg,  New  York,  British  repulse  at,  420. 

Oglethorpe,  James,  founds  Georgia,  his  object, 
receives  charter,  becomes  first  governor,  94; 
leads  expedition  against  St.  Augustine,  de 
fends  his  colony,  returns  to  England,  95. 

Ohio  Company  formed,  172. 

Ohio,  Indian  war  in,  379  ;  becomes  a  state,  880. 

Ohio  Valley,  claimed  by  French  and  English,  171 ; 
claimed  by  Virginia,  319  ;  Burr's  operations  in, 
392. 

Oklahoma  opened  to  settlers,  871. 

Oliver,  Mordecai,  590. 

Olney,  Kichard,  in  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  878 ;  cor 
respondence  of,  with  Lord  Salisbury,  884. 

Omaha,  terminus  of  Pacific  Eailroad,  818. 

O'Neal,  Peggy,  Mrs.  Eaton,  482. 

Opekankano,  Indian  chief,  makes  war  on  Vir 
ginians,  68. 

Opequan,  battle  of,  757. 

Orange,  Prince  of,  marries  Princess  Mary,  141. 
See  William  and  Mary. 

Orders  in  Council,  399,  413 ;  repealed,  415. 

Ordinance  of  1787,  the,  324,  386,  458. 

Oregon,  explored  by  Lewis  and  Clark,  388;  owner 
ship  of,  declared  by  Democrats,  519,  520;  set 
tled  by  Americans,  grounds  for  American  and 
English  claims  of,  divided,  525  and  note,  526. 

Oregon,  the,  joins  fleets  of  Sampson  and  Schley, 
893. 

Original  Package  law,  870. 

Oriskany,  battle  of,  270,  271. 

Ortiz,  Juan,  De  Soto's  interpreter,  44,  46,  52. 

Osceola,  Indian  chief,  assassinates  General 
Thomson,  497 ;  capture  of,  498. 

Ostend  Manifesto,  572. 

Otis,  E.  S.,  military  governor  of  the  Philippines, 
898  note. 

Otis,  James,  resists  writs  of  assistance,  222,  223 
and  note ;  in  Stamp  Act  Congress,  227. 

Oxenstiern,  Swedish  statesman,  sends  colonists 
to  Delaware,  150. 

Paine,  Thomas,  writes  "Common  Sense,"  252. 
Pakenham,  Sir  Edward,  leads  army  to  Louisi 
ana,  439  ;  is  killed  at  New  Orleans,  442. 


Palatinate  of  Durham,  model  for  Maryland,  75; 
origin  and  character  of,  76. 

Palma,  Estrada,  first  president  of  Cuba,  902. 

Palmer,  John  M.,  nominated  for  the  presidency 
888. 

Palmerston,  Lord,  British  premier,  quoted,  664. 

Palo  Alto,  battle  of,  527. 

Panama,  secedes  from  Colombia,  910;  makes 
canal  treaty  with  the  United  States,  911. 

Panama  Canal  Company  (French),  907,  908. 

Panama  Congress,  470. 

Panic,  of  1818,  465 ;  of  1837,  503  sq.  ;  of  1873, 
832  ;  of  1893,  880. 

Paper  money,  issues  of,  159,  314,  323 ;  by  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  706;  731. 

Paris,  Treaty  of,  after  French  and  Indian  War, 
193  ;  treaty  of,  after  the  Eevolution,  312  ;  its 
provisions,  313  ;  after  war  with  Spain,  895. 

Parker,  John,  opposes  British  at  Lexington,  239 
and  note. 

Parker,  Sir  Peter,  joins  Clinton  in  the  South,  254. 

Parker,  Theodore,  defends  abolitionists,  511 ;  de 
nounces  Webster,  544  ;  552. 

Parliament,  English,  sends  fleet  to  Virginia,  69 ; 
sends  commission  to  Maryland,  81 ;  aids  in 
colonizing  Georgia,  95 ;  opposes  the  Quakers, 
152;  passes  Navigation  Laws,  216  sq. ;  passes 
Stamp  Act,  224  sq. ;  repeals  it,  228;  governs 
England  for  two  generations,  231 ;  intolerable 
acts  of,  234. 

ParsonVCause,  223,  224. 

Parties,  political,  rise  of,  348  ;  see  Federalist,  Re 
publican,  Democratic,  Anti-Masonic,  Know- 
nothing,  Prohibition,  National  Republican, 
Whig,  etc. 

Paterson,  William,  presents  plan  of  Union,  329  ; 
in  first  Congress,  342. 

Patroon  system,  established  on  the  Hudson,  134 ; 
character  of,  203. 

Patterson,  Robert,  in  Mexican  War,  531 ;  at  Bull 
Run,  655,  656. 

Payne,  Lewis,  attempts  to  assassinate  Seward, 
773 ;  fate  of,  785. 

Peace  Congress,  the,  635. 

Peacock,  the,  captured  by  the  Hornet,  423. 

Peake,  Captain,  in  command  of  the  Peacock, 
423. 

Pea  Ridge,  battle  of,  687. 

Pearson,  Captain,  fights  John  Paul  Jones,  295. 

Peary,  R.  E.,  Arctic  explorer,  876. 

Pemaquid,  Maine,  destroyed  by  Indians,  163. 

Pemberton,  John  C.,  succeeds  Van  Dora,  719 ; 
surrenders  Vicksburg,  739. 

Pendleton,  George  H.,  659 ;  nominated  for  the 
vice  presidency,  764,  815 ;  introduces  Civil  Ser 
vice  Reform  bill,  856. 

Penn,  Richard,  carries  petition  to  England,  244. 

Penn,  William,  purchases  part  of  New  Jersey, 
147 ;  purchases  Delaware,  151  ;  becomes  a  fol- 


INDEX 


xxili 


lower  of  Fox,  relations  to  his  father,  receives 
charter  for  Pennsylvania,  152  ;  character  of,  154 ; 
first  voyage  of,  to  Pennsylvania,  founds  Phila 
delphia,  makes  famous  treaty  with  the  Indians, 
155 ;  presents  frame  of  government,  156 ; 
deprived  of  colony,  receives  it  back,  revisits 
Pennsylvania,  misfortunes  of,  157  ;  death  and 
character  of,  158. 

Pennsylvania,  colon}*  of,  charter  of,  granted  to 
Penn,  152 ;  dispute  concerning  boundary  of. 
153  and  note  2 ;  first  legislature  in,  156 ;  colo 
nial  development  of,  159  ;  mixed  population, 
rural  life  in,  204,  205 ;  education  in,  207  ;  claims 
Wyoming  Valley,  293. 

Pennsylvania,  state  of,  disputes  with  Connecticut 
over  Wyoming  Valley,  321 ;  ratifies  the  Consti 
tution,  335  ;  emancipates  slaves,  45S. 

Pennsylvania  Germans,  arrive  in  Pennsylvania, 
15S  ;  character  of,  15S,  159  ;  oppose  slavery,  199, 
457. 

Pensions  Dependent  bill,  vetoed  by  Cleveland, 
S63  ;  passed,  868. 

People's  party,  "  Populists,"  nominates  Weaver 
for  President,  874  ;  endorse  Bryan,  888. 

Popperell,  William,  commands  expedition  to 
Louisburg,  169. 

Pequot  War,  the,  114. 

Percival,  Spencer,  British  premier,  413  ;  shot  by 
a  lunatic,  415. 

Percy,  Lord,  rescues  British  at  Lexington,  240 ; 
250. 

Perez,  Juan,  befriends  Columbus,  10. 

Perry,  Oliver  Hazard,  builds  fleet  on  Lake  Erie, 
defeats  Barclay,  42S. 

Petersburg,  Virginia,  assaulted  by  Grant,  756 ; 
occupied  by  Grant,  768  ;  battle  at,  770. 

Petitions  to  Congress,  511. 

Petroleum,  discover}-  of,  617. 

Philadelphia,  founded  by  Penn,  early  growth  of, 
155  ;  largest  city  in  the  colonies,  198 ;  refuses 
landing  of  tea,  233  ;  British  army  enters,  2S2  : 
leaves,  285 ;  Constitutional  Convention  meets 
at.  327  ;  honors  Washington,  339  ;  national  con 
vention  at,  825  ;  centennial  at,  833  sq. 

Philip  II,  king  of  Spain,  sends  the  Armada  to 
England,  57  :  great  power  and  revenue  of,  890. 

Philip,  King,  Indian  chief,  makes  war  on  settlers, 
122,  123  ;  death  of.  123. 

Philip's  War,  King,  121  sq.  ;  cost  of.  123. 

Philippine  Islands,  a  possession  of  Spain,  cap 
tured  by  England,  re-ceded  to  Spain,  193  ;  taken 
by  the  "United  States,  892,  895;  ceded  to  the 
United  States,  896;  extent,  soil,  natives  of, 
896 ;  revolt  against  American  rule  in,  897  ; 
pacification  of,  S9S ;  government  of,  898,  899. 

Phillips,  William,  Burgoyne's  artillerist,  269 ;  in 
Virginia,  309. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  defends  Abolitionists,  510  ;  552. 

Phipps,  Sir  William,  captures  Port  Royal,  sails 


against  Quebec,  becomes  governor  of  Massa 
chusetts,  164. 

Pickens,  Andrew,  304. 

Pickering,  Timothy,  secretary  of  state,  360  ;  con 
spires  to  disrupt  the  Union,  3S8,  389. 

Pickett,  George  E.,  makes  famous  charge  at  Get 
tysburg,  745;  at  Five  Forks,  770. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  in  Mexican  War,  532;  nomi 
nated  for  presidency,  563  ;  notice  of,  563  ;  elec 
tion  of,  566 ;  inaugurated,  571 ;  popularity  of, 
wanes,  572. 

Pierpont,  Francis  H.,  governor  of  Virginia,  654, 
655. 

Pigott.  Sir  Robert,  holds  Newport,  297. 

Pike,  Albert,  commands  Indians  at  Pea  Ridge, 
6SS. 

Pike,  Zebulon,  explores  Northwest,  388;  cap 
tures  York,  is  killed,  426. 

Pilgrims,  as  Separatists  settle  in  Leyden,  set  out 
for  America  in  the  Mayflower,  99 ;  land  at 
Plymouth.  Massachusetts,  100. 

Pillow,  Gideon  J.,  in  Mexican  War,  532 ;  at  Fort 
Donelson,  681,  682. 

Pinckney,  Charles,  460. 

Pinckney,  Charles  C.,  in  Constitutional  Conven 
tion,  328;  sent  to  France,  360;  candidate  for 
presidency,  394. 

Pinckney,  Thomas,  415. 

Pinkney,  William,  396,  412,  413  ;  favors  slavery 
in  Missouri,  460. 

Pinzon,  Alonzo.  aids  Columbus,  10 ;  commands 
the  Pinta  in  famous  voyage,  12  ;  separates 
from  Columbus,  IS. 

Pinzon,  Vincent,  commands  the  Nina  in  voyage, 
12. 

Pirates,  the,  96,  97. 

Pitcairn,  John,  opens  war  at  Lexington,  239 ; 
killed  at  Bunker  Hill,  247. 

Pitt,  William,  Earl  of  Chatham,  becomes  English 
premier,  sends  fleet  against  Louisburg,  1S6 ; 
plans  to  conquer  Canada,  189  ;  anecdote  of, 
195;  speaks  for  colonies,  228;  again  premier, 
229;  tribute  of,  to  Continental  Congress,  236; 
death  of,  279. 

Pittsburg,  birthplace  of  the  Republican  party, 
582  ;  center  of  railroad  strike,  845. 

Platt,  Thomas  C.,  resigns  from  the  Senate,  853. 

Platt  Amendment,  the,  901. 

Plattsburg,  battle  of,  434. 

Plymouth,  England,  Pilgrims  embark  from,  99. 

Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  landing  place  of  the 
Pilgrims,  100. 

Plymouth  colony,  settled  by  Pilgrims,  100;  gov 
ernment  of,  a  pxire  democracy,  102  ;  purchases 
its  freedom,  102;  joins  confederation,  120;  is 
joined  to  Massachusetts,  126. 

Plymouth  Company,  attempts  to  found  a  colony 
on  coast  of  Maine,  61  note  4 ;  merges  into 
Council  for  New  England,  104. 


xxiv 


INDEX 


Pocahontas,  rescues  John  Smith,  63 :  marries 
John  Rolfe,  goes  to  England,  dies,  64. 

Poe,  Edgar  Allan,  476,  619. 

Point  Pleasant,  battle  of,  290. 

Polk,  James  Knox,  nominated  for  presidency, 
519 ;  characteristics  of,  523 ;  agrees  to  com 
promise  on  Oregon  boundary,  525,  526. 

Polk,  Leonidas,  557;  at  Columbus,  Kentucky, 
679  ;  at  Perryville,  717  ;  incident  of,  717  note  1 ; 
killed  at  Pine  Mountain,  759. 

Polk,  William,  416. 

Polo,  Marco,  journey  to  Cathay,  5 ;  relates  his 
travels,  6. 

Pomeroy  Circular,  the,  762. 

Ponce,  Porto  Kico,  surrenders  to  Miles,  894. 

Ponce  de  Leon,  see  Leon. 

Pontiac,  Indian  chief,  conspiracy  of,  194 ;  charac 
teristics  of,  195. 

Pope,  John,  captures  Island  No.  10,  687 ;  cam 
paign  of,  in  Virginia,  706  sq.  ;  at  second  Bull 
Run,  708. 

Population,  621,  647;  904  and  note.  See  also 
under  various  colonies,  and  American  Chro 
nology. 

Porter,  David,  in  command  of  the  Essex,  421 ; 
at  Valparaiso,  425;  at  Wilmington,  North 
Carolina,  768. 

Porter,  David  D.,  commands  fleet  at  New  Orleans, 
689  ;  at  Vicksburg,  736. 

Porter,  Fitz-John,  at  Gaines  Mills,  698;  court- 
martialed  and  dismissed,  707  note  2. 

Port  Hudson,  surrenders  to  Banks,  739. 

Porto  Rico,  American  armies  in,  894;  civil  gov 
ernment  established  in,  free  trade  with,  899, 
900. 

Port  Royal,  Acadia,  captured  by  Phipps,  164; 
becomes  Annapolis,  165. 

Postal  rates,  562.    See  Mails. 

Pottawatomie  massacre,  591. 

Powhatan,  Indian  chief,  66. 

Prentiss,  Benjamin  M.,  in  command  at  Cairo, 
669  ;  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  683  ;  captured,  685. 

Presbyterians,  in  Pennsylvania,  204 ;  growth  and 
mission  work  of,  620. 

Prescott,  William,  commands  at  Bunker  Hill, 
245. 

Prescott,  William  H.,  historian,  619. 

President,  the,  fires  on  the  Little  Belt,  412,  413. 

President,  the,  method  of  electing,  332. 

Presidential  Succession  law,  863. 

Presque  Isle,  Erie,  founded  by  the  French,  172. 

Press,  the  cylinder,  invention  of,  617. 

Prevost,  Augustine,  British  commander  in  the 
South,  302. 

Prevost,  Sir  George,  governor  general  of  Canada, 
427  ;  invades  New  York,  488,  434. 

Price,  Sterling,  652 ;  at  Wilson's  Creek,  658 ;  at 
Pea  Ridge,  687  ;  at  luka,  718;  at  Corinth,  719. 

Prideaux,  General,  killed  before  Niagara,  189. 


Princeton,  battle  of,  265. 

Printz,  John,  governor  of  New  Sweden,  150. 

Privateering,  in  War  of  1812,  425  sq.  ;  remarks 
on,  426. 

Proctor,  Henry,  British  commander  in  North 
west,  429  ;  is  defeated  at  the  Thames,  431. 

Prohibition  party,  837  ;  nominates  Neal  Dow  for 
the  presidency,  852  ;  nominates  St.  John,  857  ; 
nominates  Bidwell,  874. 

Prophet,  the,  Indian  chief,  411. 

Proprietary  government,  origin  of,  75. 

Ptolemy,  his  theory  of  the  earth,  4. 

Public  Opinion,  the  universal  master,  691 ;  tyr 
anny  of,  692. 

Pulaski,  Count,  arrives  in  America,  278 ;  death 
of,  302. 

Punishments,  in  colonial  times,  200. 

Puritanism,  waxes  strong  in  England,  103 ;  de 
clines  in  England  and  America,  124. 

Puritans,  gain  control  of  Virginia  company,  68  ; 
gain  control  of  Maryland,  degraded  by  Crom 
well,  81 ;  persecuted  by  Charles  I  and  Laud, 
103  ;  distinguished  from  Pilgrims,  104  ;  become 
Separatists,  106 ;  move  to  Connecticut  Valley, 
113  sq.  ;  laws  and  character  of,  127  sq.  ;  settle 
in  New  Jersey,  146  ;  town  life  and  customs  of, 
202. 

Putnam,  Israel,  187 ;  leaves  plow  to  join  the 
army,  240  ;  at  Bunker  Hill,  246  ;  guards  Phila 
delphia,  263;  note  on,  267. 

Putnam,  Rufus,  "Father  of  Ohio,"  379. 

Quakers,  the,  settle  in  Maryland,  81  ;  arrive  in 
Massachusetts,  executed,  110 ;  occupy  West 
Jersey,  148 ;  characteristics  of,  decide  to  found 
a  colony  in  America,  152  ;  oppose  slavery,  199, 
457. 

Quebec,  founding  of,  160;  attacked  by  Phipps, 
164 ;  situation  of,  189 ;  invested  by  British 
under  Wolfe,  190  ;  surrenders  to  Wolfe,  192 ; 
assaulted  by  Americans,  249. 

Quebec  act,  234. 

Queen stown  Heights,  battle  of,  419. 

Quitman,  John  A.,  in  Mexican  War,  532. 

Race  problem,  the,  799  sq.  See  Negroes  and 
Slavery. 

Railroads,  development  of,  474,  475;  618;  act  for 
Pacific  Railroad  passed.  730;  completed,  818. 

Raisin  River  massacre,  429. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  57  ;  father  of  English  coloni 
zation  in  America,  attainments  of,  receives 
charter  and  sends  first  colony  and  second,  59  ; 
writes  "  History  of  the  World,"  is  imprisoned 
and  beheaded  by  James  I,  60. 

Rail,  Johann,  killed  at  Trenton,  268. 

Randolph,  Edmund,  in  Constitutional  Conven 
tion,  328;  presents  plan  of  Union,  329  ;  in  first 
Cabinet,  343  ;  at  Burr's  trial,  393. 


INDEX 


Randolph,  Edward,  builds  up  liberal  party  in 
New  England,  124. 

Randolph,  John,  opposes  administration,  396; 
duel  of,  with  Henry  Clay,  468,  469  ;  559  note ; 
561. 

Randolph,  Peyton,  243  note. 

Rawdon,  Lord,  arrives  at  Charleston,  302;  esti 
mate  of,  315. 

Raymond,  battle  of,  737. 

Raymond,  Henry  J.,  582 ;  chairman  Republican 
national  committee  in  1864,  predicts  Lincoln's 
defeat,  763,  764;  leads  Johnson  Republicans. 
797. 

Read,  George,  in  First  Congress,  342. 

Leconstruction,  no  precedent  for,  in  history, 
786 ;  Lincoln's  plan  of,  787 ;  congressional  bill 
for,  788;  Johnson's  plan  of,  792 ;  congressional, 
795,  798  ;  provisions  of,  798 ;  results  of,  799, 
802  ;  undoing  of,  803,  804. 

Redemptioners,  indented  servants,  199. 

Red  Jacket,  Indian  chief,  432  note  2. 

Red  River  Expedition,  758. 

Eeed,  Thomas  B.,  introduces  new  rules  in  the 
House,  868;  reflected  speaker  of  the  House, 
8S9. 

Reeder,  Andrew  H.,  governor  of  Kansas,  587; 
dismissed,  588. 

Reformation  in  England,  56. 

Reformed  Church,  Dutch,  138. 

Regulating  Act,  234. 

Reid,  Whitelaw,  nominated  for  vice  presidency, 
874. 

Reno,  Jesse  L.,  at  Chantilly,  708 ;  killed  at 
South  Mountain,  709. 

Republican  party,  founded  by  Jefferson,  see 
Democratic  party. 

Republican  party,  the,  founding  of,  578  sq.  ; 
components  of,  581  ;  first  defection  in,  677  ;  be 
comes  divided  over  reconstruction,  786  sq.  ; 
deceptive  platform  of,  in  1868,  814  ;  achieve 
ments  of,  822. 

Republican,  Liberal,  party,  822  &q.  ;  nominates 
Greeley,  824  ;  dissolved,'  832. 

Resaca  de  la  Palma,  battle  of,  527. 

Resumption  Act,  833,  844. 

Returning  boards,  created  in  the  South,  817  ;  give 
electoral  votes  to  Hayes,  838,  839. 

Revere,  Paul,  235;  famous  ride  of,  238;  notice 
of,  242 ;  336. 

Revolution,  the  American,  remote  causes  of,  220, 
221 ;  first  battle  of,  239 ;  account  of,  220-317  ; 
results  of,  313  sq. ;  magnitude  of,  compared 
with  the  Civil  War,  780. 

Revolution,  the  English,  163. 

Revolution,  the  French,  351  sq. ;  effect  of,  on 
America.  352. 

Reynolds,  John  F.,  killed  at  Gettysburg,  742. 

Rhode  Island,  colony  of.  founded  by  Roger  Wil 
liams,  115  ;  religious  liberty,  restriction  of  suf 


frage,  receives  a  charter,  116  ;  receives  a  second 
charter,  116 ;  government  of,  116,  117 ;  yields 
to  Andros,  125 ;  moves  for  independence,  252. 

Rhode  Island,  state  of,  refuses  impost  tax,  822  ; 
takes  no  part  in  Constitutional  Conventions, 
331  ;  becomes  Democratic,  382  ;  refuses  militia 
for  War  of  1812,  416  ;  Dorr  rebellion  in,  522. 

Riall,  General,  defeated  by  Scott  at  Chippewa, 
431. 

Rice,  introduced  in  the  Carolinas  from  Madagas 
car,  92. 

Richmond,  Virginia,  Burr's  trial  at,  393;  be 
comes  Confederate  capital,  645;  McClellan's 
objective  point,  694  ;  occupied  by  Union  army, 
burning  of,  771. 

Riedesel,  Baron,  Hessian  commander,  269. 

Riedesel,  Baroness,  274 ;  extracts  from  diary  of, 
288. 

Ripley,  Eleazar,  at  Lundy's  Lane,  433. 

Roanoke  Island,  settled  by  Raleigh's  colony,  59  , 
lost  colony  of,  60  ;  captured  by  Burnside,  671. 

Roberts,  Brigham  H.,  excluded  from  the  House, 
902. 

Robertson,  James,  291. 

Robertson,  W.  H.,  852. 

Robinson,  Charles,  leads  emigrants  to  Kansas, 
587. 

Robinson,  John,  pastor  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Ley- 
den,  99. 

Rochambeau,  Count,  arrives  from  France.  309. 

Rockingham,  marquis  of,  premier  of  England, 
228  ;  again  premier,  dies,  312. 

Rodgers,  John,  fires  on  Little  Belt,  412. 

Rodney,  Admiral,  310  ;  defeats  the  French,  314. 

Rolfe,  John,  marries  Pocahontas,  64. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  leader  of  Rough  Riders  in 
Cuba,  893  ;  becomes  President,  905 ;  secures 
settlement  of  the  miners'  strike,  905  ;  author 
ized  to  construct  Isthmian  Canal,  909 ;  urged 
the  building  of  canal  at  Panama.  911. 

Rose,  George,  minister  from  England,  398. 

Rosecrans,  W.  S.,  in  command  in  West  Virginia, 
669 ;  at  luka,  718 ;  at  Corinth,  at  Stone  River, 
719  ;  at  Chickamauga,  749. 

Ross,  Robert,  captures  Washington,  435,  436 ; 
killed  before  Baltimore,  437. 

Rule  of  1756,  revival  of.  355,  395. 

Rumsey,  James,  an  inventor  of  the  steamboat, 
379. 

Rush,  Dr.  Benjamin,  284. 

Russia,  attitude  of,  during  the  Civil  War,  779. 
See  Czar  of. 

Rutledge,  John,  258 ;  in  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion,  328. 

Ryswick,  Treaty  of,  164. 

Sacramento,  terminus  of  Pacific  Railroad,  818. 
St.  Augustine,  founding  of,  55  note  1 ;   repelu. 
Oglethorpe,  95 ;  captured  by  Jackson,  454. 


xxvi 


INDEX 


St.  Glair,  Arthur,  at  Ticonderoga,  269  ;  defeated 
by  Indians  in  Ohio,  379,  380. 

St.  John,  John  P.,  candidate  for  President,  857. 

St.  Leger,  General,  268 ;  flees  to  Canada,  271. 

St.  Louis,  national  conventions  at,  836,  887  ;  dedi 
cation  of  World's  Fair  buildings  at,  906. 

St.  Mary's,  Maryland,  founded,  79. 

St.  Philips,  Fort,  689. 

Salem,  Massachusetts,  Endicott  migrates  to,  104 ; 
witchcraft  delusion  in,  110. 

Salisbury,  Lord,  English  premier,  in  Venezuelan 
affair,  884,  885. 

Salzburgers,  settle  in  Georgia,  94. 

Samoa,  affairs  at,  872. 

Samoset,  Wampanoag  Indian,  101. 

Sampson,  William  T.,  in  Cuban  waters,  892,  894. 

San  Domingo,  annexation  of,  urged  by  Grant, 
818. 

Sandys,  Sir  Edwin,  gains  control  of  Virginia 
company,  66,  67  ;  aids  the  Pilgrims,  99. 

San  Francisco,  reception  of  news  of  gold  discov 
ery  at,  535. 

Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions,  the,  747. 

San  Jacinto,  battle  of,  517. 

San  Jacinto,  the,  overhauls  the  Trent,  C65. 

San  Juan,  battle  of,  893. 

Santa  Anna,  Antonio,  defeated  at  San  Jacinto, 
517 ;  character  of,  restoration  to  Mexico,  526, 
527  ;  at  Cerro  Gordo,  531. 

Santiago,  battle  of,  894. 

Santiago,  Cuba,  surrenders  to  the  Americans,  894. 

Saratoga,  battles  of,  273  ;  surrender  of  Burgoyne 
at,  275. 

Savannah,  Georgia,  founded  by  Oglethorpe,  94 ; 
captured  by  the  British,  302;  captured  by 
Sherman,  766. 

Sayle,  William,  founder  and  first  governor  of 
South  Carolina,  88,  89. 

Schenectady,  New  York,  destroyed  by  Indians, 
163. 

Schley,  Winfield  S.,  rescues  the  Greely  party, 
877 ;  in  Cuban  waters,  892 ;  at  battle  of 
Santiago,  894. 

Schofield,  John  M.,  with  Sherman  before  Atlanta, 
758,  759  ;  confronts  Hood  at  Franklin,  767 ; 
joins  Sherman,  769. 

Schurz,  Carl,  at  Gettysburg,  742 ;  in  the  Senate, 
816. 

Schuyler,  Philip,  in  command  at  the  North,  269  ; 
obstructs  Burgoyne's  progress,  270 ;  is  super 
seded  by  Gates,  272;  289;  317;  in  first  Con 
gress,  342. 

Scotch-Irish,  migrate  to  Virginia,  73;  to  North 
Carolina,  87 ;  to  New  York,  146 ;  to  Pennsyl 
vania,  159  ;  character  of,  159. 

Scots,  settle  in  New  York,  146. 

Scott,  Dred,  sues  for  freedom,  596. 

Scott,  Winfield,  at  Qneenstown,  419  ;  at  Chip- 
pewa,  431;  at  Lundy's  Lane,  432;  sent  to 


South  Carolina,  492  ;  defeats  the  Creeks,  497  ; 
is  sent  to  Vera  Cruz,  529,  530  ;  at  Cerro  Gordo, 
531 ;  ascends  the  Cordilleras,  532 ;  captures 
Mexico,  533;  compared  with  Taylor,  537; 
nominated  for  the  presidency,  565 ;  655  ;  retire 
ment  of,  692. 

Seal  fisheries,  873. 

Secession,  threats  of,  540,  628  ;  right  and  pretext 
for,  628 ;  of  South  Carolina,  629  ;  of  Mississippi, 
of  Florida,  of  Alabama,  629  ;  of  Georgia,  of 
Louisiana,  of  Texas,  630 ;  constitutional  right 
of,  632;  of  Virginia,  of  North  Carolina,  of 
Arkansas,  of  Tennessee,  645. 

Sedgwick,  John,  at  Chancellorsville,  724 ;  killed 
at  Spottsylvania,  754. 

Semmes,  Raphael,  commander  of  the  Alabama, 
777. 

Senate,  the  United  States,  composition  of,  in 
first  Congress,  342  ;  ratifies  Jay  Treaty,  357  ; 
censures  Jackson,  495;  elects  Johnson  Vice 
President,  502 ;  balanced  between  free  and 
slave  states,  534.  See  under  various  treaties 
and  acts  of  Congress. 

Separatists,  98 ;  at  Scrooby,  remove  to  Amster 
dam,  then  Leyden,  henceforth  called  Pilgrims, 
99. 

Serapis,  the,  in  sea  fight,  295. 

Sevier,  John,  291 ;  at  King's  Mountain,  306. 

Sewall,  Arthur,  nominated  for  Vice  President, 
888. 

Sewall,  Judge,  confession  of,  129. 

Seward,  William  H.,  493 ;  makes  great  speech  in 
the  Senate,  544;  refuses  to  be  candidate  for 
President,  583 ;  leader  of  Eepublican  thought, 
610  ;  in  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  641 ;  aims  to  secure 
neutrality  in  Europe,  663  ;  addresses  circular 
to  state  governors,  664;  attempted  assassina 
tion  of,  773,  791 ;  influence  over  President 
Johnson,  791 ;  on  Alabama  claims,  819. 

Sewing  machine,  invented  by  Howe,  617. 

Seymour,  Horatio,  quells  draft  riot,  728 ;  nomi 
nated  for  presidency,  815. 

Shafter,  William  K.,  in  command  in  Cuba,  893. 

Shannon,  the,  captures  the  Chesapeake,  423. 

Shannon,  Wilson,  governor  of  Kansas,  588,  591. 

Shays's  rebellion,  323,  349. 

Sheaffe,  General,  succeeds  Brook,  419 ;  defends 
York,  426. 

Shelburne,  Earl  of,  negotiates  Treaty  of  Paris, 
312. 

Shelby,  Isaac,  at  King's  Mountain,  306 ;  in  War 
of  1812,  430. 

Shenandoah,  the,  Confederate  privateer,  778. 

Shenandoah  Valley,  devastated  by  Sheridan,  757. 

Sheridan,  Philip  H.,  720 ;  devastates  Shenandoah 
Valley,  at  Opequan,  757 ;  defeats  Early  at 
Cedar  Creek,  758 ;  at  Five  Forks,  770  ;  sent  to 
Texas,  779  ;  estimate  of,  782. 

Sherman,  John,  on  committee  to  Kansas,  590 ; 


INDEX 


xxvii 


659  ;  opinion  of,  on  Tenure  of  Office  law,  808 ; 
in  the  Senate,  816  ;  brings  about  resumption  of 
specie  payments,  844. 

Sherman,  Roger,  member  Continental  Congress, 
235,  253  note  1  ;  in  Constitutional  Convention, 
328;  at  Washington's  inauguration,  339. 

Sherman,  Thomas  W.,  in  expedition  to  Port 
Royal,  6T2. 

Sherman,  William  Tecumseh,  at  Louisville,  679 
note ;  at  Shiloh,  683,  684 ;  notice  of,  686 ;  de 
feated  at  Chickasaw,  captures  Arkansas  Post, 
735  ;  reaches  Chattanooga,  750  ;  sent  to  Knox- 
ville,  751  ;  leaves  Chattanooga  for  Atlanta,  758  ; 
defeated  at  Kenesaw,  759;  captures  Atlanta, 
760;  marches  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea,  765, 
766 ;  captures  Savannah,  766 ;  leaves  Savannah 
to  join  Grant,  768;  receives  surrender  of  John 
ston,  772  and  note  1 ;  estimate  of,  782 ;  mild 
attitude  of,  toward  the  South,  787. 

Sherman  Silver  law,  enacted,  869  ;  repealed,  880. 

Shu-ley,  William,  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
sends  expedition  to  Louisburg,  169 ;  decides 
on  dispersion  of  the  Acadians,  181 ;  proposes 
stamp  tax  for  America,  225. 

Shirley,  William,  Jr.,  secretary  to  General  Brad- 
dock,  178;  killed  on  Braddock's  Field,  181. 

Sickles,  Daniel  E.,  at  Chancellorship,  723,  724 ; 
at  Gettysburg,  743,  744. 

Sigel,  Franz,  706  note  2  ;  at  Martin sburg,  756. 

Silver,  discovered  in  Nevada,  618 ;  demonetized 
by  Congress,  831.  See  Demonetization,  Bland- 
Allison,  and  Sherman  laws.  See  also  Free 
Silver. 

Simms,  William  Gilmore,  619. 

Sioux  Indians,  39  ;  defeat  Custer,  828. 

Sitting  Bull,  leader  of  the  Sioux,  828. 

Slavery,  introduced  into  Virginia,  67  ;  in  South 
Carolina,  88  ;  in  Georgia,  96  ;  in  New  England, 
198  ;  in  the  South,  199  ;  during  colonial  period, 
457 ;  in  Missouri,  459 ;  attacked  by  the  Aboli 
tionists,  509,  510,  512 ;  excluded  from  Cali 
fornia,  539  ;  character  of,  in  the  South,  556  sq.  ; 
population,  621 ;  abolished  in  District  of  Co 
lumbia,  in  new  territories,  713  ;  abolished  by 
Thirteenth  Amendment,  793,  794. 

Slave  tax,  368. 

Slave  trade,  left  open  for  twenty-one  years  in 
Constitution,  331 ;  445 ;  prohibition  of,  by  law, 
450. 

Slidell,  John,  sent  to  purchase  California,  526  ;  is 
sent  to  France  on  the  Trent,  664;  captured, 
665 ;  released,  667. 

Slocurn,  Henry  W.,  in  Sherman's  march  to  the 
sea,  765. 

Sloughter,  governor  of  New  York,  signs  warrant 
to  execute  Leisler  and  Milborne,  144. 

Smith,  Caleb  B.,  in  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  641. 

Smith,  Charles  F.,  at  Fort  Donelson,  680,  681  ; 
dies,  685  note. 


Smith,  E.  Kirby,  717 ;  at  Stone  River,  719,  720  ; 
surrender  of,  772. 

Smith,  Francis,  commanded  British  at  Lexington 
and  Concord,  238,  239. 

Smith,  Gerrit,  aids  in  Jerry  rescue,  551  ;  fur 
nishes  money  for  John  Brown,  607. 

Smith,  Hoke,  in  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  878. 

Smith,  John,  in  Burr's  conspiracy,  392. 

Smith,  John,  migrates  to  Jamestown,  62 ;  ad 
ventures  of,  captured  by  Indians,  saved  by 
Pocahontas,  68  ;  becomes  governor  of  Virginia, 
explores  the  Chesapeake,  64 ;  explores  and 
names  New  England,  104;  writes  Henry 
Hudson,  132. 

Smith,  Joseph,  founder  of  Mormonism,  620. 

Smith,  Robert,  secretary  of  state,  409. 

Smith,  Samuel,  senator  from  Maryland,  409. 

Smith,  William,  fugitive  slave,  550. 

Smuggling,  in  the  colonies,  218. 

Smyth,  General  Alexander,  418;  succeeds  Van 
Rensselaer,  420. 

Social  life,  in  the  colonies,  198  sq. ;  in  1830, 
478  sq. 

Sothel,  Seth,  governor  of  North  Carolina,  85 ;  of 
South  Carolina,  driven  from  the  colony,  89. 

Soto,  Ferdinand  de,  early  life,  joins  in  conquest 
of  Peru,  41  ;  embarks  for  Florida,  42;  attacked 
by  Indians,  43,  49  ;  visits  Indian  queen,  48 ;  in 
battle  of  Mavila,  49-50 ;  discovers  the  Missis 
sippi,  dies,  52. 

Soule,  Pierre,  issues  Ostend  Manifesto,  572. 

South,  the,  colonies  of,  settlements  in,  55  sq.  ; 
mixed  population  in,  198  ;  social  rank  in,  200  ; 
British  attack  on,  255 ;  war  transferred  to,  288, 
290,  301  sq.  ;  population  of,  647 ;  advantages 
and  disadvantages  of,  at  opening  of  the  Civil 
War,  648 ;  losses  of  by  the  Civil  War,  780,  781 ; 
sympathy  for,  795;  why  "solid, "800;  white 
domination  essential  to,  801  ;  resources  of,  844, 
845,  883  ;  great  progress  of  since  the  war,  883. 

South  Carolina,  colony  of,  charter  for,  earliest 
attempts  at  settling,  differs  from  other  colonies, 
88 ;  popular  government  in,  89  ;  Church  of 
England  established  in,  attacked  by  Indians, 
90 ;  issues  paper  money,  91 ;  revolution  in, 
becomes  royal  colony,  91 ;  slave  insurrection 
in,  products  of,  92,  206 ;  slavery  in,  population 
in  1760,  character  of  society,  93  ;  social  life  in, 
206. 

South  Carolina,  state  of,  favors  foreign  slave 
trade,  331  ;  ratifies  Constitution,  336  ;  gradual 
estrangement  of,  from  the  Union,  487 ;  passes 
nullification  ordinance,  491 ;  agrees  to  com 
promise,  491 ;  secedes  from  the  Union,  629 ; 
under  carpetbag  rule,  800 ;  disfranchises  the 
negroes,  804;  disputed  election  in,  839. 

South  Dakota,  becomes  a  state,  839. 

Spain,  takes  lead  in  discovery  and  exploration, 
40 ;  gains  possession  of  South  America  and 


xxviii 


INDEX 


Mexico,  claims  North  America,  55 ;  motives  of, 
for  colonizing,  55  ;  causes  of  her  downfall,  56  ; 
890 ;  declares  war  against  England,  296 ; 
decides  to  close  the  Mississippi,  323  ;  462,  463  ; 
pays  American  claims,  496 ;  sends  fleet  to 
Mexico,  778 ;  war  with,  889  sq. ;  cedes  Porto 
Rico  to  the  United  States,  894  ;  present  condi 
tion  of,  895 ;  cedes  the  Philippines  to  the 
United  States,  896. 

Spoils  system,  introduced  by  Jackson,  484. 

Spottswood,  Alexander,  governor  of  Virginia,  73  ; 
opinion  of  American  morals,  200. 

Spottsylvania,  battle  of,  754. 

Springfield,  Illinois,  burial  place  of  Lincoln,  774. 

Squanto,  aids  the  Pilgrims,  101. 

Stagecoach,  use  of,  in  colonial  times,  209. 

Stamp  Act,  the,  224;  first  proposals  of,  225; 
causes  riots,  227 ;  remarks  on,  228. 

Stamp  Act  Congress,  227. 

Standard  Oil  Company,  organized,  864. 

Standish,  Miles,  .joins  Pilgrims  in  Mayflower,  99  ; 
sent  to  England  by  Plymouth,  102. 

Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet,  634  ; 
becomes  Lincoln's  secretary  of  war,  695;  is 
suspended  by  Johnson,  806  ;  is  removed,  807  ; 
appointed  to  the  Supreme  Court,  death  of,  810. 

Stanwix,  Fort,  268,  270. 

Star  of  the  West,  driven  from  Charleston  Har 
bor,  638. 

Star-route  frauds,  855. 

"  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  writing  of,  437. 

Stark,  John,  187  ;  264  ;  in  command  at  Benning- 
ton,  271,  272 ;  316. 

State  governments,  326. 

State  rights,  345  ;  a  weapon  for  the  slaveholder, 
626  and  note. 

Staten  Island,  British  army  on,  256. 

States-General  of  France,  352. 

Steamboat,  the,  development  of,  407,  473  ;  618. 

Stedman,  Fort,  battle  of,  770. 

Stephen,  General,  at  Germantown,  282  and  note. 

Stephens,  Alexander  H.,  opposes  Scott,  566 ; 
elected  Vice  President  of  the  Confederacy, 
681,  705. 

Stephens,  Samuel,  governor  of  North  Carolina, 
85. 

Stephenson,  Fort,  attacked  by  British,  429. 

Steuben,  Baron,  aids  the  Americans,  278;  drills 
soldiers  at  Valley  Forge,  284;  307;  at  Wash 
ington's  inauguration,  339. 

Stevens,  John,  inventor,  474. 

Stevens,  John  L.,  minister  to  Hawaii,  878. 

Stevens,  Thaddeus,  493;  leader  in  Congress, 
659;  leads  radicals  in  the  House,  787,  795; 
moves  great  reconstruction  measure,  797 ; 
moves  the  impeachment  of  Johnson,  807 ;  char 
acteristics  and  death  of,  812. 

Stevenson,  Adlai  E.,  nominated  for  vice  presi 
dency,  874. 


Stewart,  J.  E.  B.,  captures  John  Brown,  604; 
makes  circuit  of  Union  army,  698. 

Stewart,  William  M.,  withdraws  from  Republi 
can  convention,  888. 

Still,  William,  555. 

Stirling,  "Lord,"  257 and  note  1. 

Stone,  Charles  P.,  at  Ball's  Bluff,  arrest  of,  692. 

Stone,  William,  governor  of  Maryland,  80 ;  de 
graded  from  oflice,  81. 

Stoneman,  George,  cavalry  leader,  769. 

Stone  River,  battle  of,  719,  720. 

Stony  Point,  captured  by  Wayne,  297. 

Stowe,  Harriet  Beecher,  555,  619,  620. 

Strikes  :  railroad  strike,  845,  884  ;  miners,  905. 

Stuyvesant,  Peter,  governor  of  New  Netherland, 
character  of,  chooses  assembly,  136 ;  conquers 
New  Sweden,  137,  151 ;  later  career  of,  139, 
140. 

Sullivan,  General  John,  248;  captured  at  Brook 
lyn  Heights,  257 ;  sent  to  Philadelphia,  258 ; 
joins  Washington,  263;  at  Brandy  wine,  281; 
at  Germantown,  282  ;  raids  Indian  country,  294  ; 
is  sent  against  Newport,  297  ;  317. 

Sumner,  Charles,  elected  to  the  Senate,  548; 
speaks  against  Fugitive  Slave  law,  572  note  3; 
speaks  on  "Crime  against  Kansas,"  589;  as 
saulted  by  Brooks,  590 ;  leads  radicals  in  the 
Senate,  787,  795 ;  estranged  from  Grant,  819 
and  note. 

Sumner,  Edwin  V.,  commands  a  corps  in  Mc- 
Clellan's  army,  694  note  1 ;  at  Fair  Oaks,  696, 
697  ;  at  Fredericksburg,  721 ;  relieved,  722. 

Surnter,  Fort,  occupied  by  Anderson,  638 ;  ob 
ject  of  contention,  642  ;  bombardment  of,  643, 
effect  of,  on  North  and  South,  643,  644;  re 
stored,  773. 

Sumter,  Thomas,  "South  Carolina  Gamecock," 
304,  305,  307  ;  in  first  Congress.  343. 

Surprise,  the,  privateersman,  425. 

Sutter,  John  A.,  535. 

Swansea,  attacked  by  Indians,  122. 

Swedes,  colonize  Delaware,  150 ;  conquered  by 
the  Dutch,  137,  151 ;  naturalized  by  Penn,  156. 

Sykes,  George,  at  Gettysburg,  744. 

Taft,  William  R.,  at  head  of  Philippine  Commis 
sion,  897  ;  governor  of  the  Philippines,  898 ;  in 
Roosevelt's  Cabinet,  899. 

Talmadge,  James,  opposes  slavery  in  Missouri, 
459. 

Tammany  Hall,  867  and  note. 

Taney,  Roger  B.,  in  Jackson's  Cabinet,  483 ;  re 
moves  bank  deposits,  494 ;  becomes  chief 
justice,  499  ;  renders  Dred  Scott  decision,  596. 

Tariff,  the:  first  framed,  343;  of  1816,  453;  of 
1824,  465 ;  North  and  South  change  places  con 
cerning,  487;  of  "Abominations,"  488;  op 
posed  by  South  Carolina,  491  ;  Walker  Tariff, 
524;  of  1857,  524;  of  1883,  856;  McKinley 


INDEX 


Tariff,  867  ;  Wilson  Tariff,  881 ;  Dingley  Tariff, 
889. 

Tarleton,  Banistre,  defeats  Sumter,  305 ;  defeated 
at  Cowpens,  307  ;  in  Virginia,  309  ;  estimate  of, 
815. 

Tatnall,  Josiah,  in  command  at  Port  Royal, 
672 ;  abandons  it,  673. 

Tavern,  the  New  England,  202. 

Taylor,  John  W.,  opposes  slavery  in  Missouri, 
459. 

Taylor,  Richard,  surrenders  Confederate  army, 
772. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  sent  to  Texas,  defeats  Mexicans, 
527  ;  captures  Monterey,  528  ;  at  Buena  Vista, 
528 ;  compared  with  Scott,  537  ;  nominated  for 
the  presidency,  537  ;  character  of,  538,  539 ; 
death  of,  545. 

Tea,  landed  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Charles 
ton,  Boston,  destroyed  in  Boston  harbor,  233. 

Tecumseh,  Indian  chief,  aspires  to  unite  tribes, 
opposes  treaty  with  Harrison,  410,  411  ;  with 
Proctor  in  Northwest,  429;  killed  at  the 
Thames,  481 ;  stories  of,  448. 

Telegraph,  the,  first  practical  use  of,  519 ;  in 
vented  by  Morse,  522,  616. 

Telephone,  the,  invented  by  Bell  and  Gray,  876. 

Temperance  issue,  the,  581. 

Tennessee,  becomes  a  state,  879 ;  secedes  from 
the  Union,  645 ;  lost  to  Confederates  at  Shiloh, 
704 ;  readmitted,  796. 

Tennessee  River,  course  of,  679. 

Tennessee  Valley,  first  settled,  291,  379. 

Tenure  of  Office  law,  passed,  805 ;  violated  by 
Johnson,  807  ;  modified,  817. 

Terry,  Alfred  H.,  at  Wilmington,  768;  joins 
Sherman,  769. 

Texas,  revolts  against  Mexico,  516,  517 ;  seeks 
admission  to  the  Union,  517  ;  admitted  to  the 
Union,  524;  receives  payment  for  claims  on 
New  Mexico,  546 ;  624 ;  secedes,  630. 

Thames,  the  battle  of,  431. 

Thayer,  Eli,  organizes  Emigrant  Aid  Company, 
587. 

Thomas,  George  H.,  in  command  at  Mill  Spring, 
678;  at  Stone  River,  720;  at  Chickamauga, 
749  ;  succeeds  Rosecrans,  750  ;  occupies  Nash 
ville,  767 ;  defeats  Hood  at  Nashville,  768 ; 
estimate  of,  782. 

Thomson,  Wiley,  assassinated  by  Osceola,  497. 

Thornton,  Sir  Edward,  proposes  Joint  High 
Commission,  820  and  note. 

Thurman,  Allan  G.,  in  the  Senate,  817 ;  nomi 
nated  for  Vice  President,  866. 

Ticonderoga,  Fort,  defeat  of  the  English  before, 
187  ;  surrenders  to  Ethan  Allen,  240  ;  captured 
by  British,  269. 

Tilden,  Samuel  J.,  governor  of  New  York,  833 : 
nominated  for  President,  notice  of,  836,  bo7. 

Tippecanoe,  battle  of,  411. 


Tobacco,  first  introduced  into  England,  59 ; 
becomes  staple  in  Virginia,  66. 

Toleration  Act  in  Maryland,  80. 

Tompkins,  Daniel  D.,  elected  Vice  President,  453. 

Toombs,  Robert,  566 ;  in  Davis's  Cabinet,  632  ; 
on  firing  on  Fort  Sumter,  642. 

Topeka,  Kansas,  founded,  587;  constitution 
framed  at,  589. 

Toral,  General,  surrenders  Santiago,  894. 

Tories,  see  Loyalists. 

Toronto  (York),  captured  by  Pike,  426. 

Toscanelli,  Florentine  astronomer,  8. 

Townsheud,  Charles,  lays  tax  on  tea,  glass,  etc., 
229. 

Traveling,  means  of,  in  colonial  times,  208,  209, 
377. 

Treasury,  the  independent,  505,  524. 

Trent,  the,  stopped  by  the  San  Jacinto,  665. 

Trent  affair,  the,  661  sq. 

Trenton,  battle  of,  263. 

Trenton,  New  Jersey,  honors  Washington,  339. 

Tripoli,  war  with,  382. 

Trist,  Nicholas  B.,  533,  544. 

Troup,  governor  of  Georgia,  defies  the  govern 
ment,  471. 

True-blooded   Yankee,  the,  privateersman,  425. 

Trumbull,  Jonathan,  in  first  Congress,  343. 

Trurnbull,  Lyman,  659  ;  at  Johnson's  trial,  810  ; 
opposes  Grant's  renomiuation,  822  ;  before  Lib 
eral  convention,  824. 

Trust,  anti-,  law,  passed,  869. 

Tryon,  governor  of  North  Carolina,  fires  on 
regulators,  230. 

Tubman,  Harriet,  555. 

Turks,  the,  conquer  Armenia  and  Asia  Minor,  1. 

Tuscarora  Indians,  lead  in  massacre  in  North 
Carolina,  remove  to  New  York,  86. 

Tweed  Ring,  the,  exposed  by  Tilden,  836  ;  841. 

Twelve  Men,  the.  called  by  Governor  Kieft,  135. 

Twiggs,  David  E.,  at  Cerro  Gordo,  531,  532; 
surrenders  army  in  Texas,  639. 

Twiller,  Wouter  van,  governor  of  New  Nether- 
land,  134  ;  character  of,  recall,  135. 

Tyler,  John,  460 ;  is  elected  Vice  President,  506, 
507 ;  becomes  President,  record  of,  514 ;  vetoes 
Whig  bank  bills,  515 ;  is  read  out  of  the  party. 
515  ;  fails  to  form  new  party  or  win  the  Demo 
crats,  516  ;  attempts  annexation  of  Texas,  517, 
518  ;  narrowly  escapes  death,  518  ;  is  nominated 
for  presidency,  519  ;  withdraws,  520 ;  retire 
ment  of,  523 ;  President  of  Peace  Congress, 
523,  635. 

Tyler,  Robert  0.,  at  Bull  Run,  656. 

"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  555 ;  reception  of,  556. 

Underground  Railroad,  the,  553  sq. 

Underbill,  John,  marches  against  Indians,  135, 

136. 
L'n  tied  States,  the,  defeats  the  Macedonian,  422. 


INDEX 


Upshur,  Abel  P.,  secretary  of  state,  killed,  517. 
Utrecht,  Treaty  of,  166. 

Vaca,  Cabeza  de,  54. 

Vallandigham,  Clement  L.,  728;  arrested  by 
Burnside,  sentenced,  banished,  escapes  to 
Canada,  729 ;  defeated  for  governor  of  Ohio, 
780  ;  death  of,  730  note  1. 

Valley  Forge,  encampment  at,  283  sq. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  in  Jackson's  Cabinet,  481  ; 
strategy  of,  483  ;  becomes  Vice  President,  499  ; 
becomes  President,  501 ;  notice  of,  502,  503 ; 
suggests  independent  treasury,  505 ;  defeat  of, 
by  Harrison,  507 ;  defeat  of,  by  Democratic 
convention,  518,  519  ;  heads  Free  Soil  ticket 
for  presidency,  538. 

Van  Dorn,  Earl,  686;  at  Pea  Ridge,  687;  at 
luka,  718 ;  at  Corinth,  719 ;  occupies  Vicksburg, 
733  ;  captures  Holly  Springs,  735. 

Vane,  Harry,  governor  of  Massachusetts,  108 ; 
favors  Anne  Hutchinson,  109. 

Van  Rensselaer,  Stephen,  418;  resigns,  420. 

Vaudrenil,  governor  of  Canada,  166  ;  quarrels 
with  Montcalm,  189. 

Venango,  Fort,  built  by  the  French,  172. 

Venezuela,  boundary  dispute  with  England,  884, 
885  and  note  1. 

Venice,  commercial  rival  of  Genoa  and  Constan 
tinople,  2. 

Vera  Cruz,  surrenders  to  Scott,  531. 

Vergennes,  French  minister,  aids  colonists,  276. 

Vermont,  colony  of,  "New  Hampshire  Grants," 
set  apart,  118 ;  rebels  against  New  Yorkers, 
119. 

Vespucius,  Americus,  voyages  of,  across  the 
Atlantic,  name  of,  given  the  New  World,  25. 

Vicksburg,  neglected  by  Halleck,  occupied  by 
Van  Dorn,  733  ;  Grant  attempts  capture  of, 
734 ;  grand  assault  on,  738 ;  surrender  of,  to 
Grant,  738,  739. 

Victoria,  queen  of  England,  proclaims  neutrality, 
663. 

Vincennes,  founded  by  the  French,  168 ;  cap 
tured  by  Clark,  292. 

Virginia,  named  by  Elizabeth,  59  ;  comprises  all 
eastern  North  America,  60  ;  divided  between 
London  and  Plymouth  companies,  61. 

Virginia,  colony  of,  first  settled,  suffering  in,  62  ; 
receives  second  charter,  64;  third,  starving  time 
in,  65 ;  slaves  first  sold  in,  67  ;  becomes  royal 
colony,  69 ;  under  the  Commonwealth,  69  ; 
"  first  families  "  of,  70  ;  population  in  1700,  ex 
tends  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  73  ;  quarrels  with 
Maryland,  79 ;  most  populous  colony,  198 ; 
rural  life  in,  205;  adopts  anti-British  resolu 
tions,  226  ;  adopts  "  Virginia  resolutions,"  230  ; 
pronounces  for  independence,  252. 

Virginia,  state  of,  claims  western  lands,  319  ;  calls 
jLnnapolis  convention,  324;  approves  Constitu 


tional  Convention,  325  ;  opposes  Constitution, 
336 ;  ratifies,  337  ;  retains  tract  in  Ohio,  379  ; 
considers  emancipation  of  her  slaves,  510 ; 
secedes,  645  ;  opening  of  Civil  War  in,  655,  656. 

Virginia  Company,  merged  from  London  Com 
pany,  67  ;  loses  charter,  68. 

Vries,  de,  patroon  of  New  York,  135 ;  plants  first 
colony  in  Delaware,  149. 

Wade,  Benjamin,  659  ;  issues  paper  against  Lin 
coln,  789  ;  at  Johnson's  trial,  810,  811  and  note  1. 

Wads  worth,  Captain,  hides  Connecticut  charter 
in  an  oak,  126. 

Wadsworth,  James  S.,  in  command  at  Washing 
ton,  703 ;  killed  in  the  Wilderness,  753. 

Waldseemuller,  suggests  name  America,  25. 

Walker,  Sir  Hovendon,  sails  with  fleet  to  Canada, 
166. 

Walker,  John  G.,  at  head  of  canal  commission, 
907. 

Walker,  Robert  J.,  in  Folk's  Cabinet,  524 ;  gov 
ernor  of  Kansas,  592 ;  abandoned  by  adminis 
tration,  593. 

Walker,  William,  makes  expedition  to  Nicaragua, 
615. 

Walker  Tariff,  524. 

Walking  Purchase,  156  note. 

Wallace,  Lew,  at  Fort  Donelson,  680 ;  at  Shiloh, 
686. 

Wallace,  W.  H.  L.,  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  683 ;  is 
killed,  685  note. 

Walloons,  the,  settle  on  the  Hudson,  133. 

Ward,  Artemus,  in  command  at  Cambridge,  245. 

Warner,  Seth,  leads  "  Green  Mountain  Boys " 
against  New  York,  119  ;  captures  Crown  Point, 
241  ;  at  Bennington,  272. 

Warren,  Fort,  Mason  and  Slidell  imprisoned  at, 
665. 

Warren,  G.  K.,  at  Five  Forks,  770. 

Warren,  Joseph,  writes  Suffolk  resolutions,  236  ; 
collects  military  stores,  237 ;  killed  at  Bunker 
Hill,  247. 

Wars:  Indian,  68,  71,  86,  91,  114,  121,  135,  137, 
411,  439,  453,  497,  828;  see  Indian  wars  ;  colo 
nial,  160  sq. ;  King  William's,  162;  Queen 
Anne's,  165  sq. ;  King  George's,  168 ;  French 
and  Indian,  171  sq.  ;  the  Revolution,  220  sq.  ; 
War  of  1812,  408  sq.;  in  the  Mediterranean, 
382,  448;  Black  Hawk  and  Seminole,  497; 
Mexican,  527  sq.  ;  Civil  War,  624  sq.  ;  Spanish, 


Washburn,  Elihu  B.,  659  ;  in  Grant's  Cabinet,  816. 
Washington,  city  of,  first  laid  out,  375;  captured 

and  burned  by  the  British,  435 ;  threatened  by 

Confederates,  653,  696,  756. 

Washington,  Fort,  258 ;  captured  by  British,  259. 
Washington,  George,  ancestry  of,  70 ;  notice  of, 

makes  journey  to  French  fort,  173;  at  Great 

Meadows,  174;  ou  Braddock's  staff,  179;  188; 


INDEX 


xxxi 


195  ;  leads  Virginians  to  resistance,  230  ;  in  first 
Continental  Congress,  235  ;  chosen  commander 
of  the  army,  243,  244 ;  assumes  command  at 
Cambridge,  247  ;  occupies  Dorchester,  249 ;  at 
New  York  and  Long  Island,  256,  257  ;  leaves 
New  York  for  White  Plains,  258;  retreats 
across  New  Jersey,  260  sq.  ;  crosses  the  Dela 
ware,  263  ;  escapes  Coruwallis  at  Trenton,  264; 
heroism  of,  at  Princeton,  265  ;  at  Morristown, 
265 ;  breaks  camp,  confronts  Howe  at  Brandy- 
wine,  280,  281 ;  at  Germantown,  282 ;  at  Valley 
Forge,  283  sq. ;  at  Monmouth,  286 ;  rebukes 
Lee,  287 ;  discovers  Arnold's  treason,  301  ; 
writes  to  Gates,  305;  takes  his  army  South, 
310 ;  proclaims  end  of  the  war,  312  ;  estimate  of, 
as  a  soldier,  316;  farewell  of,  to  the  army,  317  ; 
becomes  peacemaker  between  the  states,  321 ; 
writes  to  state  governors,  323  ;  chosen  to  Con 
stitutional  Convention,  325;  requested  to 
become  king,  325  note  ;  becomes  preeident  of 
the  Cincinnati,  326 ;  in  Constitutional  Conven 
tion,  327 ;  made  chairman,  328  ;  elected  first 
President,  338  ;  inaugurated  at  New  York,  339, 
341 ;  proclamation  of,  347  ;  second  election  of, 
351 ;  attitude  of,  toward  Genet,  proclamation 
of  neutrality  of,  853  ;  sends  Jay  to  England, 
356  ;  sends  treaty  to  Senate,  357  ;  retirement  of, 
361;  character  of,  361,  362;  appointed  com 
mander  against  France,  366 ;  death  of,  374 ; 
characteristics  of,  375. 

Washington,  state  of,  admitted  to  the  Union, 
870. 

Washington,  Treaty  of,  819. 

Washington,  William,  cavalry  leader,  309,  310. 

Waxp,  the,  defeats  the  Frolic,  422. 

Waterloo,  battle  of,  616. 

Watertown,  protest  of  people  of,  against  taxation 
•without  representation,  107. 

Watson,  Thomas  E.,  nominated  for  Vice  Presi 
dent,  888. 

Wayne,  General  Anthony,  282  ;  at  Monmouth, 
286 ;  captures  Stony  Point,  297  ;  816  ;  defeats 
the  Indians  in  Ohio,  380. 

Weaver,  James  B.,  nominated  for  President,  852, 
874  ;  carries  western  states,  875. 

Webb,  General,  refused  aid  to  Fort  William 
Henry,  185. 

Webster,  Daniel,  813;  quoted,  844;  opposes 
tariff,  465 ;  great  speech  of,  in  answer  to 
Hayne,  489 ;  candidate  for  presidency,  502 ; 
becomes  secretary  of  state,  513 ;  arranges 
treaty  with  Ashburton,  516 ;  resigns,  517 ; 
opposed  to  nomination  of  Taylor,  makes  7th 
of  March  speech,  543  ;  decline  in  popularity  of, 
544,  565  ;  in  Fillmore's  Cabinet,  546  ;  565  ;  com 
pared  with  Clay,  567  ;  talents  and  character  of, 
567-569  ;  death  of,  569. 

Webster,  Noah,  476  and  note  2. 

Webster-Ashburton  Treaty,  516. 


Weed,  Thurlow,  493,  537;  predicts  Lincoln's 
defeat  in  1864,  763. 

Weehawken,  dueling  ground,  390,  391. 

Welles,  Gideon,  in  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  641. 

Wesley,  Charles,  secretary  of  Oglethorpe  in 
Georgia,  95. 

Wesley,  John,  visits  Georgia,  opposes  slavery, 
95,  457. 

West,  Benjamin,  artist,  378. 

West,  John,  governor  of  South  Carolina,  89. 

West  India  Company,  Dutch,  chartered,  132 ; 
its  powers,  133. 

West  Point,  fortified,  259;  attempted  betrayal 
of,  299  sq. 

West  Virginia,  becomes  a  state,  654. 

Wetherford,  Indian  chief,  at  Fort  Mims,  439  ; 
surrenders  to  Jackson,  449. 

Weyler,  General,  Spanish  commandant  in  Cuba, 
890. 

Whalley,  the  regicide,  123  note. 

Wheeler,  Joseph,  in  command  in  Cuba,  893. 

Wheeler,  William  A.,  nominated  for  Vice  Presi 
dent,  836. 

Whig  party,  the,  founded,  502  ;  denounces  Presi 
dent  Tyler,  515 ;  fall  and  character  of,  569,  570. 

Whiskey  insurrection,  347. 

Whiskey  ring,  827. 

White,  Hugh  L.,  candidate  for  the  presidency, 
502. 

White,  John,  leads  Ealeigh's  second  colony,  59. 

Whitefield,  George,  founds  a  school  in  Georgia, 
95  ;  aids  in  New  England  revival,  129. 

White  Plains,  battle  of,  258. 

Whitman,  Marcus,  missionary  in  Oregon,  525. 

Whitney,  Eli,  invents  cotton  gin,  378  ;  453. 

Whitney, W.  C.,  in  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  862. 

Whittier,  476  ;  defends  Abolitionists.  510  ;  writes 
"Ichabod,"  against  Webster,  544;  619. 

Wicaco,  Swedish  church,  155. 

Wickes,  Lambert,  takes  prizes  on  the  sea,  295. 

Wilderness,  battle  of  the,  753. 

Wilkes,  Charles,  captures  Mason  and  Slidell,  dis 
coverer  of  Wilkes's  Land,  665. 

Wilkesbarre,  site  of  Wyoming  massacre,  293. 

Wilkinson,  James,  discloses  Conway  Cabal,  284  ; 
in  Burr's  conspiracy,  392,  393  ;  commands  in 
War  of  1812,  416  ;  defeated  at  Chrystler's  Field, 
427  ;  dismissed  from  the  service.  431. 

William  and  Mary,  sovereigns  of  England,  at  war 
with  France,  162. 

William  and  Mary  College,  founded  by  Dr.  Blair, 
74. 

William  Henry,  Fort,  captured  by  Montcalm, 
185. 

Williamsburg,  Virginia,  173 ;  arrival  at,  of  Gen 
eral  Braddock,  178  ;  battle  of,  694. 

Williams,  Rev.,  captured  by  Indians,  165  note. 

Williams,  Roger,  arrives  in  Massachusetts,  ban 
ished  from  the  colony,  10S ;  remarks  on,  109 ; 


xxxii 


INDEX 


founds  Providence,  115;  obtains  two  charters 
for  Khode  Island,  116  ;  129. 

Wilmington,  Delaware,  founded  by  Swedes, 
160. 

Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  captured,  768. 

Wilinot,  David,  534;  in  Peace  Congress,  635; 
659. 

Wilmot  Proviso,  534. 

Wilson,  Henry,  in  the  Senate,  659,  795,  816; 
nominated  for  Vice  President,  825  and  note  3. 

Wilson,  James,  in  Constitutional  Convention, 
328. 

Wilson,  William  L.,  framer  of  Wilson  Tariff,  880. 

Wilson's  Creek,  battle  of,  658,  659. 

Wilson  Tariff,  881. 

Winchester,  General  James,  416. 

Winchester,  Virginia,  armies  at,  655,  656;  battle 
of,  757. 

Wingfield,  first  president  at  Jamestown,  62. 

Win  slow,  Edward,  a  Mayflower  Pilgrim,  99 ; 
makes  treaty  with  Massasoit,  101 ;  sent  to 
England  in  Puritan  cause,  108 ;  aids  in  forming 
confederation,  120. 

Winslow,  John,  in  expedition  to  Acadia,  181. 

Winslow,  John  A.,  commander  of  the  Kear- 
sarge,  111. 

Winthrop,  John,  leads  colony  to  Massachusetts, 
105 ;  founds  Boston,  106 ;  aids  in  confedera 
tion,  120. 

Winthrop,  John,  the  younger,  founds  Saybrook, 
113  ;  secures  charter  for  Connecticut,  115  ;  gov 
ernor  for  many  years,  115. 

Wirt,  William,  at  Burr's  trial,  393 ;  in  Monroe's 
Cabinet,  453  ;  candidate  for  the  presidency,  492. 

Wise,  Henry  A.,  governor  of  Virginia,  606;  sur 
renders  Eoanoke  Island,  671 ;  at  Malvern  Hill, 
700. 

Witchcraft  delusion,  in  Massachusetts,  110. 

Wolfe,  General  James,  aids  in  capturing  Louis- 
burg,  186  ;  invests  Quebec  with  British  army, 


190  ;  scales  Plains  of  Abraham,  191 ;  captures 

Quebec,  dies,  192. 
Woman  suffrage,  870  and  note. 
Wood,  Leonard,  leader  of  Rough  Eiders  in  Cuba, 

893  ;  governor  of  Cuba,  900. 
Wool,  John  E.,  at  Queenstown,  418. 
Worden,  John  L.,  in  command  of  the  Monitor, 

674,  675. 

World's  Fair,  at  Chicago,  881  sq. 
Worth,  William  J.,  in  Mexican  War,  532. 
Wright,  Luke  E.,  governor  of  the  Philippines, 

899. 
Writs  of  assistance,  222  ;  resisted  by  the  people, 

223. 

Wyoming,  becomes  a  state,  869. 
Wyoming  massacre,  293. 
Wyoming  Valley,  location  of,  293. 

X.  Y.  Z.  correspondence,  364,  365. 

Yale  College,  founding  of,  207  note. 

Yamassee  Indians,  attack  South  Carolina  colo 
nists,  90. 

Yazoo  frauds,  407. 

Yazoci  River,  Sherman  on,  785. 

Yeamans,  Sir  John,  plants  colony  on  Cape  Fear 
River,  83 ;  introduces  slavery  in  South  Caro 
lina,  88  ;  governor  of  South  Carolina,  89. 

Yeardley,  Sir  George,  introduces  popular  govern 
ment  in  Virginia,  67  ;  death  of,  69. 

York,  Duke  of,  see  James  II. 

Yorktown,  surrender  of  British  army  at,  311 ; 
reception  of  the  news  in  America,  England, 
and  France,  312 ;  McClellan  besieges,  694 ; 
centennial  of  Cornwallis's  surrender  at,  854. 

Young,  General,  in  war  with  Spain,  893. 

Young's  Prairie,  negro  colony  at,  551. 

Zenger,  Peter,  wins  victory  for  liberty  of  the 
press  in  New  York,  145. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

FOLLOWING  is  a  list  of  such  books  on  American  history  as  may 
be  most  useful  to  the  general  reader,  and  most  probably  within  his 
reach.  The  special  student  is  directed  to  the  fuller  bibliography  as 
found  in  the  various  volumes  of  Winsor's  Narrative  and  Critical  His 
tory,  in  the  Cambridge  Modern  History,  Vol.  VII,  or  in  Channing  and 
Hart's  Guide  to  American  History.  The  foot-note  references  in  this 
volume  also  will  cite  the  reader  to  many  works  not  mentioned  in 
this  department.  For  a  critical  and  usually  fair  estimate  of  books 
on  American  history  the  reader  is  directed  to  Larned's  Literature  of 
American  History. 

GENERAL    HISTORIES 
On  the  Entire  Field : 

Cambridge  Modern  History,  Vol.  VII ;  Woodrow  Wilson,  History  of  the 
American  People,  5  vols.  ;  Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History  of  the  United 
States,  5  vols.  ;  John  Clark  Ridpath,  Popular  History  of  the  United  States  ;  E. 
Benjamin  Andrews,  History  of  the  United  States,  2  vols. ;  Higginson,  Larger 
History  of  the  United  States;  Alexander  Johnston,  The  United  States;  Its 
History  and  Constitution;  Goldwin  Smith,  The  United  States ;  Francis  Newton 
Thorpe,  A  Histoi*y  of  the  American  People ;  Albert  Bushnell  Hart,  History  Told 
by  Contemporaries,  4  vols.  ;  and  the  better  class  of  school  histories,  which  fur 
nish  excellent  outlines. 

Histories  of  Limited  Periods: 

George  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States,  1492-1789,  6  vols.  (last 
revision);  Richard  Hildreth,  History  of  the  United  States,  1492-1821,  6  vols.; 
Francis  Parkman,  France  and  England  in  North  America,  9  vols.,  under  various 
titles  ;  John  Bach  McMaster,  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,  1784- 
1829,  5  vols.  (to  be  completed  to  the  Civil  War)  ;  James  Schouler,  History  of  the 
United  States,  1789-1865,  6  vols.;  Henry  Adams,  History  of  the  United  States, 
1800-1817,  9  vols.;  James  Ford  Rhodes,  History  of  the  United  States  from  the 
Compromise  of  1850,  4  vols. ;  Justin  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History, 
1000-1840,  8  vols.;  John  Andrew  Doyle,  The  English  in  America,  1492-1700, 
3  vols.;  Ed.  Channing,  The  United  States  of  America,  1765-1865;  Herman  von 
Hoist,  The  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  1783-1861,  8  vols.; 
George  Tucker,  The  History  of  the  United  States,  1492-1840,  4  vols. 

WORKS   ON   SPECIAL  TOPICS,   OR  PERIODS 
The  Aborigines: 

Daniel  G.  Brinton,  Myths  of  the  New  World,  and  other  volumes  ;  Hubert  H. 
Bancroft,  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States,  5  vols.;  Helen  Hunt  Jackson,  A 

xxxiii 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Century  of  Dishonor ;  George  E.  Ellis,  The  Eed  Man  and  White  Man;  George 
B.  Grinnell,  Story  of  the  Indian,  and  other  volumes ;  Richard  I.  Dodge,  Our 
Wild  Indians. 

Discovery  and  Exploration : 

John  Fiske,  Discovery  of  America,  2  vols.  ;  Edward  J.  Payne,  History  of 
America,  2  vols.;  Henry  Harrisse,  Christopher  Columbus;  Washington  Irving, 
Life  and  Voyages  of  Columbus,  4  vols. ;  Charles  K.  Adams,  Christopher  Colum 
bus  •  Henry  Vignaud,  Toscanelli  and  Columbus;  Charles  R.  Beazley,  John  and 
Sebastian  Cabot;  Theodore  Irving,  The  Conquest  of  Florida ;  Grace  King,  De 
Soto  and  his  Men ;  J.  G.  Shea,  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  Valley ;  T.  W. 
Higginson,  American  Explorers;  E.  J.  Payne,  Voyages  of  Elizabethan  Seamen; 
and  the  general  works  mentioned  above,  especially  the  first  volumes  of  Bancroft, 
Hildreth,  Winsor,  and  Doyle. 

The  Colonial  Period : 

Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  The  English  Colonies  in  America;  Reuben  Gold 
Thwaites,  The  Colonies;  Richard  Hakluyt,  Discourse  on  Western  Planting; 
John  Fiske,  Old  Virginia  and  Her  Neighbors,  2  vols.,  Beginnings  of  New  Eng 
land,  The  Dutch  and  Quaker  Colonies,  2  vols.,  and  New  France  and  New  Eng 
land ;  Edward  Eggleston,  The  Beginnings  of  a  Nation;  William  Bradford, 
History  of  Plymouth  Plantation;  John  G.  Palfrey,  Compendious  History  of 
New  England,  4  vols.  ;  Charles  F.  Adams,  Three  Episodes  in  Massachusetts 
History;  E.  B.  Greene,  The  Provincial  Governor;  Hugh  E.  Egerton,  Short 
History  of  British  Colonial  Policy;  William  MacDonald,  Select  Charters; 
Rossiter  Johnson,  History  of  the  French  War ;  William  M.  Sloan,  The  French 
War  and  the  Revolution;  Frank  R.  Stockton,  Buccaneers  and  Pirates;  Mrs. 
Alice  Morse  Earle,  Home  Life  in  Colonial  Days,  Curious  Punishments  of  By 
gone  Days,  and  other  volumes  ;  George  Park  Fisher,  The  Colonial  Era  ;  Sidney 
George  Fisher,  Men,  Women,  and  Manners  in  Colonial  Times. 

Biographies. — Of  Cotton  Mather  by  Barrett  Wendell;  of  General  Ogle- 
thorpe  by  Henry  Bruce  ;  of  James  Otis  by  Francis  Bowen  ;  of  William  Penn  by 
Samuel  M.  Janney  ;  of  William  Pitt  by  Lord  Rosebery ;  of  Peter  Stuyvesant  by 
Bayard  Tuckerman  ;  of  Roger  Williams  by  Oscar  S.  Straus  ;  of  John  Winthrop 
by  Joseph  H.  Twichell ;  of  Thomas  Hooker  by  George  L.  Walker. 

The  Revolution : 

John  Fiske,  The  American  Revolution,  2  vols.  ;  Sir  George  Otto  Trevelyan, 
The  American  Revolution,  3  vols. ;  H.  C.  Lodge,  Story  of  the  Revolution,  2  vols. ; 
Benson  J.  Lossing,  Pictorial  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution;  C.  H.  Van  Tyne, 
Loyalists  in  the  Revolution;  Moses  Coit  Tyler,  Literary  History  of  the  Revo 
lution,  2  vols. ;  Francis  Wharton,  Revolutionary  Diplomatic  Correspondence, 
6  vols. ;  Richard  Frothingham,  Rise  of  the  Republic  ;  Charlemagne  Tower,  La 
fayette  in  the  American  Revolution;  Sidney  G.  Fisher,  True  History  of  the 
Revolution.  Autobiography  of  Franklin. 

Biographies.  — Of  Franklin  by  Paul  L.  Ford,  by  John  B.  McMaster,  by 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


John  T.  Morse  ;  of  Washington  by  Paul  L.  Ford,  by  Washington  Irving,  4  vols.," 
by  Woodrow  Wilson,  and  by  H.  C.  Lodge,  2  vols.  ;  of  Jefferson  by  James 
Schouler,  by  J.  T.  Morse,  by  James  Parton,  by  H.  S.  Randall,  and  by  George 
Tucker  ;  of  James  Otis  by  William  Tudor ;  of  Paul  Revere  by  Elbridge  H. 
Goss,  2  vols.  ;  of  Joseph  Warren  by  Richard  Frothingham  ;  of  Patrick  Henry 
by  Moses  Coit  Tyler ;  of  Benedict  Arnold  by  Jared  Sparks,  3  vols. ;  of  John 
Andre  by  Winthrop  Sargent  ;  of  Robert  Morris  by  W.  G.  Sumner,  by  E.  P. 
Oberholtzer  ;  of  Samuel  Adams  by  J.  K.  Hosmer ;  of  Ethan  Allen  by  Henry- 
Hall  ;  of  John  Jay  by  George  Pellew. 

The  Formation  of  the  Union : 

John  Fiske,  The  Critical  Period;  Francis  A.  Walker,  Making  of  the  Nation; 
Albert  B.  Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union;  Alexander  Hamilton  and  others,  The 
Federalist;  George  T.  Curtis,  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  2  vols.  ; 
Francis  N.  Thorpe,  Constitutional  History,  3  vols.  ;  the  last  volume  of  George 
Bancroft's  History,  the  fourth  of  Hildreth,  and  the  first  volumes  of  McMaster, 
Schouler,  and  Von  Hoist. 

The  National  Period,  to  the  Civil  War : 

The  fifth  and  sixth  volumes  of  Hildreth,  the  histories  of  Schouler,  McMaster, 
and  Von  Hoist,  the  nine  volumes  of  Henry  Adams,  Vols.  Ill  and  IV  of  Woodrow 
Wilson's  history,  Vols.  Ill  and  IV  of  Bryant  and  Gay's  history,  and  Vols.  VII 
and  VIII  of  Winsor's  history  ;  J.  P.  Gordy,  A  Political  History  of  the  United 
States,  2  vols.  ;  John  W.  Burgess,  The  Middle  Period;  Walter  F.  McCaleb,  The 
Aaron  Burr  Conspiracy ;  Thomas  H.  Benton,  Thirty  Years'  View,  2  vols;  Ben 
son  J.  Lossing,  Pictorial  Field  Book  of  the  War  of  1812 ;  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
The  Naval  War  of  1812 ;  Rossiter  Johnson,  The  War  of  1812  ;  Nathan  Sargent, 
Public  Men  and  Events,  2  vols. ;  Benjamin  F.  Perry,  Reminiscences  of  Public 
Men;  Henry  A.  Wise,  Seven  Decades  of  the  Union;  Josiah  Quincy,  Figures  of 
the  Past;  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  4  vols.  ;  Edwin  Earl  Sparks, 
Expansion  of  the  American  People ;  Wilber  H.  Siebert,  The  Underground  Rail 
road;  Henry  Wilson,  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power,  3  vols.  ;  H.  R.  Helper, 
The  Impending  Crisis;  Harriet '  Martineau,  Society  in  America;  Alexis  de 
Tocqueville,  Democracy  in  America  ;  R.  M.  Ormsby,  History  of  the  Whig  Party ; 
Edward  Stand  wood,  History  of  the  Presidency  ;  John  Quincy  Adams,  Memoirs ; 
Ben  Perley  Poore,  Reminiscences;  Alexander  Johnston,  History  of  American 
Politics;  Vols.  I  and  II  of  Rhodes'  history  ;  Vol.  I  of  Greeley's  American  Con 
flict,  and  Vol.  I  of  William  H.  Smith's  A  Political  History  of  Slavery. 

Biographies.  —  Of  Gouverneur  Morris  by  Theodore  Roosevelt ;  of  Hamilton 
by  H.  C.  Lodge,  by  J.  T.  Morse,  2  vols. ;  of  Albert  Gallatin  by  John  A.  Stevens, 
by  Henry  Adams  ;  of  Burr  by  James  Parton ;  of  Madison  by  Sidney  H.  Gay  ; 
of  J.  Q.  Adams  by  J.  T.  Morse ;  of  Rufus  King  by  Charles  R.  King  ;  of  John 
Marshall  by  A.  B.  Magruder ;  of  John  Randolph  by  Henry  Adams ;  of 
Tecumseh  by  Benjamin  Drake  ;  of  John  Brown  and  Calhoun  by  Von  Hoist; 
of  James  Buchanan  by  George  T.  Curtis,  2  vols. ;  of  Webster  by  George  T. 
Curtis,  2  vols.,  by  J.  B.  McMaster  ;  of  Henry  Clay  by  Carl  Schurz,  2  vols.  ;  of 
Andrew  Jackson  by  W.  G.  Sumner,  by  W.  G.  Brown  ;  of  Van  Biiren,  by  Edward 


xxxvi  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


M.  Shepard,  by  George  Bancroft  ;   of  Lewis  Cass  by  A.  C.  McLaughlin  ;  of 
Winfield  Scott  by  Marcus  J.  Wright. 

The  Civil  War  and  After: 

J.  S.  Pike,  First  Blows  of  the  Civil  War ;  Horace  Greeley,  The  American 
Conflict,  Vol.  II ;  Theodore  A.  Dodge,  Bird's  Eye  View  of  Our  Civil  War ; 
Rossiter  Johnson,  Short  History  of  the  War  of  Secession  ;  John  C.  Ropes,  Story 
of  the  Civil  War,  3  vols.  ;  John  W.  Burgess,  The  Civil  War  and  the  Consti 
tution,  2  vols.;  Edward  McPherson,  Political  History  of  the  Rebellion ;  Comte 
de  Paris,  Military  History  of  the  Civil  War,  4  vols.  ;  John  W.  Draper,  History 
of  the  American  Civil  War,  3  vols.  ;  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  War  Between  the 
States,  2  vols. ;  Jefferson  Davis,  The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate  Govern 
ment,  2  vols. ;  The  Century  Company,  Battles  and  Leaders,  4  vols. ;  William  H. 
Seward,  Diplomatic  History  of  the  War  for  the  Union ;  J.  C.  Schwab,  Confederate 
States  of  America  ;  F.  L.  Olmsted,  The  Cotton  Kingdom  ;  William  G.  Brown,  The 
Lower  South  in  American  History;  the  third  and  fourth  volumes  of  Rhodes, 
and  the  final  volumes  of  Schouler  and  of  Bryant  and  Gay  ;  David  D.  Porter, 
Naval  History  of  the  Civil  War;  Personal  Memoirs  of  U.  S.  Grant,  of  W.  T. 
Sherman,  and  of  P.  H.  Sheridan  ;  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  Narrative  of  Military 
Operations ;  Raphael  Semmes,  Service  Afloat ;  George  B.  McClellan,  McClellan's 
Own  Story  ;  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln :  A  History,  10  vols. 

John  W.  Burgess,  Reconstruction  and  the  Constitution;  E.  Benjamin 
Andrews,  The  United  States  in  Our  Own  Times;  James  G.  Blaine,  Twenty 
Tears  of  Congress,  2  vols.  ;  Hugh  McCullough,  Men  and  Measures  of  Half  a 
Century  ;  John  D.  Long,  The  American  Navy,  2  vols.  ;  H.  A.  Herbert,  Why  the 
Solid  South ;  Henry  W.  Grady,  The  New  South. 

Biographies.  —  Of  Abraham  Lincoln  by  J.  T.  Morse,  by  Carl  Schurz,  by 
Ida  M.  Tarbell ;  of  Charles  Sumner  by  Moorfield  Storey  ;  of  George  H.  Thomas 
by  T.  B.  Van  Home  ;  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden  by  John  Bigelow,  2  vols. ;  of  Robert 
Toombs  by  P.  A.  Stovall ;  of  Thaddeus  Stevens  by  E.  B.  Callender  ;  of  A.  H. 
Stephens  by  R.  M.  Johnson  and  J.  S.  Black  ;  o>f  Robert  E.  Lee  by  J.  E.  Cooke  ; 
of  Thomas  J.  Jackson,  by  R.  L.  Dabney  ;  of  U.  S.  Grant  by  Adam  Badeau,  by 
C.  C.  Chesney ;  of  Salmon  P.  Chase  by  J.  W.  Schuckers,  by  A.  B.  Hart. 

Miscellaneous : 

J.  F.  Jameson,  Dictionary  of  U.  S.  History  ;  Alexander  Johnston's  articles  on 
American  history  in  Lalor's  Cyclopedia,  3  vols. ;  portions  of  Larned's  History 
for  Ready  Reference,  6  vols. ;  portions  of  Lecky's  History  of  England, 
McCarthy's  History  of  Our  Own  Times,  and  of  other  English  histories  ;  James 
Bryce,  The  American  Commonwealth,  2  vols.  (also  an  abridged  one-volume 
edition);  F.  W.  Taussig,  Tariff  History  of  the  United  States;  A.  S.  Bolles, 
Financial  History  of  the  United  States  ;  John  W.  Foster,  A  Century  of  American 
Diplomacy;  State  histories,  especially  of  the  American  Commonwealth  Series; 
local  histories  as  issued  by  the  "various  historical  societies  ;  historical  fiction, 
such  as  Mitchell's  Hugh  Wynne,  Atherton's  The  Conqueror,  Churchill's  The 
Crisis,  and  many  others. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   THE  READER 

AMONG  the  general  histories  Bancroft's  held  first  place  for  many 
years,  but  it  is  now  largely  superseded  by  others.  His  account  of 
the  Revolution  and  of  the  formation  of  the  government,  however, 
still  rank  among  the  best.  Hildreth  is  painstaking  and  accurate, 
but  his  style  is  not  attractive,  and  his  partisan  bias  is  too  much  in 
evidence. 

Of  the  complete  histories  of  the  country,  from  the  Discovery  to 
the  present  time,  we  have  but  two  extensive  ones  of  importance  — 
those  of  Bryant  and  Gay,  and  of  Woodrow  Wilson,  each  five  volumes. 
The  former,  written  by  Gay  and  not  Bryant,  is  clear  and  interesting 
in  style ;  but  the  perspective  is  bad.  It  gives  altogether  too  much 
space  to  the  colonial  period  as  compared  with  the  national.  Wilson's 
history  is  written  in  excellent  style.  Its  chief  defect  lies  in  the 
assumption  that  the  reader  knows  the  facts,  or  does  not  wish  to  know 
them.  It  is  a  series  of  consecutive  discourses  on  public  questions, 
rather  than  a  history,  and  may  be  very  useful  to  a  reader  who  is 
already  fairly  familiar  with  the  facts.  An  important  one-volume 
history  of  the  United  States  is  the  Cambridge  Modern  History,  Vol. 
VII.  This  book  is  the  work  of  many  writers  instead  of  one ;  and, 
though  most  of  them  are  specialists,  a  continuous  narrative,  showing 
the  gradual  development  of  the  nation,  is  wanting.  The  proportion 
is  also  defective ;  for  example,  fifty-seven  pages  are  devoted  to  the 
framing  of  the  Constitution,  while  the  sixty  years  following  its  adop 
tion  are  crowded  into  but  ninety  pages. 

The  history  of  our  national  period  before  the  Civil  War  has  been 
written  by  three  historians  —  Von  Hoist,  McMaster,  and  Schouler. 
Von  Hoist's  work  (written  in  German,  translated  by  J.  J.  Lalor)  is  a 
learned  discussion  of  political  events  and  parties.  The  originality  of 
the  author  is  striking,  but  the  style  is  often  heavy.  The  writer  is  not 
free  from  political  bias,  nor  is  he  in  full  sympathy  with  American 
institutions.  McMaster's  work  is  written  in  a  vivacious,  attractive 
style.  As  a  vivid  presentation  of  the  social  and  industrial  life  of  the 

xxxvii 


xxxviii  SUGGESTIONS   TO   THE   READER 

people,  and  as  a  storehouse  of  facts,  gathered  from  original  sources, 
the  work  of  McMaster  has  no  equal.  Its  great  defect  lies  in  the  fact 
that  it  is  disconnected,  and  that  the  writer  does  not  fully  discuss 
public  questions ;  does  not  sufficiently  show  the  influence  upon  our 
national  development  of  great  movements  and  great  characters.  In 
this  respect  McMaster  occupies  a  ground  quite  opposite  that  occu 
pied  by  Von  Hoist  and  Woodrow  Wilson.  A  medium  ground  is 
taken  by  Schouler,  whose  work  bristles  with  facts,  and  who,  at  the 
same  time,  gives  admirable  characterization  of  great  men,  and  intelli 
gently  discusses  important  movements.  But  Schouler's  style  is  often 
wanting  in  dignity  and  clearness.  Two  admirable  accounts  of  the 
development  of  the  United  States  are  those  of  Goldwin  Smith  and 
Edward  Channing.  These  are  each  given  in  a  single  small  volume, 
and  each  may  be  characterized  as  a  bird's  eye  view,  rather  than 
a  history. 

A  reader  may  acquire  a  good  knowledge  of  American  history  by 
reading  the  histories  of  limited  periods,  only  a  few  of  which  can 
here  be  mentioned.  The  best  account  of  the  discovery  of  America 
for  the  general  reader  will  be  found  in  the  two  volumes  of  John 
Fiske ;  while  the  best  short  biography  of  Columbus  is  that  of  C.  K. 
Adams,  which  is  based  largely  on  the  more  learned  work  of  Harrisse. 
Payne's  History  of  America  is  in  part  a  scholarly  study  of  the  abo 
rigines.  Grace  King's  De  Soto  and  His  Men  is  brightly  written  and 
fairly  accurate. 

The  best  short  history  of  the  colonial  period  as  a  whole  is  that  of 
E.  G.  Thwaites.  Lodge's  English  Colonies  is  much  fuller  and  gives 
an  excellent  account  of  the  life  of  the  people  ;  but  the  most  attractive 
writer  on  the  colonial  period,  except  Parkman,  is  John  Fiske,  who 
has  given  us  six  volumes  on  this  period,  covering  almost  the  entire 
subject.  The  history  of  A.  J.  Doyle,  an  Englishman,  is  full  and 
broad  in  spirit.  For  a  series  of  pictures  of  colonial  life,  habits, 
manners,  dress,  and  furniture  the  delightful  volumes  of  Mrs.  Earle 
have  no  equal. 

The  history  of  the  French-English  struggle  for  North  America 
has  been  admirably  presented  by  Francis  Parkman,  who  practically 
exhausts  the  subject.  For  accuracy  and  for  beauty  of  style  Parkman 
has  no  superior  as  a  historian.  The  history  of  the  Eevolutioii  is 
best  presented  by  Fiske  in  two  volumes  and  by  Trevelyan  in  three 
volumes,  with  others  to  follow.  The  latter,  an  Englishman,  writes 
from  the  Whig  view  point,  and  deals  with  the  Americans  in  the 


SUGGESTIONS   TO   THE   READER  xxxix 

utmost  fairness.  For  the  short  period  of  disorder,  between  the  close 
of  the  Revolution  and  the  framing  of  the  Constitution,  The  Critical 
Period  by  Fiske  is  by  far  the  best  we  have.  On  the  formation  of 
the  national  government  Hart's  Formation  of  the  Union  is  the  best 
short  account ;  while  the  fuller  accounts  by  Bancroft,  by  Curtis  in 
his  History  of  the  Constitution,  and  by  Thorpe  in  his  Constitutional 
History,  are  of  great  value. 

On  the  period  following  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  the 
reader  will  find,  in  addition  to  the  works  of  McMaster,  Schouler,  and 
Von  Hoist,  already  mentioned,  other  works  of  great  importance. 
Henry  Adams's  History,  covering  the  first  sixteen  years  of  the  cen 
tury  in  nine  volumes,  is  accurate,  exhaustive,  and  most  delightfully 
written.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  writer  has  chosen  to  discon 
tinue  his  great  work  at  this  stage.  The  slavery  agitation  before  the 
Civil  War  is  best  treated  in  the  first  volumes  of  Greeley's  American 
Conflict,  of  Wilson's  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power,  and  of  A.  H. 
Stephens's  War  between  the  States  ;  while  most  interesting  side  lights 
will  be  found  in  Sargent's  Public  Men  and  Events,  Quincy's  Figures 
of  the  Past,  Forney's  Anecdotes  of  Public  Men,  and  Wise's  Seven 
Decades. 

For  the  account  of  the  great  events  immediately  preceding  the 
war  the  history  of  James  Ford  Rhodes  stands  above  all  others.  As 
a  historian  Rhodes  must  be  classed  with  Fiske,  Park  man,  and  Henry 
Adams  ;  his  only  fault  is  a  slight  tendency  to  prolixity. 

The  history  of  the  Civil  War  has  been  written  by  various  his 
torians.  The  best  short  histories  are  J.  C.  Ropes's  Stoi~y  of  the  Civil 
War  and  T.  A.  Dodge's  BinVs-Eye  View  of  Our  Civil  War.  Fuller 
accounts  are  given  in  the  histories  of  the  war  by  Comte  de  Paris,  by 
John  W.  Draper,  by  John  W.  Burgess,  by  Greeley  in  the  second 
volume  of  TJie  American  Conflict,  by  Rhodes  in  his  third  and  fourth 
volumes,  and  by  Schouler  in  his  sixth  volume.  The  best  military 
history  is  found  in  Battles  and  Leaders,  four  large  volumes  written  by 
leading  participants  of  both  sides.  Two  southern  views  are  Jefferson 
Davis's  JRise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate  Government,  and  A.  H. 
Stephens's  War  between  the  States.  In  addition  to  these  the  following 
are  recommended:  William  Garrott  Brown's  The  Lower  South  in 
American  History ;  W.  H.  Seward's  Diplomatic  History  of  the  Civil 
War;  T.  S.  Goodwin's  Natural  History  of  Secession;  W.  A. 
Dunning's  Essays  on  the  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction;  J.  C.  Schwab's 
Confederate  States;  the  various  biographies  of  this  department  as 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   THE   HEADER 


given  under  Bibliography;  S.  S.  Cox's  Three  Decades;  Ben:  Perley 
Poore's  Reminiscences;  Hugh  McCullough's  Men  and  Measures  of 
Half  a  Century,  and  the  personal  memoirs  of  U.  S.  Grant,  of  W.  T. 
Sherman,  and  of  P.  H.  Sheridan. 

No  complete  history  of  Reconstruction  and  of  the  period  follow 
ing  has  been  written,  the  best  perhaps  being  Burgess's  Reconstruction 
and  the  Constitution,  the  recent  volume  of  E.  Benjamin  Andrews, 
and  the  fifth  volume  of  Bryant  and  Gay.  A  fuller  history  of  the 
times  may  be  gathered  from  McPherson's  Handbook,  published  every 
second  year  from  1868  to  1894,  except  in  1870,  from  Appleton's 
Annual  Cyclopedia,  and  from  the  many  able  articles  on  public  ques 
tions  in  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  The  Forum,  The  North  American  Re 
view,  Tlie  New  Princeton  Review  (merged  into  The  Political  Science 
Quarterly),  and  The  Nation.  The  history  of  this  period  is  greatly 
illuminated  by  the  personal  writings  of  various  public  men,  especially 
by  the  Recollections  of  John  Sherman,  by  the  two  recent  volumes  of 
Senator  Hoar,  and  Twenty  Years  of  Congress  by  James  G.  Blaine. 
The  work  of  Blaine  is  not  very  critical  and  is  marred  by  too  adu 
latory  notices  of  contemporaries ;  but  the  style  is  excellent.  For 
current  history  the  reader  is  directed,  in  addition  to  the  daily  papers, 
to  the  weekly  review  of  events  in  The  Outlook  and  in  The  Nation,  to 
the  monthly  review  in  TJie  World's  Work  and  in  TJie  Review  of  Re 
views,  and  to  TJie  Political  Science  Quarterly. 

The  special  student  will  delve  more  deeply  than  the  general 
reader.  He  must  go  to  the  original  sources,  such  as  the  Colonial 
Archives,  British  State  Papers  pertaining  to  the  colonies,  the  Annals 
of  Congress,  Elliots'  Debates,  Supreme  Court  decisions,  messages  and 
papers  of  the  Presidents  and  the  various  Works  of  the  leading  states 
men.  Every  reader,  however,  should  aim  to  read  at  least  a  few  of  the 
speeches  of  the  leading  statesmen  of  each  period  of  our  development, 
a  good  collection  of  which  is  Alexander  Johnston's  Representative 
American  Orations,  in  four  volumes. 

Finally,  if  asked  by  the  busy  American  reader  to  name  one  handy 
reference  book,  one  compendious  history  of  the  United  States  (in 
addition  to  the  present  volume  to  be  sure),  and  one  miscellaneous 
work,  describing  the  American  people,  government,  and  institu 
tions,  we  would  recommend  Jameson's  Dictionary  of  American  His 
tory,  Cambridge  Modern  History,  Vol.  VII,  and  Bryce's  American 
Commonwealth. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

FROM   THE   COMPROMISE   OF    1850 
By  JAMES  FORD  RHODES 

Pour  Volumes.        Cloth.        8vo.        $1O.OO 


"  One  of  the  most  important  historical  efforts  of  the  present  generation, 
and  it  is  gratifying  to  know  from  a  careful  examination  that  he  is  thor 
oughly  equipped  for  his  responsible  task,  and  is  certain  to  present  to  the 
country  and  the  world  a  standard  history  of  the  most  important  era  of 
modern  civilization.1'  —  The  Times,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"  The  first  volume  begins  with  the  passage  of  the  Compromise  Meas 
ures  of  1850,  and  ends  with  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  in  1854. 
The  second  volume  deals  with  the  stirring  political  events  which  transpired 
from  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  through  all  the  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  struggles  to  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party,  and  its  final 
national  triumph  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  1860." — The  Times, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Vol.  III.  covers  1860-62  ;  Vol.  IV.,  i862-164;  and  the  author  will  com 
plete  the  work  to  March  4,  1885,  in  three  or  four  volumes  more. 

"  It  is  the  one  work  now  within  reach  of  the  young  American  student 
of  to-day  in  which  he  may  learn  the  connected  story  of  the  great  battle  that 
resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  slavery  and  the  rededication  of  the  republic  to 
unsullied  freedom.  In  no  other  publication  are  these  facts  so  concisely, 
so  fully,  and  so  well  presented,  and  the  student  who  makes  careful  study 
of  this' work  will  fully  understand,  not  only  the  actual  causes  which  led  to 
the  war,  but  he  will  know  how  gradually  they  were  developed  from  year  to 
year  under  varying  political  power,  until  the  nation  was  ripe  for  the  revolu 
tion.  .  .  .  Taking  the  work  altogether,  we  regard  it  as  the  most  valuable 
political  publication  of  the  age,  and  the  intelligent  citizen  who  does  not 
become  its  careful  student  must  do  himself  great  injustice.11  —  The  Times, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"This  is  the  best  all-around  history  of  this  period  which  has  yet 
appeared."  —  The  Public  Ledger,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"  The  interest  of  the  reader  is  sure  to  grow  as  he  turns  the  pages,  and 
t  is  safe  to  say  that  the  stirring  history  of  the  period  has  not  been  told  in 
a  more  forcible  and  vivid  way.11  —  The  Dial. 

"  Fair  and  careful,  it  rests  on  abundant  information  and  laborious  study, 
.  .  .  and  it  is  hardly  exposed  to  the  risk  of  supercession.11 —  The  Speaker, 
London. 

"  His  impartiality,  too,  is  really  judicial,  and  never  results  from  missing 
or  underrating  the  greatness  of  the  issues  wherewith  he  is  dealing.11  —  The 
Saturday  Review,  London. 

THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

06  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 


The    American    Commonwealth 

By  JAMES  BRYCE 

Author  of  "The  Holy  Roman  Empire";    M.P.  for  Aberdeen 

In  Two  Volumes.     Third  Edition,  completely  Revised  throughout, 
with  Additional  Chapters.     Crown  8vo.     Cloth,  gilt  tops 

VOL.      I.    THE  NATIONAL  GOVERNMENT  —  THE  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

pp.  xix  +  724.    Price  $  1.75,  net. 
VOL.    II.     THE  PARTY  SYSTEM  —  PUBLIC  OPINION  —  ILLUSTRATIONS 

AND  REFLECTIONS  —  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS.         pp.  904.    Price  $  2.25,  net. 

The  two  volumes  in  a  box,  $4.00,  net 

"  It  is  not  too  much  to  call  '  The  American  Commonwealth '  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  additions  to  political  and  social  science  which  this  generation  has  seen. 
It  has  done,  and  will  continue  to  do,  a  great  work  in  informing  the  world  concerning 
the  principles  of  this  government." — Philadelphia  Evening  Telegraph. 

"  No  enlightened  American  can  desire  a  better  thing  for  his  country  than  the 
widest  diffusion  and  the  most  thorough  reading  of  Mr.  Bryce's  impartial  and  pene 
trating  work." —  Literary  World. 


American    History 

TOLD   BY  CONTEMPORARIES 
By  ALBERT  BUSHNELL  HART 

Harvard  University 
Each  Volume  sold  Separately,  Price  $2.00 

VOL.      I.  ERA  OF  COLONIZATION,  1493-1689. 

VOL.    II.  BUILDING  OF  THE  NATION,  1689-1783. 

VOL.  III.  NATIONAL  EXPANSION,  1783-1844. 

VOL.  IV.  WELDING  OF  THE  NATION,  1845-1897. 

Professor  T.  H.  WOOD  of  Worcester  Academy,  Worcester,  Mass.,  says  of  Volume  I :  — 

"  The  plan  and  the  contents  are  alike  admirable.     The  set  will  be  a  necessity 
for  libraries  and  for  teachers  of  American  History." 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

66   FIFTH    AVENUE,    NEW   YORK 


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